Alice Nutter is a playwright and screenwriter and a former member of anarchist punk band Chumbawamba. In 2008 she wrote Where’s Vietnam? to mark Red Ladder Theatre’s 40^th anniversary. Her TV writing credits include Jimmy McGovern’s The Street, Casualty, The Mill, and acclaimed US drama Trust, created by Simon Beaufoy.

How did you come to work for Red Ladder?

I had left Chumbawamba and I’d been writing for a couple of years. I managed to join the so-you-want-to-be-a-writer group at Leeds Playhouse and got a play on at the Courtyard there. After that, me and Harry Hamer – a brilliant actor-musician who was in Chumbawamba with me and has done the music for a few of my plays – applied for an Arts Council grant. We did a community play in Bradford called Love and Petrol and we put it on for three nights at the Joseph Priestley Theatre. Rod Dixon [Red Ladder’s former artistic director] came to see it and on the strength of this thought ‘I want to work with these people.’ He approached me about writing a play tied to Red Ladder’s 40^th anniversary, which is when I wrote Where’s Vietnam? Rod took a real punt on me because I’d only written two plays at the time, so this was a big deal for me.

What are your standout memories of working with the theatre company?

I was used to being part of a gang and really loved working with a big cast, which is what we had with the community play in Bradford. So with Where’s Vietnam? Rod said they were going to audition for volunteer actors and have a huge community chorus, which was absolutely thrilling for me. What I really loved about Where’s Vietnam? is we had a real feel of being part of a gang all the way through it. You don’t always get this on productions but when you do you’re so lucky.

The cast of Where’s Vietnam credit Tim Smith

I loved the risks Rod took. He took a risk asking me to write it and getting Harry in, but it proved to be a risk worth taking because I think it worked. Red Ladder allowed me and Harry to be really adventurous. We were used to being adventurous because we’d been in a band everybody hated until we had a hit. So it was a real learning experience for me and that’s when I realised that being in the theatre was a bit like being in a band. It’s like being on tour, and while you’re all together this is your community. And I loved it.

What in your view makes Red Ladder important?

I think this changes over the years. Red Ladder will take theatre into spaces that nobody else would dream of looking at. There has been a focus on telling working class stories, which I think is important, but for me giving people access to theatre cheaply is really important. And another thing that makes it stand out is Red Ladder gives artists access to this world because they have a history of taking risks and working with people who aren’t tried and tested and that’s really unusual in the theatre industry which a lot of times can be quite safe.

Over the years they have done quite a lot of community plays but they don’t look like community plays and that was important to me because my stipulation was ‘I don’t want to make something crap.’ In rehearsals we had hundreds of people turning up and we had to be ruthless because we only wanted the best. 

Centre David Toole with cast of Where’s Vietnam credit Tim Smith

What impact has Red Ladder had on your career?

I realised I could carry on in the same fashion with my career as I had done before and I didn’t have to become somebody else. I could take all the risks I wanted to take, and I’ve carried on with that in my television work. I just needed to find the right ally and in Red Ladder I found the right ally. You find the people that are allies and are simpatico and have the same ethos regarding respect, creativity and high standards. I’m a bugger for high standards. I think with Where’s Vietnam? the stars just aligned – I saw a chance and I just grabbed it with both hands.

How would you describe Red Ladder to a friend?

If you say the word ‘institution’ it makes it sound stuck in its ways and unable to change, but that’s not Red Ladder. Red Ladder is a moving vehicle that has different people in at different times, but they are always shouting out of the windows, ‘Get in, you’re going to have a lot of fun. But you’ve got to be good…’

Main picture credit Ruth Saxton