‘Grief, connection, love and sex are universal,’ says theatre producer Olivia Lindsay
Conversations After Sex at Park Theatre is a dark but funny tale of one woman's grief
Louisa Walters is Features Editor at the Jewish News and specialises in food and travel writing
Olivia Lindsay (29), artistic director of Yeah You productions, is producing and acting in Conversations After Sex, the new show at Park Theatre. We caught up with her for a quick-fire Q&A.
What made you chose this work by Mark O’Halloran?
I was looking for something that was honest and real and exciting. I read three pages of this script and I knew it was wow.
Brief outline of the story?
It’s about a woman who has lost two very important people in her life, and she is grieving through having post-coital conversations with lots of different men. It’s basically snippets of those conversations, and essentially the need for connection on both parts. They’re all different men, all different kind of conversations. And they both get something from these conversations, whether it’s meaningful or not. You watch her navigate her grief in a messy, real, raw, heartbreaking but beautifully funny way.
And what about this touched you so much?
Grief, connection, love and sex are universal. The story is written so beautifully that what touched me was the authenticity of how the characters have been written. I think it’s essential that strong female leads are being brought to life. We need this more than ever, especially in theatre today. And I think this play demonstrates a woman who isn’t a victim and isn’t trying to gain anything from anyone. She’s just living her truth, and she’s being who she is, and there’s no judgment around what she’s doing.
Is it interesting to you as a female to see that a male has written such a role?
It’s so rare that you see work where you feel ‘this is what it is to be a woman’. In so many storylines it’s like, oh, and the man fixed her at the end. I think this is the first time where I’ve read a female role and thought ‘this is a strong woman’. She’s trying to navigate her grief, and yes, sometimes it’s messy. She’s drinking and she’s doing drugs and she’s meeting lots of men and having lots of sex, but that’s okay – that’s how she’s grieving. People grieve in different ways. He’s written her as a clever, funny, witty woman, and she might be navigating herself in dangerous ways at times, but that’s real. She’s not ashamed. The narrative for a long time has been men can sleep around and get no flak for it but women can’t.
How does being Jewish influence your work?
I’m an upcoming producer and actor and I strongly stand by being Jewish. I think it’s so important to be a Jewish voice and make and tell Jewish stories, which I’d like to do in the future. It’s important that people see people like me working and creating work and knowing that I am Jewish. There are so many inspiring Jewish creators [she references Sonia Friedman] and being a female Jewish producer and actor, I think you hold a lot of responsibility with that. I hope people can look at me, my company and what we’re doing and think, ‘Oh, that’s really cool, and that’s an amazing piece of work they made that represents our culture’.
Why did you set up your own production company?
I grew up in north west London and I went to drama school and trained as an actor. But the opportunities I wanted weren’t coming my way and I thought I can sit here and wait, or I can create work that inspires me and the stories I want to hear. I took the leap and founded Ye You Productions in 2023. Conversations After Sex is our first full production.
Best thing about the show?
Well let’s be honest – the title is a seller!
Conversations After Sex is at Park Theatre from 30 April to 17 May. parktheatre.co.uk
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