Why Glenn's got first night nerves before play opens
Style journalist Glenn Waldron swaps the world of fashion houses for a Plymouth terraced home as the setting of his debut play.
He returns to the city in which he grew up to present black comedy Forever House next week.
The story follows three sets of two people – they aren't necessarily couples – over 13 years.
"It is exploring their relationship in that house and with Plymouth," says Glenn. "And it explores a dark event in that house and the repercussions and ripples."
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Glenn's usual habitats are east London (home) and style and culture (work).
He edited fashion and art magazine i-D (2005-06) and has written for a range of influential publications, including Vogue, wallpaper, The New York Times and The Guardian.
Why step out of that world and back to Plymouth?
"I was thinking about the relationship with my home and the feelings for the city I was brought up in," says the 31-year-old.
Glenn was born in Exeter but the family moved to Plymouth when he was young. He went to Montpelier Primary and Plymouth College.
"I am quite obsessed with property and I guess it is also about finding a place where you belong."
Glenn completed his education with a degree in English at Nottingham University and his current work includes teaching journalism at the London College of fashion.
"Through my 20s I wrote bits of fiction. I moved to Berlin for a year in my mid-20s and grandly announced that I was going to write a novel. I came back with a couple of A4 sheets of paper but not much else.
"I started thinking about writing for theatre a couple of years ago and started going to a lot of theatre.
"As a journalist you are dealing with dialogue and you develop quite an ear for how people talk.
"I couldn't say it comes naturally, but it was something that I could do."
Glenn was hesitant about sending the work to the Theatre Royal – "I was unsure how they would react to a piece that explores Plymouth negatively and positively" – but instead chose Paines Plough.
The touring company that specialises in new work sent the play on to the Theatre Royal and Glenn got a call out of the blue from Simon Stokes, artist director of the city venue, saying he wanted to put the piece on.
"It's been a wonderful experience, quite strange seeing words that you have written come to life on a stage, and quite humbling," says Glenn.
"I have tried to stand back (during rehearsals). You have to trust that they will do something interesting, even if it is slightly different to my original. You have to let go."
Glenn is busy on his next work even before his debut play has its premiere.
But he admits to suffering from first-night butterflies.
"I am quite nervous about the audience reaction," he says, unsure whether theatregoers will feel at home with Forever House and his feelings about the city.
Forever House is at the Drum, Theatre Royal Plymouth from next Thursday to Saturday, April 6.
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