Lorna Rose Treen has fast become one of the most exciting voices in British comedy, turning eccentric characters and surreal worlds into sell-out hits. Following her award-winning debut Skin Pigeon, she returns to Soho Theatre with 24 Hour Diner People, a joy-fuelled, nonsense-soaked show set in a time-warped American diner. With rave reviews, a sold-out Fringe, and a BBC Radio 4 parody series under her belt, Treen’s comedy is as bold as it is absurd. To dive deeper into her creative process and world-building, we caught up with Lorna Rose Treen for an interview.
24 Hour Diner People is set in a surreal, time-warped diner. What first sparked the idea of creating a whole world around this setting?
I think I was losing my mind a bit with the grimness of the world. I wanted to dissolve into that 80s and 90s TV nostalgia and live there for a while – especially as it doesn’t feel especially joyful to visit the real America right now as a woman. I thought a diner would be a really fun holding for lots of weird characters because it is so transitional and liminal. So many people entering and leaving, hanging around, running away and being lost.
Your show is packed with eccentric characters. How do you go about developing them, and do you ever discover new ones mid-performance?
I normally start physically – so with a voice or a costume, or improvising to music, and then I build out from there! I think performing first and improvising on my feet, rather than sitting at my laptop staring at a blank page, means I have to follow my instincts and makes the character funnier and more connected to me – rather than it just being an idea.
After your sold-out Fringe run and glowing reviews, how does it feel to bring 24 Hour Diner People back to Soho Theatre?
I am SO excited – I’ve never played the main house before, and for a WHOLE WEEK I think it must be an administration error?? We are making the show bigger and better and stupider than ever before – I can’t wait for more people to see it. I think something like 3000 people saw it in fringe??? Let’s triple that! (I don’t know what the capacity of Soho is but people can sit in the corridor if they want???) Let’s triple that!
You’ve said you love creating “weird women.” What draws you to these characters, and how do they challenge traditional comedy tropes?
For so many years women have been in supporting roles – or their role is always pre-fixed with ‘woman’. Like she’s the wife of the lead, or the female cop, etc. So I wanted to centre the characters from these films and tropes I’m parodying who shouldn’t be centred. I wanted to play the background waitress, a woman trucker, the nerdy kid sister.
I love women and I am a proud female freak, and I want people to feel happy to be their weird selves, especially women.
From winning Dave’s Best Joke of the Fringe to Chortle’s Best Alternative Act, awards seem to follow you. Do they shape how you approach new material, or do you tune them out?
Obviously it is so nice to be recognised and I love all my awards and I DO have a shelf, thank you for asking, and yes I would love more (I love trinkets!), but also it is ultimately so silly giving prizes for stupidity – I don’t let it change my work and I don’t chase them. I try to tune them out. I’m trained as a clown (sorryyyY!!!) so I really love that philosophy that you need to separate all external validation from the work itself. What are you practically doing in the room to make people laugh – that’s the only thing that’s really real. I actually say to myself before every gig “this could be the worst gig of your liffe, or the ebay gig of your life” and that humbles me.
You’re also co-creator of Time of the Week on BBC Radio 4. How does writing for audio comedy differ from building a live, visually surreal world on stage?
It is so nice writing for ears instead of eyes because it is such a good limitation, and I love working with limitations. You can do such huge silly things on radio because it doesn’t cost anything. I love doing satire on it because you can just sell something really hard as a fact and people have to go along with it. It’s why we cast so many very talented serious actors in it, because we really want to trick people into thinking it is a real news programme.
Many of your influences get compared to French & Saunders or Victoria Wood. Who inspires your comedy today, and how do you keep your voice distinctly your own?
My biggest influences are my 9-year-old niece, the wobbly long air things that stand outside car garages, and cartoons. I wish I was a cartoon. Sometimes my director has to tell me to stop being so 2D because I am a human and not a cartoon. I do love French and Saunders, especially Ab Fab, and I also love Tina Fey (who came to my show during fringe and I cried 3 times with joy!) and Amy Pohler, Rik Mayall and the 80s alt scene, (my dad would show me VHS’s he recorded of the TV, Pappys and I am blessed with the most inspirational contemporaries: like Frankie Thompson, Tarot, and Sam Nicoresti.
Audiences are in for a mix of chaos, absurdity, and sharp jokes at 24 Hour Diner People. What do you hope they carry with them when they leave the diner?
I hope they feel like they’re wasted an hour of their lives but in a beautiful nonsense nonsense-consuming way! Like an hour scrolling vid,eos on your phone except hopefully with less arm cramp and more human connection.
xxx
Lorna-Rose Treen will be performing 24 Hour Diner People at Soho Theatre from 8th-13th September. Tickets available HERE.