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John Thane with fellow writers Scilla Fernandez and Lisette Baruch |
John’s big night out a triumph
Former parking chief turns playwright
FOR many years John Thane was a sort of panto villain of parking fines, a chief councillor who was never far from drama at the Town Hall.
As Camden’s environment chief, the only lines he would worry about would be the yellow ones on the roads.
But since he was ousted from office last May, Mr Thane has swapped parking controversy for the make-believe of the theatre, spending most days writing plays and working on lines of his own.
And his long-held dream of seeing one of his dramas hit the stage became a reality on Sunday night when his short work No Entry was unveiled to a sell-out audience at the Hen and Chickens theatre in Highbury, Islington.
Mr Thane said: “I’ve written bits and pieces over the years but this is the one that has been developed furthest.”
He had invited his old Labour party friends and colleagues along to join in the first night excitement but there were few recognisable faces at the theatre – apart from the notable exception of Labour councillor Geethika Jayatilaka and her husband Raj Chada, the former council leader who was voted out of the Town Hall on the same night as Mr Thane last year.
Yet Mr Thane could not be upset at the turnout – every seat for Monday’s performance was sold out as well. In fact, so many people wanted to see his play that Mr Thane gave up his own seat and waited in the bar downstairs for feedback.
No Entry may sound like it harks back to a strict traffic policy but it is actually a story of a man who returns to his childhood home in Scotland after the death of his mother.
Mr Thane said he first got truly acquainted with the Highlands when he retreated there in 1992 after Labour’s catastrophic general election defeat.
Mr Thane said: “The play started life as an exercise for the course I was on. In its development it was meant to be a parable of the middle East but I don’t think it can be called that in its finished state. This is the first play to be performed. It is hard. We’ve had to put it on on a Sunday and Monday, which are usually dead nights for theatre.”
He lost his Highgate seat in last year’s elections.
The figurehead of Camden’s parking polices, his face was even mocked-up as a pirate during a protest by demonstrating taxi drivers last year.
Mr Thane said: “I’ve thought about doing a play about local government. Nobody has done it properly before. I’ve been writing one. There is a not very nice journalist in it called Ratcliffe – he is known as The Rat.”
Mr Chada described the show as “superb” and “thought-provoking” afterwards.
He added: “We always knew he had an amazing intellect.”
Mr Thane shared the bill with two other writers, Scilla Fernandez and Lisette Baruch, both part of the Bonnington Group, an evening class formed to give older writers the chance to shine.
Ms Fernandez said: “When there are competitions for new writers, there is an emphasis on finding young writers. We are not against young writers but there are older writers too that have something to offer.”
The group’s next project will be at the former home of actress Ellen Terry in Kent and will include another play by Mr Thane.
Director Karen Tomlin, from the London Bubble Theatre, said the writing was of “high quality”, while actor JD Kelleher added: “Maybe older writers are not so precious about how it should look. Younger writers can be a little too precious.”
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