In this candid interview, Fra Fee and Martin Sherman share insights into I’ll Be Seeing You, Sherman’s imaginative new play about Liberace, told through the eyes of a young playwright. The production, directed by Alan Cumming and Ben Occhipinti, features Simon Russell Beale as the flamboyant entertainer. Here, Fra and Martin discuss the play’s themes, their creative process, and what audiences can expect.
Harvey Morton: Fra, you’re stepping into the shoes of a young playwright grappling with how to tell someone else’s story. How much of your own experience as a performer trying to understand complex characters fed into this role?
Fra Fee: Every job you do, you have to figure out who that person is, and whatever investigative work you can do to unpack who they are is important. The blessing with this job is that I’m sat next to the writer. The play starts with me addressing the audience as the writer of the play about Liberace, and I don’t really know how to go about it. So, I’m sort of playing Martin Sherman himself, but also an invented young writer with issues woven into his biographical makeup. He’s a young gay man from the modern world, with issues common among young gay men today and queer culture. There was lots to draw from. Having the writer in the room has been a gift.
Harvey Morton: Martin, Liberace lived in a time when being your authentic self could cost you everything. What drew you to explore his story now, and what do you think he would make of the world we’re living in today?
Martin Sherman: I can’t imagine what he’d make of the world. I think he’d be excited and shocked, approving and disapproving in equal measure because he was so much of his time. I was fascinated and wanted to understand him, especially from today’s point of view. It was hard to understand why he lived his life the way he did or his public presentation. Writing the play helped me understand him and made peace with him, which was nice.
Harvey Morton: Fra, did anything surprise you when Liberace started talking back to your character in the play?
Fra Fee: I was sent the play over a year ago. Alan Cumming met me in London and really wanted me to be part of this season. The script was intriguing. Theatre has the capacity to do whatever you want, it’s different from cinema. It’s a fantasy, totally imaginative. Whenever the writer addresses Liberace, it’s like a fever dream inside the writer’s mind. Anything goes, which makes for brilliant theatre because you can ask Liberace questions he never answered in real life. The most public encounter he had with his sexuality was a famous court case, but in this play, I get to interrogate Simon Russell Beale as Liberace in ways that never happened. It’s fascinating. It reminded me of Peter and Alice, a play about the real-life encounter between the inspirations for Peter Pan and Alice, where the words exchanged are known but not what was really said. This play has a similar magical, imaginative quality.
Harvey Morton: Martin, you’ve written about denial and truth throughout your career, but this play seems to ask whether living flamboyantly, even if not openly, was its own form of truth. Is that right?
Martin Sherman: That’s a good question. I didn’t have an agenda or a plan when I wrote it. It all became a surprise to me as I went along. This play is not a thesis.
Harvey Morton: Fra, your character believes Liberace lived in denial, hiding behind sequins and spectacle. Does he still believe that by the end of the play, or does something else happen?
Fra Fee: I won’t give away the ending because it’s amazing. I see myself reflected in this young writer. His opinions are shared among many gay people, both my generation and Simon’s. It’s compounded with the extravagance and music. There’s an argument that it’s not particularly tasteful, but ultimately the play is a celebration of Liberace. Whatever prejudices you have, consciously or not, you have to appreciate that this man lived expressively, creatively, and unashamedly. His performance was maybe as close to drag as you could imagine back then, brazen and brilliant. Part of me wishes I had that level of confidence to express myself so colorfully. The writer in the play is educated by Liberace and learns a lot about him, and I find myself learning too. He’s a man to be celebrated.
Martin Sherman: I agree. Liberace comes out of this play far better than anyone, including me, would have expected.
Harvey Morton: Did you both have any assumptions about the project that were challenged during rehearsals or while writing?
Martin Sherman: Things do change in production, and that’s important. I wrote the play about nine years ago, so I don’t remember everything. The rehearsal process has been wonderful and positive. Nothing has been challenged negatively; it’s grown and grown, which is what should happen.
Fra Fee: For a play as wild as this, Alan Cumming’s ever-expanding imagination is perfect. It’s such a perfect match.
Martin Sherman: Absolutely. Alan’s free-flowing imagination is perfect. I was worried the company might take it too seriously or literally and not go with the surreal subconscious impulses of my writing, but that hasn’t happened. Everyone is comfortably on board and flying with it, thanks to Alan’s spirit.
Fra Fee: Alan has encouraged us not to approach this play like others. It’s different. Much of it is the subconscious of the writer characterized on stage. It’s so free, which has been liberating to get rid of the rulebook and be playful and inventive. It’s a perfect match for Alan at the theatre.
Harvey Morton: If Liberace could see this production, what do you hope he’d feel? Vindicated, understood, or just enjoy the spectacle?
Martin Sherman: It’s a lot of fun, so I think he’d enjoy it. He’d be very chuffed to have Simon Russell Beale playing him. That would appeal to his ego enormously. I imagine him running around backstage chasing frogs.
Fra Fee: It would be a win-win. This is a celebration of the man for sure. He’d be thrilled and probably want to play himself at some stage.
Martin Sherman: He would certainly want to come on stage at the end.
I’ll Be Seeing You is playing at The Pitlochry Festival Theatre until 11 October. For tickets and more information, visit Pitlochry Festival Theatre.