Steve Furst[Missing Credit]
Steve:
I wanted Circle & Star to be open to Jewish stories at a time when some doors seem to be closing. I’m Jewish, and that mattered to me. But I wanted a story with universal themes too. This play is about family and death; its Jewish setting shapes the comedy, but those themes reach beyond it. When I read it, I thought it was perfectly suited to the space.
John: For many this will be the first encounter with Stimler’s work. How would you describe it?
Steve: It has a bit of Neil Simon, Mel Brooks and early Woody Allen. And quite a lot of Curb Your Enthusiasm. It has that Jewish comic voice we know and love. The family talks over one another constantly, as many families do.
John: Jewish dialogue is particular challenge, isn’t it?
Steve: It’s technically tricky: the interruptions need to feel real without obscuring the jokes or making the story hard to follow.
John: Could the play have a life beyond this run?
Steve: I hope so. It’s difficult to make a play work financially if it runs for only two weeks. We need to establish Circle and Star and become solvent enough to take risks. The play is about 60 or 70 minutes at the moment. It has two scenes—one in a funeral home and one at the graveside. But I can imagine it reaching 90 minutes, perhaps with a scene at the shiva. That’s an exciting possibility.
John: The Circle & Star is coming up to its first anniversary since you opened it. What kind of venue do you want it to be?
Steve: A producing space, not just a place for hire. We’ve been trying different kinds of events and seeing what works for us and for a Hampstead audience. Our Dark Matters season brings together work loosely connected by gothic horror. We also have Sleevenotes, album-listening evenings presented by journalist Jonathan Wingate, with live performance alongside the listening.
We want regular events that help people recognise us as an intimate artistic venue. We’re also planning a new-act night. It’s about trying different things and finding our identity.
John: But staging multi-character plays in a 55-seat venue is a different level of ambition.
Steve: We’re not trying to be an experimental new-writing house in the way that some larger venues can be. With only 55 seats, it’s hard to make the finances work, especially when you’re taking risks.
Our sweet spot may be working with established professionals who want to do something stripped back and intimate, but still have something relevant to say. We also want to produce more of our own work, and for that work to be varied.
John: How did you choose the name Circle and Star?
Steve: We wanted something unique and not tied to a particular location. We also needed a name without previous intellectual property attached to it. After a week of searching, Circle and Star felt memorable and looked right in a design. It has no special provenance; it’s deliberately innocuous and could work in different places.
David Boyle, Sue Kelvin, Leah Marks, Daniel Lipton and Shai Foster[Missing Credit]
John: How do you balance being an artistic director with acting?
Steve: It’s a constant negotiation with my agent. I can’t disappear for a year-long tour right now, though I might consider a shorter project if it were artistically worthwhile. Television is easier to fit in: I can work for a few days, come back, and keep the theatre going. It also pays enough that I don’t have to take money from the passion project. Justin (Bovinton), my creative partner, and I don’t take a penny out of Circle & Star.
John: You’re also returning to your Fagin show. What does that project mean to you?
Steve: I didn’t want my previous time playing Fagin to be the last. That led me to create a show about the character, and I’m glad I did. It lets me explore him and perform the songs, including a couple I’ve written. We’re looking at taking it beyond London, initially to cities such as Manchester, Glasgow and Leeds. The show examines the antisemitism in the novel, and I’m interested to see how audiences respond to that now.
Wits End is at the Circle & Star Theatre until November 22. Age recommendation 18+ witsend.circleandstar.live
