Listen to acclaimed playwright and author of Learning German (badly) Tim Luscombe, as he discusses European identity, Brexit and Eurovision.
Tim Luscombe grew up in the Surrey suburbs near Epsom. He left to study Geography at Oxford and quickly realised that he could get by without doing any work until third year. Consequently, he spent most of his degree directing plays before finally getting round to some studying in the last three months. After leaving university, Tim took part in the Old Vic directing attachment. He credits this as being a formative experience in which he learnt to reach out to everyone around you in order to fulfil your creative endeavours. Since then he has gone on to write and direct many successful productions and co-founded a gay theatre company which has worked with many famous actors, including Jude Law.
Identity is central to Tim’s work, whether national, gay or European. In particular the idea of common identity. Do these groups have a common identity? And if so, what is this common identity and how does it bring people together? Much of Tim’s work on this has been examined through the lens of Eurovision, which Tim loves for its campness, European-ness and politics. More recently, Brexit has become the leitmotif of Tim’s work. His book, Learning German (badly) (Claret Press; 2019), humorously examines the interactions of a group of people from across the world as they attempt to pass their German citizenship exams.
In this podcast, Katie and Tim discuss Europe in the wake of the Brexit referendum. They debate what it means to be European and whether it is an economic or social institution. They also talk about the role of failure in the creative process and how to develop the resilience needed to succeed in this industry.
Tim's website: https://www.timluscombe.com/
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