When writing Thomus, Ash Jones drew inspiration from David Lynch films. Below he shares more about his approach, and what about the psycho-thriller genre appeals to him.
Lynch uses dream-logic and deviates from realism to describe the inner space of his characters. He tries to describe a sort of spirit-realm, something a tad removed from physical life. I also have made choices in the writing and the staging to lift the world slightly out of naturalism. All these things could happen in the real world, but there's something about the way they look, the way they pan out, that feels surreal. I use the stage ninjas in a way to confuse performance rules and boundaries. Sometimes the stage ninjas may even react to things that are being said like their characters might. Are they neutral? Are the characters themselves putting on this play?
David Lynch encourages interesting performances from his actors. It is not so much about doing a convincing performance as it is an effecting one. He seems to encourage the pushing of characterization to levels that are almost comical. I got a lot of inspiration from Lynch films for the sound design too. He uses tones. He also takes normal sound and changes it in subtle ways like slowing it down slightly to make things feel slightly off. Psycho thrillers often use strange sounds. They also use low light or side light as you will see in our production. There’s beauty and mystery in darkness. Check out one of Ash's favourite David Lynch clips, a scene from Twin Peaks: |
Writing activity
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