3 MINUTES WITH... Naughty Corner Productions

Naughty Corner Productions was founded by Mike Dickinson at Edge Hill University several years ago, named after a lecturer described Mike and his group of friends as the “naughty corner” because, they were the “group that weren’t turning up to lectures, but doing dead good at the practical stuff.”

Their new play, Bob the Russian is set around the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and has it's second preview in Salford's Footlights Theatre tonight.

Taking their first piece, Mike’s dissertation The Bastard Queen, to Edinburgh Fringe Festival just months after they graduated was a scary and intimidating experience.

“It wasn’t doing very well - we’d only have like 6 people turn up a night,” Mike explains. That was until the company won a Sunday Times National Theatre Award, which began Naughty Corner’s rocket to Edinburgh success. They beat out, Mike reminds me, 93 other shows, to win that accolade.

Adam Nicholls is a principle cast member, who has joined Naughty Corner on almost every production. In Bob the Russian, he plays Lyles Larue. Adam, laughing, says it went “better than expected.”

“It’s a preview, so you never know if you’re making something just you find funny. But we got a standing ovation, so yeah,” Mike agrees.

Describing working with his cast, the director explained:

“It’s got a script, but it’s been forgotten really. We follow the plot but everyone throws in their own lines. No one runs away with it too much; we all know when something works or not."

Whilst much of the cast has worked with Mike for a long time, some had done little professional works before. For Liam Powell Bury, who plays Demon, Bob was his first major acting role.

“First time I’ve ever done this. I’ve done stuff in Uni, but this has been great," he explains.

He tells me he just got the part through an audition, before Mike steps in to big up Liam’s credentials:

“He was assigned to another role first, just in the ensemble but then we had to recast the role of Demon and Liam auditioned and it was his straight away. You would never think it was his first one.”

Taking Bob to Edinburgh later this year will be Naughty Corner’s fifth visit to the historic festival.

“The best experience so far was a couple years ago, when we did Not the Horse. We sold out every night – and you just don’t do that there. There’s so much going on! By 2pm every day I’d check the tickets and we’d be sold out, but we’d still be on the mile flyering. We’d keep going, we’d hype it so much that if people can’t get in that night they have to come the next night! We had people who couldn’t get in the whole month.” If there’s one thing about Bob, it’s certainly topical.

“Obviously with the world cup and what’s gone on, people will see it as ‘oh, they’ve just quickly tried to cash in.’ It was written this year but storyboarded two years ago – when the Euros had just finished, because the English and Russian fans were rioting then. I saw the next one was there and I thought it shouldn’t be anywhere near that country. This play is a statement disguised as a comedy.”

Mike tells me there’s a twist at the end of most of Naughty Corner’s work – and the cast immediately chime in to confirm Bob's as the funniest yet.

“I read the end and burst out laughing,” Adam Nicholls explains, before remembering the ending and, right on que, spitting water all over his castmates.

Dan Hubbard is the youngest in the cast, scouted from a sixth form performance after Mike helped to cover a lesson.

“It’s been really weird. I watched Not the Horse and had to write a review for it for A Levels, then since that I’ve seen every other show. It’s weird, brilliant experience now working with everyone and being in it.”

After we wrap up the interview, I get to watch the crew rehearse. The team work around some disadvantages – there’s nowhere to mount a projector, and no remote to control it – with ease. To say any more would be to spoil what is set to be a laugh out loud performance.

Tickets for Bob are still available. The play takes to Salford's footlights Theatre tonight at 7:30PM..

#naughtycorner #edinburghfringe #salford #theatre