Research

The play is set in a mid-20th-century, small Missouri ‘Bible Belt’ town, which suggests that people are deeply religious, and judge non-believers.

Key themes include social isolation and disability, seen in characters such as Eva Jackson, who is labelled as different throughout her life and rejected by both her mother and society. Lanford Wilson demonstrates how characters distort truth under the influence of prejudice, judgment, and generational divides. Through the social and political context of the play, I examined economics and industry within the fictional town of Eldritch. The town is presented as economically depleted after the departure of miners, as Mary states in Act 1, “they raped the land and moved away.” This reinforces an atmosphere of stagnation and social malaise, where a once-thriving community is reduced to gossip, hypocrisy, and moral judgment.

The courtroom structure functions as a social court of opinion, revealing how the town collectively avoids responsibility by blaming the outsider Skelly Mannor. Characters choose denial over confronting the truth, reinforcing Skelly’s exclusion. Although first produced in 1966, themes such as unemployment, loss of community, and out-migration remain relevant today, as social exclusion and gossip persist in many communities. The play ultimately highlights collective responsibility and the ethical consequences of how people treat their neighbours.

The play was originally staged at the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York City, an off-off-Broadway venue known for experimental, actor-driven and socially questioning theatre. Lanford Wilson was a central figure in the movement, which reacted against Broadway commercialism through artistic freedom, non-linear storytelling and social realism. The Rimers of Eldritch became one of Wilson’s breakthrough works due to its fragmented dialogue and small-town realism. As noted in contemporary press coverage, “The Rimers of Eldritch was first produced off-off-Broadway and helped Wilson transition into broader professional theatre visibility” (University of Missouri Libraries, n.d.). Contemporary productions often take place in intimate spaces with flexible staging, reflecting the play’s stylistic evolution from minimalist realism toward immersive and symbolic forms. This I was keen to explore.

After being introduced to our director, Jessica Millward, the next part of my research concentrated on her background, training, credits, artistic focus and interest. Jessica is based in Sheffield and works with Sheffield Theatres. Her professional biography notes that she “originally trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA)” (Sheffield Theatres, n.d.).

The play is heavily surrounded by difficult topics and injustice. Jessica’s artistic interests suited this, with her practice exploring “how darker themes can be approached through comedy and surreal undertones” (Sheffield Theatres, n.d.). Which, during the final performance, Jessica incorporated. I knew this had been received via the positive feedback from the audience – the room was filled with laughter.
Additionally, as Jessica studied as an actor, she was approachable, kind and supportive. She talked often of the actors’ experience and trusted our character work while also valuing the dynamic of our ensemble. Studying Jessica helped me to understand that she is a qualified director for our project, with a fresh view and interesting ideas. I was inspired to start the project and work under Jessica’s guidance.

The audition process was arranged in the first week of the rehearsals. We had three days to choose and prepare a character and a scene from the audition scenes Jessica had selected. The first character to catch my attention was Patsy Johnson – a stubborn teenage girl, furious at living in “this ghost town”. I have played similar roles in the past, so this was a comfortable decision. 

At the end of the audition, I was, however, cast as Cora, one of the outsiders, and as Dramatic Combat Captain. Cora was more mature, sincere and empathetic than Patsy. So I knew that I’d have to work on the challenge of playing someone older than me.

Character research and development

Cora Groves is the owner of a café on the highway – Hilltop. After her husband leaves her, she hires a young man who she wants to start a life with he doesn’t want commitment. 

I made a document with 50 Adjectives about Cora to help me with her description and which emotional states she is in throughout the play. These included: wise, trapped, left, disappointed, betrayed…

Jessica asked us to choose 10 descriptive words, half are relatable to me, and the other half are opposite. This way, I found similarities with Cora, despite her being distinctly different to me. Cora, as a character, and I are both driven and independent; therefore, it was interesting to play such a powerful character with strong beliefs in justice. However, our age difference was a challenge in playing Cora. 

I created and answered a list of questions based on Stanislavski Technique, such as: Given Circumstances, Objectives and Super-Objectives, Unbroken Line of Action, the magic if, subtext, circles of attention, and adaptation. I used Laban Language to explore the physicality of Cora: Internal Effort-Press and External-Dab. The centre of weight was heavy in the hips, and the speed was medium. I wanted to be different in physicality from myself, so I also used animal study and researched ostriches’ upper body movement and how they divide their neck and head from the rest of their body. Within my animal and anthropomorphic research, Ewan and Green emphasise that actors should explore “the way a character operates in the world: the motivation for movement, the rhythm of life and the way it sees the world,” using these insights to shape physical behaviour and perceptual focus in performance.

Jess also led an imagery exercise where we had an opportunity to draw our character and imagine that they stood in front of us. This exercise helped me reflect on Cora’s physical abilities based on her external characteristics. For instance, if she had a long neck, it would take her time to turn her head to the side. 

Dramatic combat

I was excited by the opportunity to take on the role of Dramatic Combat Captain, as I have several years of experience in Karate, Mixed Martial Arts and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Having previously studied dramatic combat with Kenan Ali, I was able to combine my martial arts training with the safety and technical principles required for stage combat. I worked collaboratively with Jessica to choreograph scenes involving stage combat and other potentially hazardous physical action. My primary aim was to create believable moments of violence while ensuring performer safety through controlled illusion. This included detailed work on safe distance, reactions, breakfalls, control and non-contact techniques. As Barry (Barry 2012) states, stage combat does not seek to portray real violence, but rather to communicate emotional and narrative stakes through controlled physical action.

During the rehearsal period, I worked individually with actors to practise fights, observe sequences from multiple audience perspectives, and offer feedback. One key challenge was choreographing a slap in the scene “Josh pushes his luck” (Unit 50, Act 2, p. 54). As the production used traverse staging, careful positioning was required to ensure the illusion of contact remained convincing from both sides. By re-staging the action so the characters faced each other vertically rather than horizontally, the slap appeared realistic without physical contact. Audience feedback confirmed the moment was effective.

My approach was also influenced by the 2011 National Theatre production of Frankenstein, directed by Danny Boyle, particularly its use of immersive audience interaction. This inspired the “Baaa Skelly” scene (Act 1, p. 14), originally included throwing stones. It was a challenge due to the production’s minimal use of props. We adapted the idea by having characters physically push Skelly around the space, treating him almost like a toy to heighten the traumatic impact and generate empathy from the audience.

Accent

I had a meeting with Accent Coach Jess Corner, and it was decided that I had to do a General American Accent with a “sprinkle” of Southern American. General Notes from Jess were: To focus on the tapped-t, LOT vowels, “Coffee” as ‘caffee’, consistent rhoticity… In order to apply the accent in the right way, I recorded Jess ‘ voice and annotated every line. I reflected on the speed of my performance and pronunciation. I recorded my performance and watched it back; this method of reflection helped me to observe myself objectively. I practised my accent every day, as well as watched American podcasts, television and studied the accent in the Accents book. Jess Corner and Jo Clark both attended our rehearsal midway to our performance and gave me feedback that I took notes on the accent, but still needed to slow speech speed and emphasise sentences. I practised these notes every day up till the performance itself.

Evaluation of the performance

During the second marked performance, my scene partner forgot the line, and it was a challenge to adapt and continue acting. The dialogue was structured so that each line was codependent to drive emotional truth and maintain the unbroken line of action. I couldn’t think of an alternative, therefore decided to give the partner some space. Evaluating it now, I realised that even with codependent lines in future projects, I would change a line into a statement and try to help out my scene partner.