Global mobility company director by day and enthusiastic artistic director by night, David Brady insists juggling his profession and his passion is worth the struggle.
David is currently at the helm of non-professional theatre company Proforça and its latest play, which premiered on Wednesday, grapples with millennial love in a crowded city.
Set in the lead-up to the 2016 general election and aimed at a millennial audience, Feel and spin-off Feel/More – directed by David and written by James Lewis – tell of the foibles of the modern dating world in London, where screens outnumber people and love is only a swipe away.
David, from Camberwell, said: “In London we walk past thousands of people all the time that we don’t know anything about.
“Playwright James wanted to explore the way relationships are formed in London, whether that be by chance encounters or through the guise of a dating app.
In a world of instant gratification and curated online profiles, where relationships are available on-tap with apps like Tinder, the play questions whether people and relationships are disposable.
David added: “I think everyone in London is searching for something – searching for relationships, love, fulfilment – and they want to find it quickly.
“London is the place to do all those things, but the reality of it is different to what people expect.
“All the characters in the play are flawed, but also funny, likable and relatable.”
The production works with early-career actors and writers, and David himself has a full-time job alongside his role as artistic director at Proforça Theatre Company.
When we asked him why he chose to work with non-professional creatives in Feel and Feel/More, he said: “There are so many brilliant actors doing fringe in London and they just don’t get seen.
“They don’t get opportunities because they don’t have the same way in as other people.
“If they haven’t been to drama school, or they haven’t got a spotlight profile, I see it as my responsibility to give them a platform to be seen through Proforça.”
David described the struggles of nurturing what he calls a “creative side-hustle” alongside a full-time job.
He said: “Actors are hustling every day doing bar jobs, nannying or temporary work, some really soul-destroying stuff so that they can follow their passion.”
David has taken two-weeks off his full-time job to direct the ten performances of Feel, from 20 March to 31 March at the Lion and Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town, but says that he approaches the production with the same professionalism as he would his day job.
So far, he’s had positive feedback on the play and it’s been selected for the 2018 Hertford Theatre Week in April, where it’ll be performed to 400 audience members.
On balancing his day job with his passion, he says: “It’s always great to have a creative side hustle – it makes you better at your day job and enriches your life.”
When asked what he’d be doing once the production finished, he said with a smile: “I’ll go back to my job and start pushing paper again!”
For tickets and production times see www.proforca.co.uk
Image credit: Nick Brittain
