Fresh from being part of The Divine’s recent Anthony & Cleopatra production, writer/actor Alexis Gregory is departing for The King’s Head Theatre this November with his latest one-man show, Smoke.
Playing with both comedic moments and darker themes, Smoke is a tale of online obsession. We spoke with Alexis about his latest work and how some things are better kept private.
Alexis, You’re coming from the production of Anthony & Cleopatra to Smoke. What similarities do you see between the plays or the characters you are portraying?
Hi Loverboy. Interesting question. Initially I wouldn’t have seen any similarities, and I don’t think there is between my characters; Charmian in ‘Antony & Cleopatra; A Dream of Passion’, Cleopatra’s right hand person, and Alex; my character in ‘Smoke’. However, now you mention, there is some cross-over in theme and sensibilities. Both pieces explore a queer, specifically gay male, experience, and elements of our collective psyches.
When did the concept of Smoke come to you? Was there an incident in your life that brought it out?
The essence of ‘Smoke’ is based on my own experiences, and what I have observed on the queer scene, or gay scene as it was called then, over the last thirty years; this isn’t my first time at the rodeo. I was struck by social media announcements of young gay men who’d passed away, and the assumptions we may make regarding this; that it is suicide, or drugs-related, or a cross-over of the two. I observed gay men sharing details of, or filming and uploading, their psychotic episodes. Again, as a queer person, making assumptions it’s drugs-related. As queers, we often just know. I also wondered what it would be like to receive a fake message from a profile of someone who had died. The day after I started considering this, I got exactly that; from a young gay man’s Insta profile, whose death had only been announced on social media a few weeks previously. This trigger is the basis of ‘Smoke’; Alex receives a message from his dead boyfriend’s account. I was also hacked last summer, and it was pretty brutal. They were clearly an organised gang, attempting to log into all my online accounts from, as indicated by the never-ending notifications, all over the world.
The show alludes to a hidden queer subculture. I wondered if you were able to go into any more details about this?
I think ‘Smoke’ explores a hidden, untold story, affecting a section of our community. I have not seen it told before. Just under ten years ago, there was a raft of chem-sex plays in London. Smoke is not about chem-sex, but chems, yes. As mentioned, I touch on drug-related deaths, or suicides, of young gay men. I haven’t seen this covered in this way much before. Yes, the existing troupe of the queer dying at the end of the play our film, but not drug-related, considering how prevalent drugs are in queer culture, and how they have been for decades. There are also online networks for ‘Targeted Individuals’ and people who believe they have been ‘gang-stalked’. This means they believe they are being followed by, for example the state, or an organised group. This is also explored in the piece. I really think ‘Smoke’ is a fast paced, hard-hitting, outrageously funny (yes) peak into a hidden queer world.
Smoke is packed with dark humour and suspense. How do you make sure the humour doesn’t de-escalate the tension? Or are you interested in increasing/decreasing the tension throughout?
Hopefully the tension does increase throughout, and sometimes it’s actually good to deescalate it. I use humour in all my work. I love playing comedy, and making audiences laugh. I aim for my work to elicit a real emotional response from the audience, entertain, surprise, provoke, and challenge the audience too. In all my shows, I use humour alongside all that. I don’t plan where it comes in the script, it just happens organically. I love creating that rollercoaster ride experience for an audience.
Smoke sounds like it’s at the darker end of the spectrum for your productions. There’s been a lot of talk about ‘Trigger warnings’ outside shows at the moment and I wondered what your take on this was?
I am pro-trigger warmings, and I wrote my own for Smoke. I have a responsibility to my audience. Also to other people working on the show who may read the script. These are very challenging times for many of us, and people should be able to make an informed decision about what they see, and engage with. If people are lucky enough to not need Trigger Warnings, and worried about ruining the element of surprise….just don’t read the TW’s, darlings.
It says this show is your most honest piece yet. We’ve recently had Dua Lipa saying she prefers to not sing about personal things and keep her lyrics more general. I wondered how you felt about this dynamic of real life inspiring art and consequently sharing your personal life and whether you feel pressure to reveal more and more in the name of art?
Everyone is different, but I am a very private person, and I never share anything about my personal life anywhere. Yes, I am saying ‘Smoke’ is an honest show, and based on my experiences, and what I have observed, but it is ‘contained’, and wrapped up in the piece, and I mean ‘honest’ in a wider sense. I do lots of interviews like this, and it would be very easy to share the terrible things that have happened to me, but I don’t. If you give everything away of yourself, eventually there’ll be nothing left.
You’re working with Film and Theatre Director Campbell X. How did you come to meet and why did you decide Smoke would be the project to collaborate on?
I absolutely adore Campbell, and I am so pleased to have him on this one. I first met Campbell at the BFI after a screening of his astonishing 2012 feature ‘Stud Life’, which blew my gay mind. An actor; Kyle Treslove, who was in the film, and who I’d worked with previously, told Campbell about me, and vice versa. Campbell beckoned me across a crowded room after the screening. There are not many people I cross a room for with a ‘you boy, come here’ gesture, but I am glad I did for Campbell. Campbell is, as far as I am concerned, one of the world’s leading queer artists. ‘Smoke’ is about being a man, being queer, and being an outsider. I knew Campbell inherently understood that, and from our earliest conversations about the piece, before a script even existed, Campbell just got it. Campbell and I have been working on this, on and off, since 2022. The arts funding situation for independent artists in the UK is dire at the moment, so I’m self-funding, and Campbell and I are ploughing ahead. Please come and see the piece, and support grassroots queer artists.
Smoke deals with the concept of being hacked on social media. I find that I am forever connected to social media for work, but for the sake of my mental health I also need to disconnect. How do you keep this balance?
It’s hard. I definitely think social media has negatively affected my attention span, which has in turn affected how I work, and engage with friends. I find it addictive, compulsive, and it’s so easy to waste time on it.
This sounds like a very psychological role. What have you learned from playing this character? What part of them will stay with you as Alexis?
I think Alex is a bit of a gay anti-hero. There is a bit of Alex in me already; I remember an actor friend telling me, years ago, that all characters, are in all of us, already. Maybe there is a bit of Alex in some of the audience too. If you’ve ever felt pushed to edge, maybe you will relate to Alex. I worked really hard on the script, with some assistance from Campbell, and Rikki Beadle-Blair, but I didn’t find it difficult to channel Alex to do so. I understood him already. Of course, I will understand him more as the rehearsal, and performance process continues. I first performed my solo piece ‘Riot Act’ in 2018, and I am still finding new things in it.
Lastly, we are named after the biggest selling single of 2001 so I would like to know, what would be your character’s favourite Mariah Carey song and why?
Alex, in ‘Smoke’, gets fixated on a certain someone, so I will say his fave Mariah track is ‘Obsessed’. Thank you for speaking to me, Loverboy. You always ask the best questions, and I’ll aways be your baby.
Smoke is on at King’s Head Theatre, London from 2-11 November.
Tickets available now via www.kingsheadtheatre.com
Photo: Tyler Kelly
