INFORMAL: INTERVIEW WITH CAMERON RAASDAL-MUNRO

INFORMAL - AN INTERVIEW SERIES

CAMERON RAASDAL-MUNRO

Cameron Raasdal-Munro is a playwright, actor and producer from Hastings. His debut show Gangsta Baby premiered at London's Kings Head Theatre in 2023 before playing at The Hope Theatre in early 2024 and is now transferring to Chicago later this year.

Gangsta Baby featured heavily in Pink Prince Theatre's Review of the Year 2024 winning Fringe Theatre Show of the Year, with Cameron himself winning both Actor of the Year (male identifying) and Writer of the Year.

I was overjoyed to hear of the upcoming transfer of the show and recently caught up with Cameron to chat about this amazing development: "It's a wild thing! I'm so excited. It's a similar space its played in before so it's really intimate, and Rikki (Beadle-Blair - the show's director) is coming over with me which is great."

I was interested to hear how the transfer had become a reality: "One of our producers Gary Riley-Mills came into my place of work and we got chatting and I said I was writing a play and he seemed interested. I sent him my play, he read it and then invited me to meet him and chat about it. He just really got the piece and he stayed in contact during the London run, gave me advice and then eventually came on board as a producer, becoming a really crucial part of the creative team. He then went over to Chicago and then I went over and did a reading of Gangsta Baby, which then led to a meeting with David Zak who is our producer and is CEO of Open Space Arts. He's been producing queer theatre in Chicago for decades and is such a fantastic collaborator, really getting both the piece and me as an artist. We've been working on it now for a year and I'm just really proud."

And his feelings about Chicago?: "I love Chicago as a city. There is a tremendous history of contemporary writing and shopfront theatre there and there is a fantastic community - and the people are just unbelievably kind."

I wondered what it was like to work alongside someone like Rikki Beadle-Blair: "The greatest advantage about having Rikki as a mentor is that you're always comfortable in every situation, because whatever situation I find myself in I always say to myself 'Rikki is here' even if he's not physically in the room! Because he's so much about his process and how he works with creatives. He's always about love and joy, enjoying what you do. He'd always remind me that my job was not only to tell the story but to welcome people into the space and make them feel safe through the story."

In an industry where queer stories are being shown and celebrated more and more, Gangsta Baby still stays with me after almost 18 months. Cameron's writing had a real honesty and vulnerability which is unparalleled: "For me as an artist it's always about my communities and as artistically as possible explaining how I was raised and the experiences I had as a working class queer person - having a parent incarcerated; growing up around criminality - and empathetically explaining that."

One thing I remembered most about it was walking into the space and the four actors being positioned around the audience in the four corners, instantly creating intrigue: "And that's what we wanted. We wanted you to step into the world as soon as you entered the theatre."

I'm keen to learn about Cameron's creative process: "As an artist I see every play as a sculpture or painting. My first drafts start with exactly what happened and then think about how I can artistically take the play forwards and grow it. I join truths together so that it's still authentic and speaks to people, but it's heightened because it's theatre and drama. It's a difficult note to hit because an audience can feel if they're not connected to something."

"When you're writing about different communities there's a real weight of responsibility, and that should be embraced, It has to be authentic and describe the truth of those communities. We see a lot of representation of queer people, but we always need more, but the authenticity of who I am is important. I always try and write for one person in the audience, build them and speak clearly to them. I write for that little queer kid in Hastings who doesn't feel seen and being authentic and clear with them - then everyone will connect. I always want to tell my stories the way it needs to be told, not the way I feel it should be told."

It's fantastic that this play gives a voice to the very underrepresented trans community. With all the negativity and hatefulness thrown towards this community in today's society it's so important to share these stories: "I had someone that was a vital part of my upbringing who was trans and seeing what he went through, and what my trans friends now are going through, the future is a scary one. This is why I will always write roles for trans people, and the step beyond that is to cast a trans man in a biological male role or a trans woman in a biological female role."

"These stories are really important. Trans people's rights are our rights and I fundamentally believe that as we step down trans rights we will step down rights for queer people, worker's rights, women's rights. We must all look after each other right now."

I asked Cameron about whether there had been changes made as the play crosses the Atlantic. Are there any elements that an American audience wouldn't understand?: "Yes and no! The changes that have been made have not been made to appease a different audience. Chicago theatre-goers are very intelligent. This is a British play going to America so we wanted to keep the authenticity of it being British and have kept all the colloquialisms. The only things that have changed, and I don't want to give anything away, are just changes to make the play better and to advance the story. There's no massive narrative changes but there are changes to some scenes because I felt I could do more with them. Also the political landscape has changed so much recently and there's so much to say right now. So the only changes are to elevate the script."

I wrote in my review of the show how socially important it feels and I can't wait to see how Gangtsa Baby grows from here: "This is an amazing opportunity for me and for the play. I feel like it will do well over in America but I really want to bring it back to London at some point too. This is my home and there's so many fantastic venues I'd like to take the show too."

Cameron's passion for his craft and his industry really comes across as he speaks and I could listen to him talk about theatre all day long: "We're so privileged to have such an amazing community of pub theatres in London and some of the pieces in them are exceptional. My lifelong mission is to become a master of my craft because I just love what we do. I love this industry so much."

GANGSTA BABY

Open Space Arts, Chicago, USA

Friday 19th September - Saturday 4th October 2025

>>> CLICK HERE FOR TICKETS <<<

You can read my full 5 star review of Gangsta Baby here

Interview conducted by Neill Kovacic-Clarke for Pink Prince Theatre on 30/04/25

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