INFORMAL: INTERVIEW WITH NOCTIS THEATRE COMPANY

INFORMAL - AN INTERVIEW SERIES

NOCTIS THEATRE COMPANY

HELEN PERCIVAL - TORI SASS0-BRIGGS - MATTHIAS MORET - HARUN ĆEHOVIĆ

Noctis Theatre Company is an international theatre ensemble founded in 2022 by four artists from the US, Bosnia and Herzegovina, France, and the UK. The group met while studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in the MA Theatre Lab program, and is based in London.

The company focuses on creating new devised works that explore identity, migration, and the "bizarre beauty of being human".

The creatives officially incorporated as Noctis Theatre Company Ltd in the UK in 2025, and as well as having several new shows in development, are about to embark on a tour of the US with their show The Last Time I Saw Caileigh (TLTISC).

On a cold and rainy winter's day in London, I met with Helen Percival (HP), Tori Sasso-Briggs (TSB), Matthias Moret (MM), and Harun Ćehović (HĆ) in front of a roaring fire in the very room that the play was devised to discuss all things Caileigh, and honestly, I couldn't have found a nicer group of people to spend an afternoon with.

I loved how they all introduced themselves as co-founders, co-creators, and co-producers. This group really seems like a close knit family:

TSB - "That really speaks to who we are and how we do things. The most important thing to us is our relationship with each other."

HĆ - "When we initially started working together we didn't think about making a company, we were creating together because we had similar points of view of how we wanted to do theatre, but the friendship was there before that. It was almost a natural thing that made sense to form a company."

TSB - "We finally defined the relationship!" MM - "We did it the right way; we dated for two years before actually getting married!"

I wondered whether TLTISC was the first show they had worked on together. This was met with a unamimous "yes"!:

TSB - "Definitely the first official show. We all trained together so we had worked together and created a lot throughout the course, but this was the first complete show."

MM - "We did our final examination piece together, and after the course ended we still wanted to work together, and that final piece then grew into this show."

I am lucky enough to have seen this show back in 2024, but for those who haven't seen it yet I asked them to tell me what it's about:

TSB - "It's a story about non-binary visibility. The premise is that shortly after coming out as non-binary, Caileigh goes missing and the three people who are closest to them - their aunt, their best friend, and their boyfriend - gather because they've been told to wait for 48 hours until the police can do anything. They're trying to piece together the final days leading up to Caileigh's disappearance, and figure out what might have happened to them. We used the frame of a missing person case as a metaphor for feeling invisible when you don't feel seen by the people around you. Caileigh is missing literally, but also the version of Caileigh that each of these people know is gone, and they will never get that person back because they don't exist anymore."

HP - "Obviously this is about a non-binary person, but I think we can all relate in some way to people changing in our lives and becoming new versions of themselves. This is very much about a non-binary person, but it speaks on many different levels."

It's about how the reactions of others affect that person:

HĆ - "All of our characters bring elements of our own experiences, and when we started creating the show we realised that we all had a different starting point when talking about these topics. That was actually an advantage for us because it really opens the space for an audience that have different perspectives and opinions. It doesn't tell you what's right or wrong, but it kicks off conversations."

MM - "It reaches universally, and it's not meant to tell off or patronise anyone. It's very much a call for empathy and asks you to look at these people who don't understand each other."

What I took from the show when I saw it was that you could relate to each character, no matter what your personal views are. Even if you don't agree with a character, you can understand where they are coming from which is quite special:

HP - "That was really important for us. We talked a lot about not demonising people whilst also shining a light."

HĆ - "We know all of them too from our everyday lives"

TSB - "Something that's been surprising to us is that we thought our audience would be the LGBTQIA+ community, but actually what we found is that parents of queer people have been almost our number one demographic. I think it's because it's not about saying "look what you did wrong", it's about saying that we see the people that are coming face to face with these topics but not knowing how to respond because it's new to you. Something I think about a lot in terms of my own coming out journey is that when I come out to someone, I've had years to think about it and to figure out what it means to me, but this person is receiving the information for the first time, so I have to be gentle with their response to it."

MM - "I think we also wanted to portray three people who absolutely love Caileigh. When coming out, the external world and society can hurt you, but the people that hurt you the most can be the people that really love you and don't want to hurt you."

This is such a socially important piece of theatre, especially with what's happening in the world right now:

HĆ: "It felt relevant three years ago, but it feels even more relevant now, which is scary when you think about it."

To take this show to America right now feels extremely brave:

TSB - "We started planning this tour a year ago, and we're travelling to a lot of universities, independent regional theatres, and LGBTQIA+ community centres, and the plan was that the show would pay for itself due to the structure, but over the last year all of these organisations have had their funding cut - arts funding and any programming that has a queer perspective - so we had to sit down and have a conversation. Do we not do it if we can't get paid? Do we hit the grant applications hard? Do we fundraise through donors? We decided we were going to make it work because to not do it is the exact intention of those funding cuts. We had to find a way to make it work."

I wondered how the team thought the audiences would differ from the UK:

TSB - "I did a tour last summer of Twelfth Night and we're going to a lot of the same venues as I did on that tour. Twelfth Night is a queer piece of theatre and our production was very queer and the reaction was one of relief. They don't get to see stuff like this. We're going into these rural communities and making it as accessible as possible by fulfilling a need that's not being filled."

HĆ: "We've done the show in New York two times and we've had really good feedback. It was interesting to see how the audiences responded, but I feel we did well in America."

MM - "Even the two times we did it in America we noticed differences in responses. The first time was under Biden's administration and the second time was two weeks after Trump's inauguration and we could feel the room was way more electric and weighing heavier. This is what we've built this company for - reaching communities and having a positive impact on them. For our project to cross the ocean to tell these kids that they have every right to be who they are and feel how they feel is very touching. I feel we're giving back to the community and creating with purpose."

Representation is so important, and to see a character on stage you can identify with is such a freeing experience:

TSB - "When it comes to gender fluidity, it's still relatively new in terms of being talked about, and we don't have a lot of the language, so if we can be the people to help someone articulate their thoughts and feelings, that's really important"

MM - "And for these parents, families and friends who do not evolve in queer communities, they're not as familiar with using they/them pronouns, and they're learning these things and the fact that they're not alone in going through the 'I don't understand' phase".

Tori is the only one of the four that is physically going to America with the show, and although I'm sure they've got a great cast in place, I wondered how the other three felt about handing their characters over to someone else:

HP - "It's been such an emotional rollercoaster actually, which I hadn't braced myself for. We originally thought we were going to be able to go, but when we realised we couldn't and started getting submissions for the roles I suddenly, and you don't like to be like this as an actor, got a bit prickly about people wanting to be my character!"

It's not just that these actors have originated these roles, they've also created them:

HP - "They're a part of us, but at the same time it is wonderful to let someone else put these costumes on and bring these characters to life. Although it is deeply frustrating to not be able to go, and to be together sharing the story we've created."

HĆ: "It's very special as well because new things will emerge with how these actors approach the piece. I feel a bit what Helen was saying, but it's interesting to see someone do the text that you've written. We're very grateful that we've got an incredible cast in America, and to be able to do it at all is a privilege. We just decided that with the current situation, the money we would need to enable us all to go to America would be much better going towards the tour and the production."

MM - "Also it's not very likely that the current administration is not likely to accept three foreigners coming into the country talking about queer identities. I think selfishly I wish that I could be there and hear the reactions and see the audiences' faces, and really connect with them and share the experience with them. On a human level that would have been a great experience."

TSB - "We were told pretty directly that in terms of the visas that the people who would be reviewing the applications have been empowered to reject any application for the smallest reason. Yes, it was a financial roadblock, but they would have been very unlikely to have been approved. But we have found new ways for them to be super involved and they're doing all the production and logistical stuff, and Harun is taking over the social media."

I had a very selfish question for them. I wanted to know when we would get to see TLTISC again in the UK:

TSB - "That's a great question, but I don't know is the answer! Over the course of the 10 weeks we're on tour, part of what we're doing with our social media push is not only growing our audience over there, but here too. People will be able to follow our journey and get to know more about the show, and about the company, and hopefully get invested in the show. So later in the year there will be more interest in London in the show than ever, so there will be an opportunity to put it on again."

HĆ: "It's not just about the show because we decided to use Noctis to support other creatives as much as we can by doing things such as space giveaways, and I think having a big outreach for us is important because we want to include as many people in both what we're doing and in things that we want to organise to support others."

MM - "It's to kind of make it full circle. We were privileged and lucky enough to be helped, so we want to help others."

The fact this company is doing this sort of thing while they are still growing is incredible to me:

HĆ - "It's very much needed. Our recent space giveaway received 50+ applications from amazing and talented creatives. We're living in an economy where it's really difficult to create your own work. We've been extremely lucky and we're trying as much as we can to give something back."

HP: "Last Sunday we held our first open mic event, and it was so special. We put a call out and I was so moved. People came and shared poetry and other things, and that felt like one of the most important things we've done. Yes, it's creating art and sharing our voices, but also giving other people platforms in a very small way."

The work that Noctis is doing is as vital as it is wholesome. To find out more about them, their US tour, and their other productions, head to www.noctistheatre.com or follow them on Instagram at @noctis.theatre.company

The US tour of The Last Time I Saw Caileigh runs from 6th March until 10th May.

>>> CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE TOUR DATES <<<

To read my 2024 review of the show Click Here

Interview conducted by Neill Kovacic-Clarke for Pink Prince Theatre on 12/02/26

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