There’s a charming simplicity in George Kan’s reason for directing Cocteau’s Les Parents Terribles: “It’s just a good play”. This is no groundbreaking project, looking to push the boundaries of theatre. What it does look guaranteed to provide, however, is a highly entertaining evening out.

Written during an eight day opium binge, the play is an unusual mix of parts. Even Kan finds its intentions somewhat confusing; “Some scenes it’s like farce, and then suddenly there’s some strange sincerity about love. Part truth, part melodrama, part comedy, part not – it’s just the right zone for me. He thinks he’s written a kitchen sink drama, but it’s Cocteau’ s kitchen, so it’s on opium and bears no relation to reality.”

The cast seem well-suited to represent this world of endearing chaos, although they assure me that they have not tried rehearsing on opium themselves. Our interview is filled with relaxed laughing and joking, sporadic interruption from the door alarm, a monologue about gloves and a discussion of what the directors would do if the actors mutinied and started a spontaneous sword-fight on stage (put on a blackout, if you were wondering).

For all that, this is a play with a dark side. You just “end up enjoying the characters’ tragedy because its so twisted”, explains Olivia Morgan, Assistant Director, “It’s a hard play to work with. I would be a bad farce if you played it too comically – you have to try and get the truth of the characters.”

Particularly striking are the incestual undercurrents: Georges (Raph Wakefield) is married to Yvonne (Yasmin Freeman), but unhappy because his wife’s excessive love for their son Michel (Jamie Armitage) leaves him feeling excluded. Yvonne’s sister, Léo (Ella Konzon), also lives with them. She has always loved Georges, but had to accept that he married her sister instead. To further complicate things, Michel is in love with Madeleine (Kay Dent), who just happens to also be his father’s mistress. As Freeman puts it, “It’s like Cocteau took the character list and then scribbled all over it – that’s the relationship.”

I have to ask one irresistible question. Given the incest in the play, do they feel they’ve become particularly – um – close as a cast?

“In some ways!” laughs Konzon, “There is a certain degree of intimacy...”
“Though I hope that nothing quite like that happens to any of us in real life!” says Morgan.
Incest is not the only theme that has brought the play critical opprobrium in the past. Dominic Cavendish once said that the role of Yvonne “flirts with misogynist caricature”. The cast, however, are unanimous in disagreement.

“She’s a very interesting character – so uncommonly textured,” responds Freeman, “There are definite moments of sympathy for her, when you see how she’s been driven to her incestuous, weird, unbalanced nature. She’s not a submissive character.”

“The family revolves round her craziness. There’d be a huge void without her,” continues Morgan.

“The men in the play are the ones who are being messed around – the women have the upper hand – especially Léo. And Madeleine’s got a lot of power over both Georges and Michel” Konzon adds.

How does Kay Dent, playing Madeleine, deal with that level of admiration? “Oh, I’m used to it – it’s great,” she jokes.

Freeman can see something of the point Cavendish is making, though. “I suppose you could read Yvonne as creating the problems, by making Georges so impotent as the head of the household, and she has a very hysterical nature. But then Léo is such a contrast, so there’s a very mixed dynamic, and no stereotypes.”

“Yes, I’d say I’ve worked with many characters like Georges before, he’s normal,” agrees Morgan, “But the female characters are very different. I’ve never worked with a Léo or Yvonne before. Every character had a really distinctive voice, and we’ve spent most of the rehearsal time on that. We had to be very careful to make sure they were the right people at the auditions. Léo’s definitely the hardest. Ella’s got very hard things to convey, but she’s also a character that can’t be very facially expressive and Ella had to get out of her eyebrow raising tendencies. It’s all about watching her eyes for expression.”

Konzon has been rehearsing with a cigarette to try and create this facially relaxed performance. It’s been very successful, although unfortunately the Corpus Playroom rules don’t allow smoking during a show.

Kan is disappointed. “The play’s not really related to time and place, but it has got that air of culture, opera and smoky flamboyance.”

The intimate Corpus set does have its advantages though, and Morgan hopes this will create the claustrophobia of the family flat for the audience: “The play’s so dependent on the relationships. The atmosphere changes with every character that enters and exits. It’s all about who’s in the next room...”

Dramatic tension even manages to seep into our interview. “You haven’t given away the ending have you?” asks Kan of the cast.

They had not, did not, and would not. So it seems the only way to discover the secret is to go buy a ticket.

Les Parents Terribles runs at 7pm from March 4 to March 8 at the Corpus Playroom.