Imagine you’re in the final year of your acting degree and are offered a leading role with the National Theatre of Scotland. Liberty Black doesn’t have to. It happened earlier this year, and Liberty will be shortly be onstage in the NTS touring production of KELI. Telling the story of a fiery, sharp-witted teenager in a former mining town, the play boasts live music from Whitburn Band/Kingdom Brass Band. We caught up with Liberty to find out more.
How does it feel to be in your final year at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and now a high-profile lead?
It’s completely wild. It was not on my cards. I didn’t even have an agent! I’d auditioned for a short film – the casting director was Anna Dawson – and got a recall, then I got an email saying ‘loved what you did; wasn’t right for this’. I was like, no worries – that’s being an actor! Two weeks later, Anna emailed me saying, ‘What you did reminded me of this script that I’m casting for. Would you like to come for an audition?’.
So how did you find out you had the part?
We were filming our screen showcase at the River City studios. My dad offered to pick me up that day. Everybody else had left and I was sat by myself. I got the email, didn’t really know what to do, told my dad, he lost his mind, got out of the car, and we were shouting in the street. So, yeah, it was very exciting.
The show was originally an audio play with Anna Russell-Martin as Keli, so were there any tips from her in your research?
I’d watched some of the clips of the night [of recording] at the Lyceum. I really was quite besotted with Anna! I have looked up to her so much, so when she came in to do a Q&A at uni we had a really nice chat, not so much about the character but more about it being a big task for your first professional job! That was really lovely.
So, how does it feel doing something based on the miner’s strike and its legacy?
It would have happened before you were born. In some ways that’s helpful because Keli hasn’t lived through it either – she is quite disconnected from it. As the play goes on, she has more of a real understanding through interactions with older characters who did live through it, like Brian, the band leader. It mirrors the fact that I was not there. We went to Whitburn and sat in on a band rehearsal. Andrew, our tenor horn player, is from Whitburn Brass Band. Being there and talking to people, there’s more understanding. And I hate to mention her, but Thatcher? I was maybe like 10 or 11 when Thatcher died but I was very aware of who she was.
Photo credit – Mihaela Bodlovic
There is an emotional growth for Keli in this show, but is she political too?
I think she’s inherently political but not in an ideological, reading-theory-and-thinking-about- practices way. She’s connecting with people from a different generation. The pain and scars they carried suddenly mean something emotionally to her. In the beginning Keli is very closed off, and it is pragmatism to survive. As she lets other people in, then lets ideas in, she connects more with people, their lived experience, her community and her band.
Talking of bands, am I right in saying that you front one?
Not any more! One of my best friends from high school, Honey, is in a magnificent band called Melange. She studies music at Glasgow uni and there’s this guy, Joe, who she’s friends with and who is insanely talented. He had a band called Carsick Charlie and was off on tour. Then his friend didn’t do it [vocals for the tour] and Honey was like, ‘oh, Liberty sings!’ We did a good few gigs in Glasgow and supported Florist on the UK leg of their tour. He went on through Europe, but I had to come back to university.
So how have rehearsals been?
This is a very special project, not just in terms of the communities. It’s the messages, the story, especially working so closely with the musicians. I feel sometimes music is tacked on at technical rehearsals, but this feels so collaborative. It’s a really lovely room. I feel lucky to be a part of it. I’m a cog in a very big machine that is the Keli team.
What would you say is the core message in the play?
Young women from Keli’s background, who are dealing with the kind of stuff that she’s dealing with, it’s just expected they are going to act older than they are, like a machine. It’s ‘just keep loading onto that cart horse and it just will keep taking it.’ She’s a 17-year-old girl and regardless of her circumstances, she is vulnerable, emotional, and sensitive. She’s so musical, and with people in the arts, there is a sensitivity, something a wee bit close to the surface and maybe a lot of what (Keli) is saying is curt, aggro, and funny but that is very much an armour. There is a wee girl underneath that and I think it’s important that the girls of the world have space to breathe and get a hug. Do you know what I mean?
To find out what Liberty means, you can catch KELI, produced by National Theatre of Scotland and Lepus Productions, on tour after debuting at Macrobert Arts Centre on the 10th of May. Further shows are at The Lyceum, Edinburgh, Dundee Rep, Perth Theatre, and the Tramway, Glasgow.
