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A Political Cartoonist Puts His Pen to Theater

Leo Butler’s new play, 'Boy,' takes aim at London austerity. Who better to illustrate it than young political cartoonist Ben Jennings?
Boy is Leo Butler’s new play about trying to find your way in the sometimes overwhelming city of London. Poster credit: Ben Jennings

In the city of London—where a property crisis has made many young people almost give up on ever owning a home—youth, hard enough as it is, can suddenly become lonely, almost suffocating, and any dreams to be dreamed are lost in the unyielding cloud of day-to-day survival. Not to mention, it's all the more pronounced under the recently re-elected Tory government.

Anti-austerity marches last summer, protesting cuts to welfare and social and health services, demonstrate that growing up today in this town is difficult, and it’s this urgent topic that’s taking to London's Almeida Theatre next month in British playwright Leo Butler’s new production, Boy.

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It all sounds a bit political. And in what better way to explore austerity in modern-day London than get award-winning political cartoonist Ben Jennings to create an animated trailer for the upcoming performance? Check it out:

Boy Trailer | Almeida Theatre, London from Almeida Theatre on Vimeo. Credit: Ben Jennings and 59 Productions.

After watching it, The Creators Project had to speak to Jennings, who’s new to animation and used to working to the tight deadlines of the news cycle, about what it was like to use his skills in response to a theatrical piece and why he got involved in this project.

The Creators Project: Hey Ben, so what was it like switching from drawing the news of the day to a more artistic piece of work?

Ben Jennings: It was really a different type of project for me. I’m used to doing mainly editorial work, whether it’s political cartoons or illustrations, to go alongside articles and magazine covers. If I’m booked into doing a slot for a certain newspaper, it needs to be turned around that day, as it has to be as current as possible. So you gorge on what’s going to be in the next day’s papers and try to find the right subject matter that would compliment the cartoon form. Sometimes that means mixing two stories together, which can work quite well, if you can think of a gag. It really just depends on what you’re dealing with.

Boy is the first theatrical piece that I’ve worked with. I was sent the script and it was my direct response to it.

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One of Jennings political cartoons, which ran in The Guardian on December 6, 2015. Credit: Ben Jennings

And what did that process look like for you?

Well, they kind of had an idea of what they wanted but were also open to suggestions. I sort of skimmed through the script, which was kind of hard to respond to when it’s just plain text and you don’t know much else about the play. I had a rough idea of what the themes were and came up with a few concepts. They wanted the whole process to be fluid in the sense that my part in the play was this visual response to it, which is an art form as well.

So what’s the story about?

It’s about a youth in London who has a lack of direction and there’s not much available to assist him. We tried to get a sense of someone who you don’t notice, who’s kind of there while everyone’s getting on with their own lives. You know what it’s like in London, everyone’s rushing around with their lattes, it’s very individualistic. Everyone’s got their own agendas.

For not knowing much about the play, your work seems to be spot on! Was the topic something you could relate to?

I’m only 25. It wasn’t that long ago where I was in a similar position. Some of the assistance I received when I was a teen has now been cut, like EMA, which helps pay the transport for college students. I definitely do have a kind of sympathy for young people today. If you don’t have an old boy’s network to join, it can be really hard to find direction and know where to go. I think it’s harder now for people to find their way.

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Jennings take on Obama’s comments about Cameron and Libya, which ran in The Guardian on March 11, 2016. Credit: Ben Jennings  

As a political cartoonist, you kind of walk a line between art and journalism. How important is it to use art as a means of spreading awareness or sending a political message?

I think it’s really important. Political art, in whatever form it may be, can really hit home for someone in a way that a piece of text may not be able to, particularly with a cartoon or illustration. It hits you in the face as a viewer. You know exactly what that image is trying to say without having to read into it and sometimes these direct and impactive message do help and potentially get people to think about things in a different way.

But instead of flat images, your message or interpretation got turned into moving images! What was that like?

It was strange to see that. I don’t animate myself and am used to short deadlines. It was crazy to see it come to life like that.

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Scaremongering, some of Jennings personal work. Credit: Ben Jennings  

It was like the animators responded to your images, which was a response to the script. Now you can see how the stage team respond.

It will be definitely be interesting to see what I initially read in that script come to life.

Leo Butler's play, Boy, runs at the Almeida Theatre from April 5 to May 28, 2016. Buy your tickets here.

Check out more of Ben Jennings work on his website.

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