Callie O'Brien
Open Aire Theatre make their debut at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, travelling up from Cambridge as a newly formed collective of writers, actors, comics, and creatives.
Managed Approach promises hard cutting truths, coming-of-age mother-daughter clashes, and an abundance of cathartic, sentimental chuckles tied up in the lived experience of women in the UK’s managed approach to sex work in Leeds between 2014 and 2020. We caught up with Jules Coyle (Writer/actor & company founder) to discuss the show, fringe aspirations, and what it meant to bring lived experience to the forefront in this semi-verbatim play.
You can catch Managed Approach at Gilded Balloon’s Patter House – Coorie from August 8th – 24th (not 15th) from 13:40 (60 mins). Tickets are available online through the EdFringe Box Office.
Callie: Hi Jules! Could you tell me a bit about what inspired the show, and what the audience can expect from Open Aire’s debut?
Jules: In a sentence, the strong Northern women I grew up around inspired Managed Approach. The play derives its name from a government initiative that allowed sex workers to operate under police supervision, without fear of arrest, in Holbeck, Leeds from 2014 to 2020. These years were crucial in my experience as a Leeds teenager, being 11 at the initiative’s start and 16 and its end. I assumed the news of this scheme was nation-wide, but when I moved to university, I realised that very few people outside of Leeds knew about the Managed Approach, or even the history of Leeds as the host of the first ‘Reclaim the Night’ march. I was then inspired to write a play which would elevate these issues and amplify the unheard, yet most impacted, voices of sex workers.
Managed Approach then came about as a play centring a fraught, Leeds-based mother and daughter relationship, all whilst verbatim interviews with impacted sex workers intersperse the narrative. From Kate and Abbie (the play’s mother and daughter), audiences can expect all-too-familiar stand-offs between a teenager and the world (her mother) alongside moments of tenderness, humour and compassion. The primary conflict comes from these two characters establishing and figuring their way through their new-found responsibilities as a parent and child living in a red-light district. Both characters have extended monologues too, allowing audiences to connect with them through their vulnerability and humour. Supporting this storyline, as mentioned, are transcribed interviews from Leeds-based sex workers. Their reports reflect upon the Managed Approach, relaying the lived experiences and opinions of women operating under the scheme.
Callie: I’d love to dive into your process of developing the show – how did it all come together? How did the interviewing process shape the show, and how did the choice to include verbatim elements come about?
Jules: I began interviewing sex-workers as part of my research process for the play. When writing about such a sensitive issue, it was my priority to highlight and amplify genuine testimonies from sex-workers who were impacted by the Managed Approach. When speaking to the four women I interviewed, however, I found their accounts so powerful that it felt diminutive to use them purely for inspiration. Rather than influencing the narrative, then, these testimonies came to exist alongside it, complimenting the mother/daughter storyline and injecting a genuine rawness missing from many discussions of the Managed Approach.
Callie: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience?
Jules: At its heart, Managed Approach spotlights the importance of difficult discussions, especially those held with loved ones. Throughout the play, we see Abbie and Kate struggle to find common ground, their characters typifying the polarised response of local communities. Though Abbie and Kate never fully agree, they find compromise only through communication and compassion. When writing the script, I intentionally attempted to represent all opinions and sides of the issue’s debate, rather than explicitly creating a piece that is for or against the Managed Approach. From this perspective, I hope that audiences leave with a recognition of the central issue’s complexities and are better informed upon Leeds’ often unheard history. In relation to the mother/daughter aspects, I hope that the importance of enduring compassion is the main take-away.
Callie: With Edinburgh Fringe 2025 just around the corner, what are you most excited for?
Jules: Our team is most excited to play with the intimate relationship between audience and actors at the Fringe! From the transcribed interviews to numerous moments of direct address, the closeness of actors and audiences at Fringe is a truly special dynamic that we know will only enhance our production. As the world’s leading Arts festival, there is no better place to present Managed Approach! Though our play has overtly political themes and sensitive topics, there are also comedic, nostalgic and sentimental moments of tenderness that fall in-line with the Fringe’s spirit of variety. This atmosphere promises to be the perfect setting for Managed Approach.
Callie: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind, what would it be and why?
Jules: After extensive deliberation with our team, we have decided Managed Approach would be a strong cup of Yorkshire Tea chased with a shot of Cherry Sourz. The dynamic of Abbie and Kate is extremely familiar to most mothers and daughters; it is homely and soft, yet punctuated with the spirit of teenage rebellion and desperate attempts to prove one’s independence. Cheers!
Remember to catch Managed Approach at Gilded Balloon’s Patter House – Coorie from August 8th – 24th (not 15th) from 13:40 (60 mins). Tickets are available online through the EdFringe Box Office.
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