Interview In Stitches

We chat to Armando Iannucci about his script for a major new Opera North production in advance of its world premiere in Leeds

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Interview: In Stitches

Imagine a farcical opera called Skin Deep, which is all about the weirdness of plastic surgery, with a script by arguably the country’s most talented comic writer, music from one of the most exciting contemporary composers, has the backing of the famous Opera North team and an esteemed director who has worked with the likes of Pavarotti. Now imagine that the world premiere is taking place at the Grand Theatre in Leeds this month, and it all gets pretty exciting.

I ask Armando Iannucci what it was like to take on the challenge of writing the script, or libretto, as opposed to writing for TV or radio. “It was a completely new experience,” he says, “one that I’ve really enjoyed. And also one that is a far longer process, because of the physical act of writing the music. David [Sawer, the composer] compared it to creating an animation, in that you can spend a day and you’ve written another ten seconds. Because, you know, he’s got 40 instruments to write for and all that sort of thing as well. So it’s been quite a long process, during which the whole issue of plastic surgery has become more prevalent.”

When I ask about the theme of cosmetic surgery, it becomes clear Skin Deep is looking to straddle that strangely wafer-thin line separating stark reality and utter farce. “You read about 18 year-olds being given plastic surgery as a birthday present so they can look more like Jordan,” he says, “and you just think, ‘this is now going too far’.” The operetta is set in a plastic surgery clinic frequented by celebrities, with a surgeon called Doktor Needlemeier who, as Armando says, has been “quietly keeping all the bits he’s been cutting off celebrities and boiling them down”. There are also various subplots with face swaps and other goings-on. “Needlemeier’s daughter’s getting married and her fiance has about ten different things done to him,” he continues. “But then he wakes up, falls in love with his own reflection, and thinks he’s even more good-looking than his fiancee.” Like any great satirist, Iannucci has something deadly serious to say, and does so by cloaking it in a ridiculous costume, which means all you can do is, well, laugh.

I ask whether he would consider working in Hollywood, as Steve Coogan has done. “They made an American pilot of The Thick Of It, and it was hugely entertaining to watch them completely cock it up in a major way!” he chuckles. “It just sort of put me off the notion. But the film I’ve just done, In The Loop, featured an American cast as well as a British one and it was good to see the two styles of acting come together. And I love American television - the best American television is great.” Why has American drama been so successful in recent years, I ask. “They’ve found a way of having enough money to afford to take risks, you know, and inevitably a few things might not work, but the things that do work become amazing. I worry in the current climate - not just taste-wise, but economically - that broadcasters actually start worrying about taking risks, and play safe. There’s only so much safe television I think people can take - I think people are always looking out for the thing that surprises them and the thing that challenges them and pushes them.”

We come back to the topic of how well opera and comedy can blend together. “Opera is essentially a very, very absurd format. And it can be” - he stresses the word - “amazing, and quite moving, actually. But it seems like just the gentlest nudge, like having a silly subject to deal with, is all it needs really.” You suspect that’s not all it needs, that his modesty belies a supreme talent for just so slightly changing the focus on the lens to show up life’s absurdities. I ask about the creative process, about how he and the likes of Coogan and Chris Morris came up with such masterpieces as The Day Today and I’m Alan Partridge. “It thrills me that people still laugh at Alan Partridge, I still get a buzz out of that. You know, whenever Steve and I meet, we always speculate as to what Alan’s up to!” he laughs. “But I do like the collaborative thing, sitting down with like-minded people and seeing what makes us laugh, toying with an idea long enough to see where it goes, you know? But then you do have to sit down and work and write the thing! It’s so easy to think you’re working when you’re spending a day chatting, but fundamentally you are just… quite lazy.”

How brilliant it would be to be a fly on the wall during one of those brainstorming sessions?
Skin Deep, 16 January - 11 February, Grand Theatre

Posted on Wednesday 7th January 2009
SO'H

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