Ola Ince: ‘Achieving what you want just means you get to dream bigger’
We speak to Ola Ince, British Theatre Director, about what ignited her passion for theatre and the power of storytelling
Words by Niamh McCollum
Next in our #WomenWhoWin series is British Theatre Director, Ola Ince.
A graduate of the Rose Bruford Theatre College, Ola burst on to the drama scene in 2016, after winning The Genesis Future Director Award and staging a provocative production of Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman in the Young Vic Theatre.
The young director also made waves in 2018 with her production of Anna Deavere Smith’s Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, at the Gate Theatre.
Ola’s most recent adaptation of Danai Gurira’s The Convert was shaken up by an all-star cast, including Gurira’s Black Panther co-star Letitia Wright as the lead, and she is currently directing Tina The Musical alongside Mamma Mia! director Phyllida Lloyd.
Far from shying away from controversy, Ola is credited for facing it head on by ensuring that her long line of work has stimulated further conversation about colonialism, cultural identity and gender roles within society.
We spoke to Ola about the moment she discovered her passion for directing, her diverse on-stage repertoire and why taking bold actions can really pay off…
‘I was interested in story telling from a young age’
I realised my enthusiasm for directing when my classmates and I were asked to devise a play in secondary school. I remember being amazed at what we made and wanting to do it all the time, so I joined a youth theatre group. From there I went to Brit School, before doing a directing course at Rose Bruford College. I met so many weird and wonderful people, which was a nice contrast from my ordinary school.
‘I needed to be brave, so I applied for the Genesis Future Director Award’
In 2016, I was working on big stages as a Theatre Associate, but I wasn’t putting my neck on the line. I pitched my idea for Dutchman,a provocative play set in 1960s New York. We wanted to create an African Alfred Hitchcock thriller, and I had some really nuts ideas for the set. Low and behold, I won! I grew lots of muscles during that process. Later on with The Convert, I was really bold about picking superstars to work with. Achieving what you want just means you get to dream even bigger.
‘It’s amazing to see the kind of conversations sparked by plays’
Twilight Los Angeles, 1992, [a one-woman play about the LA riots] stands out to me in how it presented the complexity of the prejudices between Korean Americans, African Americans, and white Americans. One of my upcoming shows, Is God Is?, is a spaghetti western about female strength and empowerment. Black women have long been known as the mules of society, and this play reverses that. Rather than being seen as victims, they are both villains and heroines, which is exciting and unusual.
‘I’m proud to have turned a form of expression into a job that I love’
You are often told as a young artist, ‘It’s really nice that you want to be a director, but you are going to be poor and unhappy forever. While your loved ones are getting mortgages and having kids, you will just be a pauper of an artist.’ This year I have learnt that you can have both. Something that I’ve worked on for a really long time is now paying my bills and allowing me to travel the world. It feels good that I no longer have to suffer for my art, that my art is actually helping me.
Tina – The Tina Turner Musical officially opened at the Aldwych Theatre on 17th April 2018. Book tickets at www.tinathemusical.com.
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