Elinor Cook is the writer of The Girl’s Guide to Saving The World, a new play about friendhsip and feminism which is one of the headline productions at this year’s HighTide Festival, where it has its first performance on Friday 11th April. Elinor kindly broke off from rehearsals to talk to InSuffolk about the play.

InSuffolk: What was the spark for the The Girl’s Guide to Saving The World ? 

Elinor Cook: The spark was two-fold, really. I started to question my own, somehow very female, impulse to please people all the time – to appear polite, placid, well-behaved, accommodating. Where did that urge come from? Why was it so deeply ingrained? And at the same time, blogs like The Vagenda and the Everyday Sexism project were encouraging women to do the opposite – to shout and point and laugh and generally make as much noise as possible. That was exhilarating. Suddenly, it felt like there was a forum for women to be funny, and furious – to use humour as a means of articulating anger, and ultimately as a tool for change.

IS: There’s a lot of talk about a fourth wave of feminism at the moment – is that something you recognise or is it a media invention ?

EC: I absolutely recognise it and I think it’s a wonderful thing. Yes, it’s been co-opted by the media in the way that anything ‘cool’ will be – but the fact that feminism has become something mainstream, something so accessible and alive, can only be a good thing. Of course, there’s a risk that it becomes just a series of sound-bites without any real thought behind it – but then that is true of any movement. There is such passion at the heart of this, so many people going ‘yes! That’s what I think! Affinity!’ You can’t deny the power of that.

IS: Is the family / career balance one that each generation has to address anew, or has it become easier for women to achieve ?

EC: It would be completely disingenuous to say that we don’t have it much easier than our grandmothers did. But it’s still true that, as a woman in my early thirties, I have to think about children in a way that a man just doesn’t have to. It impacts hugely on my perception of my career. But then, when a man turns round (as he does in my play) and says, ‘OK, I’ll take on that nurturing role, I’ll give up my job and look after the kids’, the immediate female reaction is often one of anti-climax – we feel it isn’t very sexy! And that’s the contradiction at the heart of it, really. Men are still expected to be ‘manly’ whilst supporting our every feminist desire. It’s another kind of pressure. You can’t talk about the role of women without exploring the role of men.

IS: Has your writing always been directed towards the theatre, or was that a choice that evolved over time ?

EC: Always theatre! I love the cleanness, the precision, the mystery of it. And also the way that you share it with so many people – with your director, actors, sound, set and lighting designers – and then with a completely different audience every night. It’s always in flux.

IS: What difference has winning the George Devine Award for most promising playwright (in 2013) made to your writing career ?

EC: It’s made a huge difference. It’s quite scary in that most people who win the award have already had a play produced, so I feel that mine will be under a certain scrutiny! But winning it has definitely made people’s ears prick up. I’ve written a script for BBC One with Working Title, and I’ve got an attachment coming up at the National Theatre – I’m also writing one of their Connections plays as we speak.

IS: How did your involvement with this year’s HighTide come about ?

EC: (HighTide Artistic Director) Steven Atkinson read a very early, very different, draft of the play; he saw something in it and said HighTide wanted to produce it! I’ve never had a meeting that was so simple – just being told my play was happening! It was a joyful moment.

IS: Can you tell us something about the cast for the The Girl’s Guide… at HighTide ?

EC: I can tell you that they are brilliant! Getting the chemistry of the relationships was really important and I think we’ve struck gold here! All three of them (Jade Williams, Georgina Strawson and Ben Lambert) are great comic actors, as well as having an amazing amount of emotional depth. I couldn’t be happier with them!

Interview by Doug Coombes

For more details about the times of all HighTide performances see www.hightide.org.uk