“I have really happy memories of riding through the bar in my roller skates” | Meet Kit Withington

With just a few weeks left of Heart Wall, we caught up with writer Kit Withington to chat inspirations for the play, go-to karaoke songs and how she’ll “even enjoy writing someone a birthday card.”

Set in a pub in the North West of England, Heart Wall is a bittersweet and tender new play that explores grief, belonging and a community at a crossroads. Written by Bush Writers’ Group alum, Kit Withington, the play follows Franky as she returns home for the first time in nearly a year, only to find it is now both somewhere comfortingly familiar, yet unrecognisable.

“Heart Wall is a play about grief, belonging and community.” Kit explains. “It is about a young woman, Franky who comes home from London to her home town in the North-West for a weekend. It is about a family and a community, how they care for each other and avoid each other, how they love each other and hurt each other, how they protect and provoke each other but under all of it I think there is a huge amount of love between the characters.”

Heart Wall. Photo by Harry Elletson.

Set in The Sun Inn – the family’s local pub – music drifts from tinny speakers, and karaoke starts at 8pm every night. Franky’s family friend Valentine is now running her local pub, and she’s back singing with one of her oldest friends Charlene. It’s a hub for the community, a place full of memories.

Sharing her inspiration for The Sun Inn, Kit says “I love pubs and what they provide for communities. My Aunty and Uncle ran a big pub in Liverpool and I spent every Christmas Day there until I was about ten. I have really happy memories of riding through the bar in my roller skates.”

Bringing the classic British third space to the stage, audience members are invited to sing karaoke on the set before the show starts, becoming part of the production.

“I love how the pub is a space where conversations can exist that wouldn’t exist anywhere else. There’s something about the intimacy of the pub that gives an opportunity for people to open up or have a laugh or speak about something they haven’t spoken about before. (The alcohol probably helps too). I think it should be celebrated. I feel genuinely really lucky that I’m in a family who loves the pub. I think it makes us closer and we have a space that we know we all want to spend time together in.”

Heart Wall. Photo by Harry Elletson.

An alumni of Bush Writers’ Group, Kit is a writer from Manchester who “always really liked writing in all it’s forms. I’ll even enjoy writing someone a birthday card.”

At seventeen she joined a writers’ group at The Royal Exchange and wrote her first short play. She then joined various writers groups at places like Soho Theatre, The Royal Court and Ovalhouse, before then joining the Bush Writers’ Group.

“I wrote As We Face The Sun for The Bush’s Young Company in 2023 and then was invited to pitch for a commission after that, which is where Heart Wall came from.”

As We Face the Sun. Photo by Harry Elletson.

When it comes to influences on her writing, Kit shared that she loves The Royale Family and Early Doors. “The characters are so funny and honest. There has never been a better portrayal of piss-taking than in those tv shows. But those series’ will always make me cry because there will always be a moment when you see how much they love each other. I used to watch The Royle Family on repeat when I was in primary school.”

She also loves British films, especially stuff by Andrea Arnold. “I really love her short film, Wasp, about a young mother and her four children. My favourite film ever is Distant Voices, Still Lives by Terrence Davies. I think that is the film that has had the biggest impact on me. I remember ringing everyone to tell them about it as soon as I’d seen it. It is full of pain and humour and is also completely original.”

In terms of plays, Kit’s favourite is Our Town by Thornton Wilder, because of “the way it celebrates humanity and the gift of being alive. I also love plays like The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh and I also more lyrical stuff like Dael Orlandersmith’s Yellowman. I love anything that is human with complicated or difficult characters. Last year I loved Til The Stars Come down by Beth Steel and People, Places & Things by Duncan Macmillan.”

Heart Wall. Photo by Harry Elletson.

When leaving the theatre, Kit hopes the play will make audiences think about the constants in their lives. “The people who know everything about us can sometimes be the hardest work, but they will probably always be the most special. I hope people feel moved and entertained and that they also have a good night out. But mainly I hope people think that life is for living and that they then decide to go and spend a shitload of money in the pub with the people they love.”

In equal parts hilarious and heart-breaking, Heart Wall is an exploration of the long tail of grief and the fickleness of memory, with a healthy dash of karaoke thrown into the mix. And speaking of karaoke – we had to ask Kit what her go to karaoke song is…

Heart Wall. Photo by Harry Elletson.