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Love Me Slender

Siobhan has lost seven stone, found a new self, a fulfilling job and a wonderful husband. Armed with these she encourages others to achieve the same through a combination of diet and personal philosophy. Five stages - commitment, discipline, sacrifice, realisation and salvation - for the key to a new life.

Love Me Slender director Clive Russell has cast a number of SLT regulars in this hilarious - and often moving - exposé of the world of the slimming club. Like Russell's last play for the SLT, Me and My Friend, Love Me Slender tackles difficult themes. It's a play designed to make us laugh - but also to challenge our conceptions. Stuart Draper caught up with Russell to find out more.

You seem to enjoy dealing with quite challenging material - your last piece for SLT dealt with mental health. What first attracted you to this particular piece?

What attracts me to a play for the very first time? It can be a number of things, the writer, the subject matter or even the theatre it plays. So it was with Love me Slender. I first encountered the play some five years ago at the Orange Tree Theatre. I was at a loose end and I thought I'd give it a try. At the end of the evening I realised I'd not only seen a very entertaining play but was beginning to re-think my attitudes to a very topical subject , i.e., womens fitness and beauty.

How does the play do this?

The play is set in a women's fitness and diet class and tells the story of six women struggling to achieve their goals under the tyrannical leadership of their instructress Siobhan. What soon becomes apparent that the real problem is that of a lack of self esteem. These women have fallen victim to the notion that just because they don't possess a catwalk figure they are in some way inadequate failures. And its this narrow-minded notion that the play challenges. As friendship grows we see they have so much to offer and at the play's end that they have found a sense of real worth.

It's therefore a play that addresses a very topical issue of women being unfairly pigeon-holed. But what's important is that it doesn't just preach. It tells a really good story as well, one that can make people cry as well as laugh.

I notice that there is a good spread of ages in your casting. Is this another factor that drew you to the piece?

Yes - it offers seven excellent parts for older actresses. I certainly agree that there is a lack of good parts for older actresses and I hope that this play goes some way to re-dressing the balance and I'm working with some fine actresses on this.

Another point that I feel is in its favour is that there's no perfect happy ending. We hope at the end of the play that Siobhan has seen the error of her ways and will be a better person but there's no guarantee. If I'm honest , at the end of the day I hope people who see this will feel they have been thoroughly entertained, but will also think again about the way that they judged people by their looks.

Can Jean, Claudette, Rosie and the rest win the fight with flab? The determination to succeed comes with a price and one not everyone is willing to pay. When the temptation rises and the motivation begins to wane, the edges begin to unravel in the face of Siobhan's autocratic rule. Just how much is the price worth paying?

"A satisfyingly humane and perceptive play that memorably nails one of the great issues of our times." [Daily Telegraph]

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