Q & A with Splinter Director Amy Wyllie

2 October 2023

There's just over two weeks to go until Splinter take to our stage at the Sir John Mills Theatre. A newly written play from award winning playwright Martha Loader and directed by Suffolk-based Director Amy Wyllie, Splinter is a moving show that depicts a young couple's journey after a diagnosis of early onset Dementia. With rehearsals for the show taking place at the Eastern Angles Centre, we managed to grab Amy for a quick chat about the show.

Please introduce yourself and tell us a bit about your work as a theatre director.

I've been working as a Director for the last 12 years, having originally trained as an actor. I'm Artistic Director of rural touring company Spinning Wheel Theatre, which specialises in touring productions for families and young children using puppetry and live music. So alongside that work it's really nice to have other projects with different companies or theatres which allow me to explore darker or more mature themes.

What excites you about Martha Loader’s script?

I love working with Martha's scripts - I really enjoy her realistic style of dialogue, and digging into what drives her characters. This particular script has quite a jumbled timeline, so it's fun to work with how we transition between these jumps in time and how we slowly reveal information to the audience.

Three woman stand around a small table with a microphone on it ready for a recording, a man sits on the floor in front of them by a battery wiring everything together — The Splinter cast and technical team recording audio in the Sir John Mills Theatre

Three actors stand around a microphone on a table in the Sir John Mills Theatre, a man sits on the floor in front of them watching and a woman stands taking a photo with her phone — The Splinter cast and technical team recording audio in the Sir John Mills Theatre

Do you have a favourite moment in the show that you can't wait to develop in the rehearsal room?

What is affectionately called the 'Peace Lily scene' is quite a tricky one to stage. I have some ideas, but nothing concrete just yet, so I’m looking forward to getting stuck in to that one in rehearsals and figuring out what works.

Are you able to sum up the show in three words?

Loss, Joyful, Aching.

Splinter by Martha Loader and directed by Amy Wyllie will be at the Sir John Mills Theatre on Friday 20th October. Click here to discover more about the show.