Ben Tagoe used his own experiences to write a play about prison and business, as Steve Pratt reports

TWO issues came together to spark Ben Tagoe’s play The Thing About Psychopaths.

He’d always wanted to write a prison play after a brief period on remand in Mountjoy Prison, in Dublin, gave him first-hand experience of life behind bars.

Then he was listening to stories about British Gas price rises and hearing a representative talking with a real lack of sincerity and empathy about the higher costs.

“Corporate psychopaths”, he calls them – and that triggered the play, described as “exploring empathy in a capitalist society”, for Red Ladder Theatre Company.

“I saw a parallel between the two environments, business and prison.

It’s all about the alpha male and not being able to afford to have too much empathy.

“I’ve worked for a couple of plcs and they’re very sales-driven. It’s about making money and that’s your prime focus, as in any big corporation.”

Scottish-Ghanaian writer Tagoe, who was born and brought up in Perth, in Scotland, received a BBC Alfred Bradley bursary for his script Keeping It Up With The Joneses and has written numerous theatre scripts.

He was one of eight writers selected from more than 500 applicants for the BBC Writers Academy, which led to him writing for such series as Doctors, Casualty and EastEnders. He previously wrote Bittersweet Sunshine for Leeds-based Red Ladder.

Tagoe’s time locked up understandably made a big impact. “I’ve always wanted to be honest, so it was a real shock for me. I got into a bit of a fight and it got out of hand. I spent a week on remand,” he explains.

“I got out very quickly because I got a solicitor but I spent a week in the sentence wing of a very tough, harsh prison. It was a real wake-up call, a real eye-opener.

“There’s a certain pressure you feel and any sign of weakness will be preyed on instantly. Business can be like that too.”

The play, set in 2013, tells of Noel who’s from a decent background – not rich, but not poor either – and ambitious. When Ray, a senior trader at the financial institution they both work for, persuades him that he could have more, he ends up facing his worst nightmare – prison.

So is it a comedy or a drama? Tagoe settles for it being “a really weird one”, saying: “With most of the things I do, I try to have humour but this play is quite dark. There’s sometimes uncomfortable laughter, but there is humour.”

At its heart is the heartlessness of a modern society losing the capacity to care about other people. “It feels like every man for himself. People can’t afford to care for each other,” says Tagoe.

“I didn’t want to write overtly about the political legacy of the 1980s but you strip away connections with everyone else and you have to fend for yourself. It feels like the 1980s all over again.”

He’s not expecting to change society with a play. “It’s a relatively small scale form of theatre and as a writer you could be kidding yourself of curing the world,” he says.

“But the interesting thing about television is that the writer’s voice gets lost a little bit, although the audience is there. In the theatre, you have an audience, but not as many of them. You have to hope a lot of people see it.

“But in times of economic trouble and problems for society maybe you can generate enough of a body of work. If enough people see it, it can create conversation.”

Being in the BBC Writing Academy was an amazing experience, he says. “I really got a lot out of it. I have.

THE THING ABOUT PSYCHOPATHS

  • Washington Arts Centre, March 21. Box office 0191-2193455
  • York Theatre Royal, March 23. Box office 01904-623568 and online yorktheatreroyal.co.uk
  • Harrogate Theatre, April 10. Box office 01423-502116