The Sequel Q&A

Ahead of the new play The Sequel, we spoke to writer Lucas Closs about Closs about turning life into narrative, the rise of autobiographical storytelling and how turning real lives into narratives can shape  and sometimes complicate the people within them. Set in a café preserved by a novel, the play explores how people can become fixed in someone else’s version of them.

Do you see the play as a satire of literary culture, or something more personal?

I suppose it is a satire of our hunger for biography in literature. More widely, the play explores how we are all the authors of our own lives, and the complications for ‘supporting characters’. 

How much of Grace’s character was shaped by your observations of authors and literary culture today?

With the popularity of autofiction and tools like Substack, to documenting our lives is increasingly a norm. As a writer, I find looking for material can prevent you from being present, so I am interested in the good and bad that comes from this. More broadly, I see Grace as anyone in public life who has an inspiring story about where they’ve come from. I am very interested in Michael Sandel’s exploration of the insults implicit in the stories of rising- how people can tend to blame themselves if they don’t have one. 

The Sequel raises questions about the ethics of using real lives as creative material; is that something you’ve grappled with in your own writing?

The characters I write are inevitably a mixture of real people. Often, I don’t realise until it’s too late and have to work with the actors to remove certain details. 

What excites you most about seeing The Sequel come to life on stage at the King’s Head Theatre?

I’m excited to see how everyone has brought the text to life through their own interpretations. Watching those different creative energies work in unison is going to be really special.

What’s next for you and The Deep Stage after this?

Deniz and I will continue to develop scores and scripts together and collaborate with other artists to create work that is as challenging as it is entertaining.

The Sequel comes to The Kings Head Theatre, London on Monday 20th April - Saturday 2nd May 2026. For more information: https://kingsheadtheatre.com/whats-on/the-sequel-5tbn