Intervu Jacob Utzon Krefeld
Jacob
I sit down with Jacob Utzon Krefeld to chat with him about his new show, timelines, and transferring work between mediums
“It doesn’t happen within the first year, it's normal for it to take you years.”
Jacob is a Danish - Enlgish actor, writer, playwright and filmmaker. Although he says, his “level isn’t very high,” his body of work speaks for itself. He has written a novel, created an award winning short-film and is deep in the production of a new play, Don’t Know U Don’t Know which had an R&D at Theatre Deli.
I ask him about his work and the process behind it?
He tells me the play is based off of “a very personal story” about an abusive relationship in his family. It was something he decided to write about only years later after watching a documentary that galvanized him into action. Even then, the creation process for Don’t Know U Don’t Know has been four years and counting.
“Don’t Know U Don’t Know” Poster
I ask him about the play?
He tells me more: “You could never have as urgent a play as this one. This is something that is a huge crisis in the UK. Domestic abuse has gone up 40% in the UK since 2018 - That’s the police report. And it’s not just your classic “wife beater working class man”” He stresses to me. He goes on, “the geopolitics of our world…the instability…you see politicians using the same strategies as abusers. Controlling through fear.”
He adds, poignantly, “If the red flags come up the same way they do in a personal relationship, you are probably dealing with someone with a power obsession.”
I ask about his other work, compared to Don’t Know U Don’t Know?
Jacob explains to me that he wrote his “novel 7 years ago.” and that now “He wants to turn that into a series.” He explains that “When I finished the book, I got funding to get it printed and it did well in Norway. I wasn’t allowed to sell the book or have any income from it. But as the years went on, I realised it was a story I really cared about.” He also told me about his award winning short film which had a similar theme to the play about an idea of the things that often go unnoticed in society, such as domestic abuse.
I ask him what he wants audiences to take away from his work?
“I want the audiences to have a sense of how friendship can break these cycles of abuse and control.” Sagely he tells me, “Love and respect without judgement breeds reflection.” Finally, he stresses something very important to me: “Abusers thrive in silence.”
I ask him if there’s anything he’s excited to see himself?
He laughs embarrassed and tells me he’s selfdiagnosed himself with being “in a rabbit hole for 3 years.” He explains, “I’m not at a stage where I can completely focus, I need a job. Anytime he has, he spends on the piece.” He goes on to tell me that he is a “Huge music nerd” and that the one exception that did indeed make him emerge from his hole was Stereophonics in London. He gushes to me that “the play was a tremendous experience.”
I ask him what advice he’d give another creative?
He explains to me the importance of time management, “Use time for pre-production. It takes a really long long time.” With a slightly exhausted sigh he says, “This has been four years in the making.”
He goes on to stress, “If you have an idea, just do it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t finish it, just start it.” After all, he explains me wisely, “It doesn’t happen within the first year, it's normal for it to take you years.”
I ask him what’s next?
He tells me that Don’t Know U Don’t Know that they hope to secure more funding and that they have a work in progress showing at the Greenwich Theatre coming up. He stresses to me that it's been a long process but a rewarding one.
“After the WIP, its important to not spend more time in the lab and instead to perform.” He says to me, ready to take the play to the next level and hopefully adapt that too into film later down the line. Perhaps in a few more years.
Here is another intverview that Jacob did about the play: https://thedashcharity.org.uk/the-penguin-snare-how-a-new-play-is-opening-up-conversations-about-coercive-control/
Here is a filmed interiew around the R&D proccess: https://youtu.be/kWmu7JdAgao
Here is the instagram page of the play: https://www.instagram.com/dontknowudontknow/
“Jacob in promotion for “Don’t Know U Don’t Know””
