Intervu Francis Keaton

Francis Keaton

I sit down with Francis Keaton, to chat about their new show, and what we consider to be serious art and culture.

“It’s a real big homage to Tumblr and like Hamilton and MCR and vampires, and a little bit of gore and yaoi and these things that people thought would never get respected to be put in art because they’re kind of in these online spaces, so archively hard to track and dominated by feminine and neurodivergent people so its like “oh, its stupid.””

First off, I ask Francis to describe himself?

“I’m Francis.” There’s a pause. “I guess I should say more.” Another pause. “I’m a writer.” He makes a disgusted face, “which sometimes I hate saying because I think people think that its the most boring art form and stuff because everything is so visual based at the moment. Maybe a more interesting way to put it is that I think I’m quite a hybrid artist so I really mix in different genres, especially fiction and non-fiction at the moment.

He goes on to say, “I’ve written kind of everything, fiction, non-fiction, poetry and this is my first theatre/staged thing. But I’d say that although all my work feels quite different, they are all theme wise very much linked.”

I ask him about this theme?

He perks up at this. “I’m really really interested in masochism essentially but not just in the sexual sense - although there is a lot of erotic stuff in my work - but more in an aesthetic way like being so trapped in your body but even more in a spiritual sense like being able to know God through your body rather than through words, abstract idea or prayer.”

He notes, “I think it's a trans thing as well, of this self creation through taboo and repulsion.”

“Flesh and Bone”

I ask him about his new play?

It’s called “Flesh and Bone.” In a way, it's the weird cracks of the play where it links (to masochism). He gives me the rundown, “So basically the synopsis is: it's based on this real life fake Tumblr story, where this guy, who's a little bit crazy, thinks he’s Kermit and the Joker from Batman and he goes to live with some emos who are essentially in a cult. They think that their leader is talking to Gerard Way, who is this ageless vampire and she’s going to be the next one- 

I interrupt here.

“Gerard Way? Like the singer?”

“Yes.”

We carry on.

“So putting weird person A with weird person B is like an awful combination but what if that happens and they all decided to move to Cyprus? 

He informs me that: “Essentially a lot of people were killed in the 60s and 70s because of ethic tensions but they are still called “missing” government wise - but they’re not. What if they came back as zombies and messed with this orientalised sanitized picture we have of Cyprus? They go over and use this tragedy to eat dead people to speak to Gerard Way because they think this gets them the connection.”

I ask him why people should come and see it?

“Do you know what, first of all - not in a dickish way - they are two very different concepts and I don’t think you’ll find another play that touches the same themes or in a similar way! What I’m creating a conversation about is that very trauma dumpy hyper individualistic internet person that you meet - especially when you are younger - is in a way the teenage process of when you get these white leftists, especially in like western european spaces, that I think take over other voice, especially from colonized places and stuff like that.” 

“But I think also to be honest it's got a lot of banger aesthetics that people really love at the moment.” He tells me on a less serious but equally proud note.

“It’s a real big homage to Tumblr and like Hamilton and MCR and vampires, and a little bit of gore and yaoi and these things that people thought would never get respected to be put in art because they’re kind of in these online spaces, so archively hard to track and dominated by feminine and neurodivergent people so its like “oh, its stupid.”

I ask Francis about his process?

With self awareness, he replies, "It's hard to know if the process has changed because of the medium or just like me as a writer and what I have wanted to do has changed.”

“Theatre was a big push for me, and something I did struggle with scriptwriting wise. One, because I’m not the greatest with dialogue. I’m very good at going into internal thoughts. But also, through writing this I had to write how people speak normally, and I’m like a very verbose person. I kind of like…not make up words…but make something a verb when it's a noun. I had to strip through all of that which I think was a good ego cleanse…or an insecurity if you want to be nice about it. I had to find approval in my writing and write more simply and plainly but it's been really nice and I want to stick to that more because it hits more and it's more grounded.”

“Going back to the masochism thing, I think the core of the play is how like people become compliant with their abuse.” He goes on, “So within the friend group there is this quite toxic pet play dynamic which again is a lot of ideas of being trans and disassociation and also again, that really internet speak where you use your issues like self harm or eating disorders in emo spaces and using that to weaponise other people into doing what you want. But also I think, again not going against this perfect victim narrative, of sometimes people play into these horrible and toxic situations for whatever reason because it might make them understand something about themself a bit more and I think just like playing with that uncomfortability and stuff. I think it's quite a nice experience to give people.”

Francis Keaton

I ask him if he finds moving between genres difficult?

He tells me, “To be honest, it was quite eye opening. Last year was my final year of uni and I was doing a script writing course. I needed to submit something for a workshop and I had nothing. All I had were these two things that were occupying my mind and I didn’t know how to put them in conversation with each another.”

“Originally, the piece was meant to be a hybrid essay so you could read it or watch it. Basically all of the colonial points sit in the subtext and that's the uncomfortability. I wanted that subtext to be stage directions and I cut it because practically speaking its really unhelpful for actors to work with and for me as a director. I was surprised how much I could actually gleam from it, how people become so obsessed with their own suffering that you forget about wider suffering which is quite relatable big politics wise and for individual lives.” 

“I think a lot more people are starting to tap into internet nostalgia. That’s Mark Fisher’s point. We’re sort of nostalgic for culture and for repeating itself. I think there are people doing similar stuff but I think I’m doing it with a more critical lens which is the distinction.”

I ask him if there’s anything he’s excited to see?

“I’m performing this at the Brighton Fringe. I’m really excited to pick things up through flyering. I’ve actually been deliberately trying not to look online for stuff because I really like that experience of random flyers and you find the best thing ever!”

“I’ve got tickets to see “The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals” which I’m pretty excited for. I don’t know, I’m kind of excited to see everything. I get inspiration through everyday stuff like Tiktok and Twitter just cause I think its this form of art where people aren’t trying to be as didactic with it and its very raw and like as a writer studying characters who are handling their trauma in a really bad way, its really good for me to see how people are doing that in real life.”

I ask him if he has any advice?

“It sounds really shitty but its true: You’ve got to do the things you don’t want to and put yourself out there. So its like, I did a lot of community theatre growing up which is where I found most of my actors. I’m not greatly in the theatre scene because I didn’t go to drama school. So I just DM’d this drag king online just because I liked his stuff. I knew he would be very chronically online and fit the vibe. And that was really scary! I’m not like a person who likes to put myself out there but it works really well and it gets stuff done and then you realise people aren’t scary to be honest. Everyone is trying to look for other people.”

I ask him what’s next?

“I have so many half projects. I’m trying to take this to London.”

He goes on, saying that “I’ve got like half a memoir essay going where I speak to a lot of trans musicians and books that I really like that have an obsession with gore or extreme taboo and depictions of quite graphic material, my own experience of abuse, and how I think its really easy for people to write this stuff off as an act of self annihilation: “Oh well you hate yourself! And hate your body!” And I really don’t think that’s true. I think its the opposite and I think its an act of self creation and quite spiritual. It’s what a lot of medieval Christian mystics were doing when they were trying to become Jesus and its basically essentially another way to crucify yourself and be reborn but be reborn honestly with all the dirt and stuff.” 

Excitingly, he tells me that, “I’ve got an upcoming fiction publication in an anthology called “Rat King” by Carrion Press - which I should probably promo. It’s about this grandson whose trying to transmutate into his terminally ill grandmother but in there, there is a lot of questions about consent and letting down a family of immigrants, especially from a queer perspective.”

Francis can be found at: https://www.instagram.com/venus.as.a.boy777/

The link to Flesh and Bone is: https://www.brightonfringe.org/events/flesh-and-bone-play/

Francis Keaton