A jukebox of confessions: Letters You’ll Never Send brings anonymous confessions to the stage

From a personal challenge to a fully fledged theatre show, Letters You’ll Never Send puts people’s deepest, darkest secrets on stage. Devised by actor Katie McGarry, the theatre show sees letters submitted anonymously by members of the public performed by a team of actors.

The seed of the show came from a creative challenge that Katie set for herself, writing down the things she wanted to say to other people but never would. Curiosity got the better of her, and a call for other people to submit their own letter resulted in the first edition of the show, which took place at ARK in Cliftonville earlier this year. 

Next week, it returns with its first edition in London, ahead of more in Folkestone later this year and a tentative return to Margate. Katie tells Strange Tourist what goes into making the show, how the team of actors bring the letters to life and audience reactions.

How did the show come about? 

Last year I turned 40, and as part of a creative challenge I wrote 40 letters to people I knew over the summer. At the end of it, I sealed them with a wax stamp and decided to never send them to the recipients. It was hugely cathartic and a lot of fun. 40 letters is a lot! I hid them and went on with my life.

But something grabbed me about the idea of these unsent secrets, and I started to wonder who other people would write to, what things they had to say that they couldn’t, for whatever reason. So, naturally, because it’s me, I turned it into a show. Haha! The idea of taking people’s most inner thoughts, the things they never got to say, to release, find closure on or express, and give them a safe outlet, anonymously, through other people reading them, I thought might be interesting. 

When did you know it was going to work?

I had no idea if it would work, to be honest. I was bored in January, and the winter was long and I needed a project to stop myself from going crazy. I put a callout on social media for letters and let the power of the internet do its job. I received a load of anonymous letters over the space of a couple of months, which I loved. It felt a privilege to be sent them and to get to read them. To be entrusted with such vulnerability is not something I take lightly. But I only knew it worked after the first show at the ARK in Margate. The audience feedback was overwhelmingly positive and it felt like I had touched on something.

How was that first show in Margate?

It was such a joy to do. I had basically assembled a dream team of professional and exceptional actors, who all happen to be local to Margate, to join me on this wild ride. They had no idea what to expect. They had only seen the letters a couple of days before and only rehearsed an hour before we went on. It was hard to know if the audience would like it at all. It was all one big experiment. 

We ended up selling out, so it was a packed room and a beautiful atmosphere. There was laughter, tears and lots of hugging after the show. I was surprised at how long people stayed after the show discussing it, processing and wanting to stay in the atmosphere. That was really lovely.

Have you changed anything about the show since then?

Well, each show is completely different, because they have new letters each time, so the very nature of the show means that no two shows are the same.

How do you go about selecting which letters to include?

This is the hardest job. I am sitting here surrounded by over 50 letters and have to pick and choose, which is brutal. I’d love to include all of them. But the show is only an hour long, so I must be mindful about the content of the letters, the themes and journey they take the audience on - and length. 

I like a good mix of emotions and try to keep it balanced with some laughter, but it entirely depends on what letters I get sent, so it’s not 100% up to me. The last show was quite dark, as I had kept the prompt quite vague and I think instinctually, the letter that you’ll never send is inevitably going to veer towards some dark truths and reveal quite deep stuff. 

This time round, I provided a number of different ideas for letters, which means that the intake I have just got had me cracking up and weeping in equal measure. It’s going to be a fun one for sure.

How deep do people get in their letters? 

People do go deep. This is the unsayable, after all. And often the things we keep closest to our chests are the things that are painful. There have been a number of letters that broke me when I read them. Some really heartbreaking and revealing truths. 

Have there been any letters that you’ve decided couldn’t be put on stage?

Ultimately, my duty of care is to the audience, and when you only have an hour it’s hard to give space to all of it. But mostly, the reason letters don’t go in is because they are too long. There is one letter that I received that would be a one person show in itself. It was amazing.

How much and what kind of direction do you give the performers? 

I have more time with the actors this time round, so we can get into it a bit more. The direction depends on the letter and character we have found for them together. 

Do you feel a responsibility towards people’s stories, even if they’re completely anonymous?

I do feel a responsibility towards the real people behind the letters and it’s a fine balance between creating characters for the actors to make them their own and keeping the vulnerability and truth. Luckily, I’ve got amazing talented people who are great at their craft, so it’s an easy and fun job for me.

How are letters divided up between the actors?

It’s a juggling act of putting together the puzzle of the letters into an order that takes the audience on a journey and spreading out the casting, so everyone gets a variety of letters to read. There are some letters where I immediately know who I want to read that one, and others feel like it could be read by anyone. That’s the beauty of it being anonymous and taking out a lot of identifying markers, it makes them universal. 

Also, again, it helps that the actors are versatile and playful with them. I start off by matching the letter to the actor and spreading out the load so we all get an even amount, then create the arc and shuffle it all from there. I am still learning what works, to be honest. I am enjoying the process though. It’s a lot of post it notes, walking around with letters pinned up on the walls and on the floor like I’m a detective. And I stay hydrated.

Do you know if anyone heard a letter that was meant for them and realised they were the subject?

No. Thankfully. The rules are important, to keep the writer and the recipient safe and anonymous. So, if someone has too much detail that could give it away, it doesn’t go in the show.

Has anyone told you that their letter was performed?

A couple of people did tell me which letter was theirs when they had sent it and some after the first show, but I do try and make it very clear, that we don’t want to know. We want it to be anonymous. I try and protect the actors from knowing, even if I do, because I want them to not have anything that’s going to compromise their performance. Also, that’s a lot for them to carry, so I have a duty of care towards them as well.

Is the plan to make this a regular show?

Yes! It hopefully will be. So, we’ll be in London on the July 15 at the Hen and Chickens, then in Folkestone on September 19 as part of Folkestone Live and at the Arden Theatre in Faversham as part of the Faversham Fringe on October 17 and we’ll definitely come back to home to Margate next year!

Not to give anything away, but can you tease anything about what kind of topics are going to come up on Tuesday?

No! Shhh it’s a secret… you’ll have to come and see the show! But there is an interesting story about the unusual use of a trowel, some tarp and a caravan…

You can see Letters You’ll Never Send at the Hen & Chickens Theatre in Islington on Tuesday, July 15. Performing will be Nathan Lang, Phoebe Ladenburg,  Jayne Edwards, Alex Ratcliffe, and Naomi Cooper-Davis. Tickets £11.50. 

You can also catch Katie McGarry’s You’re Not In The West End Now at the Camden Fringe on August 7-8 and 14-15. Tickets £13. 

Find out more about Letters You’ll Never Send (and submit your own confessions) at lettersyoullneversend.co.uk.