In the spotlight today are Jamie Thomas and Nadja Bonk with How to Fill an Ashtray!

Just like last year, English Theatre Leipzig’s first production of the 2024 / 2025 season is a multi-faceted celebration of fresh talent. This September, three new short plays will be presented during vibrant evenings of culture and community in what we’re delighted to call New Voices 2.0! This year, the over-arching theme for the three shows is ‘Wicked’, which acts as a tantalising link between three very different concepts.
In our last interview we covered the first of the three plays that will be performed; @dd_icted, and this time we’ll be taking a closer look at How to Fill an Ashtray, which has been jointly written and directed by Jamie Thomas and Nadja Bonk. How to Fill an Ashtray is set on a summer evening when two old friends who haven’t seen each other for years reconnect over cigarettes and a bottle of wine. They reminisce about their university years; the times they spent together when life was simpler. Slowly, an old argument resumes about the choices they’ve made, and both they and we begin to wonder if friendship can always survive in the face of our anxieties about the future.
How to Fill an Ashtray is Nadja and Jamie’s debut as both directors and playwrights, and I was very excited to talk to them about their show and what it has been like to translate it from page to stage.
So, we’ve seen a short description of what happens in How to Fill an Ashtray, but what would you say it is about?
Jamie: Well, in a nutshell it’s about friendship, I think. It’s also about growing up and growing apart. You can hold a grudge while having a lot of love for a person at the same time and while this can be quite confusing, I think it is something a lot of people can relate to, or at least that’s what we’re hoping for when audiences see the play.
Nadja: For me the show has two major themes, one being this focus on friendship and the ups and downs that a friendship can have. Friendship isn’t just about the good times, it’s also about the bad times, going through thick and thin with someone. Friendships can be pretty enduring, but they can also be quite fragile. The other main theme is exploring anxieties about the future, which is super relatable, as I think everyone has experienced these anxieties at some point or other. It’s very much about finding where you want to go in life, being anxious about not always knowing what you want your future to look like, especially as a young person wanting to figure out the rest of your life.
What were your main inspirations? How did you begin the process of creating what we will see onstage?
Nadja: I suppose the inspiration originally came from us and our own lives as two young women who sometimes feel anxious about the future. Where better to get ideas from than your own experience? We also drew inspiration from our friends and the women surrounding us, but at the same time the play has developed as the rehearsal process has gone on. The story has been affected by the experiences and ideas that our actresses have brought to the table. It’s very much a mix of inspirations from all kinds of people around us who are going through a similar experience to the characters in the play.
Jamie: It all began in my kitchen, really. Nadja and I were sitting in there and talking about how we are now at the stage in our lives where friendships can end, maybe because people just grow apart, or because there’s distance between them physically or emotionally. We really thought this theme was worth exploring in a creative way. We also really liked the idea of writing a play about two people sitting in a kitchen smoking and drinking. One might say that it seems boring, but I think that actually there’s masses to explore there. Getting into these themes has really been a lot of fun, and working with the actors to make the show a reality has been super exciting.
You have written and directed this show as a team from the start of the process right through to now, has that ever proved challenging? What have been the highlights of working together like this for each of you?
Nadja: Deciding to work together with Jamie was really a no-brainer for me because we have been very close friends for some time now, and since the play is loosely inspired by our own lives it was a natural decision to agree that we would write and direct it together. Obviously, there are always going to be some challenges, even, and perhaps especially when you’re working together with someone who is your friend. For instance, one aspect of all this that was definitely more challenging than we expected were parts of the writing process. You always think when you’re together with your friend that you are the funniest two people in the world. You make each other laugh, and obviously you imagine that it’s going to be just as funny for an audience, but then when you actually sit down to write it you start to question if you’re funny at all!
There are many highlights for me. Yes, the writing process was sometimes difficult and stressful, but getting our ideas down on paper felt good, and then we got to find our actresses and begin working with them. We quickly bonded very well as a team. I think the four of us have a great friendship, and working together has been amazing. I’m so impressed by our actresses and how quick they were to pick things up. I’d say the main thing working with Jamie has been is fun. Yes, you do occasionally disagree on things, but you make it work and at the end of the day you have a cigarette and a beer and everything’s good. Definitely lots of highs and yes, some lows, but it’s been a great process so far and I’m very excited to see the final product!
Jamie: Working together with one of your best friends can of course be a little bit difficult at times, especially in the writing process, but Nadja and I have always gotten along so well and actually we’ve had a lot of fun. There are a lot of positives to working creatively with someone who you are so close with, and we have always laughed a lot and felt the love and support from each other at every turn. I have also learned so much from Nadja throughout this process, because she is much more experienced than I am with theatre work, and I think that also has to be one of my highlights. I would do it all over again, for sure.
What has surprised or excited you the most about the production process of How to Fill an Ashtray, and of New Voices 2.0 as a whole?
Jamie: Theatre is always a magical place. A play can look very different during the rehearsal process to how it will end up being when it is performed on stage. To see all three plays come to life is definitely going to be something special. I’m super excited for it. I feel a little bit like some of the actors are a bit daunted by the premiere, and I’m just there massively looking forward to it. Beyond the performances themselves, I think meeting all of these amazing creative people and getting to work with them is a definite highlight – it has been so much fun! I’m already a bit sad that it will be ending very soon, but let’s not focus on that.
Nadja: For me the experience has been a bit different to what it might have been for others, because I was part of the first New Voices project last year. With that in mind, I wouldn’t say there have been that many surprises. I’ve felt a lot of excitement for us to be using this format again and to have these three very different shows come together in one evening and give people a good time whilst exploring really different themes and ideas and sets and storylines. What most excites me about the project, just like last year, is still being able to see all three plays along with how the audiences react to them. I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.
How would you say the over-arching theme of “Wicked” can be observed in your play?
Jamie: I think it is maybe a little bit more hidden in our play, not as ‘on the nose’ as it might be in the other shows. Fighting with somebody who used to be, and maybe still is very close to you means that you do get very personal and very wicked in order to protect yourself. You might say things that you could regret later on, but it does seem to me that because you know this person so well that fights you have with those closest to you are often the most wicked. We’ve been exploring such a fight, and while it is subtle I definitely think “Wicked” is a theme we’ve incorporated into this play.
Nadja: Yes, at first glance you might not think that “Wicked” is a theme that features all too much in our play, but with so many different definitions of what “Wicked” is I think it definitely applies here. There is a wickedness you can experience when you think you know someone very well and then they say or do something that is so hurtful, even more so because it is someone that you really trusted. The betrayal feels worse, because maybe it is something you doubt in yourself that they know about only because you trusted them, and then they use it to attack you. That’s pretty wicked and cruel.
What do you hope audiences will take away from watching How to Fill an Ashtray?
Nadja: I hope that audiences can relate to the play. I hope that they feel either transported back to when they were young and were worrying about the future, or that they can maybe relate if there are decisions they’ve made in their life that they’re not happy about. Maybe the play will make them question things, maybe it will make friends think about fights they may have had and things they could have done differently. I want it to be relatable. After the show’s finished I want people to go away and think “Yeah, I’ve had a fight like that before”, or that they’ve seen themselves in one or both of the characters. I also want them to think about the ending of the play, and ask the question about whether or not friendship can prevail even in the face of these fears and anxieties.
Jamie: I hope people feel seen, at least a little bit. We’re not trying to answer a lot of life’s big questions in this play, but I do think we want to explore that question; “What am I going to do with my life?”, and to look at it from different perspectives. Sometimes just understanding a problem is better than trying to solve it aimlessly or arbitrarily. You don’t have to always answer a question, and sometimes by not answering it and leaving things open you let more people relate to it properly. I hope people see themselves in these characters, and can get a sense of comfort from knowing that others are going through the same anxieties and struggles that they themselves might be going through. Maybe this 30-minute play can actually help some people. Growing up is so confusing, and ETL’s outreach includes so many young people in this city and beyond; there are people from all over the world who come to see these shows and get involved with the company, which is lovely.
Why did you want to work with ETL on this project? What has your experience of working with ETL been like?
Jamie: I feel like my last answer acted as a really nice gateway into this one actually! I worked with ETL before and I really enjoyed it, so of course when Nadja and I decided to write a play together it made sense to put it on stage with ETL. ETL is a wonderful organisation, and it is made up of very helpful, very creative people who are just as passionate about theatre as we are. Also the possibility of writing a play in English has been great to take advantage of because it opens the scene up a little bit to an international audience. I think that ETL is a very special organisation.
Nadja: I’ve worked with ETL for almost two years now, and obviously that is one of the reasons why I felt it was the right place for me to take the first show I’ve co-written and directed. I also really loved the concept of last year’s New Voices which was all about giving people the opportunity to show what they can do, even if it is for the first time as a director and / or writer, and that concept has been carried through into New Voices 2.0. I also really like the idea of having these three short plays shown in one evening. Personally, I don’t think I would have had the time or capacity to write and direct a full-length play, so getting the opportunity to present something shorter is possibly less intimidating than putting on a longer play yourself. Getting the opportunity to work with a larger crew and a bigger production group with so many creative voices was something I was really pleased about and excited by, and it has been absolutely great.
New Voices 2.0 will premiere on 5th September at Neues Schauspiel Leipzig. Further performances will take place on the 6th, 7th, 13th and 14th of September. All performances begin at 20.00.
Tickets: https://tickethome.neuesschauspielleipzig.de/kuenstler/english-theatre-leipzig-nsl-present

About Nadja and Jamie: Nadja Bonk studies Theaterwissenschaft at the University of Leipzig and has been involved with ETL since October 2022. She has worked as the Stage Manager on the ETL productions SCAB (2022), Wild East (2023) and Could Someone Iron the Tinsel, please? (2023). She was also part of the production team for last year’s New Voices project, and she was later the Production Manager for Eden (2024).
Beyond her work on specific productions, Nadja has been running the company’s social media accounts since winter 2022 and is an active part of planning the company’s future as a member of the funding committee. How to Fill an Ashtray is her playwrighting and directing debut, and she has also taken on the role of Stage Manager once again for New Voices 2.0 as a whole.
Jamie Thomas studies English Literature at the University of Leipzig. She performed in the ETL production Eden in March 2024 and is making her playwriting and directing debut with How to Fill an Ashtray as part of New Voices 2.0.
About the Interviewer: Sam Roberts has been working with ETL since moving to Leipzig in March last year, and has been an active member since September 2023, when he directed What I learned from my time in the Fridge as part of the first New Voices project. He has been integral to planning and running ETL workshops and has been privileged to work as Creative Lead on the New Voices 2.0 project this year.
