Interview: Actor & Writer Libby Rodliffe
Libby Rodliffe explores the everyday struggles that inspired her latest play, Jobsworth, and her journey from London temping to the stage...
Hi Libby! Jobsworth is inspired by your own experiences. What made you decide to bring that personal journey to the stage?
Hello! I spent a good few years sending voice notes to my brilliant co-writer, Isley Lynn @isleyalynn, in which I'd moan/cry/laugh (less often) about recent jobs I'd been doing. The situations I used to find myself in were sometimes so ridiculous that Isley suggested we write a play about them. Once we started it just sort of wrote itself!
How did you and Isley Lynn come together as co-writers?
Isley and I have enjoyed many years of mutual admiration and friendship before starting work on Jobsworth; I'd already worked with them on the UK Tour and Edinburgh Fringe run of their play Skin a Cat in 2018, and we'd talked about making something together since then. The (many) voice notes and the arduous lockdown era were the final push to get started.
The play is based on my 10 years of temping experience in London, and the stories are so plentiful that we had a lot of material to inspire us and create characters from. It was a wonderful writing process - we spent hours chatting about what could happen, and which characters we could meet, and then Isley would press record on their phone, and I would improvise around what we'd discussed.
Isley is a skilled and seasoned playwright, and often told me I'd need to bring the comedy and characters while they brought the structural prowess. Actually, it turns out Isley's very funny, and I'm good at a cheeky twist or two, too! (Sorry to brag).
Financial stress affects so many and can be devastating in its reach. How did you strike a balance of serious to funny?
It's so much easier to digest bad news if there's room to have a bit of a laugh; without a doubt, laughter makes things lighter. If you can make people laugh about something intrinsically tragic, they're most likely going to stay interested, so we knew the play had to be funny.
Bea's situation - juggling 4 jobs, and a handful of unsavoury bosses - naturally lends itself to comedy moments and comic relief, but debt weighs so heavily on mental health and carries so much shame, that it would have been wrong to write this play without including the severe (and sometimes fatal) repercussions of financial struggles. Isley and I were always adamant that we wanted to explain how Bea ended up here, as well as revelling in the ridiculous absurdity of the situation in real-time too.
Can you share any hard‑earned tips for surviving the modern grind of capitalism?
STOP BUYING AVOCADOS!!!!! No, really, I honestly don't know. Does anyone?
I definitely do not recommend secretly working 4 jobs - please don't use anything in this play as inspiration.
Finally, what are you enjoying in the UK culture scene right now?
I go to the cinema as much as I possibly can, and we're so lucky to have so many tiny and unique cinemas in London. Close Up in Shoreditch always programmes such special films, and they're hosting 'Film Clubs' twice a month until next summer. I'm looking forward to December's one when Jobsworth has closed - it's a really good evening!
Follow Libby on Instagram here.
Learn more about Jobsworth (performing from 19 Nov – 6 Dec 2025) and book tickets here.