Scottish Scrubs fans will be delighted to hear that Zach Braff is in Glasgow this week. His play All New People is enjoying a short run at the city’s King’s Theatre before hitting London’s West End later this month.
All New People is written and starring Braff and is directed by the acclaimed Peter DuBois. No stranger to the writer’s room, Braff also wrote, directed and starred in his cult indie film Garden State.
Scotland Tonight presenter Rona Dougall caught up with the Garden State star during some downtime backstage.
“It’s very funny and light-hearted” he said when asked what to expect from All New People, “but much like some of the other things which people have known me for, whether it be Scrubs or Garden State, there’s drama underneath it too.”
The story follows Charlie, a man alone in a New Jersey beach house, trying to end his life until he’s interrupted by a trio of unexpected characters. A hired beauty (Suzannah Fielding), a fireman (Paul Hilton) and an estate agent from the UK (Eve Myles).
Despite this seemingly serious subject matter, the play has been racking up rave reviews for its hilarity throughout.
Braff explained “Ideally when you leave you haven’t just had some really good laughs at the theatre but there’s been some drama that’s bubbled-up underneath it too.”
Asked what made him tackle such serious issues, Braff went on to explain that he’s always been interesting in themes of isolation, depression and loneliness. He believes that these subjects are increasingly relevant to modern society with the increase of internet activities, smartphone technology and TV entertainment.
“In lots of ways we as human beings are becoming more and more isolated from each other,” he said. Admitting that he himself had tackled feelings of loneliness in the past, Braff explained the way he dealt with it was to connect with people by making them laugh. He said that this balance of sad and funny comes across in All New People.
Talking about his first experience of Scotland, he laughed about his Scottish fans on Facebook and Twitter who had been urging him to sample one of the country’s finest delicacies:
“Everyone keeps saying ‘you have to try fried Mars bars’ - which is the most bizarre thing in the world. I would never have thought of that combination but, yeah, I plan to try it.”
More about All New People:
- The play is showing at King's Theatre in Glasgow on Fri 17 Feb at 7.30pm and Sat 18 Feb at 2.30pm then 7.30pm
- Tickets can be purchased here.
