{"id":446271,"date":"2025-09-23T16:41:17","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T16:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/446271\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T16:41:17","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T16:41:17","slug":"daisy-miles-explores-addiction-in-new-play-pests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/446271\/","title":{"rendered":"Daisy Miles explores addiction in new play Pests"},"content":{"rendered":"

– Advertisement –\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Daisy Miles is an actor, writer, and producer from Stockport<\/a>. She recently won a Bruntwood prize for Original New Voice for her play R Lady\u2019s. Daisy is about to star in Vivienne Franzmannn\u2019s highly acclaimed and two hander play, Pests.<\/p>\n

The play explores the effects of addiction and childhood trauma but there are also flashes of wit and it is beautifully written. Pests opens at the Kings Arms<\/a> in November and we caught up with Daisy to find out more.<\/p>\n

Daisy Miles<\/p>\n

Daisy writes and performs, does one support the other, as there are so many creatives that wear many different hats. She said: \u201cI\u2019m a huge believer in practicing creativity holistically. You can\u2019t understand sh*t about the world if you just write.\u201d <\/p>\n

She elaborates: \u201cI think Werner Herzog suggested that aspiring filmmakers should instead go out and pick locks, rather than learn about filmmaking. This is my lock-picking.\u201d <\/p>\n

So what does acting mean to Daisy? <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m learning about a play that I didn\u2019t write. I\u2019m learning about a new world, I\u2019m working with a new team, I\u2019m forcing myself into a place I wasn\u2019t before.\u201d So what is her advice to creatives who feel like a one trick pony? \u201cI always encourage creatives to pursue other creative endeavours that aren\u2019t their \u201cmain thing\u201d. The more livened you are, the better a creative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some people say they were born to perform, others end up here and some are inspired by someone they met, such as a teacher. So how did Daisy get here?<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI always encourage creatives to pursue other creative endeavours that aren\u2019t their \u201cmain thing\u201d. The more livened you are, the better a creative.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

She said: \u201cLate, and then not so late.\u201d She adds:\u201d I did musical theatre in clubs and school as a kid, as many of us do. I lost it from my teen years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Years later she \u201cgot an offer from Oxford to do English\u201d and she thought \u201cmaybe I\u2019d be an academic and do all that nonsense.\u201d She added: \u201cthings went a bit wrong \u2013 I missed Uni and went straight into journalism \u2013 things went worse \u2013 lost my job and went straight into a Uni \u2013 things went wrong again and I dropped straight out of that Uni.\u201d <\/p>\n

She then had an epiphany moment and \u201cthought maybe it\u2019s a sign from god I should be doing something bigger.\u201d She said:\u201d I go to Uni (again) for playwriting, write my first play, win a Bruntwood prize. So I have all the time in the world for failure and starting again. That\u2019s what got me here.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to female writers that Daisy admires, there is no easy answer. She adds:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a really difficult question I still struggle with. She added: \u201cas a black-comedy writer, my heroes are Martin McDonagh, Enda Walsh, Jez Butterworth, Jeremy O. Harris, etc. She sighs: \u201cThere is not an indispensable amount of women in this genre currently. I can\u2019t yet come up with a theory for why that is. And don\u2019t say Phoebe Waller-Bridge. She doesn\u2019t count. She\u2019s landed gentry. Especially not women celebrated in this genre.\u201d <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI have all the time in the world for failure and starting again. That\u2019s what got me here.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

She is inquisitive though and said: \u201cI\u2019m still new here and maybe one day I\u2019ll figure out why this is. I\u2019ve asked amongst my peers, actually, for suggestions of either female or non-masc-presenting writers who fill this quota and I\u2019m yet to find a writer that scratches that for me.\u201d Then comes an ask, she said: \u201cAny suggestions are very, very, very welcomed. I\u2019m sure it\u2019s a matter of ignorance.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to what attracted her to Vivienne Franzmann\u2019s beautiful play Pests, there is no doubt in Daisy\u2019s mind. She said: \u201cPink. The character that I play is so similar to myself. Everything about her is a defence mechanism. Her quick wit, her meanness, her high standards, her defensiveness. It\u2019s all me.\u201d <\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI often get accused of being very confident. The truth is that the louder I am, the louder the room is, the more comfortable I feel. I need someone to fill the silences. I can\u2019t sit with myself very well.\u201d She elaborated further: \u201cPeople think that all that charm, all that loudness, means you\u2019re happy \u2013 that you\u2019re comfortable with yourself. It couldn\u2019t be further from the truth. I\u2019m convincing you of something. And you\u2019re buying it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to Pink, one of two siblings in the play she really feels for this character and that connects her to the play.<\/p>\n

Exploring the character of Pink in Pests <\/p>\n

She adds: \u201cPink is pure tragedy. She never stood a chance. She\u2019s a young woman from Manchester who\u2019s been in care since she was 12. She\u2019s been abused in many ways from that age onwards. The only time she was ever happy was a holiday to Formby when she was 11. And she\u2019s still there. Or maybe she\u2019s trying to go back there.\u201d<\/p>\n

She adds: \u201cBut she\u2019s f***ing smart. We often, in rehearsals, speak about her like a dog. When a dog is too intelligent, they find ways to break the rules and still get the reward. They\u2019re naughtier.\u201d She expands: \u201cDog trainers will tell you that you should actually want a dog that is not too intelligent. Because they\u2019re the ones that follow the rules.\u201d But when it comes to her character, she does not it is plain fear. She adds: \u201cPink isn\u2019t scared of breaking the rules. She moves the goalposts constantly to get what she wants. But she\u2019s just a scared dog, at the end of the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why The Kings Arms is the perfect place for this play <\/p>\n

\"DaisyThe Kings Arms<\/p>\n

The Kings Arms is so intimate that for this play, you feel like you are sat witnessing events. How does Daisy feel about that?<\/p>\n

\u201cI love it. As a writer, as well as an actor, I\u2019m very in-tune with an audience. I\u2019m listening to you! I can hear your every breath!\u201d How does that differ when she is wearing a writer\u2019s hat? \u201cWhen I\u2019m watching something I\u2019ve written, I will seat myself at the back row and watch the audience, rather than the play.\u201d <\/p>\n

She added: \u201cI like making an audience uncomfortable. I like connecting with them \u2013 even though we\u2019re pretending they\u2019re not there \u2013 I am connecting with them. I will get really close. I like that threat. It\u2019s as scary for me as it might be to that audience member. I like it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last July Daisy won the original new voice Bruntwood Prize at the Royal Exchange. This must have felt special. How does Daisy feel now, looking back?<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cI\u2019m really still not over it. Every week I wake up and some crazy name has dropped into my inbox.\u201d She added: \u201cYou\u2019ll think you\u2019re over it and then something mad happens again. When it happened, in July, I think I was possibly only there in a physical sense. Someone sent me a podcast or interview I did afterwards and the interviewer said, \u2018and you\u2019ve just won \u00a310k\u2019, and I audibly say something along the lines of, \u2018What? Did I?\u2019. <\/p>\n

She continued: \u201cIt was a big drop in the deep end for sure. One I\u2019m very grateful for, but I\u2019ve been on catch-up-mode this whole time. Working out who\u2019s-who, what everything means, what not to do, etc.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why you should go and see Pests at The Kings Arms <\/p>\n

Why would Daisy recommend Pests to audiences, when there are so many plays in Manchester jostling for our attention? She waxes enthusiastically and it is difficult not to get caught up in her passion for this piece. She said: \u201cIt is such a great play. Although it is a two-hander, it has never occurred to me as one. It is so rich.\u201d She expands: \u201cThe subtext happening outside these four walls is epic.\u201d<\/p>\n

She has a take on the play and said \u201cIt\u2019s a love story, really. Pink loves her little sister, Rolly. What will she do to keep her in her life? That\u2019s it. That\u2019s the play. It\u2019s about dependency.\u201d She summarises: \u201cThey are both depending on people and depending on substances. But it is the same, isn\u2019t it? And when the system you\u2019re born into has let you down \u2013 who can you depend on?\u201d<\/p>\n

Tickets for Pests at The Kings Arms <\/p>\n

Pests is at the Kings Arms from 3rd-5th November at The Kings Arms in Salford. It runs for 90 minutes with no interval and it is recommended for audiences 16+ and can be booked here<\/a>.Tickets for Pests at The Kings Arms <\/p>\n

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