A brand new, homegrown Bristol play adapts Albert Camus’s classic ‘L’Etranger’ for our troubled times. “Standing on a beach with a gun in my haaand,” hums Steve Wright.

“Put it this way: you're not in for a night of Jean-Paul Sartre-esque ‘Why are we all here?’. What we don't want is people earnestly stroking their beards whilst sipping coffee and talking about the meaning of life. You can expect, though, a very human, beautiful and often whimsical look at one person’s life – and an opportunity to reflect on how that journey matches or clashes with your own.”

Bristol writer Simon Harvey-Williams is, along with fellow scribe Phil John, the creator of ‘Outside’, a liberal adaptation of Albert Camus’s great Existentialist set text ‘L’Etranger’, which plays at The Brewery next month. And, as he’s explaining, the adaptation retains much of the original’s enquiring spirit – but also makes for a cohesive piece of theatre that reflects the somewhat different demands and moral quandaries of 21st-century life.

Published in 1942 and variously translated as ‘The Stranger’ or ‘The Outsider’, Camus’s novel is seen by many (though not, significantly, its own author) as a kind of Existentialist manifesto. Its title character, Meursault, is a young French-Algerian whose striking imperviousness to events, sensations and emotions gives the novel its narrative and atmospheric thrust. Numbly indifferent to the death of his mother, Meursault later irrationally kills an Arab man on a beach, apparently maddened by the sun and the glint on the latter’s knife (sound familiar? Yes, folks, it’s The Cure’s ‘Killing an Arab’). He then seems equally indifferent to his own punishment and death sentence, and all through the novel appears aloof from all emotional contact with his girlfriend and associates (to call them ‘friends’ seems to overcook things).

Simon and Phil are part of Darkstuff Productions, creators of the eccentric but beguiling ‘Eddie King’ playlet series at the Tobacco Factory. For this adaptation, they’ve joined forces with fellow Bristolians RoughHouse Theatre who, like Darkstuff, are dedicated to seeking out and giving oxygen to local writing, directing and performing talent. “There is often an inevitability about the pilgrimage to London, but we’re trying to springboard as many projects as possible to keep that talent here,” explains RoughHouse’s director Shane Morgan. The play also came about via a new Graduate Director slot provided by the Tobacco Factory, in which, each year, one graduate director from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School will get to direct a show at the TF or sister theatre The Brewery.

When Shane was approached by Simon and BOVTS graduate Emel Yilmaz and asked to help produce, he didn’t hesitate. “Having previously directed a piece of Simon’s for the Ustinov’s 24 Hour Play project, being a fan of the original novel and being given the opportunity to produce for the Tobacco Factory, it all seemed an opportunity too good to miss.”

So what’s the secret to the book’s enduring appeal, not just for doomed youth and sensitive sixth-formers everywhere? “Its appeal is cross-generational,” says Shane. “It speaks to the lonely, the lost, the aspirational, the creative, the ambitious, those who have succeeded but also those who have failed.

“Since 1942, however, our goalposts and our experiences and expectations have changed significantly, and Simon and Phil have incorporated those changes into the script. For example, 24-hour rolling news has desensitised us as a society, and the events of 9/11 are central to the new adaptation, which is set that same year. After a while, the repeated showing of the planes flying into the buildings made them look like just another crass Hollywood film rather than the tragedy that it was – inviting a kind of emotional numbness similar to Meursault’s. But our tolerance levels have changed also, and while a death may well drive someone to do something appalling, is it enough these days to justify it to a modern audience? Simon and Phil have done a wonderful job of balancing the poetry and arc of the original whilst taking into account our new social expectations.”

Simon: “The play deals, in a very simple way, with some very big questions (life, death and how we give meaning to our existence) within the context of a fairly simple but engaging story with two very distinct characters. We've taken a bit of a risk and decided to set it in Bristol in 2001. We’ve also made changes because some of the themes in the book – religion, pre-marital sex, the death penalty – just aren't as relevant or significant to our culture/society any more. But we have to get the tone exactly right or risk the wrath of Camus lovers everywhere.

“The power comes from Meursault’s (whom we’ve renamed David) struggle with society. This seems particularly apposite now, given the recent looting and rioting that in effect was caused by people not wanting to accept conditions enforced upon them. Meursault deals with society in a very different way – but it is still about external forces and the influence they have upon your life.”

A liberal adaptation, then? “We have kept the same chain of events and Meursault’s very distinctive character, and its effect on the people around him. When I first read the book I initially found Meursault slightly infuriating with his apparent indifference to everything, but by the end of the book I began to understand (and slightly sympathize) with his worldview. I’m hoping we can take the audience on a similar journey.”

‘OUTSIDE’ WAS AT THE BREWERY, BRISTOL FROM 6-17 SEPT. FFI: WWW.TOBACCOFACTORYTHEATRE.COM FOR REVIEW CLICK HERE.

Copyright Steve Wright 2011; pics Shane Morgan 2011