Lisa Jackson

photo: Louise Clutterbuck
 

How did Patty first come to be?
Patty Dumplin is a relatively new character creation compared to other characters I have created, like Enus and Vincent who’ve been around for over twenty years. I was approached by the BHF who liked my other characters, and wanted to commission me to create one especially for them that could engage African-Caribbean communities. I wanted to create something memorable and fun, while meeting the challenge of embedding serious health messages. You get characters like Patty Dumplin on TV and stage, I wanted to push the boundaries by creating a character that could engage anywhere, especially on the street.

Creating Patty was a challenge. Usually I’d play numerous characters on stage, changing my physicality, voice tone, and using regular stagecraft. Audience members are used to seeing my characters in their minds. Whereas, with Patty needs to be placed right in front of people. Patty’s mannerisms and sayings are modelled on my gran, and people I know. Her outer appearance, well I can’t blame anybody for that but my own mind's eye.

Is Patty a full-time job, so to speak?
I’m just trying to work part-time, but Patty has put me in demand. I set up Mon0lisa Productions nine years ago to sustain myself as an artist in the creative industries. Since then, we are pleased to have done a lot of creative engagement work for a variety of clients, such as Equation in Nottingham, Bright Ideas, Self-Help Nottingham, NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, Trent University and so on.

Lisa receiving her BHF Champion 2015 award
image: British Heart Foundation

Did you work with the BHF before Patty?
A year before I created her, I was asked to create a heart health radio campaign using my patois-speaking characters for the Hearts and Minds programme. The successes of that led to the creation of Patty. Recently, I was accepted as a BHF Alliance member, a network usually reserved for clinical professionals. Being the first creative business to be accepted is a real achievement. That, and also being awarded BHF Champion 2015 at the British Cardiovascular Society’s annual conference in June 2015.

Do you ever get recognised when you don’t have your costume on?
No, thank goodness. I’m very different to Patty in real life – well, I hope I am! My husband is terrified I will turn into her, so he has a love/hate relationship with Patty. Playing Patty has been great because people generally don’t have a clue who is really behind Patty Dumplin, not even some close friends and family.

Tell us about The Tale of Two Woman – is acting a career you’d like to pursue separately to Patty?
I’m an actress, writer, and all-round creative. I’ve been creating my own material for over twenty years. Although I didn’t go to drama school, I’ve had much acting and writing training and experience through various creative schemes such as BBC 24 Degrees writers, Nottingham Playhouse’s BRIT programme and so on. I’m very honoured to have been mentored by the likes of one of Jamaica’s first female dub poets, Jean Binta Breeze, and writers/actors, Debbie Tucker Green and Jim Findley.  

The Tale of Two Woman was an emotive play about love, betrayal, and loss of land and people. It explored two women’s stories about their life with the same man they once loved. It was a thought-provoking, emotional play supported by the British Heart Foundation. It also exploredhow feelings and psychological issues can affect the way we look after ourselves, and therefore our health.

So whether I’m improvising with Patty Dumplin, acting on the stage, or vocalising on the radio, my passion is people and I love to use creativity to connect. I love live performance because I can feel the connection with my audience.

Mono Lisa Productions website