Ballad of a Small Player with Rowan Joffé and Edward Berger

Nov 14, 2025

Rowan Joffe, a screenwriter and director known for 'Tin Star' and '28 Weeks Later,' discusses his adaptation of 'Ballad of a Small Player,' exploring themes of addiction and the duality of human nature. Edward Berger, acclaimed for 'All Quiet on the Western Front,' shares insights on creative curiosity and how Macau’s sensory overload shaped his film. They dive into the moral complexities of addiction, the significance of casinos as modern cathedrals, and the personal emptiness both artists confront, making for a profound conversation on art and human experience.

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ANECDOTE

How The Project Found Its Writer

Rowan Joffe discovered Ballad of a Small Player in mid-2020 and wrote 93 drafts between 2021 and 2024.
He connected personally through his recovery from alcoholism and used that experience to shape the gambling-addiction story.

INSIGHT

Addiction As Jekyll-And-Hyde

Rowan links Jekyll-and-Hyde themes to addiction, arguing the split persona is a metaphor for substance dependency.
He says addiction's core is the

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The Festival of Hungry Ghosts is upon us – and today on Script Apart, we’re betting it all on black. Ballad Of A Small Player is the casino-set new drama from director Edward Berger and writer Rowan Joffe, adapted from the novel of the same name by author Lawrence Osborne. It follows Colin Farrell as a character who introduces himself as Lord Boyle – an aristocratic charmer, who we soon come to learn is seriously, existentially adrift amid the slot machines and baccarat tables of Macau’s gambling houses. As Boyle’s true self – and name – is revealed, we tumble with him down a neon-splashed, teal-and-red rabbit hole of addiction and emptiness.

And it was this emptiness I was particularly eager to discuss when I sat down recently with Edward and Rowan, across two separate conversations. Rowan is the creator of the TV show Tin Star, and the writer of films like 28 Weeks Later and Before I Go To Sleep, which he also directed. He’s also, as tells me in this conversation, a recovering alcoholic, sober for many years. Edward, meanwhile – well, if you’ve followed the Oscars and indeed this show over the last few years, Edward needs little introduction. Conclave, his 2024 drama about the election of a new pope, and All Quiet On The Western Front, his 2022 Best International Picture-winning war epic, have seen him rocket to modern cinema’s top table in terms of respected auteurs.

In the midst of that success, though, Edward has described finding himself plagued by an empty feeling. And in this episode, he tells me how that informed this latest story. We get into the curiosity that drives his storytelling and also clear up something I read long ago about Ed’s love of rollerskating – and I also hear from Rowan about what it is that he thinks casinos represent in our culture; the capitalist tendencies they act as temples to.

Script Apart is hosted by Al Horner and produced by Kamil Dymek. Follow us on Instagram, or email us on thescriptapartpodcast@gmail.com.

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