Welcome to my blog. The director has asked me to write a record of the process for the website and being a man with plenty to say and many opinions I was happy to oblige. I haven't done this before and don't really know how it's going to work. I guess I'll just write when I have something to say. No promises…
I was honoured when Bruce cast me as Demetrius in Midsummer Night's Dream. He's the one I wanted. I love the character – he's got side to him! Initailly when we first see him he'ss trying to marry a girl he doesn't love simply for her money. A great way to begin! I can't wait to get under his skin and see how he fits in with the story and with the other characters. This is the fun of exploration and imagination. Discovering what I can do in this play.
I watch a lot of Shakspeare productions and most of them bore me. I fall asleep or switch off. I love Shakespeare and his plays, but it seems people who perform them largely do not, or do not have the skills necessary to perform them. Actors can't speak the verse, and directors impose ideas/themes which have no root in the text. This confuses and turns off audiences who have already paid through the roof to watch these mangled spectacles. It's shocking. So it's a blessing to be given the chance to work with a great cast, an inspiring director on a wonderful play, and have the chance to put this right. Put my money where my mouth is. And discover if this play is as entertaining, dynamic, witty and enlightening as I believe it is, and if the audience will believe that after watching our shows. I can't wait to get started.
I'm still in London and shall be joining up with the cast on the first day of rehearsal on July 3rd. We have 4 weeks from then to put it on.
