Barabas is coming...
Is all our company here?
I’ve been suffering from a terrible attack of ‘pre-match nerves’ over the last few days. It’s something to do with having had more time than normal to prepare for this production, which means there’s too much time to think (navel-gazing). There is nothing to be nervous about – all creative aspects are well in hand – but over the weekend my nerves reached a kind of jangling point.
On Saturday evening, in the mist and the rain, we took the dogs for a long walk; it never ceases to amaze how much of an antidote physical activity can be. And the week, despite the appalling, freezing, ghastly weather, has started well. Joe arrived in Truro on Monday and we spent twenty four hours looking at the space, the model and talking about the play. He had some great ideas, and it was inspiring to actually start talking about the role and the play…starting to make it real. And actually, it’s very exciting. Not nerve-wracking at all (spot the lie).
For some time I’ve been meaning to talk about our actors. We have a company of twelve – eight actors and four multi-instrumental musicians, who, between them, will be playing more than forty instruments, live on stage throughout the show.
The acting company is drawn from four continents, and although four of them have a base in Cornwall they come from seven nations: America, Uganda, Rwanda, Sweden, Scotland, Cyprus and Portugal and England. Between them, they speak all sorts of languages – at the last count it was fifteen although this may be wildly inaccurate (it could be thirty!) – and come from many walks of life.
This is in keeping with my vision for the play, and also in keeping with our vision for artistic growth in Cornwall. Our creative work is about bringing together local professionals with artists from across the world, forging partnerships that give artists new to Cornwall an opportunity to challenge standards with local professionals. The idea is that that they will, in turn, benefit from Cornwall’s particular expertise, and that we will benefit by looking outwardly.
BARABAS is played by a group of performers who come from across the world, and epitomise the robust mish-mash of cultures, influences and backgrounds that exist in Malta, a key staging-post for slavery, communication, warfare and trade.
Within the play four languages are all ready spoken, five currencies used – not to mention at least three major religions. So our cast reflects that, and I’m very pleased to be working with them.
I’ve already mentioned Joseph Mydell, who I hoped would play Barabas from the start. It recently occurred to me that he must have thought I was mad to write to him on spec and offer him one of the most controversial parts in theatre. When we met, we got on straight away, but I still insistent he went away, read the play again and had a good think before making up his mind. And he did! Joe is a performer of outstanding calibre, an actor who can turn on a sixpence from one mood to another, and like me is keen on research and detail. A couple of years ago he created the role of Robert Mugabe in Fraser Grace’s play – a real feat – and has tremendous imagination, flexibility, a naughtiness, and real professionalism.
Anna Lindgren, Steve Jacobs and John Macneill are all associate artists at Hall for Cornwall and have performed all over the country as well as locally. I’m really pleased to have the chance to work in depth with three exciting, imaginative performers.
Anna-Maria Nabiyre, who first visited Cornwall as a teenager and somehow ended up staying, took part in one of our audition workshops earlier this year and personified Abigail’s wild outspokenness to a T. I’m looking forward to getting to know her, and to collaborating on her interpretation of the only character that is truly ‘innocent’ from start to finish. She will bring real quality to the role and I know will be full of great ideas.
Ery Nzaramba and Milton Lopes will be visiting Cornwall for the first time. Ery left Rwanda after the genocide and has lived all over Europe; Milton grew up near Lisbon and has won awards in Portugal! I am hopeful that both will bring much to our company, not only in terms of skill and talent but also through their perspective of having lived in different places, and come from different parts of the world – important ingredients if we are to present the characters in BARABAS as authentically as possible.
Miltos Yerolemou, a British-based Cypriot, was the last hole in my eight-hole board. I was always keen to meet him, but given that his work takes him all over the world, it was impossible to make dates collide. Miltos was in the country for just 48 hours and he took the overnight train to Cornwall; I left my home in west Cornwall at 6am to meet him from the sleeper. We spent a couple of hours working together, reading, and talking, and I offered him the part on the spot before he leaped back on the 10am train again. That’s real dedication, real grit and real enthusiasm. What a bloke. He was here for less than three hours.
Directing a cast of eight (particularly if they are playing more than twenty parts between them) is like directing eight different plays, and it is often a challenge. The largest cast I’ve ever worked with was more than 30. But in this case, each individual will bring so much, and I have a feeling that it is going to be a real adventure.
On Saturday evening, in the mist and the rain, we took the dogs for a long walk; it never ceases to amaze how much of an antidote physical activity can be. And the week, despite the appalling, freezing, ghastly weather, has started well. Joe arrived in Truro on Monday and we spent twenty four hours looking at the space, the model and talking about the play. He had some great ideas, and it was inspiring to actually start talking about the role and the play…starting to make it real. And actually, it’s very exciting. Not nerve-wracking at all (spot the lie).
For some time I’ve been meaning to talk about our actors. We have a company of twelve – eight actors and four multi-instrumental musicians, who, between them, will be playing more than forty instruments, live on stage throughout the show.
The acting company is drawn from four continents, and although four of them have a base in Cornwall they come from seven nations: America, Uganda, Rwanda, Sweden, Scotland, Cyprus and Portugal and England. Between them, they speak all sorts of languages – at the last count it was fifteen although this may be wildly inaccurate (it could be thirty!) – and come from many walks of life.
This is in keeping with my vision for the play, and also in keeping with our vision for artistic growth in Cornwall. Our creative work is about bringing together local professionals with artists from across the world, forging partnerships that give artists new to Cornwall an opportunity to challenge standards with local professionals. The idea is that that they will, in turn, benefit from Cornwall’s particular expertise, and that we will benefit by looking outwardly.
BARABAS is played by a group of performers who come from across the world, and epitomise the robust mish-mash of cultures, influences and backgrounds that exist in Malta, a key staging-post for slavery, communication, warfare and trade.
Within the play four languages are all ready spoken, five currencies used – not to mention at least three major religions. So our cast reflects that, and I’m very pleased to be working with them.
I’ve already mentioned Joseph Mydell, who I hoped would play Barabas from the start. It recently occurred to me that he must have thought I was mad to write to him on spec and offer him one of the most controversial parts in theatre. When we met, we got on straight away, but I still insistent he went away, read the play again and had a good think before making up his mind. And he did! Joe is a performer of outstanding calibre, an actor who can turn on a sixpence from one mood to another, and like me is keen on research and detail. A couple of years ago he created the role of Robert Mugabe in Fraser Grace’s play – a real feat – and has tremendous imagination, flexibility, a naughtiness, and real professionalism.
Anna Lindgren, Steve Jacobs and John Macneill are all associate artists at Hall for Cornwall and have performed all over the country as well as locally. I’m really pleased to have the chance to work in depth with three exciting, imaginative performers.
Anna-Maria Nabiyre, who first visited Cornwall as a teenager and somehow ended up staying, took part in one of our audition workshops earlier this year and personified Abigail’s wild outspokenness to a T. I’m looking forward to getting to know her, and to collaborating on her interpretation of the only character that is truly ‘innocent’ from start to finish. She will bring real quality to the role and I know will be full of great ideas.
Ery Nzaramba and Milton Lopes will be visiting Cornwall for the first time. Ery left Rwanda after the genocide and has lived all over Europe; Milton grew up near Lisbon and has won awards in Portugal! I am hopeful that both will bring much to our company, not only in terms of skill and talent but also through their perspective of having lived in different places, and come from different parts of the world – important ingredients if we are to present the characters in BARABAS as authentically as possible.
Miltos Yerolemou, a British-based Cypriot, was the last hole in my eight-hole board. I was always keen to meet him, but given that his work takes him all over the world, it was impossible to make dates collide. Miltos was in the country for just 48 hours and he took the overnight train to Cornwall; I left my home in west Cornwall at 6am to meet him from the sleeper. We spent a couple of hours working together, reading, and talking, and I offered him the part on the spot before he leaped back on the 10am train again. That’s real dedication, real grit and real enthusiasm. What a bloke. He was here for less than three hours.
Directing a cast of eight (particularly if they are playing more than twenty parts between them) is like directing eight different plays, and it is often a challenge. The largest cast I’ve ever worked with was more than 30. But in this case, each individual will bring so much, and I have a feeling that it is going to be a real adventure.
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