|
Birmingham Stage Company has returned to Malta with The Return - the second play by Australian writer Reg Cribb. It won the 2002 Best of Fringe Award at the Adelaide Festival, and was short-listed for both the 2001 QLD Premier's Literary Awards and the 2003 Edinburgh Fringe Festival Assembly Award.
 Neal Foster, actor/Manager with The Birmingham Stage Company returning to the stage to play the part of Simon the quiet writer, talks to Erika Brincat about The Return, showing tonight.
What do you think has made The Return such a unique and successful play in Australia, and more recently in the UK?
What makes this play special is that it takes an ordinary situation that becomes increasingly complex, revealing different aspects of the characters, which you could not have suspected. When I saw the play for the first time in Edinburgh, it changed my life, because it made me realize just how little we know about people until we really know them. In that sense, it’s a play about prejudice and also our notions of masculinity. What is it to be man?
Can you tell us something about Reg Cribb’s other plays?
I have only read one other play by Reg, called THE CHATROOM. This was an extremely dark play about the Internet and how it can be abused by people who have an unhealthy interest in children. It gave me a shiver to read it.
What in your opinion are the elements of the play, which have managed to capture the audience’s attention so well?
What is great about the play, like the last show we did in Malta called COLLISION, is that it is a tense and dramatic piece which also has a great deal of humour, so the audience are laughing right the way through. I have heard people say that if you can first make people laugh in a play, then you will be able to make them cry (actually I think that was Sir Michael Horden, one of my favourite British actors). I think this play has the ability to take the audience into an experience they will hopefully never have to suffer in real life, while entertaining them and making them think about many things when they leave the theatre. You can’t ask for more!
Do you think the Maltese public can relate to the message inherent in The Return despite the fact that trains are not used on our islands?
Oh yes! The train is only the ‘vehicle’ for the story. It is not about trains. Although you might not want to travel on a train late at night after seeing the show! Looks like that holiday on the Orient Express needs a second thought!
How does the set manage to convey the feeling of movement, and the sensation of travelling in a train carriage?
The principal element used to convey the sense of movement is the sound track, which has a continuous sound of a train moving and all the stops the train makes. Plus it has a very claustrophobic atmosphere, which I think we will also be able to capture at the St James Cavalier Theatre.
Do you feel that the necessary chemistry and realistic tension are created between the five main actors?
We’ve got a wonderful cast in this show (if I may say so myself, as one of the actors!). It has been commented on many times in London just how great it is to see a uniformly excellent cast. We are very lucky that we get on so well off-stage. We share a tiny dressing room in London so it will be nice to have proper rooms when we get to Malta. The only problem is that the main actor Alistair Scott-Young is incredibly strong and often hurts the rest of us whenever he has to physically connect! I have a few bruises to show my dedication to the show!
Without giving away too much, is there anything in particular, which we should especially look out for during The Return?
Just settle back into your safe and secure theatre seat and prepare yourselves for a gripping and enthralling ride!
Anything else you would like to add as both Actor and Manager of the Birmingham Stage Company?
The director John-Paul Cherrington did a great job on COLLISION. It will be very interesting to hear comparisons between the two shows. We’re very much looking forward to our visit.
Erika Brincat was talking to Neal Foster, Actor/Manager of the Birmingham Stage Company. For more information visit: www.birminghamstage.net
|
