Week 11
When casting any play, the director has to balance several factors. Talent, of course, has to be a given. Physical appearance and age have to be taken into account. And then there’s the matter of experience.
Jon, playing Lord Darlington, came to acting only about five years ago. So does he lack experience? Felicity, playing the hugely demanding role of Lady Windermere, is still only 19 – and my own daughter played the role when she was only 16. So does her apparent lack of experience count against her?
Not at all. As Dumby says in LWF, “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.” But the trick is to learn from those mistakes.
Jon puts it from his point of view. ‘Lord Darlington is teaching me a great deal. He is a much more complex character than would at first appear. On the surface, he’s very similar to Lord Illingworth in A Woman Of No Importance – whom I played a couple of years ago – but I feel he has perhaps even greater depths to discover. Lord I’s character swung from ladies’ man via arrogant bully to spoilt child, but Lord D is altogether more pleasant – he has a genuine love for Lady W, but holds it in check until he feels that her husband has behaved so badly that he is justified in declaring his intent to rescue her. The light-hearted beginning to the play, the powerful declarations of love during the ballroom scene, and the deeply emotional parting thereafter require a great deal of work to put across effectively without tipping over into melodrama, and are presenting a most enjoyable challenge. Peter’s knowledge of the play is remarkable, and his insight and guidance are proving invaluable to me in coming to know the many layers of this fascinating character.’
(Note: if a director doesn’t know the play better than all his actors put together, then he’s failing in his job.)
‘What a gem of a rôle! It gives me an opportunity to flirt outrageously in public with the most charming ladies – using some of the best chat-up lines ever written – without the risk of being thrown out of pubs and getting beaten up by incensed partners. What man could possibly ask for more?’
When casting any play, the director has to balance several factors. Talent, of course, has to be a given. Physical appearance and age have to be taken into account. And then there’s the matter of experience.
Jon, playing Lord Darlington, came to acting only about five years ago. So does he lack experience? Felicity, playing the hugely demanding role of Lady Windermere, is still only 19 – and my own daughter played the role when she was only 16. So does her apparent lack of experience count against her?
Not at all. As Dumby says in LWF, “Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes.” But the trick is to learn from those mistakes.
Jon puts it from his point of view. ‘Lord Darlington is teaching me a great deal. He is a much more complex character than would at first appear. On the surface, he’s very similar to Lord Illingworth in A Woman Of No Importance – whom I played a couple of years ago – but I feel he has perhaps even greater depths to discover. Lord I’s character swung from ladies’ man via arrogant bully to spoilt child, but Lord D is altogether more pleasant – he has a genuine love for Lady W, but holds it in check until he feels that her husband has behaved so badly that he is justified in declaring his intent to rescue her. The light-hearted beginning to the play, the powerful declarations of love during the ballroom scene, and the deeply emotional parting thereafter require a great deal of work to put across effectively without tipping over into melodrama, and are presenting a most enjoyable challenge. Peter’s knowledge of the play is remarkable, and his insight and guidance are proving invaluable to me in coming to know the many layers of this fascinating character.’
(Note: if a director doesn’t know the play better than all his actors put together, then he’s failing in his job.)
‘What a gem of a rôle! It gives me an opportunity to flirt outrageously in public with the most charming ladies – using some of the best chat-up lines ever written – without the risk of being thrown out of pubs and getting beaten up by incensed partners. What man could possibly ask for more?’
posted by oxford theatre guild at 12:46 PM
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