This might be the best production I have ever been in and certainly the most satisfying.  We had 2 weeks to rehearse this for the Queen Mary Theatre Company’s Bryony Lavery Festival in November 2011.  I had never thought I would have the opportunity to do a play in London and so I was thrilled when I got offered the part after auditioning for it.  Until the anouncement of the festival, I was relatively unfamiliar with Lavery’s work, aside from Frozen which is her most mainstream work and the one that crossed over and became a hit in America.  I had read that.  However this festival was an opportunity for me to discover her wonderful work which ranges from relationship dramas (Stockholm) to family comedies (A Wedding Story) to boxing dramas (Beautiful Burnout).   Illyria is a political thriller in the form of a fairy tale and it is more relevant now than ever, especially with the spotlight finally being shined on Joseph Kony with Kony 2012.  The soldiers in the play are child soldiers and it is very frank about both the brutality and absurdity of war.  I was thrilled to play the part of Conrad because it was an opportunity for me to do a complete 180.  I had become typecast as a comedic actor and for me to be able to play sleazy beaurocrat who was truly monstrous and creepy was a dream come true.  I got to work with an amazing and talented cast, and two passionate and gifted directors in Ellie and Johanne, each of whom brought their own distinct vision and perspective to the project.  While we were under a lot of stress, the cast and crew had a lot of fun bonding.

 

Cast:

Ruth Murray – Maria Vargas

Devawn Wilkinson – Madame

Joshua Youngerman – Conrad

Amaia Elorza – Magda/Shoemaker

Florence Taylor – Lapin

Dimitri Courant – Fabian

Hamza Kahn – Violent

Victor Stole – Feste

Franziska Haberlach – Marie-Therese

Francesca Veronesi – Mary