The following interview is between Karen Simpson, Education Director for Sheffield Theatres and:

Richard Clothier (Stephano)

Iain Robertson (Trinculo)

Karen:	What made you decide to become an actor?
Richard:	Well, I was in productions at school from about the age of fourteen. There was a very good drama department at my school, a secondary school in Hatfield, and I had a particularly inspirational Drama teacher. He was very supportive and that's how I started to become interested. My mum also encouraged me, not that she was involved in theatre in any way. I didn't realise that there were places that you go to, to become an actor, so I left school at seventeen. I then started a foundation course in Drama which I didn't finish as I left to take part in an amateur production of 'Equus'. I then didn't do anything with drama for about two years. I mooched about on building sites but I remember one very cold winter being on site, the weather was miserable, and I thought 'I have got to do something' - so I applied to drama school! I started at Mountview Theatre School in 1986.
Karen:	Is there any reason why you chose Mountview?
Richard:	It was the only course that had two intakes and was auditioning at the time! It was so miserable on the building site that I wanted to get out of working there as soon as possible.
Karen:	Which course did you take?
Richard:	The acting course. I think now it has been divided up into two courses, a musical theatre and an acting course. Also whilst I was there I got a scholarship to spend a summer at Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris. It was fantastic and a completely different approach from English Drama schools which were largely based around the Stanislavsky methods.
Karen:	How was it different?
Richard:	It was a more external way of working and was more productive, ultimately, to my work as an actor. I found that Jacques Lecoq's approach to movement was based on a very rigid pedagogy or framework.
Karen:	Was it a very clear method?
Richard:	Yes. In the drama schools there was very little consistency in the approaches offered at that time.
Karen:	What happened when you finished your training?
Richard:	At that time you had to work for about thirty weeks before you could get an Equity Card. This was important because at that time you couldn't work in TV or Theatre without it! I got a job fairly quickly after leaving Drama School as an Acting ASM (Assistant Stage Manager) and understudy on a production that toured all over the country. I then did a tour of schools. Not terribly glamorous work!
Karen:	Looking back, was there any advantage in taking on such hard work?
Richard:	Oh yes, the work ethic of those companies! You were responsible for getting sets in and out. You were responsible for your own props and other peoples' and it did require a necessity to get along with people and become a good company member. Getting along with people was paramount and that's something that's always, always been important to me subsequently.
Karen:	Iain, you are a younger actor and your experience is rather different. How did you get started?
Iain:	I got a school report at 11 years old saying that this boy has a special apttitude for drama. So I joined a Youth Theatre in Govan in Glasgow. I had always been a very emotional boy, I cried a lot, I was easily upset and I was a loner. Then when I got into acting that released it all, so I kind of fell in love with it very quickly. Two years later, I won a scholarship to Sylvia Young Theatre School in London. I came to London from Glasgow when I was thirteen and stayed with various families. Coming from a family from Govan with no money, it was just a complete culture shock for me.
Karen:	So how did you get into professional work?
Iain:	I started the school in September and in the October I started working on an Educational TV series and I have been working ever since.
Karen:	Sylvia Young Theatre School finishes after GCSE's. Did you go anywhere else to train?
Iain:	Well I worked all of the way through school. When I left, I was tempted to train further, but I was doing various films in Scotland and working with Billy Connelly. He asked me how old I was, when I told him seventeen, he said, "Christ, I've got socks older than you!" I then managed to get into the National Theatre (in Bill Bryden's company) when I was eighteen and I've been working there for the past three years.
Karen:	Is working on a play by Shakespeare any different for an actor?
Richard:	Well, its good stuff to start off with! You know it's going to work. You can't really argue about the quality of the writer! You know that the materials great, you can trust that, and if anything does go wrong, there's nowhere else left to look! It's also open to a myriad of interpretations which is just fantastic. I'm not sure that many playwrights achieve the universality - stand the test of time - in the way that Shakespeare's plays do.
Iain:	I find it takes me longer to develop my character. I don't know why that is. When you're working on a contemporary play, it's easier to understand what you're saying.
Karen:	What about the language? Some people find it quite daunting?
Iain:	It's imperative that you understand what you're saying because if you don't, the audience won't understand.
Richard:	I found it really didn't make sense when I was at school. That I think is his greatest barrier. The language is an initial hurdle but Shakespeare's ideas are very contemporary.
Karen:	What changed for you, then?
Richard:	Well I started to work on it as an actor. Shakespeare taught in a classroom is not the ideal place to bring it to life. When you get into a rehearsal room the language which seemed so difficult suddenly becomes very interesting and helpful.
Karen:	How do you go about developing your character?
Richard:	The language in the play! You find that your character uses certain words which other characters wouldn't. That gives me ideas about the education and social status of the character.
Karen:	So how do you make a start?
Iain:	Immerse myself in the scenes then its more fun in the rehearsal room. Seeing how the other actors approach the scene, and how our different approaches collide / join up in the same direction.
Richard:	I read all the play and see what other characters say about my character. It helps me be a bit more objective about my character. I do rely a lot on my Lecoq training - especially with parts like Stephano who is described as being drunken by everyone. I start to key into those elements of drunken behaviour. I then start looking at what I say and how I say it. Again rather than the language being a difficult thing to overcome, it ends up being a fantastic help in developing the character.
Karen:	Do you have a set picture of your character before you start?
Richard:	No I don't.
Iain:	I do. I see Trinculo as a happy go lucky chef that likes a drink. I want to keep a strong element of him as the jester. But it's a team game and you always have to be prepared to see what the other actors are doing.
Karen:	Did Michael Grandage give you any clues as to what he wanted?
Richard:	He knew what he didn't want! But he did tell me that the first meeting between my character, Stephano and Trinculo and Caliban, should be very funny. He also said he saw Stephano rather like Anthony Hopkins in "The Remains of the Day"!
Iain:	Michael wanted us to know the lines. I find that quite difficult because if you learn something in the wrong way it sticks in your head and you find that on the first night you are still struggling not to say the line in the way you first learnt it. But Michael's very free and encourages us to bring a back story to the characters.
Karen:	What was your back story for Trinculo?
Iain:	I decided that Trinculo was born illegitimately in Scotland and he is a good cook because he has been brought up by his mother. In Glasgow there were lots of boats and because of that he has found himself going to sea. He is kind of wandering through life to see where it takes him. For me having a convincing back story makes it more interesting and it will shine through.
Karen:	How did you get the part of Stephano?
Richard:	I think Anne McNulty, the casting director had seen me in a few plays and she contacted my agent to arrange for me to meet Michael Grandage. I had been away in Poland and I had one day to read through the play and get some ideas for the meeting.
Iain:	I had come to the end of my time at the National and I felt I still wanted to 'serve my apprenticeship as an actor' and learn from the great bunch of actors in this production.
Karen:	Did you have to audition?
Iain:	I met Michael for a preliminary meeting and read a Trinculo speech. I then had to see him again at the Donmar Theatre and had to do my audition on the stage. It's not usually how you imagine auditions will be like when you think about becoming an actor (walking on stage and the director shouting "Next!"). This audition was the first time in my whole career that I have auditioned on a real stage!
Karen:	We are focusing on the development of Act 3 Scene 2 as a part of the Education Resources. What specific acting challenges do you see in that scene?
Richard:	Well there are some really practical considerations like all three characters are now drunk. I start the play in an earlier scene, drunk and remain drunk throughout the play. On top of that, you have the physical embodiment of having Ariel on stage, who my character is not meant to see. Ariel's there, the audience know he's there, but the other three characters don't see him.
Iain:	There's a whole section of the scene where I sit around doing nothing which is a challenge. As an actor it's fine when you're saying lines! Drunk acting is always a challenge - making it believable!
Karen:	What about the music in the scene?
Richard:	Julian Philips has composed a catchy tune but it won't be underscored so I have licence in the singing of it.
Karen:	What is like for an actor during technical rehearsals?
Richard:	It's the first time I get to see the scene I'm in and what its all going to look like with the lights, sound, the whole thing. It's easy to forget the impact that will have on the audience. It's easy to forget how stunning the impact is as you get used to performing on a set. You also get lots of time off while other scenes are being rehearsed!
Iain:	They're boring! The only way I can describe a technical rehearsal is that always seems longer than it should be! They never go smoothly. No, it's the first time you get to see the whole production. The rehearsal room becomes a period of fond memories. After the technical it all becomes different. Up to that time we are all running on faith!
Karen:	How do things change from the dress rehearsal to public performance?
Richard:	Things really start to take off. There is an enormous learning curve. You often find out so much more under the scrutiny of an audience. It's not as intensive in a rehearsal room. You have no idea how the audience will react - what will work and what won't - until the play is in front of an audience.
Iain:	I can't wait to get on stage at the Crucible because of it's thrust stage. It's hard to get a feeling in the rehearsal room of what it is going to be like having audience all around us. That will take some discipline and a lot of work. I enjoy getting into the performance. After you have rehearsed for so long the performance is like putting on dancing shoes! That's how it feels to me!
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