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| Jeff during rehearsals |
Jeff Rawle stars in Handbagged which begins previews at the Vaudeville Theatre on Thursday (3rd April 2014) following a successful run at the Tricycle Theatre last year. Jeff plays multiple roles including Ronald Reagan, Denis Thatcher, Peter Carrington and Geoffrey Howe.
The monarch – Liz. Her most powerful subject – Maggie. Two enduring icons born six months apart. One destined to rule, the other elected to lead. But when the stiff upper lip softened and the gloves came off, which one had the upper hand?
Jeff’s theatre credits include: Cocktail Sticks, The Power of Yes, Fram and Noises Off (National), Pornography (Traverse), King of Hearts (Out of Joint), Bottle Universe (Bush Theatre) and Way to Heaven (Royal Court).
On screen he is best known for playing George in Drop the Dead Donkey and Silas Blissett in Hollyoaks. His television credits also include: 88 Keys; You, Me and Them, An Adventure in Time and Space, Heading Out, A Beautiful Day, Doc Martin and I Saw Up. His film credits include: Trimming Pablo, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Black Ball, Awayday and Laughterhouse.
I recently spoke to Jeff about returning to Handbagged, the play’s huge success and why, after working in film and TV, it’s always a joy to return to theatre…
Did you need any persuading to reprise your performance in Handbagged?
None whatsoever. We had to wait a while before finding the right theatre for it which was a bit nerve wracking but we got there in the end! It’s great to be back in the pool, it’s brilliant. I’m thrilled to be doing it again!
Was it strange having time away and then coming back to revisit it?
Yes it’s odd. I’ve worked a lot at the National Theatre where you sometimes have quite big breaks between shows for about 3 or 4 weeks, and then you have a callback rehearsal in a rehearsal room before doing the show in the evening. You do a line run and it’s always a bit of a shock; but with this after 4 months, funnily enough, huge sections have sloughed off. It’s a bit like a hard drive, especially my hard drive, rather overused – full of information, it’s a bit sporadic – but you get whole swathes coming back all in one go whereas other bits are a complete mystery. But we’re changing quite a lot of things as we go along, pruning and refining and so on, so it’s still very much a work in progress.
The show received such an incredible response last year. What do you think is the key to its success?
That’s a very good question! I think it’s got a great feel to it, it’s very funny, it’s very accessible, it is political but it’s unclear as to which side it sits which makes you think. People come along thinking we’re just going to bash Maggie Thatcher but we don’t do that. She’s given full consideration for her efforts. It’s full of surprises, it’s a play that continually wrongfoots the audience… just when you think you know where it’s going in one direction, it goes in another. Our characters – myself and Neet (Mohan) – are actors who have been hired to play all the other parts in the piece as and when required, we have our own personal positions. We try and pull the bedclothes across to our side, we think politically. Generally speaking it’s probably true that all actors are left wing so they’re very keen to pull the play in their direction. But the other characters are insistent that that won’t happen, we are reminded that we are very much in their employ to do a job, which is a great conceit. So I think the audience enjoys that. We kind of deconstruct the art of theatre. They get to see some of the nuts and bolts and we talk to the audience a lot as well, they are very much part of the show. They have to contribute quite a lot to the evening, otherwise it doesn’t work.
You mentioned taking on multiple roles, but they’re also real people! How did you prepare? Did you have to do much research?
Last summer my wife became a headphone widow for some months because I thought I would do what the actor would do which is to try to get them as close as you possibly could. What’s fun about it is that the actors would never play the characters in the real world. I would not get employed to play Ronald Reagan! I mean, the fun of it is that he was two foot taller than me and we don’t have very much in common. But still you hopefully get the spirit of the character and the voice as close as you can and so that’s what I attempted to do with all my characters, within the limitations of what is actually vocally possible. It’s a great opportunity to play ten different characters that you wouldn’t normally get to play. I might get to play Geoffrey Howe in real life, that would be the one I might actually be cast as, but the others are far away and so it’s great fun to have a go at those.
Jeff during and Neet Mohan during Handbagged rehearsals
What has the atmosphere been like in the rehearsal room?
It’s great. We’ve got a lovely cast, great director, and Moira the writer is in the rehearsal room a lot of the time and we have to stop ourselves laughing and remind ourselves we have work to do. So we’re having great fun with it and hopefully that will inform the piece and come across to the audience because we love doing it.
You also work a lot in film and TV. Is it important for you to always come back to theatre?
Yes, I think that’s where the heart of what you do is. That’s where you can spend more time analysing the work, practising your craft and getting something right. Filming is a very different process; breaking things up into tiny bits and you do each bit several thousand times until they get the best take meaning your performance is effectively put together in the editing room. With a good director you can trust he will hopefully get all your best bits and make you look marvellous, whereas on stage you have nowhere to hide. You’re on there for an hour unable to leave the stage and you have to try and get at least 90% of what you found in the rehearsal room and that’s all you’ve got to go with. You’ve got to try to do that every performance which is a big challenge. I think it’s the difference between going on a proper run or working out in the gym in a way.
The Tricycle Theatre is going from strength to strength with Handbagged’s West End transfer, Red Velvet opening in New York and various other exciting projects taking place at their home in Kilburn. What is it like working there?
It’s brilliant. It’s a buzzing happening place. They’re doing exactly the kind of plays which should be being done, audiences are coming and paying a reasonable amount of money without having to pay West End prices - but they’re getting West End shows. They’re getting high quality drama with high quality acting and directing and sets and a lot of production value in there for the price of a cinema ticket. I think that’s absolutely how it should be and there are very few theatres in London where you can enjoy that experience. It’s a lovely atmosphere, a great building, and when you come in you feel welcome – there’s a great coffee bar and drinks and good food, places to sit around and slop about, everyone’s always welcome and there’s always a lot going on in the building, I’ve grown very fond of it.
Interviewed by Andrew Tomlins (Editor)
Handbagged runs at the Vaudeville Theatre until Saturday 2nd August 2014.
Click here to book tickets.
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