With previews starting this week, the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch is to be home for the next month to the regional professional premiere production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. We speak to the actor reviving his West End role of Bernadette …
Mark Inscoe
‘Priscilla, Queen of the Desert’ is famous both as a film and as a stage show. How and when did you first come across the story?
Not long after its release. I’ve always been a fan of Australian cinema since seeing ‘The Year my Voice Broke’. Priscilla fast became a favourite.
You are reviving the role of Bernadette having first performed it nine years ago in the West End. Did you ever hope or imagine that you would get a chance to return to the part?
It’s been a dream to return to this role, it’s one of my favourites. To be involved in this exciting reimagining of the show, I’m finding a lot more depth and new ways of playing the wonderful script.
How different will Bernadette be this time around, if at all?
She’s essentially the same classy, quick witted, sensitive lady but it’s just the subtleties and nuances that are enhancing her character.
What’s been the highlight of rehearsals so far?
Working with my first actor / musician company. I’m in awe of their fantastic talent!
What is your favourite part of the process of putting a play onstage?
Often with a musical, the sitzprobe is a highlight of rehearsals, but with this production every day is a sitzprobe as the instrumental accompaniment has to be integrated as we go along.
Did you always know you wanted to be an actor?
No. I trained as a geologist. But gained a lot of amateur experience at university.
You predominantly work in theatre. Is it your favourite medium to work in, and if so why?
Yes it is, I love the live experience and the challenges of achieving my best possible performance for every new audience.
Is there a dream role you would love to play?
I would love to play Sweeney Todd.
What do you think the role of theatre is in our society today?
Predominantly to entertain and provide an escape for the audience. But also to challenge and educate.
Do you have any advice for young or emerging actors or creatives more generally?
Just listen to advice, always be open to learn. Be confident in your own strengths and abilities.
Finally, what are you most excited about in this upcoming production?
I’m excited to see the reaction to what I know is a very wonderful new version of this joyful show.
“a fun and lively take on a traditional farce, contemporary, relevant and wittily reimagined”
“What’s so terrible about marriage?” Sita asks Rani. Raj is coming to the house, an intelligent and successful businessman, and a possible marriage prospect for Rani. But Rani isn’t convinced, so she enlists the help of her cousin Sita. They will exchange identities so that Rani can get to know the real Raj. What she hasn’t counted on is that Raj has had the same idea, and has swapped identities with his Uber driver. This is an original take on the 18th century french farce, ‘The Game of Love and Chance’ by Pierre Marivaux, which touches on love, marriage, mistaken identity and class. Adapted by Nigel Planer, he reinvents Marivaux’s play in an Asian household in modern day Britain, interspersed with Bollywood dances.
Goldy Notay as Kamala-Ji, Rani’s mother and Sita’s aunt, delivers a fantastic performance. She laughs her way around the stage, a glass of prosecco always in hand. She is always in on everyone’s plots and plays along with glee. Kiren Jogi as Sita also delivers a lovely performance, warm, genuine and immediately likeable, and the cast as a whole work well together.
Amidst the farce, the play also starts some really interesting conversations about the part class has to play within relationships, the culture of arranged marriages, and how to reconcile being independent and being in love. However, restricted by the original, these issues are not sufficiently explored and the final conclusions of the play predominantly reinforce them.
The asides worked well, as if we the audience are each characters’ confidante, however they are sometimes unclear due to the pace the production has a tendency to move at. Frustratingly, the actors perform more towards the audience than each other, which makes the connections between characters onstage appear weaker. This particularly affects the chemistry (or lack of) between Raj and Rani. On the whole, the piece is quite one note. It is overly frenetic at points, and I think some of the humour of the text is actually lost in this. Whilst the writing is funny, the slapstick visual comedy we usually see in farce is predominantly missing here and in a genre which is heavily reliant on this element, the piece suffers because of it.
Performed by a strong cast, this is a fun and lively take on a traditional farce, contemporary, relevant and wittily reimagined, and a lovely way to spend an evening.
