by Henrik Ibsen
Translated by Christopher Hampton Director Trevor Nunn Settings John Napier Costumes John Bright Lighting David Hersey Music composed and arranged by Steven Edis
The Royal National Theatre Company
Ian McKellen, John Napier and Trevor Nunn are together again, 21
years after their ground-breaking "Macbeth" for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Their production of Ibsen's disturbingly modern classic opens at the Olivier Theatre after
previews on September. The six-week rehearsals had to be delayed by 2 days,
to accommodate Sir Ian's
filming in Los Angeles.
IM: "Not the best way to start with a new company! I did my last shot on
Gods And Monsters at 4.00p.m, on what should have
been my first day at the National and was at the Tom Bradley International Airport only 4
hours later, with not enough time to dye my film's snow-white hair back to its natural
sludge-grey. In the air, I re-read Christopher Hampton's expert new translation of
"Enemy of the People", realised I was only just prepared for a first
read-through and hoped not too many people in the National's canteen would find my hair
over-amusing."
After its initial sell-out season at the Royal National Theatre, the
production opens at the Ahmanson Theatre at the LA Music Centre for its only US engagement
on 22 July, playing thru 6 September. Tickets now on sale.
IM: "After filming Apt Pupil and
Gods and Monsters in Los Angeles last year, I am
thrilled to be returning to the LA stage this summer. I was last onstage there with my
solo show A Knight Out in LA. This time I'll be at
the Ahmanson Theatre for eight weeks.
London audiences flocked to An Enemy of the People but I've been impressed how
strongly my American friends in particular have reacted to the play, which reflects
current concerns about big government and corruption in high places. The story of a
poisoned water supply is reminiscent of Polanski's Chinatown. Bryan Singer (The
Usual Suspects and Apt Pupil) recognised that Ibsen's
play was the source for the movie Jaws.
" For anyone who only knows Steve McQueen's movie in Arthur Miller's version, this is
a rare chance to see Ibsen's original play, with its new translation by Christopher
Hampton Dangerous Liaisons, and Art)."
McKellen's first Ibsen was Hjalmar Ekdal in an
undergraduate production of "The Wild Duck" at the Arts Theatre in Cambridge
(1961), the last of 21 parts during his 3 years there.
IM: "I think I knew what Hjalmar was all about, a
tragic-comic part, but I hadn't a total grasp of what he said exactly. On the opening of
six nights, Corin Redgrave, as Gregers Werle, gamely and audibly prompted me throughout
our scene together in the fourth act."
Waris Hussein, a fellow undergraduate at Cambridge, had
directed McKellen as Toby Belch, with Margaret Drabble as Viola and Trevor Nunn as her
non-lookalike twin (1960). In 1974, Hussein cast his Sir Toby as George Tesman, husband of
Hedda Gabler, played by Janet Susman, then Mrs Trevor Nunn.
IM: "It was inventively shot by Waris and very well-acted by Janet
and Tom Bell in particular. Tesman is a part audiences always forget, until he bursts into
life and helps drive his wife to suicide. In their delight at meeting the sweet man,
critics confuse the part with the actor. Everyone who plays Tesman gets good
reviews."
For the RSC at the Aldwych Theatre in 1978, he played
Bernick, the conscience-ridden ship-owner, in John Barton's version of the
melodrama Pillars of the Community.
IM: "John with his usual flair, disguised the early
Ibsen's short-comings, as he has been known to do with Shakespeare's. Judi Dench and Paola
Dionisotti, as my lover and sister, were a constant challenge to match their beautiful
acting. Of Ruby Wax, making her West End debut as a fisherman's wife, I remember
nothing."
McKellen was voted "Actor of the Year" by the Society of
West End Theatre for his work in Pillars of the Community.
IM: "The award was that year a Wedgwood urn, with
Kemble and Sarah Siddons embossed. Better than a cheque. I am very pleased I was given
five of the old SWET Awards - but what an acronym!"