My Richard III Blog - Sam Donnelly It was five years ago in the spring of 2009 when I first set foot in the grounds of St.Pauls Church in Covent Garden. Also known as The Actors Church, a famous land mark commemorating the lives of hundreds of artists and until that moment I had never visited this enchanting place. I was auditioning for the role of Tybalt in Iris Theatres promenade production of Romeo & Juliet. A company that specialises in utilising the amazing and beautiful grounds of the Actors Church to their full theatrical potential. It was a gloriously sunny day on my recall, quite rare, and I walked away from my audition excited and hopeful but also double guessing and questioning every choice I had made. Such is the curse of being an actor. No matter how well you might have done, the amount of preparation, research you do an actor will always walk away from an audition wishing they could travel back in the Delorean and do it all again making what they now think are the right choices. With this still in mind a week later I was thrilled when I got the call from Daniel Winder, Artistic Director of Iris and director of the show asking if I was still available and up for playing the role....of Romeo! Erm excuse me, come again?! Yes that was Romeo. Trying to hide my excitement with the calmest, coolest voice I could muster which actually came out as a high pitched screech much like a puppy on helium I said Yeah o.k. sounds good. Yeah nice one Sam, real cool. What I was really thinking was Oh my god. OH MY GOD! I was going to play Romeo, the worlds most famous lover and it was damn exciting stuff! That summer of 2009 and the following of 2010 turned out to be spectacular. Once the cast was assembled we rehearsed, we performed, we joked, we laughed, we cried, we drank (far too much and far too often) and as an ensemble we brought to life the greatest love story ever written. I genuinely believe those summers were some of the greatest learning curves in my career to date. To perform Shakespeare in the open air with a team of fellow actors at your side and one hundred and fifty audience members all battling the elements, willing you to go on, to tell this sometimes funny, inherently magical and ultimately tragic story of young love is a truly rare thing indeed. But that is all in the past and as I write this I am about to embark on a new journey with Iris Theatre. A new cast, a new creative team and most importantly a new play. Richard III, Shakespeares bloody and thrilling story of deception and the seize for power of the English throne. And I am going to be part of telling it. Part of a voyage into the final chapter in a long story that spans a total of eight plays and which brings the War of the Roses to a close. How will we do it? What is the concept? will I look awesome in my costume? Only time will tell. And I cant wait!
Posted on: Sat, 24 May 2014 12:48:35 +0000
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