THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
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ACTOR’S CORNER 
by James Carroll Jordan Headin' To Edinburgh One of the things that keeps me on my toes as an actor is the fact that you never know what’s around the corner. Unless, of course, one is an A-lister who has their schedule of films lined up years in advance. There I was reveling in my summer, having just finished Dead In Tombstone in the spring and Air Force One Is Down in July. I was ready to sit back, soak up the rain (we live in England) and go camping and fishing with my boy Charlie. Well that’s not going to happen. Everything went topsy-turvy on me in nano-seconds. First the weather changed to sunny (go figure) and second, an old friend, Mike Malarkey called me and said that Mike McShane had just dropped out of the comedy/drama he was doing up at the Edinburgh Festival and would I be interested in doing the part. Being a lazy cuss, I seriously thought of saying no, but when he told me the rest of the cast was a bunch of top comics (Jan Ravens, Phil Nichol, Aishling Bea, Waen Shepard, and Ann Bryson) and mentioned that my part was a major lead in the show, I jumped at it. I obviously wasn’t listening too clearly to Mike about how big the part was, but when I got the script by email and read it, I lost my developing tan and felt slightly sick at the stomach. The show is called The Intervention and is about a family that holds a meeting of friends and family to intervene with their son, who is an alcoholic and, well, a mess to put it bluntly. This would have been fine and straightforward, but for the fact that my part of the father was the main reason the son was a drunk and failure at 38 years of age. Aside from the part of Lyman in Ride Down Mount Morgan by Arthur Miller I did a few years back, this part is the most tricky, difficult part I have ever taken on. And to make matters worse, as I came in late, we only had two weeks to rehearse before our first show at the Assembly Rooms (the premier venue in Edinburgh). The rest of the cast aside from the very talented Ann Bryson had had their scripts months earlier and were mostly off the book and really only worried about getting their blocking right. I think secretly they were all worried about me pulling things off, but being English and polite, no-one said a thing. To say I went into panic mode would be putting things lightly. I was in deep terror time! Big time terror! I mean, I am 62 and had been noticing how my retention powers had been steadily waning ever since I did Complicit with David Suchet at The Old Vic. I was definitely in trouble. But then, “What’s a Mother to do?” Get on with it. And get on with it I did. And am still doing by the way as I am just at the end of rehearsals as I write this. One of my crosses to bear in the show is the big finale of the play where I grab my son, fling him to the floor and go mental on him in very dark and spooky ways. That part is fine, acting wise, but the physical part, kneeling over Malarkey as I beat him up and terrorize him, is not. My old knees are not happy at all about that part. And to make matters worse, I am supposed to hop to my feet at the end of the scene and walk out with Jan Ravens, who is playing my wife. Well, Jan has to practically lift me to my feet herself and walk me out holding me up as my knees get their feeling back. There are some un-terrorizing parts in rehearsing with this crazy bunch though. Being comedians they are all very funny. I mean really, very funny. Actors are always concerned with motivation and character. Comics are concerned with pace and getting a laugh. They were always saying “That’s the gag!... This is the laugh! The joke is this….” I found it all very refreshing. No one seemed to be wrapped up in ego or anything else negative. The only problem is that they were all still busy flying off here and there doing their comedy gigs so we didn’t have everyone there for rehearsals every day. Which is difficult for a brain-addled bad-kneed 62 year old actor who is trying to get things together. See, it’s not just getting the lines in your head - a process that really wasn’t too difficult with Dave Florez’s great script - it’s getting the rhythm and pace and timing right. Luckily our director Maggie Inchly has a vision and an immense amount of patience, and is gently but quickly molding us into shape. I just hope I can be there at the end with the rest of the cast. What I really need to do is stop writing this article and get back to studying my lines. You see, I’ll do anything rather than work hard. We have three days to go with our rehearsals and today Phil, our fine leading actor who plays my son is going commando for the first time. He starts the play stark naked you see, but he hasn’t mustered the nerve to try it that way yet. I can’t wait. I am sure all the actresses will immediately forget their lines when he brings out the Anaconda. Boy this show is going to be fun! I have to mention Waen now. His part is the comic relief of the show really. As the show moves darkly on its journey, his character pops up every now and then with the most inane and funny stuff. I do worry about him being behind me on stage at any time. I just know I won’t be noticed at all when he is. And Jan Ravens who is playing my very cross Jewish wife is flat out hysterical. I have to brace myself before I can look at her on stage as the look of acute disapproval and disgust she puts on reminds me of my real life wife Jan way too much for comfort. Friday was our last day of rehearsals and we did a run for invited guests at the Leicester Square Theater. With any luck and a small amount of success in Edinburgh, we will be playing there for five weeks in January. In the meantime, I hope some of you come to the Festival. But if you don’t, watch this space and I will tell you all about it. Adios for now. The Intervention is on at The Assembley Rooms, Edinburgh until August 26th. |

