Rosanna Adams, Anna of Cleves, The Mirror and the Light, Gielgud Theatre
Why did you gravitate towards acting?
I used to dance, and I always loved that like it was more the storytelling element of it that I liked. I went to university first and did an English degree and then I did a year at drama school but it was last year, so it was [during] Covid, so I wasn’t there for very long.
What was it like, studying and graduating through Covid?
Not great; pretty bleak! I graduated last September so just before the winter lockdown, so nothing happened for a while and then I got really lucky and got this. I’ve been really fortunate.
What’s the best thing about your job?
I’m getting to work with an amazing group of people every day, it’s become such a family and that element of it is really nice.
What impact did Covid have for you?
It was devastating for us. We were in the middle of our drama school training and you’re supposed to graduate and have a showcase and hopefully at least have a chance at starting some sort of career, but that was completely taken away.
We had no kind of industry exposure at the end of our training at all. It just kind of ended. And then we did have showcase a year later. But it was just really scary and [we thought] ‘is this ever going to happen’. It’s just so wonderful that it’s all back.
What’s it like being back in theatres?
Well, for me it’s my first job so it just feels really special – I feel very lucky to be doing it. There’s definitely a real sense that was like a long time away for everyone. It’s such a big company, so it was a big thing for everyone to come back to. Everyone’s been so happy to be doing it again. [It’s felt] really celebratory and really special.
What do you think is the unique thing about live performance?
It’s ever-changing and you can’t predict it. Yesterday we had two understudies go on and something didn’t work! The liveness of it, it’s not the same every night and you can’t really fabricate that with streaming stuff or anything like that. Nothing compares to being in the room with people and seeing them breathing and speaking.
Nathaniel Parker, Henry VIII, The Mirror and the Light, Gielgud Theatre
When did you catch the acting bug?
I didn’t catch it, I grew it. It was within me, I think, from the beginning.
I used to pretend I was every character I saw on telly or film as a kid, and then when I was nine I saw my sister as Lady Macbeth at the Cambridge and I was sat in the audience all by myself – no family or friends – and I realised, ‘oh, so all the things I’ve been pretending and playing at, this is how it crystallises by being on stage’. So I could be as Scottish king if I wanted to be, or I could be a doctor without having to train for six years; I could do three weeks rehearsal. So that’s how it sort of started with me. It was always there and it was a matter of bringing it out.
What’s the best thing about your job?
That’s very hard to quantify. Having been an actor for so long – I’m now just about 60 – I think all aspects of it are fun. I like being in front of a camera. I like being on a stage. There was a time I didn’t like being on stage, but now I do again.
It’s like being a kid in a candy store; you’re escaping into somebody else’s life for that period of time, whether it’s a two-minute take or a ten second take, whether there’s green screen behind you and there’s a fireball or attacking you, or you’re playing Henry VIII on stage, you escape into that character and you try and manifest it and make it real. And that’s very exciting.
What was the journey from theatres closing to theatres open again?
I was due to start filming something that I was producing just when the pandemic hit, so we had to delay that and we started in September 2020 filming that. I was actually filming with Ridley Scott in France up until the lockdown and then after the lockdown, I went back to filming that. So I bracketed the first lockdown by being in a Ridley Scott film and all the time inbetween I was executive producing a five-part thriller for Brit Box, which was their first telly and my first telly as a producer.
Then I started writing and I’ve never written before, I’d never executive produced before, so it felt like a very germinating time for me – lots of new things.
How does it feel to be back in theatres?
It’s a relief. It’s a real relief. I think there’s a hesitancy amongst the audience, but you know, we try every day to open it up a little bit more. It’s a difficult feeling because you want it to be full houses, you want it to be engaging all the time and I think we’re trying to do our very best to get people in.
It’s a relief to be working with other people, certainly, and on stage there’s a huge amount of camaraderie just on a daily basis. We all take our tests every day, which means that every day you’re nervous about whether or not, you’re going to be allowed to do it. It’s been a wonderfully communal effort to get back up there.
What’s the biggest thing you missed about live performance?
I think every actor would say the audience. The idea of being up there and communicating a story. Of course, we love the applause at the end of it, but the most exciting thing is communicating a story that you’ve been rehearsing and working at it for years to try and get right.
Eliza Reed, Dresser, The Mirror and the Light, Gielgud Theatre
How does it feel to be back in theatres?
It’s wonderful to be back as a part of a team again, it’s amazing, exciting and a relief, although physically tiring getting back into work!
What did you miss about working in love theatre?
The adrenaline, the collaboration between all departments, the sense of community within the project, the people and the buzz of the audience reactions.
What was the journey like for you from theatres closing to opening again in lockdown?
After the initial relief of the prospect of around 3 weeks off when lockdown was first announced, it was quickly followed by the harsh and heart-wrenching realisation that this lockdown was here to stay, and watching your industry and passion crumble, watching friends make the decision to leave the industry entirely was so hard. And then in the run up to, and the return to live theatre, was a sigh of relief, exciting and the sense of being needed again; this was slightly bittersweet, seeing the limitations and changes required, the people who had left – but the overarching feeling was one of relief and excitement.