BWW Exclusive: Diary of an Englishman in New York- You say potato, I say pot-arto

By: Apr. 07, 2015
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Academy Award winner Helen Mirren returns to Broadway as Elizabeth II in Peter Morgan's The Audience, which just opened at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Playing one of Her Majesty's twelve Prime Ministers is Rufus Wright, who takes his audience with the Queen nightly as the UK's current PM, David Cameron.

Follow along as Wright takes us behind the scenes of The Audience's Broadway journey with 'Diary of an Englishman in New York'. Be sure to check back later this week for his latest installment!

Follow Rufus on Twitter (@rufusgwright) for even more updates!

28 March 2015
You say potato, I say pot-arto

The way we speak and share our language grows ever more bizarre. I've already confessed to the private hell of a classically trained English actor growling down the phone like de Niro in order to better navigate automated call steering. But almost every day I'll come across something that reminds me how different we are.

The Brits are masters of euphemism. We didn't get to run the world by calling a thingummy a wotsit when we all know very well it's a you- know- what. I've had entire 15 minute meetings with posh people at home to whom the idea of saying an exact sum of money out loud is so vulgar and embarrassing that I've walked out with less certainty than I came in. When you're meeting your bank manager that can be pretty debilitating.

Take Sudocrem. Actually an Irish invention- so coy, its name contains a pseudo version of the word pseudo and it doesn't even spell cream correctly in case too strong an image is presented in the delicate buyer's mind. But it's for your baby's sore bottom. And possibly yours. Plain lettering. Discreet.

I was looking for such a product for my four year old last week and came across the American equivalent: 'Boudreax's BUTT PASTE'. A cartoon gurning brat leaving the buyer in no doubt of what he or she is buying. Needless to say, I blushed to my boots, turned up my collar, and fled.

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27 March 2015
You're British? You know Fergie?

As someone with an Accent, I'm often asked where I'm from.

The real answer is a bit long winded so I tend to smile and say 'London'. And wait for the nod of satisfaction. People with British accents tend to say they're from London as it saves time. Unless they're Scottish, Welsh or Irish, in which case God help you if you've asked if they're English.

The real answer for me is that I was born on an army base in Germany, moved 14 times, in four different countries, by the time I was 10, and moved to London in 1996. So: yeah, London. Do we all do this? Because trying to explain just exactly which small town near Lincoln I spent my adolescence seems a little dull. But once I say London I feel like I conform to a category that's easy to identify. But the problem with saying you're from London is even though it's a vast city, dwarfing New York, to many foreigners it means you probably know their friend Colin. Because he lives in London.

My brother used to work for the Duchess of York: Fergie. Once, in a cab from JFK, the driver said- 'So where you from? London? Oh... So you know Fergie?' I think we can assume he didn't mean either the singer from the Black Eyed Peas or the gum chewing hero of Manchester United Sir Alex Ferguson.

So my brother said, truthfully, 'Well. Yes. You're driving me to a meeting with her now.' The taxi driver didn't even looked surprised. For him it was confirmed. British People All Know Fergie.

Rufus trained at The Central School of Speech and Drama in London. He created the part of David Cameron in the West End production of The Audience and previously worked with Peter Morgan on the original Donmar Warehouse production of Frost/Nixon and in the filmThe Special Relationship. Other theatre credits include: The 39 Steps (Criterion), The One, The Backroom (Soho Theatre) The Empire (Royal Court), Serious Money, The Madness of George III (Birmingham Rep), Private Lives (Hampstead), Crown Matrimonial (Guildford and Tour), Mary Stuart (Donmar Warehouse and Apollo), Journey's End (Duke of York's), Trust Byron, Life With an Idiot and Franziska (The Gate), Single Spies (West Yorkshire Playhouse), The Secret Garden (Salisbury Playhouse), and Richard II (London Pleasance)

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos


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