BWW INTERVIEWS: Nicholas Woodeson from AN INSPECTOR CALLS

Caroline Ness

Hi Nick, welcome to BWW:UK, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. Can you tell us how this revival of An Inspector Calls came around?

The situation was that I was away in New York, and most of the cast with the exception of two parts were away on tour. The tour got such a positive reaction that it was decided to try and get it a spot in the West End. It was booked to do a quick eight-week burst at the Novello. We did that, then Delfont Mackintosh asked if we'd like to take it to the Wyndhams. So now, we're at the Wyndhams.

As you said, the play recently transferred from a limited engagement at the Novello to the Wyndhams. How do you feel this has changed the dynamics of the piece, particularly your own performance?

We opened in the Wyndhams last Thursday, so we've nearly been open a week. It's a much smaller space, and it's easier to connect with the audience. The show has by and large only been done in large houses. On the tour, it largely played big houses; it has a very operatic theme to it. It's very good for us to be in a smaller house, it's made it more intimate and human and less melodramatic. I think the whole cast's performances have changed - the space has made the play become more intimate.

So do you think that if someone came to see it at the Wyndhams who had previously seen it at the Novello would notice a major difference in the production, or a slightly more subtle change?

My wife did [laughs]. She's an actress and a drama teacher. She said it was better at the Wyndhams; she came to see it last night. She said she preferred it at the Wyndhams because the actors didn't have to push as much to fill this very big house that the Novello is. The Wyndhams is a very nice house. The circle is on level with the stage, its very easy to play to the circle. In alot of theatres, you play to the stalls, and the circle is very much above you. You get these tiers, these shelves. The Novello was really quite steep.

I know what you mean - I went to see Spring Awakening, the previous show there, and sat on stage - you look up and think that the people in the circle are going to fall out!

[Laughs] Absolutely!

It's quite unusual to have a circle at the same level as the stage.

Enormously. If you were to do some maths I suppose the front would be half the way up from the stage. It's very easy to connect to the play from the circle. Also the stalls are quite small - at the Novello the stalls go right back and if you're at the back of the stalls you can feel quite distant from the performance.

How have the audiences changed as a result of the transfer?

It's difficult to tell at the moment; a lot of the audiences have been made up of school parties because it's on the curriculum. At the Novello, it was difficult to deal with that, because it could turn into a melodramatic panto if you weren't careful.

Have you had any bad experiences with the school parties?

No, no, it's just that it's very tricky. Boys are different from girls, but they both have one thing in common - they find it difficult if things are too emotional, and they will rubbish it and laugh. You have to moderate it and play it very carefully. You also have to be genuine and truthful. School parties will find you out if they think you're being half-hearted.

Having played this role before, with a 14-year break, do you think that your performance has changed a great amount or remained similar to the performance you gave on Broadway and in the Garrick?

I hope so! It has changed. What's interesting about this production is that it does change with different casts, and yet something always stays the same about it. It is an extraordinary production, one of those great productions, that is just right for the play. Priestley wanted the play performed in a non-realistic way. It was first performed in Russia, in a very expressionistic way. That's the way he wanted it to be done - he didn't want it to be done like an Agatha Christie play. If anything, it's like a Greek tragedy, where the characters talk to the Inspector, but in doing so, they're actually debating with themselves and the audience. It's as if they are justifying themselves and explaining their lives to the audience. It's very like they are performing to the theatre. In this production, you never forget you're in the theatre, quite deliberately, you never forget you're watching a play. This doesn't make it less engaging, it actually makes it more engaging.

I think that's a really good point. Have you seen many other productions, and how do you think they use the material?

When I was in drama school, I saw a production in the West Country, which shall remain nameless, which was very like an Agatha Christie play, and I have to say it was about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Do you like the play as a text, or do you think your relationship was influenced by seeing the production before you took over from Ken Cranham?

I don't think it ever came to me as a text. I only looked at the script after seeing the production at the National. I hadn't read the script before I saw the play. I saw it at the National, I was asked to do it so obviously I read the script. But it wasn't until I saw it in New York that I really got into the script.

Having played the Inspector on several different occasions, would you like to be remembered for that role or have it be considered to be your finest hour, as such?

[Laughs] I don't know.

Just to finish, a silly question. Having had such a successful run at the Novello when other shows have had problems - for example Hamlet star David Tennant slipping a disc and Spring Awakening closing five months early - do you think An Inspector Calls survived the so-called "Curse of the Novello"?

[Laughs] I didn't know there was one! Yes, I think we have! [Laughs again]

Thanks so much for taking time out to talk to BWW:UK; best of luck with the rest of the run. When do you run till?

March.

Great. Break a leg for the show tonight!

Thank you, it was nice talking to you.