Interview: Josh Barrow Talks SILK ROAD at Trafalgar Studios

Josh Barrow is reprising his role of Bruce Blakemore in Silk Road (How To Buy Drugs Online). After multiple runs around the country, the show is now playing at Trafalgar Studios.

Did you go to the theatre a lot with your family when you were younger?

No, I used to always love films. Back in Newcastle, it was just me and my mum. We always used to go to the cinema - we used to get these cheap tickets from her work so we could go. I started off going to see lots of films, all the superhero films. I enjoyed superhero films and Disney films to a certain extent, but I took quite an interest from a really young age in real storylines.

Usually the stuff that I was watching was probably a bit too mature for the age that I was, but the stuff that I liked my mum enjoyed as well, so we found a common interest in films like that together. Then I kind of went on to think "Oh, I've seen this story, I think I could write a story like that" and then later on "Oh, I could act in a story like that".

When did you realise you wanted to become an actor?

I did my first school play when I was 13, and it was Animal Farm. I wanted to do it before then - as a kid I always enjoyed writing and creating stories, and I kept thinking about the characters within the stories, which I still do to this day. I love writing and I write plays. I'm also working on a book at the minute.

But in terms of acting, I think that's where it probably comes from. I did the school play, and then when I was 14 I joined a local theatre acting group in my hometown of Blyth, at The Phoenix Theatre - which is such a great starting point for any young actor, because they have their regular shows, but then they have the Young Phoenix group as well and that's what I joined.

That kind of really solidified that it was what I wanted to do. Then I studied it for my GCSEs and went on to study it at college, and then after my degree I came down to London to try to have a go at it professionally.

What would you choose if you had to only pick acting or writing?

Ooh no... That's such a... I treat them in two very different ways. Any writing or acting project I end up taking, I give them my utmost attention. I'm very instinctive as an actor, I think. I prefer to have something learnt, get it on its feet, work with a director, and then when I'm in the room discover and challenge what I initially thought, or have what I initially thought challenged by an external viewer.

With writing, I like to take my time a lot. I really enjoy the formulation of words and how words come together to create sentences and paragraphs. I find a rhythm within writing that I don't bring into my acting to an extent. I would say that it's definitely a different process.

Tell us about Silk Road (How To Buy Drugs Online)

Silk Road is about a young fella who doesn't really know what's going on with his life. He's from Whitley Bay, which is about ten minutes down the road from Blyth. He doesn't really know what's going on, he's in love with a girl. It's kind of a classic 19-year-old struggle - his friends are going to university, but he doesn't want to go because it's not what he wants to do, the girl he's in love with ends up leaving... Yeah, he's quite lost.

He's a distant soul anyway, because he's being brought up by his nan, whom he loves with all his heart and he'd do anything for her. What's really lovely and what comes through within the piece is that you do realise how much of an influence his nan has had on him.

I personally believe, as an actor, that everything he does within the play, the choices that he makes, no matter what you think of them, they're all to protect his nan. I think Silk Road in itself is a coming-of-age story, definitely. You see somebody grow up and acknowledge that you don't get anywhere in life if you don't pursue what you're good at.

How did you get involved with it?

I was kind of back and forth from London doing different things, auditioning for this and that, and then last summer I did a play called Zigger Zagger with the National Youth Theatre.

So, I came down and auditioned and managed to get cast in a very good role in it - we performed at the Wilton's Musical Hall too. From that show, I met my agent at Conway van Gelder Grant - we instantly got each other. So, Silk Road was the first job that I got through my new agency.

We started off at The Vaults Festival in January, we took it home to Newcastle - which was a really, really exciting adventure for both me and Alex [Oates, playwright], who is originally from Newcastle - and now we're at Trafalgar Studios.

What's your character like?

Bruce is very much a loner. He hasn't had the upbringing that many other people he knows have had. I think everybody starts off as this socially awkward turtle who retreats into their shell at any sight of social engagement. People are able to adapt from that - some do it quicker than others, but Bruce has shaped his life around being like that.

He's very much on his own, a bit of a drifter. He's certainly not one of the popular kids at school, not one of those whose company people enjoy. I think nobody really knows Bruce for who he is.

He's somebody who just wants to do right by those who've done right by him. Throughout the play he gets a new job, and although the job is of somewhat ill repute he wants to impress his boss. I think it shows that he cares about the people who give him chances and want to see him do well. It's such an admirable quality.

Do you think your performance has evolved since you first did it at The Vaults?

Yes, I would say so. I think you grow with it, with experience. A lot of time has passed since we did it at The Vaults. It's also a very adaptable piece - it grows as the actor grows.

I was talking to the original guy who played it at its Edinburgh run [James Baxter], and he was saying that as the run went on he was constantly on his feet, because obviously it's a very physically and emotionally demanding show - there was always something you were aware was going on.

You can never just relax into a performance - you have to be constantly aware. You can't just rely on muscle memory, because it will get you through, but you need to be vigilant of the space around you, the audience change; perspectives are challenged, and you have to treat a play which does that with the respect of keeping your wits about you.

What would you like the audience to take from the play?

Where he is in his life at the moment, Bruce is coming to terms with the person he's going to be, and the action within the play and his choices will have a direct impact on how his life plays out. Without giving away any of the plot, it's definitely a kind of make-or-break situation. There's no coming back from how it ends. I think the audience should expect the point of view of a lonely young man who just wanted to do right by the ones he loves.

I think, as a collective, we want to ask the audience to believe in the power of storytelling, because Silk Road is a play that wouldn't be the same with a cast of five or six actors. It has to be a play where one actor portrays all of the roles, because all of the characters have such a profound impact on the way that his life turns out.

And I think on a personal level, we should remind people to never forget who they are and never forget where they come from, and the choices they've made to get them where they are now.

We go around searching for meaning and searching for what we want to do and where we want to be; it's very important not to forget where you come from, and the people who helped you to get where you are. You wouldn't be the person you are without them. I think that is what the play addresses.

Silk Road (How To Buy Drugs Online) runs at Trafalgar Studios until 1 September

Photo credit: Nick Rutter