11 Questions with the cast of The Changeling: Jessica Raine

Tell us about your character.

Beatrice-Joanna, or BJ as everyone has taken to calling her, is in love with the wrong man.  She is clever and lusty and murderous.  Great combination.

Favourite word?

Imagination.

Proudest moment?

I was very proud of a lemon drizzle cake that I recently made.  And I suppose getting into RADA.

If 28 hour days existed, what would you do with the extra four hours?

I would love to say I would become fluent in French, thus enabling me to star in fantastic French films.  I’d probably just nap a bit more.

Favourite holiday?

I fell in love with New York last year.

Weirdest quirk?

Pretending to be someone else for a living.

Favourite play?

Why, The Changeling of course.

If you had one super power, what would it be?

It would be fun to fly.

Do you have any regrets?

Probably, but there’s not much point.  Onwards and upwards.

Favourite midnight snack?

Something involving cheese.  Melty cheese.  Mmmmmm…..

What were you doing at 17?

Worrying.

Belarus Free Theatre Call for Volunteers

Belarus Free Theatre, the company that will bring their provocative piece Minsk, 2011: A Reply to Kathy Acker to the Young Vic in June, are looking for volunteers to take part in a human sculpture.

Artistic Directors Nikolai and Natalia will direct 50 volunteers to make a human art piece.  The naked bodies will be designed to reflect the political situation in Belarus, where people are routinely stripped, beaten and tortured on a daily basis. The bodies will spell FUCK REALPOLITIK.  Renowned photographer Simon Annand will collaborate with the company to create this incredible contemporary art piece. Media coverage is strongly expected.

When: Thursday 19th January
Where: Riverside Studios
Time: 11.30-2.30pm
How many you need:  50 people comfortable being naked
Photographer:  Simon Annand
Director: Nikolia Knalezin

Please email Emily Dobbs at jaggedfence@live.co.uk if you would like to be involved or for more information.  Full nudity is required to participate.

Kevin Spacey on Belarus Free Theatre

11 Questions with the cast of The Changeling: Danny Cerqueira

Tell us about your character.

He’s called Deflores. He is in love with Beatrice Joanna, who thinks he’s disgusting, but he will still do anything for her in the hope that she will love him.

Favourite word?

Genau (German for ‘exactly’).

Proudest moment?

Learning to drive a pony and trap for The Woman In Black and being allowed to drive it in the actual film.

If 28 hour days existed, what would you do with the extra four hours?

Learn something.

Favourite holiday?

Hitching from Paris to Berlin to climb the wall in 1989.

Weirdest quirk?

Talking to myself.

Favourite play?

Long Day’s Journey Into Night .

If you had one super power, what would it be?

I would be invisible.

Do you have any regrets?

No.

Favourite midnight snack?

Cheesy toast.

What were you doing at 17?

I had left home and was working in a hotel.

11 Questions with the cast of The Changeling: Henry Lloyd-Hughes

Tell us about your character.

I play Tomazo and also Antonio.  Antonio is the changeling and therefore is clearly the most important character in the play.  I’ve spoken to the other actors and they feel the same way.

Favourite word?

Ishmaelite.

Proudest moment?

Being part of the unbeaten 3rd XV rugby team at school (vice-captain, inside/outside centre).

If 28 hour days existed, what would you do with the extra four hours?

Practice cricket in the nets.

Favourite holiday?

I work so hard I don’t have holidays.

Weirdest quirk?

I can lick my elbow, I’ve heard some people can’t do this but I can.

Favourite play?

The Woman in Black.

If you had one super power, what would it be?

Perfect line and length swing bowling for the Bloody Lads C.C.

Do you have any regrets?

Turning down the O.B.E. (I didn’t want it to draw attention to my charity work).

Favourite midnight snack?

Peanut butter.

What were you doing at 17?

Acting in school plays, at school (prefect).

11 Questions with the Cast of the Changeling: Kobna Holdbrook-Smith

Tell us about your character.

Alsemero (rhymes with “Alpen hero”) is a Valencian nobleman who falls in love with Beatrice Joanna.  He is military, right-hearted and a bit superstitious.

Favourite word?

Zugzwang. That’s just today, though.

Proudest moment?

Co-producing a one-off gala theatre performance for the charity Dramatic Need.

If 28 hour days existed, what would you do with the extra 4 hours?

Watch more films and read more books.  And learn the piano.

Favourite holiday?

Tanzania 2008

Weirdest quirk?

Weird but mostly disgusting: I gag when I brush my teeth and then that makes me laugh.  Every day.  Such a simpleton.

Favourite play?

Anything by Debbie Tucker Green, August Wilson or Dennis Kelly. Or Simon Stephens. (Again, these are today’s favourites.)

If you had one super power, what would it be?

Shape-shifting.

Do you have any regrets?

Loads.  None of them hold me back.

Favourite midnight snack?

Jalapeño-flavoured popcorn.

What were you doing at 17?

Hip-hop.  Seriously.

40 Facts: Main House doors are toilet doors!

Did you know…. The doors to the Main House started their life as the doors to our public toilets in the old building!

What a life those doors have had! 

 

 

The Changeling’s Rising Stars

Jessica Raines in The Times Saturday Review

Happy New Year from all of us at the Young Vic! We were very pleased to return to the office after our holiday break to a heap of mentions of The Changeling as a 2012 show that’s not to be missed.

Leading the extraordinary cast is Jessica Raine, set to play Beatrice Joanna.  Jessica stars in the highly-anticipated BBC Sunday evening drama Call the Midwife, premiering later this month. Jessica graced the front page of the  Times Saturday Review as the face to watch for 2012, you can watch her in a trailer for her new BBC show here.

Alongside Jessica will be rapper-turned-actor Henry Lloyd-Hughes, whose set the screen alight in 2011 with roles in Miliband of Brothers, Weekender, Dimensions, Anonymous, and of course The Inbetweeners Movie.  He’ll be seen next in the new film version of Anna Karenina, starring Jude Law and Keira Knightley.

The show also stars Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, last seen at the Young Vic in the critically acclaimed Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.  You might also recognize Kobna from his work on television including Holby City, Sirens, Phone Shop and Little Britian.

“Good things at the Young Vic include Joe Hill-Gibbins directing The Changeling. It’s in the small Maria space, so you’ll have to be nifty to get tickets,” writes Lyn Gardner in her latest theatre picks for The Guardian.  With tickets now only available for the final week of the run, we’re inclined to agree with Lyn — get your ticket to see this remarkable cast while you can!