Albion's Natalie Casey: 'People in the bar afterwards will feel uncomfortable about themselves'

Tell us a bit about Albion
It’s set in a pub called the Albion which has the best karaoke night in the area, and it’s about the rise of the new far right in Britain, so it’s politics mixed with karaoke – it’s a crazy piece of experimental genius. It’s complicated putting the music together with the scenes and also, because of the content, the dialogue is very gritty and raw.

Can you tell us about your character Christine?
She's a social worker who is accused of negligence because of whistleblowing on a case that she is involved in. She is then struck off from being a social worker and forms her own right wing political party, but with a gentler, more literate message – which is of course what the far right in Britain are doing today. It’s become dangerous, the fact that it’s not skinheads smashing windows anymore, it’s people who are very legitimate and intellectual talking about issues that are pretty much abhorrent, to my sensibilities. People get fooled into thinking it’s a good idea because it’s someone who is very respectable explaining it in a very eloquent way.

Do you find anything you can sympathise with in the characters?
I think that’s why the play is so fascinating. Chris Thompson, the writer, is unbelievable at writing three dimensional characters. He said at the very beginning it’s very important that he didn’t want to write a play where people went ‘that person is evil’, ‘that person is good’ when actually it’s much more complicated than that. It’s important for the audience to, at times, identify with the characters and then feel bad about it.

I’ve had enough of going to see political pieces of theatre which are semi-patronising in that you could easily identify ‘that person is racist, he’s bad and we don’t like him’. I think it’s time to move beyond that. I think that’s why the Bush Theatre is so amazing; the plays they choose to put on are always complicated and bizarre and brilliant and leave an audience feeling uncomfortable and elated at the same time.

What made you want to get involved in the play initially?
I’ve always wanted to work at the Bush, since I made a semi-conscious decision to really concentrate on theatre seven or eight years ago and I read this play and had never read anything like it. I wanted to work with Ria Parry [director] as well because she’s a genius. It’s a very rare thing this combination of director, plus the play, plus the theatre.

You mentioned the karaoke aspect of the play – is there actual karaoke in the show?
There is, yes. There are lots of very famous karaoke songs, which I can’t divulge because I wouldn’t want the audience to already know the words before they come. It’s fascinating and bizarre, and crazily brilliant.

Chris Thompson has said he views karaoke as an extreme version of you. Do you agree?
I do. The characters are expressing themselves in a way they couldn’t necessarily do through words, like when you get a group of business men going to a karaoke night; there will be somebody who sings a song while crying because they want to tell somebody how much they love them who would never in real life do that; there are people who get up there who want to dominate everybody else in the room.

Are you hoping the play will generate conversation?
I think it definitely will. There will be a lot of people in the bar afterwards feeling uncomfortable about themselves because during some of the more abhorrent political speeches they might agree with some of the things that we say. That’s one of the major dangers of the new far right, they are now realising they have to try and ingratiate themselves with the political elite, and that is a way to get them legitimate votes. It’s incredibly dangerous when people start covering up horrible views with brilliant rhetoric and great speeches.

What’s it like working on a world premiere?
It’s sort of crazy because I’m the kind of actor that I get given lines to say, told where to stand, we work together and we do it, not one of those actors that asks to make changes. This experience has been incredible. Ria is an amazing director and Chris’ writing is so brilliant. I suppose what I will take to new work from now on is that it’s about having dialogue with the people who write and direct it and being in a room where you feel comfortable enough to say anything.

What’s next?
Well I’m going up to Liverpool to do a play at the Everyman Playhouse, so I’m going up there over Christmas. I’m doing a farce next so from the sublime to the ridiculous! That should be exciting and I haven’t been up there for a while. And then after that, I don’t know, maybe a holiday, maybe death will come… who knows?

Albion runs at the Bush Theatre until 25 October 2014