Brief Encounter With … Roger Rees

He replaces Patrick Stewart as Vladimir in Sean Mathias‘ production of Waiting for Godot at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, alongside McKellen as Estragon, Ronald Pickup as Lucky, and Matthew Kelly, who replaces Simon Callow as Pozzo.

How did you get involved in this production of Waiting for Godot?
Sean Mathias last directed me in a play called Indiscretions (Les Parents Terribles) in America, which was a very successful transfer of the National Theatre production. Alan Howard played George, the husband originally, and I played that part on Broadway alongside Jude Law, Kathleen Turner, Eileen Atkins and Cynthia Nixon. So we go back a long way. He’s a director I very much admire, and the opportunity to play Vladimir opposite Ian was one I couldn’t refuse.

Why did you decide to move to the US?
I was pretty templated by 22 years in the Royal Shakespeare Company. I would happily have stayed on the banks of the Avon forever, doing Shakespeare play after Shakespeare play: he is, after all, the best writer in the world. But it didn’t work out that way. I moved to Los Angeles after I performed there in Tom Stoppard‘s Hapgood. I thoroughly enjoyed doing the play; sadly, though, it coincided with a period of time during which I lost many members of my family. It felt very natural for me to stay, especially after I started doing Cheers, the cast of which were very sweet to me. They used to leave first-class plane tickets on my dressing table so I could get over and sell my mother’s house and work all that stuff out. So that was why I lived there and made a life there, and I’ve had a very interesting time. It’s good to have one’s preconceptions of another culture challenged.

Have you missed British theatre?
Yes and no. I’ve found a different sort of work over there. The down side is that I haven’t done as much Shakespeare as I should – I think there are some Shakespeare parts I should play now that I’m the age I am. That said, I’m of the opinion that, if Shakespeare was alive today, he would probably be making movies in Hollywood.

In the original run of this production, Vladimir was played by Patrick Stewart. How do you feel taking over from him?
It’s a joy. Patrick and I are great, great friends from way back when we were both spear-carriers at the RSC. So it’s thrilling to be stepping into his boots – he’s been emailing me some notes and things. They had such a wonderful long tour, and I’m playing it with just two-and-a-half weeks’ rehearsal so it would be crazy not to listen to him!

Did you see the production last year?
No, I didn’t – but I don’t suppose that makes much difference. I watched a couple of people play Hamlet before I played Hamlet, and that certainly didn’t make it any easier.

You’ve never done a Samuel Beckett play before. Is it difficult approaching his work for the first time?
I actually think Godot’s quite an easy play nowadays. It’s not abstract or anything, it’s a real play. There are really substantive schemes underneath there and there’s good sub-structure. That said, I don’t think it’s especially hard. And the writing is very musical, wonderfully rhythmic, which is a joy to speak. It works sensationally with an Irish accent, but we’re not doing that.

There’s so much scholarly study of him
There’s a ton of scholarship on him, just like with Shakespeare, and you can discuss as much as you like about what the language means or what a certain action signifies, but it’s important to look for the human being in the text. Plays are about human beings, after all. They’re not poetry first, and then characters – that’s when it becomes intimidating. When Shakespeare’s taught one line at a time in a classroom, then it’s dead. You’ve got to get people out learning it and feeling they have the right to say it. Beckett writes such fascinating and independent characters; he was a very serious man but he also liked a laugh, and that shows very strongly in his work.

What’s your take on Vladimir?
He’s the only character who really has a sea change. He has glimpses of ultimate despair, but this activity that he’s maintaining – this ritual of coming to the tree to wait for Godot – may not be founded in any truth whatsoever. If it is true, then it shows we’re all mad, which is very interesting. He and Estragon need each other. There’s an interesting moment at the top of the second act when Vladimir comes on and Estragon is late because he’s been beaten up and Vladimir sings. Why does he sing? Because he can’t bear for the air to be silent. He needs that intercourse, that conversation.

Is this a one-off, or can we expect to see more of you in the UK?
I have a one-man show called What You Will, which is a one-horse gallop through all things Shakespearean. It involves me doing some of the big soliloquies – everything from Hamlet to the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet! It’s gone down very well in the States, and I’d love to bring it over here if circumstances allow.

Waiting for Godot continues at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until 3 April. A version of this interview will appear in the February/March edition of What’s On Stage magazine.