INTERVIEW
with
SCOTT REID
who plays Christopher in
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend on Sea
18th - 22nd July 2017
with
SCOTT REID
who plays Christopher in
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
Cliffs Pavilion, Southend on Sea
18th - 22nd July 2017
|
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time tells the story of Christopher Boone, who is fifteen years old. He stands beside Mrs Shears’ dead dog, which has been speared with a garden fork, it is seven minutes after midnight and Christopher is under suspicion. He records each fact in a book he is writing to solve the mystery of who murdered Wellington. He has an extraordinary brain, and is exceptional at maths while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. He has never ventured alone beyond the end of his road, he detests being touched and distrusts strangers. But his detective work, forbidden by his father, takes him on a frightening journey that upturns his world.
Scott Reid plays the epic role of Christopher and may be a familiar face to those who watched the last Series of Line of Duty and the BBC1 comedy show, Still Game.
We manage to grab Scott just before he had to dash on stage for a matinee performance. |
Was the part of Christopher a role that you’d considered auditioning for before?
Well I’d had a couple of friends who’d been involved in the production before and obviously when it first came into the West End there was such huge excitement about the part. I kind of never put myself there because I’m from Glasgow and and Christopher’s an English boy. When it came through I was really excited and chuffed to get the opportunity to put myself in front of the producers and directors and obviously it went quite well as I was given the role!
Had you seen the play before you auditioned?
No, actually I made conscious choice before I auditioned not to watch the show and to just bring my own interpretation of the character; to not let me be influenced by any other actors who had played it. Once I had the job I went and saw the show in the West End and it was brilliant. It just reaffirmed my love for the play.
You hadn’t read the book either then?
No I read the book after I had the part as well. When I was at school, I was really into my American literature. I was reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac and stuff like that. But when I did read the book it was brilliant. I've never read anything like it and I don’t think there’ll be anything like it for a long time.
How to you prepare for a role like Christopher?
When you’ve got a really good script, it’s quite easy because all the rules and tips of the part are in the script. For example Christopher doesn’t like to be touched, he only likes certain colours and numbers and his coping mechanisms are very clear in the script. I think the most important part when you’re playing Christopher, is really just to try and connect to the other actors and just be there, and be present because Christopher is such a listener. And actually his ability to pick things apart is quite wonderful. That was the biggest challenge - to be in the moment and listen to what everybody is saying - I think that’s the hardest thing.
I can imagine, because as an actor you’re usually reacting in quite a big way to the other actors on the stage?
Yeah that’s right. Christopher doesn’t react in the way that people assume him to react. He's kind of off the beaten track and that's wonderful to play because you know when somebody says something to you, you know they’re expecting a certain reaction and Christopher’s got this really wonderful energy that he kind of pulls the rug under people’s feet. He’s got a wonderful sense of humour as well.
Well I’d had a couple of friends who’d been involved in the production before and obviously when it first came into the West End there was such huge excitement about the part. I kind of never put myself there because I’m from Glasgow and and Christopher’s an English boy. When it came through I was really excited and chuffed to get the opportunity to put myself in front of the producers and directors and obviously it went quite well as I was given the role!
Had you seen the play before you auditioned?
No, actually I made conscious choice before I auditioned not to watch the show and to just bring my own interpretation of the character; to not let me be influenced by any other actors who had played it. Once I had the job I went and saw the show in the West End and it was brilliant. It just reaffirmed my love for the play.
You hadn’t read the book either then?
No I read the book after I had the part as well. When I was at school, I was really into my American literature. I was reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac and stuff like that. But when I did read the book it was brilliant. I've never read anything like it and I don’t think there’ll be anything like it for a long time.
How to you prepare for a role like Christopher?
When you’ve got a really good script, it’s quite easy because all the rules and tips of the part are in the script. For example Christopher doesn’t like to be touched, he only likes certain colours and numbers and his coping mechanisms are very clear in the script. I think the most important part when you’re playing Christopher, is really just to try and connect to the other actors and just be there, and be present because Christopher is such a listener. And actually his ability to pick things apart is quite wonderful. That was the biggest challenge - to be in the moment and listen to what everybody is saying - I think that’s the hardest thing.
I can imagine, because as an actor you’re usually reacting in quite a big way to the other actors on the stage?
Yeah that’s right. Christopher doesn’t react in the way that people assume him to react. He's kind of off the beaten track and that's wonderful to play because you know when somebody says something to you, you know they’re expecting a certain reaction and Christopher’s got this really wonderful energy that he kind of pulls the rug under people’s feet. He’s got a wonderful sense of humour as well.
This role is quite a physical role for you too, isn’t it?
Yes, so what we do - because Christopher doesn’t like to be touched - we do a lot of physical interpretation. So there’s one section of the play where Christopher says he literally climbs into a cupboard and closes the door next to the heater and he imagines he’s flying in space. As an ensemble in the company we actually take Christopher on this journey into space, through the metaphor that is physical theatre, and it’s quite wonderful.
Also, the set in this play is probably the 11th member of the cast because it just does so much work for us. Wonderful projections, wonderful sound quality. Chris and Adam, the sound guys are just experts, they really do a fantastic job. Because we’re on tour all the time, the theatres are all different and are different shapes and sizes but the sound quality is great, I mean, at one point of the show there’s just tiny little drops of rain and the way they manage to blend it into the scene…..honestly, people who say that theatre technicians aren’t artists definitely need to come and see this show.
Oh definitely, I’m all for bigging up the techies in shows, because they don’t get as much recognition as they should do.
Yeah, Adam and Chris do a great job, they work hard - give them a shout out for sure.
Christopher has a pet rat. As a former owner of a pet rat, can I just ask, is it a real rat that you have in the play?
We have two rats that come on tour with us - Dumbo and Meeko and they do alternate shows. They get looked after better than me! Pampered and fed - they’re the royalty in our show! They live with the wardrobe girls who love them, they adore them.
People tend to say that this is a play about a boy with Aspergers but I read that Mark Haddon (the author) was a little bit irritated by that because he didn’t want that to define Christopher. How do you feel about that?
It’s never mentioned; no name, no tag, no definition is put in the play. It’s not in the script or text, nobody talks about it. The only thing he says is “I go to a special school”. But he does call other people in the school stupid. You know, Christopher’s just a wonderful human being who reacts differently to how the common man what would react and actually giving him a tag is not fair. Everyone in the audience relates to something differently. If someone has a member of their family or a friend with autism or Aspergers or any form of mental health, people relate it back to their own lives and think, that’s not mine because with autism and Aspergers there’s such a huge scale and there’s many different forms and actually it’s really not our job to define what we think that is. From the beginning of this show at The National, they have never claimed to put a tag on Christopher. It’s up to the audience to make up their own minds, they can go on their own journey. By putting a tag on it, you don’t let people go on their own journey.
Yes, so what we do - because Christopher doesn’t like to be touched - we do a lot of physical interpretation. So there’s one section of the play where Christopher says he literally climbs into a cupboard and closes the door next to the heater and he imagines he’s flying in space. As an ensemble in the company we actually take Christopher on this journey into space, through the metaphor that is physical theatre, and it’s quite wonderful.
Also, the set in this play is probably the 11th member of the cast because it just does so much work for us. Wonderful projections, wonderful sound quality. Chris and Adam, the sound guys are just experts, they really do a fantastic job. Because we’re on tour all the time, the theatres are all different and are different shapes and sizes but the sound quality is great, I mean, at one point of the show there’s just tiny little drops of rain and the way they manage to blend it into the scene…..honestly, people who say that theatre technicians aren’t artists definitely need to come and see this show.
Oh definitely, I’m all for bigging up the techies in shows, because they don’t get as much recognition as they should do.
Yeah, Adam and Chris do a great job, they work hard - give them a shout out for sure.
Christopher has a pet rat. As a former owner of a pet rat, can I just ask, is it a real rat that you have in the play?
We have two rats that come on tour with us - Dumbo and Meeko and they do alternate shows. They get looked after better than me! Pampered and fed - they’re the royalty in our show! They live with the wardrobe girls who love them, they adore them.
People tend to say that this is a play about a boy with Aspergers but I read that Mark Haddon (the author) was a little bit irritated by that because he didn’t want that to define Christopher. How do you feel about that?
It’s never mentioned; no name, no tag, no definition is put in the play. It’s not in the script or text, nobody talks about it. The only thing he says is “I go to a special school”. But he does call other people in the school stupid. You know, Christopher’s just a wonderful human being who reacts differently to how the common man what would react and actually giving him a tag is not fair. Everyone in the audience relates to something differently. If someone has a member of their family or a friend with autism or Aspergers or any form of mental health, people relate it back to their own lives and think, that’s not mine because with autism and Aspergers there’s such a huge scale and there’s many different forms and actually it’s really not our job to define what we think that is. From the beginning of this show at The National, they have never claimed to put a tag on Christopher. It’s up to the audience to make up their own minds, they can go on their own journey. By putting a tag on it, you don’t let people go on their own journey.
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I have to say that I felt very humbled after reading the book, do you find that people feel the same after seeing the play?
A normal reaction is that people are exhausted because it’s just non-stop, especially in the second half; people go “Oh my goodness, that was an hour? It felt like 25 minutes!” It’s such a whirlwind of a show.
Really, that’s brilliant that you have people that engaged?
It’s a real blessing to be playing theatres and having so many people connecting with us every night. It’s really wonderful.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard so much hype for a show before?
Honestly, hearing grown men cry in the audience, for you as an actor, to have that power…..it’s why you become an actor.
The best times are just when it’s with a new audience - people who have no preconceptions about the play; and when you get strangers coming up to you and saying, “Ooh, that was amazing!” That's nice.
So, you're coming to the end of the tour, just a couple of months to go now. Are you thinking, thank goodness or are you going to be kind of sad that it’s going to be all over?
The show is so physical and I'm having a ball but as far as the physical aspect of the show is concerned, I’m kind of glad that it’s coming to an end but I love playing the part. I love Christopher, he’s such a wonderful guy but if I can’t do the physical side of the role or feel that I can do that justice anymore, then it’s not fair on an audience so I think it’s the right time.
So what’s next for you?
I think I may be going back to do the next series of Still Game for the BBC.
A normal reaction is that people are exhausted because it’s just non-stop, especially in the second half; people go “Oh my goodness, that was an hour? It felt like 25 minutes!” It’s such a whirlwind of a show.
Really, that’s brilliant that you have people that engaged?
It’s a real blessing to be playing theatres and having so many people connecting with us every night. It’s really wonderful.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard so much hype for a show before?
Honestly, hearing grown men cry in the audience, for you as an actor, to have that power…..it’s why you become an actor.
The best times are just when it’s with a new audience - people who have no preconceptions about the play; and when you get strangers coming up to you and saying, “Ooh, that was amazing!” That's nice.
So, you're coming to the end of the tour, just a couple of months to go now. Are you thinking, thank goodness or are you going to be kind of sad that it’s going to be all over?
The show is so physical and I'm having a ball but as far as the physical aspect of the show is concerned, I’m kind of glad that it’s coming to an end but I love playing the part. I love Christopher, he’s such a wonderful guy but if I can’t do the physical side of the role or feel that I can do that justice anymore, then it’s not fair on an audience so I think it’s the right time.
So what’s next for you?
I think I may be going back to do the next series of Still Game for the BBC.
Tickets to see Scott as Christopher Boone in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time are available from www.southendtheatres.org.uk or call the box office on 01702 351135