After receiving much critical acclaim for his performances in How to live a jellicle life: life lessons from the 2019 hit movie musical ‘cats’ and Awkward Conversations With Animals I’ve F*cked, Swedish-born actor and comedian Linus Karp is returning to the stage with his new one-man comedy show Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story.
This production marks his third solo show, celebrating the life and enduring legacy of Princess Diana, while simultaneously showcasing his flair for comedy, drag and solo performance.
The Indiependent spoke to him about the inspiration behind his upcoming show as well as discusing his comedic and writing influences.
The Indiependent: For those who haven’t heard of the show could you give us a brief synopsis and what people can expect?
The show is called Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story and it’s a look at Diana’s life or the key events that we all know of. I think “untrue” is the key word in the title. It’s very much a version of how we wished the events played out rather than how they actually did. It’s Diana’s life as it should have been. She was obviously an iconic woman so it’s a look at what could have happened, obviously in a very silly way. It’s very much a stupid comedy and I kind of think of it as a kid’s show but for adults in that it has like all these over the top elements and audience participation. It’s very playful but it’s still obviously very much an adult show.
Princess Diana is widely remembered as the people’s princess for her enduring legacy of kindness and acceptance alongside challenging public perceptions through her humanitarian work. In your words, why do you think her story continues to resonate especially with young people to this day?
It’s a very good question because it is over 25 years since she passed and she’s still relevant in many ways. There’s always a lot of royalty or famous people that will do charity work, but I think it’s hard to realise today how ground-breaking it was. Like when she was shaking hands with AIDS patients for example or walking across landmine fields. They were quite controversial things at the time which led to societal change on those issues. That was a legacy that lived on and made such a difference both to people internationally and to queer people.
I think people always like an outsider and she very much was an outsider. I think she’s been praised not only because she did great things for the queer community…but the fact that she was this young youthful woman trapped in a marriage with an older man who really didn’t treat her very well. She managed to break free of that so I think there’s a good narrative to that.
And then the fact that she died young and youthful obviously means that her legacy lives on in another way than it would have if she lived on. She’ll always be remembered at her peak. It’s so tragic because she was finally getting to live her life as she should; free from a marriage and free from the monarchy to some extent. She was able to live freely and focus on the things she wanted and that’s when it all ended. This show gives a version of what if that didn’t have to be the case.
Public opinion is hugely divided about the Royal family especially in recent years. Did this present a challenge in the writing process?
No, I think I was probably quite naïve when I went into it. Not being British probably plays in my favour because I’m not as sensitive about the royal family as a lot of people here are. I just went into this thinking that this is a fun idea and a fun thing to do rather than being like “I’m going to be controversial and be critical of the royal family”. But obviously the timing now with the queen having passed recently is quite interesting. When we posted about the show online, there were already some people who were like “how can they do this now this seems like such bad taste.”
The show is a loving celebration but it’s also not necessarily done in good taste. It’s not done pro-monarchy – the show is obviously very much pro-Diana. It’s a stupid parody and as I mentioned, “untrue” is the key word so I don’t think anyone should come to this to get any real insight into the monarchy.
I also think we should be able to laugh about most things, if not all. And this show is not created to upset but it’s going to hopefully be surprising with different takes on things and characters we know quite well.
What do you think are the unique challenges of a solo show compared to a show with various cast members?
This will be my third solo show so I’ve done it quite a lot. At first I found it really daunting. It is quite scary obviously because when it goes well it’s the best feeling as you can stand on the stage and just enjoy. But as soon as it starts getting tough or you feel like you lose the audience, you don’t have anywhere to turn, it’s just you which is also quite scary of course.
But I think there are a few key things to remember. It sounds like such an obvious thing when it comes to acting but always know who you’re talking to. So who you’re directing your attention to, whether that is a fictional character on or off stage or the actual audience who are there. And also what they’re responding to it because, as people say, so much of acting is reacting, so even if you’re the only person on stage what reactions are you getting from the imaginary person you’re talking to or anything like that.
And then also to have faith in the material and don’t panic. One of the key things I’ve found for me when I work on solo shows is that when you feel like you’ve lost track a bit or the audience are moving about a bit, is to really slow it down and draw them back in. Go quiet and small rather than big and large and that will often draw them back in and refocus them.
Who are your inspirations whether queer influencers or specific comedians or drag artists you admire?
When it comes to solo shows there’s this performer called Joseph Morpurgo. I’ve seen a couple of his solo shows and they are always outstanding. I feel like he’s so in control of what the concept of a solo show is and he really pushes it. And I think what he does with it has given me inspiration of what you can actually do, like a solo show never has to be just you talking on stage. There’s so much to be played with the format.
In terms of audience participation, I watched a clown show called Coulrophobia a few years ago which really stayed with me, especially how they interacted with the audience and how far they pushed the audience interaction and even made it unpleasant at times in a very comedic way. That’s something I feel like I’m really taking on as well, especially with this show because I am really pushing how far you can take the audience participation. Another amazing solo show is a show called One Woman Show by Liz Kingsman which is hilarious and incredible and she very much plays with the format of one woman shows. Those are a few of things that have been very inspiring.
What made you decide to get into performing arts?
I don’t know why to be honest because ever since I was very little, I’ve wanted to be an actor. I didn’t grow up with the theatre or have anyone close to me who was into theatre so I don’t really know where it came from originally. Acting was always the thing I wanted to do but then I really only started writing properly because I wasn’t cast enough and given the opportunities I wanted.
I would only be selected for very small specific foreign parts and I just felt like there’s more that I could do so that’s why I set up my own theatre company. Then I realised that for me to be able to play the parts that I wanted to play, but would never necessarily be cast as, I’d need to create them myself which is great fun. Like I don’t think anyone would look at me and be like oh that’s the next Princess Diana, but if I make it happen myself I actually get to play Princess Diana which is amazing.
Diana: The Untold and Untrue Story plays in London 8-19th November, then tours the UK.
Words by Katie Heyes
Support The Indiependent
We’re trying to raise £200 a month to help cover our operational costs. This includes our ‘Writer of the Month’ awards, where we recognise the amazing work produced by our contributor team. If you’ve enjoyed reading our site, we’d really appreciate it if you could donate to The Indiependent. Whether you can give £1 or £10, you’d be making a huge difference to our small team.