Following their successful adaptations of Overruled, How He Lied to Her Husband, Candida, Misalliance, The Philanderer, and Widowers’ Houses, Orange Tree Theatre will be returning with another Bernard Shaw adaptation – Arms and the Man.
Set against the backdrop of the 1885 Serbo-Bulgarian war, this romantic comedy follows the story of Raina Petkoff, an idealistic young Bulgarian woman who falls in love with a Swiss mercenary named Sergius. Their love is soon challenged when Raina is faced with the realities of war and the hypocrisies of human nature.
This production also marks Paul Miller’s final production as Artistic Director of the company after eight years in post. Rebecca Collingwood is amongst the cast of Orange Tree Theatre’s upcoming production playing the titular character of Raina.
The Indiependent spoke to her about the role, her love of comedy and the creative process behind bringing Shaw’s work to life.
The Indiependent: What attracted you to the role of Raina and what has been your favourite part about playing her?
She’s a brilliant character. I think Shaw writes really wonderful women and with Raina there are so many different layers to her which I’m still discovering. I feel like she has a youth and a charm about her but then she’s quick, funny, very brave and has a lot of self-assurance. She is very much swayed, like I said, by the idea of being perfect. So she’s on this huge road of discovery about who she thinks she should be and then finally discovering who she actually is, thinking that she can only be loved if she is a certain way and then finding out that actually people love her in spite of all the airs and graces she puts on. I love playing her mainly because of her wit; she has an amazing spark and I’d say she has so much gumption. She’s very quick and I really like playing roles like that, ones where you’ve got access to a quick brain like that.
This is a 19th century play originally set during the Serbo-Bulgarian War of 1885, how and why do you think the play’s themes remain relevant to the world today?
I think that the war is an interesting part of it but weirdly, in this play, it’s not actually the central theme. It’s not like Shaw is making a comment on war really. He does comment so far as to question why are we at war and what is the point of war. But I think what the play is really about is this idea of one’s true self. Especially with my character Raina, it’s about trying to attain a perfect image of oneself and a perfect portrayal of perfection itself. A lot of the characters have that idea as well; having to put on a cloak to come across as perfect or come across a certain way and I think that really does resonate. It resonated with me when I was trying to find a way to get into the character because I certainly feel that pressure to try and attain a level of perfection or a level of beauty that just isn’t sustainable. Eventually the cracks will show and you have to try and find someone who will love you underneath all of that. I think that that’s what it really is about. It’s a love story between two people who are trying to put on something for each other and then realise that they actually love each other underneath all of the characteristics they put on.
You have previously performed in other comedies such as While the Sun Shines and Widowers’ Houses, another work by Shaw. What is it about the genre that appeals to you the most ?
One of the reasons I love comedy is because I grew up watching classic comedy performances; especially physical comedy. I could watch old school comedy for hours – I love it so much. I started off as a dancer and I think it’s also something about the rhythm. You can hear when it works and when the timing is just off and you have to know where the timing has to be to get the laugh. I think that’s what really draws me to comedy is the sort of the maths of it, I love that.
But also I think that so many comedians are actually quite internal people and have a lot of self-deprecation and I think that what makes comedy funny is that the person who’s being funny doesn’t know they’re being funny. The characters are being completely truthful in that situation. And it’s the world around them that makes it funny. What’s so wonderful with comedy is that as soon as you start to do it for laughs, you break the magic. You’ve got to be completely honest and truthful to your character and that’s when it’s funny. A clown isn’t trying to be funny. A clown is trying to go about its day and things happen to them which they can’t control. Mr Bean is never trying to be funny, he just has a funny way of looking at the world and seeing him go through the world with such heart and honesty and watching how he gets into these situations and how he tries to get out of them is funny.
What does a day in the life of an actress in the production look like?
A day in the rehearsals is we all arrive, grab a coffee, chat and find out how everyone has been in the last twelve hours. Then we come back together and we’ll normally focus on a specific chunk. At the beginning of the whole rehearsal process, we’ll sit round a table and read through the play potentially a couple of times. We’ll then talk about it, dissect it and really think about what’s actually going on and who these characters are and what they want. That’s a lovely process.
Then the next week after that it’s like, right let’s try and get it up on its feet. And that’s always a really scary transition because suddenly you’re expected to do this thing called acting and you have no idea how you’ve ever acted a day before in your life.
But it’s also really fun because Paul is brilliant in the fact that he acts as if there are no rules. You can go as big as you like or as small as you like. And then slowly, Paul will guide you into suggesting things, simplifying it and finding the real nugget of what you offered.
He manages to do that with everyone and once you’ve got more of a shape then you start to see him being a bit more of a genius because then he will throw certain ideas at you and you go “ah that’s it that’s what it should be, that’s funny!”. But the thing is I love rehearsals so much as you go into the production and you don’t have all the answers. It might not be until the very last minute of the very last show that you suddenly go “ah that’s what that line means”, now I get it. Then you’re like “oh I wish we could do the whole run again, now I know what I would do.”
Obviously it’s different every single night because it’s live and the people that you’re working with might do things differently so you’ve got to respond to that. The audience might react to something differently and you’ve got to respond to that as well. It’s always alive and it’s always bubbling which is really lovely.
What first attracted you to acting?
I think I always had a tendency to perform. I started off as a dancer, doing ballet from the age of 3, and then I went to Tring Park School for the Performing Arts to study dance. It was while I was there that I realised I actually wanted to do a bit more singing because I was a singer as well and my mum had been a singer.
So then I carried on in musical theatre. I have three sisters, and we would watch old MGM musicals until the tapes would get ruined. We’d watch these musicals to shreds and so I’ve always known that I wanted that.
I love to do musicals; my spirit is jazz hands. I love theatre so much whether its musical theatre, straight plays, Shakespeare, contemporary theatre or even movement. I just feel there’s something so magical about theatre from the very start when you are rehearsing, to opening night and everybody in the company starts from the beginning and goes to the end.
You’re all on this epic journey every single day. You form a beautiful bond I think with everybody in the crew, stage management, technical team, costume… there’s a huge community that has to come together to put theatre on and it’s wonderful being in a room with people who understand and whose passions align with yours. Also I just feel like I still love playing dress up. I get to feel emotions and go through stories that I wouldn’t necessarily do in my day to day. Your heart gets to experience and live through things that you wouldn’t necessarily see every single day and it’s beautiful being able to tell these stories and put different writers’ points across that might have an effect on an audience.
What advice do you have for anyone looking to get into the performing arts?
My advice and I think it’s different now to the advice that I was given, is that you have to try and make sure you’re getting into it for the right reasons. I think now there’s a trend to think that being an actor and having a certain amount of celebrity go hand in hand and it’s so important to try and let younger actors and performers know that that’s not necessarily the case.
Not being famous doesn’t mean you’re any less of a good actor, being famous means that certain things and choices happened along the way that meant you suddenly found yourself in the public eye. It can be completely random and has an enormous amount to do with chance. I think if people are wanting to perform then they just need to perform. If they want to go the route of going to drama school and all of that, that’s one thing but that’s not the only way.
It’s a very strange thing to suddenly go, ok so what gate do I have to walk through for me to suddenly put down that I’m an actor. And I think you could walk through that metaphorical gate tomorrow. You could say, as of today I’m an actor and you could create, perform, put on a show, charge people to come and see it ok then you’re a professional actor and making money doing it. Anybody can call themselves a performer, actor, musician or writer. No one is going to come round, knock at your door, evaluate your life and go yes, tick, you are an actor. If you want to be an actor, just say you’re an actor and act. And hopefully one day someone will pay you for it.
Some answers edited for clarity.
Words by Katie Heyes
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