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Interviews
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Stephen Boxer - A Theatre Beast Philip Fisher meets actor Stephen Boxer, currently appearing in Power at the National Theatre. On arrival backstage at the National Theatre, Stephen Boxer is casually chatting with Robert Lindsey, his fellow star in Power, and clutching a well-thumbed Penguin Classic. It is perhaps inevitable that it is Jean-Jacques Rousseau's Confessions that he is carrying. The lithe actor looks far younger than his years, with a tan newly acquired in Sardinia. His first words about himself are telling, "I am a Theatre Beast. I like variety in acting if you can get it but theatre is far more engaging than screen work. The two hours on stage are yours". He is about to embark on a third simultaneous piece of work. He continues to play Colbert in Power until the end of October and for some time has been filming a TV series, ironically called Absolute Power, in which he stars with Stephen Fry. Now, he is resurrecting David Pownall's play Rousseau's Tale under the direction of Stephen (Billy Elliott) Daldry. He will give four performances of this one-man play that was written specifically for him as part of the Not the RSC Festival in 1990. Quite why is unclear, Boxer had requested something completely different. "I fancied Judas who got a rough deal - no one calls their kids Judas! - But I got Rousseau". Stephen Boxer might be the ideal actor to deliver a long monologue. His voice is a thing of beauty, combining a mellifluous tone with perfect clarity. To hear him speaking an unintelligible piece for an hour would be a pleasure and, as he is at pains to explain, Rousseau's Tale is far from that. "Rousseau is very accessible, he speaks the common language". He is also a recognisable character "paranoid but very honest and with a terribly good memory. This goes with a conscience - that is both his blessing and his curse". It takes the form of a lecture that the exiled Rousseau gave at the Royal Society in Fleet Street in 1765 when he was 53, Boxer's age now. While the actor very much enjoyed playing it first time around, he believes that he understands both himself and the part far better now. He says of Rousseau's Tale, "David asked me to revive it. I hadn't read the Confessions until now because he asked me not to. The play contains several of Rousseau's favourites themes. In particular, his notions of a non-denominational god and guilt about sexual practice. Its strength is that it goes right to places that we recognise but don't discuss". Rather contrarily, he continues, "He really mines the dark night of the soul - but in a witty way". By this stage of rehearsals, Boxer understands his man extremely well. When the discussion turns to a comparison between Power and Rousseau's Tale he says that there are parallels, although Power is set 100 years earlier. He believes that Fouquet (Robert Lindsay's character) is the kind of man that Rousseau would have loved to dine with. This is because "Rousseau was attracted to a class that he despised. He tried to unravel and reconcile the paradox between instinct and morality - head and heart. He would have been a disaster for today's tabloid papers. He willingly gives his flaws to the world - very unmodern!" Playing Colbert in Power has clearly given him great pleasure. "It's a lovely play, beautifully written with seven very interesting characters - all utterly, utterly different and so are the actors who play them. The characters are extremely well defined". He likes the fact that playwright Nick Dear has written in such a way that the humour is modern even though the sense of period is retained. Boxer also likes his own character that he believes is a kind of precursor of John Maynard Keynes, a major figure in early European economics. Boxer is a man with a very interesting career path leading up to an annus mirabilis. His first serious stage part came while he was a 13 year-old choirboy in Oxford, as Miles' in Benjamin Britten's opera, The Turn of the Screw. He is a very musical man and still recalls the whole of his part 40 years later. He joined the National Youth Theatre at 16 and took part in the first ever production of Peter Terson's Zigger Zagger, playing a football fan vicar. His career in theatre was sealed when Sir Ralph Richardson (if ever there is a play or film about Richardson, Boxer gives an uncannily good impression!) met the cast after the show and singled him out for praise. He studied at Rose Bruford College - "like a Swiss finishing school" - and then moved on to rep in Lancaster where he met David Pownall and began acting with him and writing music for his plays as long ago as 1972. The two were founder members of the still successful Paines Plough. Their real break came in 1977 when their Richard III Part II transferred to the Cottesloe as part of a programme there to bring in regional work. He worked steadily in a wide variety of acting roles on both stage and screen until his big year, 1990 when "life began at 40". He made it onto the payrolls of both the National Theatre and the RSC and even better, he met his wife, the playwright Tamsin Oglesby at the National. They now have two children, Finn, 7 and Scarlet, 5 both of whom really enjoyed their recent trip to see daddy in Power. Boxer is in absolutely no doubt about his favourite theatre. "I love working at the National Theatre. The schedules are generous which allows you to do other work or take holidays. It's a great place to work and it's on a roll at the moment. When this place is buzzing, there's nothing like it". The fact that he met his wife there as well must surely help. His favourite play this year was inevitably at the National. Jerry Springer - The Opera, which he rather surprisingly feels sure that Rousseau would have loved! Stephen Boxer seems a very happy man combining leading roles both on television and film and in theatre. His credits include Volpone, for the National and Twelfth Night, The Herbal Bed, (Olivier Award Nomination and Derwent Award for Best Supporting Actor), Richard III and Rousseau's Tale for the RSC He also won a London Fringe Award for Best Actor for The Clearing at The Bush. His numerous Film and TV appearances include Grafters, The Politician's Wife, Mary Reilly, and Prime Suspect. Rousseau's Tale 15, 17 & 29 September, 1 October, 6.00pm · RNT Cottesloe Tickets: £3.50 / £2.50 conc. · 45 minutes Rousseau's Tale by David Pownall plays in the Cottesloe Theatre for four performances only. Directed by Stephen Daldry, it features Stephen Boxer in the title role. The year is 1765, and Jean-Jaques Rousseau, exiled from his native France, has been invited to deliver a lecture to the Royal Society in Fleet Street on the subject of 'Sexual Feelings'. 'It is my habit to and discipline to be absolutely honest in these matters... from now on I forbid anyone to leave under any pretext whatsoever as we are entering into a sacred discourse between myself and my animal soul. Disgust and revulsion have no place here. We are in the temple of truth...'
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