Tell us a bit about your role in the Abbey and your work on this production?

I am currently the Resident Assistant Director with the Abbey, for this production my role involves assisting the director (Jason Byrne) on all aspects of the rehearsal process. This means that I am in the rehearsal room every day assisting in any way that might be required. This mostly involves helping Jason realise his creative vision for the play, taking notes, discussing and supporting his choices, running line calls and buying the coffee!
One of the most important aspects of my role is directing the understudy rehearsals. Each one of the Comedy of Errors cast has an understudy in the event of them not being able to go on. The understudies are actors who have their own role in the play and are understudying other roles also. This means that some of the actors are in rehearsal for the main play and also in additional understudy rehearsals for the same show playing many different parts. In a play that is all about confusion, it is sometimes funny to watch an actor having a conversation with himself in a scene!

It is exciting to see actors playing multiple roles, as well as getting the opportunity to show how diversely talented they are, we get the chance to see the play from a different perspective. Understudying is really hard work and involves getting the show ready for full production with an entirely different cast. At the end of the run, the full company performs an understudy run (including full technical support with lighting, sound, and costumes) that is attended by the Director of the Abbey and the Casting Director.


What do you like about The Comedy of Errors?

It is great coming into work knowing that you are going to be laughing for a lot of the time. Comedy of Errors is a carousel of mistaken identity made up of slap-stick physicality, a great deal of verbal wit and satire.

Every day the actors throw themselves full-force onto the set and it feels almost like they are making it up as they go along. The fact that the characters never seem to know what will happen to them next makes the things that do happen to them all the more surprising and fun to watch!


What is Jason like to work with?

Jason is extremely talented as a director. It is very exciting to work with him and watching him rehearse is a dynamic experience. He has a huge amount of energy and imagination. Every day is different, he challenges himself and his cast vigerously. He places a great deal of time in exploring the energy and the dynamics of each scene, trying it in multiple ways and not allowing the actors to settle on anything but demanding instead that they find something fresh each time they do it. This results in a very exhilarating process. I’m exhausted simply trying to keep up!

Have you ever worked in the Abbey Theatre before?

I played the part of the 'Postal Clerk' in THE CHERRY ORCHARD in 2004. I had no lines in the script but my character was referred to. The Director of the play, Patrick Mason was good enough to get me a couple of lines by the time we opened. Even though it was a small part, it was great to be in the rehearsal room with the likes of Lorcan Cranitch and Nick Dunning and to see how these, much more experienced actors approach a big Chekhov play.

It's great to be working on a play in the Abbey Theatre with a good meaty role to get my teeth into!


Tell us about your own role and character?

I play DROMIO OF SYRACUSE. He is ANTIPHOLOUS OF SYRACUSE'S slave - not his servant - his slave!!!

Like ANTIPHOLOUS OF SYRACUSE, he is a stranger in the town of Epesus. We are in the fifth week of rehearsals and I think I have him figured out. I can't tell if he is very obedient. Or not obedient at all. He seems to get bogged down in detail and he obsesses about the nature of time and I am hoping to get some comedy out of these things. Ciaran O' Brien is playing the other twin DROMIO and he is finding some great physical comedy in rehearsals. I am doing my best to steal all his good bits and at the same time, make my DROMIO different.


What do you personally like about The Comedy of Errors?

It's just great fun. It's a sitcom! People get confused left, right and centre. Nothing is as it seems; Jason (the director) is really pushing this side of things. At one stage my character DROMIO declares, "This is the Fairy Land!" because he is so confused about what is happening. IIf Jason gets his way, there will be lots and lots of comedy violence - think Chaplin, Tom and Gerry, The Marx Brothers. And it is Shakespeare's shortest play!!!


What is Jason Byrne like to work with?

I hadn't worked with Jason before and I am finding his approach very different to what I am used to. And I say that in a great way! He is shaking me out of my comfort zone. He is resisting me (and all of us) just going for our first choice and sticking with it. He wants to be constantly surprised in the rehearsal room, and as a result, I think we are managing to surprise ourselves.

He also doesn't like 'setting' things. This means that anything can happen at any time, which makes the rehearsal room very exciting. He has encouraged an 'anything goes' attitude to the play and some inspired comedy genius has come out of this approach. And we have all had moments when we have tried something and it has absolutely bombed - but that's part of the fun!

Overall, it feels that there is a great team on the show (from actors to designers to backstage etc) so hopefully we will have a good show on our hands!

ANTIPHOLUS OF EPHESUS - Rory Nolan

ANTIPHOLUS OF SYRACUSE - Charlie Bonner

DROMIO OF EPHESUS - Ciaran O’Brien

DROMIO OF SYRACUSE - Peter Daly

SOLINUS - Karl Shiels

AEGEON - John Kavanagh

ABBESS - Helen Norton

ADRIANA - Natalie Radmall Quirke

LUCIANA - Susannah de Wrixon

LUCE / COURTEZAN - Dee Roycroft

SERVANT & ENSEMBLE - Joanne Crawford

BALTHAZAR/ PINCH & ENSEMBLE - Damian Kearney

ANGELO & ENSEMBLE - John Cronin

MERCHANT & ENSEMBLE - Simon Boyle

OFFICER & ENSEMBLE - Ger Kelly