Rosemarie Akwafo, Understudy, The Play That Goes Wrong, Duchess Theatre
When did you catch the acting bug?
From a young age because my older siblings were actors and so they used to put on plays like around the house so i think yeah from early on as soon as i was talking it was something i used to do with my family and yeah I guess I took it seriously when I got to college.
What’s the best thing about your job?
Being silly every day. The fact that it’s a comedy makes it really fun to just not take ourselves too seriously.
What was the journey like from theatres closing to reopening?
It was hard. Luckily for me, I wasn’t in work before the pandemic. But not having the chance to be in a theatre or to watch theatre was very hard and I was amazed by how excited I was when it came back and yeah I’m very happy for it to come back because that’s where sort of my heart lies, in theatre.
So are you a graduate?
Yes, I graduated in 2020 so literally I graduated as the pandemic sort of happened. I didn’t get to finish my course which was really sad. But it meant that I went from something so fun into nothing which was hard. I didn’t really get a push into the industry until 2020.
How does it feel to be in theatres again?
It’s exciting. I’ve found my true love. I think it’s really nice to just do something live, speak to the audience, be in front of audience. Seeing people’s faces has been the most exciting thing and especially after so much time social distancing. It’s nice to be in a room for so many people amazing.
What was it like being photographed by Rankin?
Oh my god brilliant. He is fantastic he knows what he’s doing and I should have never doubted him because he made me look gorgeous and yeah it’s been a really fun experience.
Ross Green, Chris, The Play That Goes Wrong, Duchess Theatre
When did you catch the acting bug?
Quite late. I was about 19, I was gonna join the navy and then I decided to go to drama school. I got into RADA and then worked from there, that was about 12 years ago.
What’s the best thing about your job?
The variety. Not knowing what’s coming next. It can also be the scary thing about the job but yeah going from one project and getting to do something completely different and doing things like this, you know it’s amazing.
What was it like to be photographed by Rankin?
Awesome. I’ve known of Rankin for many years so when I found out I was invited to this I was really excited.
For you, what was the journey from theatres closing to reopening?
We opened the production just before the pandemic, so we did about two three months and then the production closed. Well, it was quite nice for me as I got to spend some time with my daughter which I normally wouldn’t get to do. But obviously it was very very difficult. We then opened the show for a week in the December of 2020 and then we closed again because of again the pandemic and finally managed to open again in June and fingers crossed it’s been it’s been alright since then.
How does it feel to be back in theatres?
Amazing yeah and the audiences have been brilliant and very very supportive. I think you can tell in the same way that we want to be back performing, the public are really excited to be back in the theatre as well.
What was the one thing you missed about live performance?
This time round I missed performing with this particular cast because they’re an amazing group of people and I love doing my job so I just missed being on stage.
Roberto Surace, Costume Designer, The Play That Goes Wrong, Duchess Theatre
How did you get into your role?
I began designing professionally seven years ago working for the producer Kenny Wax who then gave me the opportunity to do The Play That Goes Wrong professionally.
What’s your favourite thing about your job?
Being able to create characters from nothing to something and the collaboration process both the Actors, the director and the show itself and the story and creating this whole fictitious world and making it come to life, that’s what I love about it.
What was your journey like from theatres closing to reopening?
Going from work, work, work to nothing, simple as that. Luckily, I got back into work beginning of this year but I I went to TV and then came back into theatre once everything started opening up again over summer but for the majority of 2020 it was zero, nothing.
How does it feel to be back in theatres?
It feels good except for the fact that everything’s happening at once, that’s the only problem but it’s great to be back and great to be putting it all back together again.
What was the number one thing you missed about live performance?
The people, the audiences and the buzz of being in the theatre.