At 20 years old, Carrie Walsh is about to embark on a three year degree in theatre design. With a prospective career behind the stage in the offing, I took the opportunity to find out what it is about theatre that is still driving generation after generation to want to be a part of this great industry.
What is your earliest memory of Theatre?
I have faint memories of putting the Nativity Play together as a six year old, my primary school despite being Catholic was never conventional in their putting on of traditional shows - I can't remember the exact point of the nativity play, but I do remember having to wear traditional Russian clothing and bowing to a classmate dressed in traditional French clothing! The first show I ever saw in the West End was Joseph and His Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Palladium back in the mid-nineties when Phillip Schofield was Joseph - I just remember the colour against the black set, and the rough red velvet seats.After that, I went on various trips to Christmas pantomimes at the Catford Theatre... Peter Pan and Cinderella...
What made you want to be a part of the theatre industry?
I had always wanted to become a costume designer after watching Titanic as a ten year old, but I didn't know theatre was for me until I started work as a theatre usher two years ago. The industry had a heart that I didn't feel the movie industry had. There was a perfect sense of community that is still alive today. However, I feel the West End right now is in utter tatters with all these awful productions taking over, shows like The Drowsy Chaperone coming to a premature end when shows like Grease extend their run before they've even opened! The state of the industry right now doesn't put me off pursuing a career in theatre at all - it's set alight a fire in me, and all I want to do is create shows and revolt against the awful show currently taking over the West End.
What is your most beloved theatre memory?
Goodness! The standing ovation last final performance of The Drowsy Chaperone received on the 4th August this year. I thought I lost all faith in theatre, this amazing show ending... But then I saw and felt the sublime atmosphere in the auditorium, people were stamping on the floor with pride and admiration for the show. Even if shows close early to accommodate jukebox musicals, I seriously doubt they'll cause audiences to react the way they did to Drowsy's final curtain call.
What is your favourite play?
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee. A complete stunner.
Who are your theatre idols?
Bob Martin - An utter genius!
Who is your favourite playwright and why?
My good friend Steve Hevey, Tennessee Williams, David Mamet, Sarah Kane and nothing beats a Shakespearian comedy.
If you could design any play/ character in the world, which play/ character would you want to create and why?
I think it'd be one of my complete and utter imagination and creation, something that hasn't been thought up, something so original and theatrical it would blow people away!
How would you like your legacy in the industry to be seen?
I'd just like to be known in the future as a good designer and someone who was just passionate about good theatre.
If a play was to be made of your life; What would it be called? What genre would it be? And who would play you?
I doubt anyone would ever do that! I don't think I'd allow it, it's a bit self indulgent... There are far more interesting people to write about! But if they did it'd have to be a comedy, and I have no idea who would play me, someone with a lot of frizzy red hair?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment