Theatre, Dance and Comedy

Paul David-Gough as King Arthur

King of the Brokens

Is it true that you broke your wrist in dress rehearsal?

"Yeah that’s right. Considering the fact that I had been riding horses, fighting with swords, running over hills, and even walking on water! I got to the round table after discovering Guinevere and Lancelot had been seeing each other, slapped my hand on the table and broke my wrist!"

How are you coping with the fight scenes?

"There are about eight fights in the show, and also in the teaching section with Merlin, Arthur gets thrown about quite a bit. As my right wrist was out of action, we had to change the fights so that I could fight left-handed.  Miraculously, people don’t seem to have noticed and so far all the fights have worked out. It is quite a strange phenomenon really changing from one hand to another. At first you want to go in the opposite direction, but the muscle memory seems to be working ok now."

How are you handling the heatwave dressed in knitted chain-mail?

"I think I’ve lost about half a stone since we started! We were rehearsing for two weeks in the park, quite often at the hottest part of the day. So we did a lot of drinking water and sitting in the shade when we got the chance. We of course had lots of high factor sun protection. We are lucky really as in the past; productions have been blighted by rain."

What roles have you done in the past?

"I’ve actually done a lot of directing over the past ten years. I am the director of the Academy at the Grand Theatre in Blackpool. We have a youth theatre provision for 7-11s, 11-14s and 14-18 year olds. We’ve just started an adult group as well.

I have also been working with the Forum Theatre which is part of the Coliseum Theatre at Oldham, which does a lot of issue based theatre that goes into schools. We take a piece of theatre that puts a lot of issues in the air and then we get the young people to resolve the issues.  This is usually with about four actors. The audience are like reactors as they decide on the outcome of the piece based on how they feel about the characters."

Can you tell us about Excalibur and the special effects?

"Yes, Excalibur rises from out of the lake and there is a bowl of fire. I have to walk over the water, about fifteen feet into it, just along the surface.  So the sword comes out of the water and creates the effect of me walking on the water to retrieve Excalibur. It does look quite spectacular, and has received quite a few rounds of applause.

Of course there are about 250 people who follow the performance around through different settings in the park. It’s such a fantastic backdrop. It’s the first time I’ve done an outdoor promenade production and it’s a bit like walking into a film set as opposed to closing the curtains and changing the scenery. It does require a different type of acting because rather than thinking of the four walls, you are thinking about making use of the space. So it has an impact on not just your vocal projection but your own physicality as well."

How is your portrayal different to previous Arthurs?

"Caroline Clegg, who has produced the show, has focused on one particular aspect of the story. Obviously there is the retrieval of Excalibur and the story of Lancelot and Guinevere. However, the time that she has concentrated on is when the Romans had left Britain. It was a time when the natives of Britain were following different Gods, so there were lots of separate clans. The story is of Arthur working to unite these clans."