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Norfolk's Chris Rankin has had a busy year - he's
just finished filming the latest Harry Potter film, The Prisoner
of Azkaban and has been appointed director of a new theatre production
company.
While relatively unknown to UK audiences, Painted
Horse Theatre company has has been established since the mid 1990s
in Ireland. Its founder and Artistic Director, Jim Rymer, joined
forces with Chris to bring its productions to a wider audience.
As well as taking on the role of director, Chris
has a starring role in its first production. He plays Loevborg,
the romantic lead in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler.
The play is a tragedy exploring
the role of women in the nineteenth century. Hypocrisy and double
moral standards are explored by dramatising the hidden conflicts
in society by opening the doors to the private rooms of the bourgeois
homes.
Chris Rankin as Loevborg in Hedda Gabler |
Ibsen shows what can be hiding behind the beautiful
facades; moral duplicity, confinement, betrayal and fraud.
“I’m thrilled to be playing Loevborg; it gives
me an opportunity to explore the depth and range of such an interesting
and diverse character,” said Chris.
"I’m loving doing Hedda Gabler, it’s an amazing
experience for me, as an actor, to work on a classic play like this.
We’ve been rehearsing on it for the last two weeks, spending a lot
of time looking into the details of the characters and their backgrounds,"
he added.
"We’re very lucky to have a stunning cast,
made up of professional actors from London, and local talent from
North Norfolk. The production is very new, very sexy and quite shocking
in places, I certainly never expected this from my first reading
of the text," he said.
The play, which is showing at Sheringham Little
Theatre, also stars three local actors; Tony Nelson (Judge Brack),
Angie Maddigan (Bertha, a maid) and Joan Spall (Miss Juliana Tesman).
Although Painted Horse is a professional company,
it is committed to including local talent wherever possible, with
a view to developing and nurturing that talent.
It will be encouraging and developing interest
and understanding of theatre. It will offer workshops, after-show
talks to schools and community groups highlighting the various techniques
and approaches used in the production.
Taking on the role of director is a first for Chris,
and a challenge that he relishes.
"I’m learning very fast about how a to run
a company and do all the complicated things, like trying to get
hold of the set, designing the programmes, looking after the cast
and making sure everyone’s happy," he said.
"I also have to make sure we get press coverage
and that the posters have been distributed! But I can safely say
it’ll be a superb show!" he added.
Hedda Gabler is showing at the Sheringham Little
Theatre on Thursday 22 April until Saturday 24 April, 2004.
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