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When you think about it, in some ways Shelagh
Delaney's play A Taste of Honey, is not so different from Harry
Potter!
Both have a dysfuntional family that includes a
child where the guardians shun responsibility. Harry has to cut
it on his own in the world of witchcraft and wizardry against all
the odds. Jo is left by her mother to fend for herself and raise
her child as a single mother.
Two very different stories, but both revolve around
the love, affection and support that can be found through friendship.
Chris Rankin, from Dereham, explained that Shelagh
Delaney wrote A Taste Of Honey when she was just 18.
"In a way the main
character Jo is the same age as she was when she wrote the play
- so it feels very personal.
"It’s a long way from the laughter of panto,
which I absolutely loved at the start of the year, but it does have
a lot of laughs in it.
Chris as the feather duster twirling Geoff |
"There’s a bit halfway through the second
act where I dance around in stilettos and a pink coat with a feather
duster [laughs].
"It is very, very funny - but also tragically
heartbreaking at the same time.
How’s the walking in stilettos going?
It’s going [laughs]. They’re size five and half
and I’m a size 10. It’s a bit on and off at the moment and I just
shuffle around the stage in them, but it’s all right.
What does your mum think about you wearing stilettos?
Er, I haven’t done it in the house with her around
yet.
How are the rehearsals going?
It’s OK. Although we’ve all learnt the words, we’re
just not so good at getting them in the right order at the moment.
From what you’ve said about the play, the intimacy
offered by the Sheringham Little Theatre is really going to enhance
the production.
Yes, it’s perfect. It’s one of those plays where
you need to be able to see every tiny little expression on the actors
faces. You need to be able to see all of
the detail to get the emotion right.
I was asked to do this play because the director
thought the part would suit me. I wasn’t quite sure if that was
a compliment or an insult to be honest.
I read the script and I thought it was all right,
but it was an average script. Then, when we got into it, it became
a lot heavier than I think any other production of it has ever been
and it’s great, we’re really enjoying it.
Would it be fair to say you're at a point in
your career where it’s good for you to take on something a bit more
challenging?
Chris Rankin |
Absolutely, cracking the mould a bit. I’m finding
that with Harry Potter, millions of people around the world look
at me and think that’s Percy the Head Boy and that’s the problem.
I don’t want to spend my life playing school boys
and prefects and snotty people as it will always come back to Percy.
It will always come back to he does very good upper class, poncey
people.
It’s fine if it gives me work, but I want to say
hello, look I can do other things.
I can play outrageously camp characters, dress
up in heels, screech and shout and do everything else equally as
well.
It’s cracking the mould and giving me the chance
to show that I’m more diverse that just playing stuck up prefects
really.
Will we ever see Percy clacking his heels down
the Great Hall at Hogwarts?
I hope not [laughs], that floor's very uneven and
I wouldn’t go anywhere near it in stilettos!
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Without
giving too much away, because we've done quite a lot with
the play to modernise it, is the main characters Jo and
her mother Helen move into a flat in Salford.
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