The Pain And The Itch : Q&A

Whats On Stage has a partial transcript of last night's Q&A with the cast after the play.

Matthew Macfadyen: On a very basic level, when you read it as an actor, it makes perfect sense to you. It’s written in such a way that you want to say it. Some scripts that you come across you imagine that the writer hasn’t actually said this because it’s so unwieldy. Bruce has a fantastic ear for dialogue.

Read more at the WOS website.

On grappling with the American accent
Matthew Macfadyen:
Accents are your enemy for awhile. They make you feel stressed and
under confident. Most of us grew up watching American films and TV, but
it’s a very hard accent because it’s about state of mind as well. It’s
psychologically fascinating. Our British tendency is to be very
apologetic, with Americans (adopts accent) everything is said
and there’s no apology at all. But once you’ve got it technically, it’s
a great release and then it becomes your friend.

On liking/disliking their characters
Matthew Macfadyen: I kind of like Clay. He’s an idiot sometimes.
I think they’re all doing their best in the given situation, like we
all do. As an actor, if you veer towards judging your character, it’s
not terribly useful. The writing is good, so they’re all multi-faceted
- otherwise they become stereotypes rather than archetypes.