08 May 2010 (released)
10 May 2010
David Benson began his acting career in 1990, with Jeremy Weller’s award-winning Grassmarket Project Theatre Company. He created his first solo show in 1996 and has since played roles as diverse as Kenneth Williams, Frankie Howerd (To Be Frank – Frankie Howerd and the Secret Of Happiness / 2001) and Samuel Johnson (Dr. Whom? – My Search for Samuel Johnson / Edinburgh Fringe 2009). He furthermore created and directed solo-shows for Janet Street-Porter’s All The Rage (2003).
Radio work included The Wooden Overcoat (Pamela Branch, adapted by Mark Gatiss) with David Tennant and Julia Davis, BBC Radio 4, while for TV, David delighted television audiences with his portrayal of Noel Coward alongside Nicholas Lyndhurst in series 5 and 6 of Goodnight Sweetheart.
David is currently starring in Dirty White Boy and Film-News caught up with him after the show for an interview.
Film-News:
You became friends with Clayton (Littlewood) over MySpace, and it was he who approached you with the idea to narrate the voices of the stories' characters during his various book readings. So whose idea was it to finally turn the book into a play?
David Benson:
The first time I ever met Clayton, I told him that my dream was to find someone to write for me so that I didn't have to do it all myself. We talked initially about a one- man show but it has evolved into the show we are now performing at the Trafalgar Studios. The idea of developing the readings we did into a full show came from our conversations we had whilst we were preparing those readings. I love the lines and characters he has so brilliantly written for me to perform in Dirty White Boy and look forward to further collaborations in the future.
FN:
Before you became acquainted with him, were you aware of his book?
DB:
The book had yet to be thought of when I first met Clayton. I was unaware of his MySpace blog but soon became an avid reader, little realising that I would one day be playing some of the characters he wrote about on the London stage.
FN:
Once the green light was given for the play to happen (and indeed, how did it happen?) - how much input did you and Clayton have, or did the project take shape as it went along?
DB:
After the resounding success of the three work-in-progress performances we did at Trafalgar last July, we were keen to have the show seen in a full run as soon as possible. Various possibilities were mooted and all fell by the wayside, to our dismay, though we are very pleased that we have been able to return to the same theatre for this full-length version of the show. Once the production was confirmed, the script went through many rewrites and revisions, with the director Phil Willmott over-seeing the structure and placing of the songs with Clayton. I added my views if asked for, but otherwise was happy to do as I was asked and work with the approved version of the script. There were many additional tweaks and revisions that emerged from the one week rehearsal period, much of it with the director Katherine Hare, who was brought in to cover for the period when Phil was stranded in New York, thanks to the Icelandic eruption.
FN:
Was it a given from the outset that Clayton would play Clayton in the stage adaptation?
DB:
The idea of having an actor to play Clayton was mooted early on but seemed to me to be missing the point: much of the power of the piece comes from the fact that the audience knows that this is a real person telling true and very honest stories of real people and events. Personally I felt that it had to be Clayton and I am very glad it is! I am also delighted with our Alexis, a wonderful performer and a delight to have as a much-loved member of our Dirty White Boy family.
FN:
You played multiple characters before, like in the 2003 production Star Struck when you portrayed all the celebrity dinner guests at a party hosted by Noel Coward. Are playing multiple characters something you specialize in, or do these roles simply come your way?
DB:
No, I don't specialise in multiple roles, though I suppose something about my approach to acting lends itself to this novelty. I just use my instincts and try and give each character as much vividness and emotional authenticity as I can. I am interested in all kinds of acting work and just wish I had the opportunity to do more.
FN:
Are you happy with how the production of Dirty White Boy has turned out and also, what has been the audience reaction so far?
DB:
It has been sad and dispiriting that some critics were not been kind to the production. I have given up reading reviews of shows I am in, even the good ones, because I believe that one does the job nightly with a new audience and it is here that one gets a sense of how the show is going over. Every night we get not only uproarious laughter but also the satisfying sniffles of people moved to tears and there is little more rewarding than that. All one wants to do is to engage, move and amuse the audience and, despite what the critics may have felt, there is no doubt that we are doing that.
FN:
Of all the roles that you have played since you began acting, which role / play means the most to you personally, and why?
DB:
I suppose the subject of my first solo show Think No Evil of Us (1996), the comic actor Kenneth Williams will always be a favourite and one I am best remembered for playing. The show has sustained me for fourteen years now and I still perform it regularly on tour around the UK. I like to keep expanding my repertoire as I would hate to be a one-trick pony. I now have ten solo shows in the book. In Edinburgh this year I will be adding a new and very different character to my company: the Lockerbie campaigner Dr. Jim Swire.
FN:
What do you think of current West End productions in general?
DB:
There is some wonderful entertainment in the West End now though I see very little of it because it is so expensive. I admit that I do find much of the drama I see on the West End stage lacking in immediacy and spontaneity, something I warm to in the theatre and tend to find more in smaller scale entertainment contexts.
FN:
Many thanks for this interview and the best wishes for your next projects.
(Check out more on David on: http://davidbenson.info)
Photo credit for D. Benson's Pic: © David Hews
