Batten down the hatches! The Brits have
invaded the Brooklyn Academy of Music and everyone’s going to
want a ticket to the first two productions of BAM’s spring season.
British actress Emily Watson will make her American stage debut
at BAM on Jan. 10 with the opening of Donmar Warehouse’s production
of "Twelfth Night." BAM is presenting both the Shakespeare
comedy and Chekhov’s "Uncle Vanya" in repertory.
While Watson is confident in the material – she starred in both
plays in London this fall – she is taken aback by the 874-seat
Harvey Theater, which is triple the size of the Donmar theater.
"What makes me nervous is the auditorium is a lot bigger,"
Watson, on a brief break from rehearsal this week, told GO Brooklyn
in an exclusive interview. "It was not at all what I was
led to believe. And that changes the nature of the production.
I thought it was just a bit bigger, so we were shell-shocked
when we walked in yesterday. But it’s beautiful. The needs of
the space are different, but I’m sure we’ll work that out in
the next few days."
Although the commitment to these two plays is much more time
consuming than an actor’s commitment to a film, the actress said
she was happy to return to these two roles after the company’s
December break.
"It’s really nice, actually, to be back in the rehearsal
room," said Watson. "[Director Sam Mendes] is really
doing some very nice touches and tweaking here and there. It’s
good fun."
Because advance ticket sales have been so strong (these two Donmar
Warehouse productions played to critical and popular acclaim
in London in the fall), BAM has extended the run of "Twelfth
Night" and Brian Friel’s new version of "Uncle Vanya."
Both shows are now slated to be performed in repertory at BAM
for eight weeks through March 9.
In addition to performing the role of cross-dressing Viola in
"Twelfth Night" opposite Mark Strong’s Count Orsino,
Watson will perform the role of Sonya in "Uncle Vanya"
opposite Strong’s Dr. Astrov.
"Come and see both plays," said Watson, "because
they are very specifically chosen to reflect each other. Both
plays are about love triangles and obsession of love, and unrequited
love, and one is funny and happy and the other is pretty sad
– right into the cracks of human misery. And the cross casting
reflects that as well … They’re good to see as a pair."
Watson said she was attracted to this repertory run because she
likes a challenge – although this one was more than she bargained
for.
"I don’t think I really realized what I was taking on,"
she said. "Actually living with it for so long, it is quite
– particularly the Chekhov and dysfunctional families – is quite
draining and painful stuff. But ’Twelfth Night’ is a good antidote
to that. It’s very uplifting and fun to do."
Some British critics wrote that they found the Donmar production
of "Twelfth Night" toned down compared to other, riotously
funny productions.
"It’s more like a chamber piece, not a big pantomime version,"
said Watson. "I find the other guys [in the cast] funny.
We’ll see."
The Donmar production of Chekhov’s "Uncle Vanya" also
offers audiences the opportunity to rediscover an old classic.
"I love it," said Watson. "I think it’s very freeing
– you probably don’t have the same problem in America – because
most English translations of Chekhov feel very English-English.
They feel like slightly stiff, upper middle class English people
talking and drinking tea when in fact they are quite passionate
Russian people drinking tea. [By Friel] putting it in an Irish
idiom – although not an Irish accent – the language is freer
and more emotional somehow. It’s not hidebound by the same class
thing you get in an English production."
On eight Saturdays it will be possible to see both "Twelfth
Night" and "Uncle Vanya," with a matinee and evening
performance, a real juggling act for even the most seasoned actors.
"I just have to be in the moment, particularly in ’Twelfth
Night.’ You just have to step on stage, and jump and go for it,"
said Watson. "As soon as I start thinking about it too much,
I get my knickers in a twist."
Sam Mendes, director of the Oscar-winning film "American
Beauty" and the Tony Award-winning production of "Cabaret,"
returned to BAM to direct these two productions.
"[Mendes] is very emotionally intelligent working on these
plays," said Watson. "He didn’t come in with a big
concept or big idea. He really let the actors respond to the
material and he sort of guided us through it. But it was very
much using people’s own initiative. We all felt very much like
equal partners. In that sense he’s got very good taste."
This double bill, which Mendes had the cast rehearse for 12 weeks,
is the director’s grand finale after a 10-year run as artistic
director of the Donmar Warehouse.
"There was a real sense to this that [this project] is very
precious to him," observed Watson, "but in a way of
not having anything to prove, that sense of being relaxed and
letting the actors discover things rather than pushing things."
Mendes will direct the Broadway revival of "Gypsy,"
starring Bernadette Peters, this spring.
Watson, 35, has flabbergasted audiences with her riveting, heartbreaking
portrayals of women, especially in her first film role – for
which she was Oscar nominated – as Bess McNeill in Lars Von Trier’s
"Breaking the Waves" in 1996.
"[’Breaking the Waves’] changed my life in two ways,"
said Watson. "One was that I got work from it, but it really
pushed me as an actor in a way I didn’t know was possible. It
changed the way I act, the way I worked. I realized there was
a lot further to go, committing to something emotionally."
Watson received another Oscar nomination for "Hilary and
Jackie," and kudos for her roles in "The Cradle Will
Rock," "Angela’s Ashes," "The Luzhin Defense,"
"Gosford Park" and "Punch-Drunk Love."
The British actress’ other recent films – opposite Ralph Fiennes
in "Red Dragon," the "Silence of the Lambs"
prequel, and "Equilibrium," a sci-fi thriller from
Dimension Films – are surprising departures from her high-art
forays thus far in cinema – another sign that this actress is
still looking for new challenges.
For the next two months, those challenges will be bringing Shakespeare
and Chekhov to life – sometimes twice a day. Watson couldn’t
be happier with the location.
"BAM is a most amazing institution," said Watson. "There’s
nothing like it in London. It’s a really alive place."
William Shakespeare’s "Twelfth
Night" and Anton Chekhov’s "Uncle Vanya," adapted
by Brian Friel, will be presented by the Donmar Warehouse at
the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Harvey Theater, 651 Fulton St.
from Jan. 10 March 9. Tickets are $30, $55 and $75. For
show dates and times and tickets call (718) 636-4100 or visit
www.bam.org.
