Alex Lawther Talks Taking on HAMLET at the Park Avenue Armory

Welcome to Backstage with Richard Ridge. My guest is one of the entertainment industry's newest breakout stars of stage, screen, and television. He is in New York right here at the Park Avenue Armory, starring in director Robert Ike's critically acclaimed production of Hamlet through August 13th. Please say hello to Alex Lothar

Well, first of all, I am thrilled to be sitting with you, Alex, here in the gorgeous armory, and I think we're in the Tiffany room here. Well, first of all, welcome back to New York. How excited are you to be playing Hamlet here

Yeah, it's been two years that we've been waiting to make it here because of coronavirus

And so, yeah, it feels thrilling to finally to be here and in this extraordinary place

So when did you arrive in New York? That's a good question

My brain. I think it's been three weeks that we've been here

And we have done a full week of previews as of last week

Yeah, so we've been here for two, three weeks. It must be like just surreal for you because you get here

then you start rehearsals of this beast of a show, and then you try to find some downtime

I've spoken to many people over the years who played the role of Hamlet

How much of a beast is this role? And what have the challenges been for you so far

It's been interesting rehearsing a show in one country and then performing it in another

There's something about another actor said this to me, that it's a very particular thing

building a home for a piece in one space and then getting on a plane and performing it in another

And I imagine, as with any country you move to with a play

if you've gone on tour, the play has always received slightly differently. So our first previews were so thrilling

because in an English speaking audience, but an American one, predominantly I imagine

And so there's something exciting about that. They're very vocal. I love New York audiences

I mean, they like talk back or just like make a lot of sounds

and everything else and really get on the piece. Yes. Yes. It is very different from maybe a London, you can

audience in that sense. People are up on their feet. And yeah, it's a real ride, yeah

So what have the challenge has been for you so far? Because it's a big role

I suppose one of the joys of these two plays is that

I say two plays because there's Hamlet. We're eventually going to be running in rep with the Orastaya

And a challenge, yes, but also a kind of extraordinary event-like feeling to the two pieces

the fact that we had a set amount of time to rehearse these two epic plays

I suppose they're, yeah, they are epic. I mean, particularly the Orestah, this big creek tragedy, but Shakespeare's the Hamlet

the Hamlet, Shakespeare's Hamlet. Also, a sort of, yeah, colossal in its size

in its own right. But something about doing the two plays together

the plays speak to each other. They echo each other in really strange, surprising ways

So, although it felt like quite a daunting task, I remember watching the last run-through we did back in London of Orestaya

and I was so moved by it, not only because Rob's adaptation, our director

and he adapted the Orest-Diah for this production, not only because it is brilliant

but also because of the reflections it has in it to Hamlet

whether unconscious or conscious, I'm not quite sure. But as a performer in one of the shows

it was sort of amazing being part of a company that's doing both for that reason

Talk about your director. He's one of the most sought-after directors. What makes him such a great director to work

with? It's hard to say with Robert Ike. I mean, the first thing comes to mind is his

intelligence, which he has in mountains full. But he also has a brilliant sense of humor. His

intelligence is always about finding a way to make the play interesting

and moving and all of his choices are about how do we make this

more moving and more exciting to watch one of his

mottoes was sort of I think he watches he watches rehearsals thinking of himself

as a teenager and thinking well would I be interested in this

and does this hold my attention and that he said to us at the beginning of rehearsals

that at least in the UK there's sometimes a tradition of, with these huge texts and these huge pieces

a sense of going to the theatre as a sort of obligation

or something that has to be educational or, you know, sort of worthy

like eating your vegetables, you know. But actually these pieces, when they're treated as

these big questions about what it is to be a human being Sure they have they bring the weight of their own history with them inevitably

but they are moving and funny and strange and that's what Rob is seeking for, I think

I mean, I don't want to speak for him. But yeah, I suppose it's a mixture of that

his sort of fierce intelligence, but also it's always seeking out how to make the plays

as watchable and engaging as possible, because the text allows for that, and the text wants to be

funny and strange and moving. Because it's a contemporary take on Hamlet

So explain to our audience, that's what I love about this, because there's other directors who are doing this now. And that's what bringing a much younger audience to the

theatre now, because I've had friends already see the first set of previews that you've done

and what amazed them the most were the young people who were coming to the audience. That must

make you feel really great. That is wonderful, yeah. And the play has that at its heart, I think

this jagged relationship between one generation and the next, the younger generation and an older

the parent generation, of these young people. and the messiness of that

Yeah, so I suppose, although it's not spelled out, but there is a feeling that this is a contemporary Danish royal family

because it takes place in Denmark famously. And so that includes everything between a system of surveillance

but also a one don't know part to that these people feel recognisable as human beings that we know today

in positions of power and and authority. And also it feels like a family

It feels like a recognisable, messy contemporary family, struggling. and failing to live around and with one another

Yeah. You're working with an incredible group of actors. What is it like sharing the stage with them here at the Armory

It's wonderful. Our cast is wonderful. I love them and, you know, very, it's so hard working

I mean, I'm lucky because I'm not in the orostaya, so I don't have to worry about doing two

Doing two. but almost all the rest of the cast are in rep so they're having to navigate these two big plays

and then do it with such wit and humor and energy yeah we got off the plane from the UK having rehearsed for a month and a bit and then straight into tech

and straight into previews and we had one of our first days off yesterday

and we've been rehearsing the daytime and forming the evening so it's sort of a real yeah

it's not easy in any circumstance bringing 15 I think that's 15 of us in the cast together

at one point and everybody is still giving every ounce of themselves

which is a beautiful thing And playing here at the Armory, what I love about the Armory is, you know, they've turned it into a theater

They've done a lot of incredible theater pieces here, including the Lehman Trilogy and many things before then

What has been like for you like, you know, playing in this beautiful building? It's quite extraordinary

It feels like something, it feels like a castle. Well, yeah, it does

It feels like a very perfect tone for a piece about the Royal Danish family in its history

I was saying the other day with somebody else about how it's also there's

a beautiful sense of the past here but the space is changing all the time so

we've built a theatre with it inside the drill hall but when we leave there'll be

another thing and maybe not a play but an art installation I'm not actually sure what's next on the program

But that sort of ephemeral quality here is so exciting as well

And it's in the middle of New York. Yeah, this sort of castle that the inside of it is always changing

Like an argonaut. Yeah, it's quite amazing. Well, last time you were here in New York

you were at St. Anne's Warehouse in that beautiful production of the jungle. What did you enjoy the most about playing St. Anne's and playing the jungle

St Anne's similarly has sort of the building itself is beautiful and quite weighty but the inside is always changing in its immovable space

and we came from the Young Vic in London which is a very particular space that changes all the time as well and is built for that purpose but for theatre as St Anz as too

and it was sort of a perfect home for that play. Sort of the bigger sort of more commercial West End theatres because of the particular design of that play St Nands was wonderful and to be it was a very different I mean here we are in the middle of

summer. I've never been in New York at this time of year. Then we were in the middle of

winter and so it felt like a totally different city. Yeah. You've had both of our seasons then

You've had summer here and you've had winter when you were here the last time. Yeah. Yeah I don't really know how this city survives with this sort of extreme

I remember going out for a jog and during the run of the jungle at St. Ann's and sort of my eyes filling up with water. It's so cold. And then the tears froze

And here I get the subway home and you know sticking with sweat by the time I get to my front door. So yeah, it's quite a

yeah, a city of extremes, isn't it? Are you enjoying this time here? Because like you said, the last time you were here was before the pandemic and now you're back seeing New York through a whole different set of

eyes. Yeah, although I haven't, you know, we've been so busy, so busy that I am looking

forward to, once we get into the run and sort of, we've sort of carved out our space a little bit

with the play, having time to get to know the city at this time of year, a bit better. Yeah

and see, you know, the occasional nights when I have time off to see other shows and, yeah

You're going to have a blast years. I know you're here through August 13th. it a hard text to learn

And do you remember that first performance here? Your first preview performance here. What do you remember about that night and that performance

So two questions. The text, because we had, we were waiting for two years to come here

Rob told me two years ago, before we need the pandemic, was of course going to hit

learn the text now. And we all had to learn the text before we arrived at rehearsals

And thank goodness we did, because, it is sometimes so thorny and so particular and precise

that you can't sort of be riffing sadly so yeah I mean that was

sort of pre-rehearsal starting and just the you know it's the most

boring part of any rehearsal process but so necessary and then once you've done it

you're free and then your second question about first preview I had in my head in the first preview something that Mark Rylance apparently said

I'm not sure, wonderful Rylence, that what's amazing at the end of the play

is that you sort of feel like you've lived a whole life in this space of four hours

and you're lying there dead on the stage and you feel as though, yeah

you've had your heartbroken, you've killed someone, you've lost your friends, you've sort of gained some sort of knowledge of what it is to be alive

all in the space of these short four hours, and you're lying there in Horatio's arms

It's quite an amazing feeling, but apart from that, I don't really remember any of the first preview

You took your bow, and that was it. Yeah. I think I probably also forgot to sort of bow

because Rob wanted me to come on and bow by myself. I've never done that before, so I've just forgot

and just called everyone else on immediately, because I was just sort of on another planet

Everybody who I spoke to about their first performance in a big Shakespearean play, they said I remember walking on a stage

and sort of taking my bow and everything else is a blur of that first performance on

Yeah, I remember my first job I did. There was an actor Anna Chancellor who said

that apparently there's the same amount of adrenaline, I don't know if it's true

it's a nice sort of theatre thing, but there's the same amount of adrenaline in your blood when you do a first night

as there is if you've been in a car accident. So the sort of, the brain just becomes

just amnesia takes over. You made your professional acting debut playing the role of John in Sir David Hares, South Downs

How magical was that debut? Yeah, for me, I did find it quite magical

looking back, because I had no, I didn't realize, I had no idea how to become an actor

start working as an actor. and it was an open audition and it was a really beautiful story about a young man at school

not understanding why things had to be a certain way and him trying to push against that

and as I think I was 16, 17 when I auditioned, ended rehearsals

I had no idea of my good fortune. It sort of felt like I was doing a, you know, like a summer camp or something

I didn't, I sort of naively was not, not focused on what it meant or the weight of it

And thank goodness because I meant that I loved it. And, yeah, I think really fondly of all of the actors in that play

and then it was a regional theatre and then it moved up to the West End

and thanks to that I started working as an actor really so yeah

that is crazy at open call for a David Hareplay but you know a lot of people I spoke to

so that if I had known the weight of it going into the they say they never would have done it

it's like someone who first auditioned for Stephen Sondheim right out of school and they were like if I had actually known

what I was doing that I was standing in front of him I never would have done it Yes. Oh yeah, I can imagine. I mean, that would be terrifying

Sir David Hare Okay Maggie Smith you have a huge fan in Dame Maggie Smith right She gave you an incredible compliment after that show Well I don know if I don really know what she said now because it was you know 10 years ago

But yeah, yeah, I... Well, I'm gonna repeat it, for people who don't know, this is like Dame Maggie Smith is my all-time favorite person

And she said that most actors, meaning herself included, spend their whole lifetime trying to do what you did in your debut

Yes, which seems an incredible. extraordinary thing to say to a 17-year-old, but it's so encouraging

I mean, also you could sort of just hang up your hat there, couldn't you? And have you ever met

Yes. And goddess, royalty of all of them. But when I read that quote, I was like, wow, you know, it's, but everyone starts out somewhere

But for her to say that about you must have made you feel like a million bucks

Yeah, maybe she's had a gin and tonic too many in the interval or something

but yeah deeply generous and I think that that is that generosity

particularly in the theatre community is a true thing of older actors being very generous with

younger actors and as an old actor myself now I you know I can really understand that

wanting to encourage and and and yeah um and and and and yeah um and and and and

celebrate the actors. That's what the theatre does. That's what I love about the theater

People nurture each other and look out for each other. I think it's great. You made your feature film debut in the imitation game

I mean, that was your first film. What was it like working on that film and working with those people

Again, I didn't really work with any of them because I played the younger version of Cumberbatch

So I met him in rehearsals. And then my part of the film was shot separately

so it just sort of felt like we were making a short film somewhere on the south coast of England

So again, there wasn't the anticipated pressure there, which, thank goodness, I mean, yeah, I was very fortunate for that reason, yeah

We're almost out of time, but I'm going to do a quick speed round with you because I know you have a four-hour show to do it or whatever tonight, right

So you gain great recognition, here in America when you play James in the end of the effing world

What did you enjoy the most about playing James in that series? Oh, acting with Jess Barden

Yeah. It really doesn't get any better than that, does it? No, she's wonderful

I miss her. She lives in California now. And then you worked for Trudy Stiler

who of course is married to Sting, brilliant producer director in Freak Show

Yeah. What's like working with Trudy? Trudy is one of the sweetest people

and lives in New York, and I hope to see her awesome of him

That's where we shot a big show, actually. And she's an actor as well as a director and a producer

And I found that since really inspiring that there's someone who's just using all of their imagination

to do many things and to do them very well. Yeah. And the film that I love is Departure

which you starred opposite Juliettevenson. What was like sharing the screen with her

Oh, Julia is still a dear friend. She sent me a very lovely voice note the other day

And someone I admire and continue to be amazed by. She's working with Rob on another show called The Doctor

which is going to be in London, was in London, and it's coming back to the West End later this year

And that film was quite special for me. That was my first sort of leading role in a feature film

directed by the lovely Andrew Steggle, who's a dear friend of mine. So yeah, all those jobs actually you've mentioned have been jobs that

when it's not true for all jobs, but I've come away with really dear friends

So, yeah, special in that way. You have such an incredible body of work on stage, screen, and television

How do you choose a project? It's a bit of both, it's a sort of you hope for good writing

and also you hope that people want to work with you. So you sort of, there's a lot of crossing your fingers

that some good writing comes up and also then hoping that you fit that puzzle piece

that you're the piece that fits that puzzle. But yeah, I suppose it's a good story that counts

because I was watching your body work and I said, boy, you do so many wonderful different things

you've done all at such a young age too which I think is great. My final question for you

that I want to ask you is because of your success on film and television

you'll be introducing a young audience to the theater like is already coming to Hamlet

We all had that experience by going to see somebody we knew from another media

and you're going to show them this wonderful world of live theater what that means to you as an actor

and just as a person. Yeah. I love the theatre and I think there are rush tickets here because I know that New York ticket prices are expensive as they are in London, which is a shame because it's limiting

But the experience of being in a room with the people and being part of a story being told

I love being in an audience, so I hope that people enjoy being an audience to our show

We'll have the best time during your run. I'll be catching it next week and just enjoy yourself

Thank you. A real pleasure to meet you, my friend. Thank you, Alex