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Interview with Jonathan Sidgwick about the Solo Show “A Hunger Artist” - June 23rd, 25th, 26th, 27h at The Etcetera Theatre in North London
1) Hi Jon, please tell us more, where are you from? And how did you get passionate about acting?
I’m originally from North Yorkshire, England and grew up there before leaving home to study French & German at Keele University in the Midlands. After Uni I was lucky enough to go backpacking around the world for 2 years, and then spend 4 years in Tokyo teaching English.
I was excited about acting from a young age and, then forgot about it until age 24 when I started studying Meisner Technique, a branch of The Method, in Japan. Once I came back to the UK, I studied for a year at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
Like most people, I guess, I got interested from watching great TV and movies with fantastic actors like Gary Oldman, Daniel Day-Lewis, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Willem Dafoe and others. Then, when you start looking for work you realise that Stage acting is just as exciting and a great place to learn and practice your craft and you start paying attention to other actors like Steven Berkoff, Ian McKellen, Mark Rylance etc
I took the Post Graduate Course at The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) leaving in 2000. I didn’t get an agent from the final Showcase but 15 of us put on another Showcase by ourselves and I got picked up since then. I tried to do as much fringe theatre work and student films as I could while doing promotional work to make a living. After 6 months I got an 8-week tour around Oxfordshire playing the character of Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights, a great role for a Yorkshireman. It took me 4 years to get an audition for TV! Thankfully, I got it and played Phil Mason on Coronation Street opposite Jane Danson for 2 episodes.
3) You appeared in Miss Julie, a show you produced and adapted for The King’s Head Theatre, North London, what was the creative process like and who did you play in it?
I played John (‘Jean’ in the original text), the male lead, with the two other characters being Miss Julie and John’s fiancee Christine. It was interesting working on the script, adapting it from the original, learning and working on it. As I was producing the play I learnt a lot about marketing, too, and we had some good audiences and a couple of great reviews.
4) What was it like transitioning from theatre to film as you appeared in film projects such as “Cargo”, “What Does Your Daddy Do? (Venice International Film Festival)”, “The Man Who Sold the World”, “Indie Horror Flicks Hellbreeder” and “The Witches Hammer”?
I’ve always been lucky to work on film projects as well as the stage so I find that ‘acting is acting’ in whichever medium one is working in. And, in other words, being truthful, being in the moment, putting your attention on the other character, knowing what you want and why and all the preparation techniques translate the same for stage and screen. I also love working with directors on their vision and helping bring their ideas to life.
5) Moreover, you have been on TV for a few different TV projects like “Eastenders”, “Father Brown”, “Coronation Street” and “Hollyoaks”. Now, as an actor yourself, making the transition from Theatre and film to TV...what are the differences in the medium for an actor's performance to adapt to that, and how do you achieve this?
The main difference for me is the rehearsal time (maybe 2 or 3 weeks for Stage and zero for TV!) and then the speed at which they are filmed and performed. TV you maybe get one or two takes, Film, maybe, a little more, Stage only ONE take (each night's performance), but you get to again and again, 8 times per week. There is a saying - the stage is an Actor’s medium because you and you alone are responsible for what happens once the play begins each night, TV is a director’s medium because it's such a tight turnaround that the director needs to get the best from everyone in quick time and is ‘editing’ the story in his/her/their head as we work and Film is an editor’s medium as he/she/they are given lots of footage and a few weeks or months to cut the film and craft into the final version.
If I need to pick one of them, which one would it be? And why?
I honestly love them all, whichever one I’m currently working in! You focus and think only about the project at hand.
Steven Berkoff, who has been very supportive over the last 20 years and has employed me 4 times (huge thanks, Steven!) suggested I try this text as I have wanted to do a Solo Show for many years and this is the centenary year of Franz Kafka’s death. I’ve adapted it from Kafka’s original text and have worked for months with Val Colgan, an experienced tutor and Actor (the original ‘Aliens’ movie) learning the text and trying it out monthly and then weekly.
Eventually, I booked the Etcetera Theatre and my co-producer Sushant Nair helped with all the technical aspects as well as marketing, flyers, Instagram etc. Mark Glentworth has created a wonderful original score for the show and, it continues to develop and grow with some terrific reviews. Audiences seem to love it and it is a tribute to Franz Kafka’s writing, his final short story, before he died aged 40 of tuberculosis on 3rd June 1924.
Creating a Solo Show is anything, but a solo effort and I am indebted and hugely grateful to the following: Sushant Nair, Valerie Colgan, Jerry Clark, Simon Morgan of TRDPUk, my Agent Joanna Hole of Jo Hole Associates and, of course, Steven Berkoff.
7) When are we going to see it?
The show is on at The Etcetera Theatre, Camden, North London at 6 pm on Sunday 23rd June and 7 pm on 25th, 26th & 27th June.
After that, we hope to take the play to festivals and tour it around the UK and hopefully beyond. DO COME TO THE SHOW and we’ll have a drink afterwards in the pub downstairs!
8) You have a drama school in Central London, called London Actors Workshop, please tell us more about it and the courses you explore. And as a facilitator exploring that skill, what is it like to teach?
10) And finally, where does the audience can find you?
Yes, London Actors Workshop has been going strong in Covent Garden, Central London since 2005 and has helped over 2500 actors get their start in the business. We provide a range of courses with diverse tutors and Acting Techniques in a very supportive, studio environment. The emphasis is on great, essential Acting practice AND the business knowledge and know-how to get a career started or develop your existing career.
9) What advice would you give to young and experienced actors nowadays since the evolution of the industry that you have experienced so far?
It’s a great time to be an ACTOR! It’s never been easier to get started without having to go through the expense of full-time Drama School, though this is still an excellent route if you can afford it.
Taking a lot of good short courses and getting an excellent Showreel, great headshots, good, top advice and having a dedicated attitude to your craft & career will give you a decent chance of getting work and hopefully, building a career. Yes, this means there is a lot more competition but there are also more opportunities with all the streaming networks and content we now have.
Take your work seriously but not yourselves. Love the Art in yourself but not yourself in Art.
Surround yourself with like-minded individuals who love Acting.
Take courses, join or form a support network, act regularly, even if it’s you and a few mates reading scripts together, have a good, professional, upbeat social media presence, never complain or slag off others, drink lots of water, train your Voice, keep as physically fit as you can, get lots of sleep, go to see plays regularly…….and good luck!
10) And finally, where does the audience can find you?
The show is on at
The Etcetera Theatre,
Camden, North London
Sunday 23rd, June - 6 pm
Tuesday 25th, June -7pm
Wednesday 26th, June - 7pm
Thursday 27th, June - 7pm
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