I suffer for my art
Last Thursday I had a lie-in for the first time in two months, which was heaven on earth. The sun was out and I popped over to Wimbledon village to have a coffee and reflect on the past two months.
Truth is, it’s been non-stop since I signed up to understudy James Corden in the National Theatre’s One Man, Two Guvnors, now showing at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
Richard Bean’s comedy was a smash hit with James in the role of the lackey Francis Henshall, who starts off by being sacked from a skiffle band and ends up juggling two gangster bosses in Brighton in 1963. It’s just the funniest show. As James says, my character’s only on stage two minutes and he falls over a chair. I’ve got knee pads because there’s so much rolling around floors and getting beaten up. Yes, I have bruises — you suffer for your art, isn’t that what they say?
Luckily, they love me
Now that James’s run in Britain has come to an end, I’ve taken over full-time as Henshall. Before this month I had played the part on stage only four times because James has the constitution of an ox; he’s so determined and never gets sick.
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Of course I was nervous taking over from James — who wouldn’t be? — he was so bloody good and set the bar so high. So it was brilliant last week to open the newspapers and see notices saying “Owain Arthur proves Corden’s equal when it comes to playing the check-suited fatso Francis Henshall” and “Owain Arthur is possibly even funnier than James Corden”.
Sioned, my sister, was staying with me; she’d come from north Wales to see the show and she saw the reviews first online. It’s reassuring that people appreciate the play without a celebrity leading the cast.
A wink at the Queen?
There was a real highlight last week when the Queen came to see the show. She turned up with Prince Philip, her grandchild Peter Phillips and his wife all in the prince’s black cab. The company manager knew but the cast weren’t told. She didn’t sit in the royal box, even though the Haymarket has a lovely royal box. She chose to sit in the circle. I’m glad they didn’t tell us that she was there, because one of my first lines mentions the Queen. There’s a picture of her on the set and I look up at her photo on the wall and ask, “Who’s that?” When the answer comes back, “The Queen”, I say, “Ooh, what a beautiful woman.”
It’s lucky they didn’t tell me, because I would have been tempted to wink at her. It would have been good fun but I’m not sure she would have liked it.
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Perhaps it was because of that line in the script that they didn’t tell us or perhaps they were trying to stop us being distracted, I’m not sure. Just before we went on to do our curtain call, they said, “The Queen is in” and I went, “What?!?”
I could see her royal protection officers, making sure she got out safely. Apparently she had a whale of a time watching the dinner scene at the end of the first act, a very funny bit.
Prince Charles came to see the show when it was on at the Adelphi. Maybe he tipped her the wink that she should see it: everybody needs a laugh.
James is in the Maldives
I'm touched James has kept in touch — although the first text he sent last week was a view from the pool in the place where he’s holidaying in the Maldives with a message saying “Thinking of you”.
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The day after the Queen turned up I texted James, “The Queen was in last night.” He texted back, “What a beautiful woman!” He texted me on opening night, too, saying, “The role is yours now, take it,” which was lovely. And he read the reviews and told me he was proud.
James is taking the play to Broadway next month while I’m carrying on here for the next six months. We knew each other before this. I took over the role of Timms, the class clown, from him in the stage production of Alan Bennett’s The History Boys. While he was in New York with The History Boys on Broadway, I was in the West End playing the same role. Five years on we have come full circle.
I knocked myself out
The best moment in my performance — and I know James will agree with me here — is the bit after I have to fight myself. The self-fight scene is a bit of an extravaganza. Then I knock myself out and have to lie on the floor for about 20 seconds. And that’s 20 seconds I really enjoy, catching my breath.
Champers and chocs
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At the start of the week I went shopping with a friend for good luck gifts for the cast. I ended up buying quarter-bottles of champagne for everyone and little chocolates. I’m sure they popped the champers after the show and not before. At least I hope they did. I’d hate to think the laughs back stage were down to drink.
As told to Sian Griffiths