You’d think playing 18 different characters all alone on stage for 90 minutes was scary. But for veteran theatre and television actor James Gaddas, having just a few lines in a big play with other actors is scarier.
“When you are in a scene with other actors, it’s more terrifying because you’re waiting all this time for your line. You know it’s coming and you want to get it so right that sometimes you forget it’s actually your turn to speak,” says the British actor, whose one-man show, Billy Bishop Goes to War, opens at The Fridge in Dubai on Thursday for a three-day run. “When you’re alone, it’s just you speaking, so you know where all your cues are. It’s just muscle memory.”
The play is a hit Canadian musical based on the life of World War I hero and pilot Billy Bishop. Through song and dance and spoken word, his wartime exploits are brought to life as a much older Bishop reflects on the cost of war and his place in a post-war world.
“It recounts the horrors of war but it’s not too heavy. It’s light but manages to pack some powerful message at the same time,” Gaddas explains.
Currently a cast member of hit musical Mamma Mia! at London’s West End, Gaddas, is a theatre veteran. He’s also known for his roles in British TV series Bad Girls, Coronation Street and Medics.
Challenges
The one-man play, though, is one of the most difficult he’s done, he says.
“It’s not easy. It’s just literally you and a pianist. And you’re jumping around, shifting between characters and building the story arc as you go along. There is music, 12 songs and lines. It’s like playing tennis against Andy Murray,” he says. “But it’s satisfying because it tests you as an actor.”
Playing the characters of Lady St Helier, a socialite who befriended Bishop, and of Albert Ball, a fighter pilot who became Bishop’s friend, were the toughest, he adds.
“Lady St Helier’s character has an unique high-pitched voice and quite the vocal range so I have to maintain that, while Albert Hall’s character is simply psychotic,” he laughs.
The play, which premiered in Canada in the ‘70s and had been performed around the world, is still very relevant today, says Gaddas. Not just because we’re coming up to 100 years of World War I.
Relatable
“The bottom line is it’s uplifting, it’s fun and different. It’s not something people will see all the time. And it’s fast-paced. It never stops or pauses for breath. It’s poignant, moving, funny at times… it’s just good fun,” he says. “I think the play resonates with everyone because it’s about war and points to the fact that we’re better off not doing it.”
A Dubai regular, thanks to his brother who’s a resident, Gaddas says he has plans of setting up a theatre company in the UAE.
“Our aim is to develop a full season of plays starting early next year. We want to introduce the British repertory system where we use the same actors for three plays. We want to create an environment where professional actors can start working as payed actors in the UAE.
“There is a market but it’s a long-term process. We talk to people who say they never go the theatre here because there isn’t any theatre. Or that there is no culture. I don’t believe that. What we want to do is make it commercially viable for plays to run here and for actors to start developing locally and not just being flown in from abroad. We want to develop people who want to be actors in the UAE and don’t have to leave it to be able to earn a living.”
