Sergio Blanco and Daniel Goldman return to the Arcola Theatre, after the success of their critically acclaimed OFFIE award winning productions of Thebes Land and The Rage of Narcissus, to tell a mesmerising story of love and lust beyond the grave.
When You Pass Over My Tomb is from one of the world’s most performed living Spanish-language playwrights is a darkly comic meditation on how we live and how we die; the story of a writer who makes the incredible decision to give his body another life after death.
Charlie MacGechan ( The World Will Tremble, A Bad Day At The Office, Pennyworth (HBO, Warner Brothers)) stars in When You Pass Over My Tomb, showing at Arcola Theatre from 7th February – 2 March. Buy tickets here!
What’s When You Pass Over My Tomb about?
It’s a love story I can guarantee you’ve never seen before. It’s beautifully written, and it explores assisted suicide, great works of literature, consent, masculinities, and necrophilia. It sounds like a comedy, doesn’t it!? The crazy thing is that even though this is an incredibly intellectual play, it’s very funny and full of warmth.
Who do you play?
Sergio Blanco has written this as a piece of auto-fiction, so I play myself as The Ghost of Charlie, and Khaled, an Irani medievalist who is into swords, gothic book-hand, and digging up graves.
How is preparing for this show different to other productions you have been involved in?
I believe Sergio is one of the best playwrights of our time. I have never worked on anything remotely like this in my life. The other writers who I can think of who comes close to this kind of writing is Pinter or Ridley, every word in this play is doing exactly what it has to do. It’s an incredible gift, as an actor, to work on a play so complex with such an incredible director in Daniel Goldman. I can honestly say that this play is the ‘gift that keeps on giving’.
To prepare I’ve had to research the history of Iran, medieval weaponry, the psychology of necrophilia and Frankenstein. I’ve had to do more research than ever before, and at the same time, let go of all that, to be present in the scene as Khaled and myself.
Do you have any favourite moments in the play?
Originating these characters with my fellow cast-members Danny Schienmann and Al Nedjari has been incredible – they are so talented. The moments I love most are when we merge our personal truths, with Sergio’s fiction. That and switching between characters sometimes even within the same line which is thrilling. It keeps us all on our toes.
How did you get into acting?
My late mother would take me to see the local plays most weeks from a very early age. I was always fascinated with how theatre can spark discussion and move society forwards.
What would you say to someone considering coming to see this production?
I have never seen or read anything like this play in my life. It’s a breath of fresh air, in the sense that it has to be the least commercial piece of theatre I’ve ever encountered. It’s wonderfully layered and unapologetic in what it’s saying. This is original, challenging, enigmatic theatre. It’s mind blowing!