Acclaimed broadcaster and actor Zeb Soanes (Shipping Forecast; Classic FM) will embody one of Britain’s greatest performers, marking the 25th anniversary of Sir Alec Guinness’ death. Directed by Selina Cadell and written by Mark Burgess, Two Halves of Guinness explores the extraordinary life of the man beyond Obi-Wan Kenobi, from Shakespeare and the Ealing comedies to Hollywood acclaim. Two Halves of Guinnness is touring the UK before its run at Park Theatre in April.
How did you avoid turning Alec Guinness into a nostalgic monument rather than a complicated, living presence on stage?
Well, it’s always about keeping the performer in the present as it were – relating something that’s happening to him now and the relationship between the audience, and the actor always has to be very present, I think. Personalities the nostalgia doesn’t really come into it unless you’re doing something very sentimental, so we haven’t done. Very active, you must keep it all very active. It’s just about not playing the mood. I’m not trying to invent some kind of attitude that you want to overlay on the top of what’s happening.
What were the risks, artistically, of framing a vast career through a single performer and a celebratory structure?
You could very easily just make it very long boring dry linear biography, you know? That has been a challenge but I think we’ve succeeded in making some choices physically and vocally and visually that are keeping the whole thing alive and avoiding that kind of linear puff – but it is certainly a real challenge and has to be constantly looked at throughout the development of the work.
Guinness feared being remembered for only one role; how does the production confront that anxiety rather than simply correct it?
We simply go right into it and explore deeply why he didn’t like it.
And we truly do – there’s no point in us kind of correcting something that somebody felt, so it’s much more interesting to look at why he didn’t want to be remembered that way and I think that’s what we’re trying to do.
Where did you draw the line between affectionate homage and critical distance in directing this piece?
I don’t think I think like that at all. For me, it’s not about drawing any line. I’m just really hard on considering ‘well, is the audience going to be getting bored or uninspired’ and being very conscious if we’re off on some endless list of dates and events. I just don’t draw that line and I look for all the humanity instead. Theatre should be all about humanity, sharing humanity, and that’s what I hope to be doing here – sharing some of Alec Guinness’ humanity.
How did you negotiate the tension between biographical truth and theatrical invention in the script?
Well, I negotiate it by having my team of Eliza Thompson who’s my composer and musical director, and Andy Hopkins who’s an expert in physical theatre. And indeed, you know together we all coach and together we create with Zeb and design a world that allows something that could be a very linear dry biography into a slightly more spiritual and interesting lateral world where things happen that’s quite dramatic – which is what Alec Guinness’ life was about!