UNCONVENTIONAL THESPIAN
Q: What has given you the most excitement since you entered the theatre scene?
A: The rehearsal room in the company of actors and practitioners, and collaborating with talented people who see things that you don’t. Once there was also a word for word recreation of the first scene of my last play, which put a big dumb smile on my face.
Q: Does winning the Gratiaen Prize mean much to you?
A: It’s like being a prize pig at the fair. It’s an honour but it doesn’t make work any easier… and it doesn’t scrub the toilet.
Q: Given your unorthodox themes, what’s the best feedback you’ve received? A: When people tell me what my work meant to them – sometimes years after they’ve seen it. It’s always thrilling when something you made up in your head can lodge itself in someone else’s.
Q: What’s the worst feedback? A: People are very free with criticism.
Q: How has your multi-country upbringing – Finland, Sri Lanka and the UK – influenced your work?
A: It has given me an outsider’s perspective, which is really invaluable for a writer, director and actor. When you’re always skirting the periphery, you pay attention to what’s going on, and how people move and speak; and then you steal it all and put it in your work.
Q: Tell us about your best work so far and the most challenging among them...
A: I always like the last one best so it’s The One Who Loves You So. The most challenging was Close to the Bone. That was the only time I had corporate funding for a play and the entity in question was simply awful to deal with.
Q: What are you most particular about when it comes to your productions?
A: Everything! I can be quite pedantic and usually have a very specific vision.
Q: With both parents being architects, did you ever want to be one?
A: No. I remember telling them that I would have become one if it weren’t for the plumbing. The aesthetics of architecture are intriguing but the nuts and bolts aren’t.
Q: So if you didn’t venture into theatre, what would your chosen career have been? A: I’d have worked in food. I used to work in restaurants when I was a jobbing actor and I still love to cook.
Q: You identify as gay in a homophobic society – how has that panned out?
A: I have the privilege of class and being a cisgendered male, and that allows me to move through the world with a certain shield. But it doesn’t blind me to the difficulties of being queer in this country.
If anything, it makes me acutely aware of the disparity in experience and power, and the very real dangers.
Q: How did your family react to your coming out?
A: With total love and openness.
Q: What three key traits do you look for in a life partner? A: Someone who’s passionate about his work and really believes in it, and intelligent with an area of interest that’s different to mine.
Q: Name an actor you would love to work with...
A: I would like to work with Laurie Metcalf. I’ve gotten to know Fiona Shaw and would love to write for her.
Q: How do you see the world in five years’ time?
A: Hopefully, we can move the needle on creating a fairer and less consumer based culture. Other than that, I don’t really know.