BACKSTAGE GOSSIP

CASTING A DARK SHADOW

As theatre gets fully up and running again, there are particular challenges ahead for those in charge of buildings. One person who is relieved not to have to contend with those directly is Ian McDiarmid (inset), the revered actor-director known for his hugely successful stint in charge of north London’s Almeida Theatre alongside Jonathan Kent throughout the 1990s and early 2000s.

‘I’m glad I don’t have that responsibility now,’ he tells me, while noting he is optimistic about the artform’s bounce back. ‘I have always believed that big, bold artistic choices are a likely panacea. It’s refreshing that there still seems to be a few people willing to make them.’

Ian is instead doing his bit for the recovery with new one-man show The Lemon Table: an adaptation of two Julian Barnes short stories, which he has written and is starring in, with his old friend Michael Grandage (fresh off bringing Frozen: The Musical to the West End) directing.

Both monologues centre on older characters reflecting on mortality – a theme which may have particular resonance right now, Ian agrees: ‘The characters are resilient rather than mournful so I hope that might speak to the times.’

The production will be touring to Salisbury, Sheffield, Guildford, Manchester and Malvern, and Ian is looking forward to heading out around the UK again: ‘I’m from the rogues and vagabonds school and have always been happy on the road,’ he says. For all his illustrious stage and screen roles, meanwhile, Ian is probably best known to a mass audience as Star Wars’ evil Emperor Palpatine, who was magically resurrected in the most recent instalment only to be killed off again by heroine Rey.

Is that truly the end of him now, though? ‘I think I have to accept that, thanks to my ungrateful granddaughter, my annihilation was finally final. [But] of course [Darth] Vader is back in the new [Obi-Wan Kenobi] television series so I suppose it’s not impossible that one day his mentor might be discovered once again skulking in the shadows.’ Watch this space… n October 14 to 23, Salisbury Playhouse, then various venues, michaelgrandagecompany.com