Water contamination is at the heart of The Inquiry, a new play by Harry Davies in Chichester’s Minerva Theatre from Friday, October 13-Saturday, November 11.
“It's a political thriller to a certain extent,” says Nicholas Rowe who plays Jonathan Hayden KC, lead counsel for the inquiry into the water scandal, “though I am always wary of the word thriller. Obviously it's a good way to sell a play and you just assume that people are going to be thrilled by it, but I certainly hope that that will be the case!
“It's a political thriller to a certain extent,” says Nicholas Rowe who plays Jonathan Hayden KC, lead counsel for the inquiry into the water scandal, “though I am always wary of the word thriller. Obviously it's a good way to sell a play and you just assume that people are going to be thrilled by it, but I certainly hope that that will be the case!
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FunTranscript
00:00 Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Art Editor for Sussex Newspapers. Fantastic
00:06 pleasure to be speaking to Nicholas Rowe, who will be making his Minerva Theatre debut
00:10 very shortly in the Inquiry, which runs in the Minerva from October 13 to November 11.
00:17 Now it sounds such an intriguing play, and one with huge relevance given at the heart of it all
00:22 is this massive issue of water contamination. Tell me a little bit about where you fit into
00:27 this play, and a little bit without giving away too much. What's happening?
00:30 Yes, I think we have to be very careful not to give away too much. My role in this is to play
00:37 the lead counsel for the Inquiry, as appointed by the wonderful Deborah Finlay, who's playing
00:44 Lady Justice Wingate. And so it's my job to, as I understand it, I haven't been a lead counsel,
00:53 I'm not a barrister in real life, but to gather as much of the information as the Inquiry needs,
01:01 and that means poking around in all sorts of areas, as well as interviewing those people who
01:07 are either victims of the contamination or government bodies, and all aspects of it really.
01:16 And essentially, are you holding politicians to account in this?
01:20 Yes. And it is, you know, as people probably know, and I didn't know a great deal about it,
01:29 but you know, inquiries are this kind of inquiry, which is, which is, you know,
01:37 interviewing all these people to do with water contamination, is just an information,
01:47 it's just gathering information. And it is, it's not about, it's not about holding anybody
01:55 responsible, particularly, it's about making suggestions for the future. It's establishing
02:00 what happened, how it happened. And then going into the future, trying to make recommendations
02:06 to make sure that it doesn't happen again, it's not actually hanging anybody, it's not.
02:10 One of the exciting things for the company is, of course, this is a new play, you are
02:15 new territory here. Yes, that's right. How does that affect how you approach the piece?
02:20 Well, it's interesting. I've been in a few new plays, and you don't really have any reference
02:26 points. And so there's no shadow hanging over it, you just have to get on and, you know,
02:35 take it, you have an open canvas, which is always very, is always very exciting.
02:40 And to have the privilege of a living, breathing author. Is that useful?
02:44 Yes, indeed. Absolutely. And he's been very present, Harry, or certainly was in the first
02:49 week of rehearsal. He's, I'm very impressed with him. He's a very clever guy, who is clearly
02:57 passionate about what he does. And he's, I think it's safe to say he's put that on, on paper,
03:04 and the writing has a certain energy behind it. And it's, it's, it's clever.
03:09 It does sound terrific. And you've seen plenty of things at Chichester before,
03:13 but this will be your first time in the Minerva.
03:15 That's right. Yes, it's a, I love the space. It's a very...
03:18 Why? What is it about it?
03:20 I think, I mean, the things I've seen there in the past have, have always,
03:25 they just feel very involved. You just feel very involved there. I like a smaller space,
03:31 I tend to, I've done a few things at the Almeida, for instance, I like the size of it. I like the
03:36 feel of that. And I like the audience being pretty, pretty close. And they are in this play too. And,
03:42 and for this kind of play, I think it's, it's that, that energy between the audience and,
03:48 and actor is, is always exciting. Let's hope it's there.
03:51 I'm sure it will be. It's a really intriguing prospect. Lovely to speak to you. Thanks so
03:56 much for your time. Looking forward to seeing the play. Thank you.
03:59 Thank you.