Rhianna Dorris makes her Chichester stage debut with Coram Boy this summer, but she’s got plenty of theatre experience behind her.
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00:00 Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely this
00:06 morning to speak to Rhianna Dorris. Now, Rhianna, you are in this super exciting sounding second
00:11 play on the Festival Theatre stage this summer, Coram Boy, and you are playing Melissa. Now,
00:17 give her her context, and she sounds such an interesting character. You're saying on
00:21 the surface she complies, behind the scenes she rebels. Tell me about Melissa.
00:27 So Melissa is from the Millcutt family, and we see Melissa at the beginning of the play
00:34 in Act 1. She's 15 years old, and her father has passed away, and her and her mother are
00:42 absorbed by the Ashbrook family so that they can get back on their feet gradually. But
00:49 there's sort of a familial connection between the Ashbrooks and the Millcutts anyway, so
00:53 it's their kind of charitable offerings to bring the Millcutts into their home. But it's
00:58 quite interesting to see the tension that that leaves the Millcutts with, and Melissa,
01:05 we find her with her mother sort of breathing down her neck, reminding her constantly that
01:10 she now needs to make the appropriate moves to marry into wealth and carry on the Millcutt
01:17 generation of wealth.
01:19 Which is not her inclination, is it?
01:20 Which is not her inclination at all. Melissa wants to marry for love, she wants to find
01:25 romance, she wants to do things in her own time when the time is right, and unfortunately
01:31 that's just not what her mother sees for her. And out of respect for her mother, I suppose,
01:37 she sort of just does what she has to do. And we sort of see that connection with her
01:44 and Alex, because that's who her mother has chosen, and who has said, "That's who you
01:48 will marry." And it's very complex between Alex and Melissa in the first half, because
01:55 of the fact that they don't really want to be forced together. But eventually they kind
01:59 of find their way to each other.
02:01 It sounds such an intriguing piece. And is this your first time in Chichester?
02:05 This is my first time in Chichester, yeah, it's wonderful.
02:08 What are the first impressions then? Have you had a good look at that stage yet?
02:12 No, we've not seen the stage yet. We've seen plans, and I've seen that it's huge. So that
02:19 will be really interesting to put a play like this, which is so intimate, into such a big
02:25 space. But our director, Anna Ledwitch, has done a really good job of using the rehearsal
02:31 space and reminding us of how much space we have to cover, and how extensive our performances
02:39 have to be, even with the smaller, intimate scenes. So I'm really excited to get into
02:44 the space.
02:45 Well, first time in Chichester, but you bring to a considerable stage experience, going
02:49 back to the age of eight. It's a long age to start, and you started with Matilda, which
02:55 sounds like a great place to start.
02:56 Yeah, yeah, I really lucked out with Matilda. I just love dancing, and I love performing.
03:03 And Matilda seems like a really charming and really fun and exciting base for a lot of
03:10 young performers to start. And it's just a really amazing story. I love an underdog story,
03:16 and Matilda is the best one there is. And the show itself is just so fun. It's like
03:22 kids kind of running the world, if you will, and all the charm and childish innocence that
03:28 comes with that. And when you're eight years old, it's, yeah, it's really enjoyable. I
03:33 had the best time.
03:34 Well, you'll have a fabulous time too in Chichester. Really lovely to speak to you. Best wishes
03:39 for the production, and thanks for your time.
03:41 Thank you, Phil. Thank you.