Horsham’s HAODS are bringing Blackadder II to the stage from August 1-3 at QEII school as their first play since 2019, pre-Covid.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers. Lovely
00:06this afternoon to speak to Jay Alderson. Now, Jay, an exciting project, exciting production
00:12coming up for Hey Odds in Horsham. You are doing this August Blackadder. Now, this is
00:18a place slot that you haven't really had since the pandemic, have you? But finally that place
00:23slot has been fulfilled.
00:25Yes, it's nice to get back into some smaller shows as well, as good as it is to do the
00:30two big musicals that we always do. It's nice to have something smaller and slower paced
00:35to worry about as well and just still be able to entertain people. It's just fantastic.
00:39And so you have this slot, so why is it Blackadder you're filling it with? What's so attractive
00:45about it?
00:46It's one of those almost timeless comedies. It's such a classic British comedy and at
00:51its core, it's just laugh after laugh after laugh. And with all the things that have been
00:58going on in recent years, it's nice to be able to provide people and provide the audience
01:02with just a night out of pure entertainment, just pure laughter, pure fun. Nothing's too
01:08serious. Nothing's there to make people think or go, oh, this is deep or this is darker.
01:13It sounds ideal. And now of all the Blackadder eras that you could have chosen, you are going
01:17Elizabethan for this one, aren't you? Why that era?
01:21It's such a classic era. To have the character of Queenie, who's such a big spoiled brat
01:29of a character, to have Nercy to play off her as such a strange but hilarious character,
01:37and then to have the dynamic between Blackadder, Percy, Baldrick and Melchior, it's just brilliant.
01:43And then you've got all the supporting characters. You've got Prince Ludwig, you've got A-slash-Bob,
01:48you've got all of those characters who bring so much to each episode and steal the scenes
01:53of their episodes. It just made the most sense. And it was just hilarious reading through
01:57it and being like, this has got to be it.
01:59We should mention the core character that you are playing, you are Baldrick. That's
02:04a lot to take on, isn't it?
02:06It is.
02:07You say a lot.
02:08Yes, it is. I was very, very pleasantly surprised to pass the audition and get the role. It's
02:16such an iconic character, so you've got that feeling of you want to do it justice. And
02:22Baldrick, he is a man of very few words. In each episode, I've probably only got a handful
02:27of lines, but it's how you deliver them, it's reacting to what's going on around you and
02:32bringing that physical comedy that really makes the character what it is.
02:36And is he really truly as stupid as he seems?
02:41He's got a bit of a hidden side to him, I think. You get glimpses of this life beyond
02:46Blackadder when it comes to Baldrick, without wanting to say too much. But you get glimpses
02:52that he does go away and do other things. And as much as his life does revolve around
02:56Blackadder, he does do his own things and surprises Blackadder in ways that you might
03:01not consider otherwise.
03:03That sounds great. And it's at the start of August, and where are you performing?
03:07Yes, so 1st and 3rd August is when we're performing, and we're performing at the QE2 School this
03:12time. They've got this really lovely auditorium. It's a great space for smaller productions
03:17and it helps support the school as well. And it's normally where we perform our junior
03:20shows, but to put on a bigger production there is really nice to be able to do. They're very
03:26supportive, they enjoy having us there, and we're able to utilise it as well to build
03:32our own set and have a set built to the space that they have available.
03:35What a great thing for August, clearly.
03:38Yes, absolutely. It should be really great fun. I can't wait to show the audiences what
03:43we've been working on.
03:44Fantastic. Well, really lovely to speak to you. Hope it goes brilliantly. Thank you.
03:48Thank you very much. Thank you.