In his Chichester debut Will Merrick gets to play foppish and rather arrogant actor Charlie Wilder in The Cat and the Canary, the final play in the Festival Theatre summer season 2024.
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00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers, just about
00:07to embark on the final play of the 2024 Chichester Festival Theatre summer season, and it is
00:12The Cat and the Canary. Lovely to speak to Will Merritt, who's in Chichester for the
00:16very first time, and you're going to promise there's a lot of fun with this play. It sounds
00:21a great laugh, but intriguing too.
00:23I think it's going to be riotous, I think is probably a good word. Yeah, it's a romp,
00:33so come along for a pretty, what's the word? Yeah, a rollercoaster of good fun and great
00:47comedy and intrigue.
00:50Without giving away too much, just set the scene and where you come into this.
00:55Me personally?
00:57Yeah.
00:58Okay. Well, there is a family, a very wealthy old family, whose patriarch was Cyrus Canby
01:08West, who, he actually died in the play. He died 20 years ago, but the reading of his
01:18will has been delayed by 20 years on Cyrus's request. And so the next generation of potential
01:25heirs all descend on this country house in the middle of Cornwall and gather for the
01:34reading of the late Cyrus's will. And then they all reckon they have a pretty good claim
01:42to the fortune.
01:43And do you think he's got a claim here then?
01:47Not really. Not everyone is as they seem, and people are hiding secrets, especially
01:57in terms of their belief in their state, what they claim they have.
02:04But on the surface, you sir, are a foppish actor, are you not?
02:07Yes, on the surface, I'm playing a character called Charlie Wilder, who is a foppish Broadway
02:14actor, who claims to have made a great name for himself. And yeah, he's in for the fortune.
02:25Or is he? Or isn't he? Or is he?
02:28Good fun to be an actor, acting an actor.
02:31Yeah, I haven't really thought about it. Yeah, I don't think I've... maybe it just comes
02:36very naturally. I think there's a satirical nature to playing an actor that I just have
02:43I play everything very selfishly. But I don't know how true that is or not. I think probably
02:51it's true. I mean, in my experience, for the last 10 years of working, I actually think
02:57that actors are beautifully kind and selfless people. I think there's a trope that actors
03:05are quite self-involved. And I think playing that trope is quite fun. So yeah.
03:11Fantastic.
03:12And I wonder if there's probably more truth in that trope. I mean, look, you know,
03:17actors can play selflessness brilliantly, you know, and I think they do quite often
03:25play essentially being more selfless than they are. Hey, who wants, you know,
03:29at the end of the day, these people want to stand up on a stage,
03:32you know, bathed in light, speaking to thousands of people. So...
03:38It sounds fantastic.
03:39It's that individualism, I guess, to that.
03:41It sounds brilliant. Well, really looking forward to seeing the play.
03:45Lovely to meet you. And thank you for your time.
03:48You.