Eagle Eye Magazine Issue 1 2023

Why do you think we’re still engaging with Shakespeare’s work
400 years on?
Sometimes it’s for the wrong reasons. With Shakespeare
being widely regarded as the pinnacle of English culture, that
engagement can feel like an exercise in veneration, or worse; some
kind of vague, woolly nationalism. That’s a shame because it does
a disservice to the work. The plays really are extraordinary, but
we need to recognise the gulf between them and most people
in a contemporary audience. It’s not enough to go through the
motions on the basis that everyone agrees that Shakespeare is
wonderful. You have to make a case for the plays every time you
put them on.
“As always with Shakespeare, the more
you dig into it, the more you find to
play with.
Alfie Enoch (Orlando) in As You Like It at Soho Place | Johan Persson
Many people struggle with the language used by Shakespeare
and might find it a barrier to his humour or to enjoying the
issues and themes he explores. As a former student of Modern
Languages, in what ways can we use a similar approach
to understanding Shakespeare as those we use to study a
foreign language?
The language does represent a real challenge. I studied a lot of
Spanish Golden Age literature as part of my degree, and I’ve
often felt that 16th and 17th century Spanish is less alien to the
contemporary Spanish speaker than Shakespearean English is to
a contemporary English speaker.
On my year abroad, I attended classes with a Spanish actor who
stressed how important it is to pay attention to the grammar.
I’d never heard that piece of advice given to actors before, but
the point was to really make sure you understand what you’re
saying. It goes for contemporary as well as classical texts, but if
you’re dealing with a 400-year-old play where the vocabulary and
the syntax can be totally different to what we’re used to, then it’s
particularly important. We spend a lot of time in rehearsals
working out exactly what is being said.
As an actor, how do you help the audience overcome any
difficulties with understanding the language?
Clarity is key. It would be overly optimistic to imagine that
everyone is going to understand every single word, but as actors
we need to know what we’re saying to give the audience a chance.
If you’re new to tennis but you see two great players on the court,
you‘ll get a sense of what’s going on and it will be exciting to
watch. If you see two people who don’t really know the rules and
don’t know what they’re doing, then you wouldn’t stand a chance.
Similarly, we actors need to know what we’re saying (and why), or
people won’t be able to follow and will lose interest.
But it’s also important that striving for clarity doesn’t come at
the expense of nuance and detail, because then you’re left with
something inauthentic and uninteresting.
You have played a variety of roles on film and in the theatre;
which has been your favourite?
That’s like asking what’s your favourite cuisine; you might get
a different answer on different days. I’ve always loved doing
Shakespeare, and playing Romeo at the Globe was a real highlight.
Another highlight was a play called Red that I did in the West End
about the artist Mark Rothko. Alfred Molina played Rothko and I
played his assistant. It was just the two of us. I’ve always admired
him as an actor, so to do that with him was an absolute joy. But
there are many other parts that I’ve loved playing; on stage, on
screen, and on the radio.
How did you find balancing your degree work with being in the
Harry Potter films?
It was disruptive in the sense that I would sometimes have to
miss lectures or tutorials because of filming, but I think it was
probably more of a concern for my teachers and professors than
it was for me. After all, I had been balancing my work with my
studies from the age of 11. The worst bit was missing time from
my year abroad. I went to Seville but I was only there for five
months. If it had been up to me I would have spent double that
time there.
Did you have the opportunity to get involved with student
theatre while at Queen’s?
I was in more plays in Oxford during my final year than all the
others put together. I wish I could have done more but I couldn’t
really commit to a play knowing there was a chance I could be
away filming. By my final year the films were done, so I was able
to get more involved.
Can you think of a particularly memorable tutorial?
I can think of a memorable set of tutorials. They were on the
Argentinian writer Jorge Luís Borges with Professor Edwin
Williamson and a good friend of mine, who’s probably one of the
cleverest people I know. If I had my time again, I would be a little
more diligent with the work I did for those tutorials, but I did
enjoy them. It’s also thanks to Professor Williamson that I fell
in love with Don Quixote. I attended his lectures on the novel
before I had actually had a chance to read it. The lectures had me
hooked before I had even opened the first page. They really were
so good.
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