Robert Powell returns to the stage in Yorkshire in provocative play

He famously played Jesus Christ and now Robert Powell is taking on the heir to the British throne in his latest stage role. Chris Bond talked to the acclaimed actor.
Powell has worked with the likes of Laurence Olivier and Ken Russell. (photo credit: Peter Simpkin).Powell has worked with the likes of Laurence Olivier and Ken Russell. (photo credit: Peter Simpkin).
Powell has worked with the likes of Laurence Olivier and Ken Russell. (photo credit: Peter Simpkin).

ROBERT POWELL is no stranger to portraying famous names from the past having played the likes of Shelley, Gustav Mahler and, most famously of all, Jesus Christ.

His latest role sees him take on another historic figure, the difference being this time he’s still alive. Powell plays the title role in Charles III, a “future history play” that imagines a world where the Queen has died and Charles is on the throne.

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It’s a provocative concept but the touring production, which has just started a week-long stint at the Lyceum Theatre in Sheffield, has attracted plaudits from critics and audiences alike.

The play, written by Mike Bartlett, is inspired by the great Shakespearian plays of the past and explores the unwritten rules of our democracy and the conscience of Britain’s most famous family.

Playing someone as recognisable as the Prince of Wales is a tall order and Powell is quick to point out that he’s not doing a Rory Bremner-style impersonation.

“It’s a brilliant play and it’s a massive challenge to play Charles. But when I was talking with the director I said that I didn’t want to do an impersonation because I think if you do that people end up judging the quality of the impression, rather than the character or the performance,” he says.

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“I’ve seen a lot of films where the impersonation has been very good but all the energy goes into that and you don’t get the soul of the character in the performance.”

Having said that he says there are a few character traits of Charles’s that have been thrown in for good measure. “We do include some of the foibles and ticks that he has, like playing with his signet ring, and the way he emphasises certain words, but it’s definitely not an impression.”

As it happens he has met the Prince of Wales on several occasions, but says this didn’t help when it came to playing him on stage. “Our paths have crossed but it’s perhaps a bit of a hindrance because the temptation is to play it from his point of view. Obviously you’re doing this anyway because all acting is subjective but I didn’t want it to influence my performance.”

It’s a role he enjoys because it’s one he finds challenging and he’s no less effusive about the play itself.

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“It’s an extraordinary and complex tale it’s like a Shakespearean tragedy, there’s [King] Lear in there and Hamlet in there.

“It’s all about the relationships between fathers and sons, and sons and fathers and it’s cleverly done because the audience finds itself switching their sympathy from one person to another with each scene.”

Powell is no stranger to Yorkshire or its theatres having trod the boards here numerous times over the years. In 1998, he appeared in a production of Kind Hearts and Coronets at the Sheffield Lyceum and five years later starred in a stage adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray at the Grand Theatre in Leeds.

He’s looking forward to returning to the Lyceum, which he calls a “wonderful” theatre, although he’s less enamoured with touring in general. “You can make the best of it or you can make the worst of it and I prefer the former - although I do think touring ought to be banned in January and February,” he says, laughing.

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In a career spanning half a century Powell has proved himself equally adept at TV, film and theatre - but does he find them equally exciting? “Film is the most boring by a country mile,” he says.

“I know some people like it and I know why, they’re thinking about the red carpet at Leicester Square. But I’ve been doing this for a long time and that kind of thing doesn’t interest me.

“It’s like walking the plank. I would much rather sneak in round the back. I know it’s part of the job but it’s not one I enjoy. What I do is act, I don’t see myself as a personality.”

He certainly doesn’t have much time for today’s big Hollywood action blockbusters. “Ninety per cent of the job is spent waving a sword you don’t have in front of a blue screen and pretending all the action is happening around you, and then six weeks later the CGI people come in. That’s no fun and it’s also difficult to do.”

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But he says working on a film can be incredible experience. He worked with two of the greatest directors in cinema history - Franco Zeffirelli and Ken Russell - both of whom left an indelible mark on him.

“Ken was wonderful, I admired his passion and commitment. He only got annoyed if other people didn’t share his passion and commitment, he was a pussycat really.”

As a young actor he learnt never to stray too far from the director or the camera. “Ken would often suddenly have an idea and he’d want you there to discuss it and it was the same with Franco Zeffirelli.”

Working with Zeffirelli on Jesus of Nazareth also saw Powell join a cast list almost as epic as the mini series itself, one that included Laurence Olivier, James Mason, Ralph Richardson, Anne Bancroft and Peter Ustinov.

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Not that he felt over-awed in such stellar company. “You rise to the occasion,” he says, “and the better the actor opposite you, the better you are. There’s a myth about people not wanting to be outshone by somebody else, but acting is all about reacting.”

So what did he learn from these great masters of their craft? “When you’re a young actor you learn what not to do, rather than what to do. Larry [Olivier] gave me lots of advice like never pause if the audience knows what’s coming next. So when Hamlet says ‘To be, or not to be’ you can’t pause otherwise the audience will finish the line before you do.”

Powell is passionate about his profession, but it’s one he fell into by chance. “I was always a bit of a show-off when I was a boy but I didn’t come from a theatrical family,” he says.

It was while studying for a law degree in Manchester during the 1960s that he was spotted by the head of drama in an amateur production of a little known Jacobean play called The Knight of the Burning Pestle.

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“He came to see afterwards and asked me if would like to come and do drama.” The next day Powell quit his law degree and took up acting. “It was one of those seminal moments that completely change your life,” he says.

He’s been a professional actor for the past 50 years and even now, at the age of 71, he continues to push himself both artistically and, at times, physically.

“I did a play called Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell, which is basically a two-and-a-half hour monologue, and afterwards I invoked the spirit of my chum Stephen Redgrave and told my agent that if I was ever tempted to do something challenging again he had my permission to shoot me... and here I am,” he says, laughing.

King Charles III is on at the Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield, until February 6. For tickets call 0114 249 6000, or go to sheffieldtheatres.co.uk

It’s an actor’s life for me

Robert Powell was born in Lancashire in June 1944.

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He started acting in 1964 while studying law at Manchester University and his first professional job was as a spear carrier in a production of King Lear in Stoke on Trent.

Three years later he made his film debut and appeared in the The Italian Job in 1969. He became a household name during the 1970s through films such as Mahler (1974), Tommy (1975) and the mini-series Jesus of Nazareth (1977).

Powell is also a familiar face on TV having appeared alongside Jasper Carrot in The Detectives and in the medical drama Holby City.

His numerous stage credits include Alan Bennett’s Single Spies and Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell.