FPCT Spotlight - March 17, 2011

Philip Gallagher

 

What drew you to this role?

Phil:  I love working with Sherri - the director - and that was the main draw. I'm also working my way through the entire list of English Kings; so far I've done Henry II, and Charles II... so there's still one or two to go... Anyone casting Richard III? 

 

What has been fun about this production?

Phil:  Well, apart from prancing around the stage in a big wig and restoration costume, I always enjoy the amount of corset-lacing that goes on in the dressing room. I think it would probably make a good competitive sport. Being a Brit, I'm also the cast 'expert' on how to pronounce things in an English accent, so it's been fun to mislead  them from time to time... (just kidding!)

 

What has been challenging about this role?

Phil: Combining work in the theatre with the mundanities of earning a living and maintaining a family life is always difficult.  The role itself is relatively straightforward. I think the greatest challenge so far was when one of the cast members was unable to make a performance due to a last minute car break-down. The rest of us had to frantically reallocate his various roles, sort out costumes, learn lines and do whatever we could to make sure the audience didn't notice his absence. 

 

Are you anything like King Charles II?

Phil:  Well, like Charles II, I'm English and my father was beheaded. (One of those statements is untrue). I also like to be called "Your Majesty", and swan about theatres suggesting ways to make plays "more jolly". Apart from that, we're completely different personalities...

 

What are the challenges of working on a period piece?

Phil:  I don't think historical drama is necessarily any more challenging than a contemporary play. There's always the risk that the costumes, or the hair, may not be absolutely 'spot on' for the decade or the geography, but human beings haven't changed much - if at all - from Shakespeare's times. Love, greed, lust, political ambition - these are all contemporary motivations, as prevalent now as they were in the 17th Century.

 

What keeps you coming back to the stage?

Phil: I have a terrible sense of direction and have yet to find my way home... I fear I'm really just a terrible exhibitionist. As Kynaston says, "Friends I have had. Give me an audience".  I also love the transient nature of theatre. Like a piece of music, a play only ever exists for a brief period of time. Yes, there is a script, but that is not the performance. And when the performance is done, the set struck, the lights turned off, the actors and audience go home, all that work, that magic is 'melted into air, into thin air... and leaves not a rack behind' (To quote Prospero from The Tempest). There's something wonderfully bitter-sweet about that. At the end of a piece of work, a writer or a painter has his or her creation. A film or TV actor has a recording. But a theatre actor is left only with memories.

 

What else do you do when you aren't acting?

Phil:  I earn my crust from a variety of educational activities: I operate my own coaching business, working with individuals and businesses on planning and effectiveness, I teach in the business school at Stevenson University, and I run a number of personal development programs. Check out www.wayaheadweb.com.

 

What is the craziest thing you have ever had to do on stage?

Phil: Most theatrical performances involve something that - out of context - might appear crazy, but in the context of the play is perfectly normal. That said, I did once have to appear in a diaper, mittens, bonnet and bootees...

 

Who has been your acting inspiration?

Phil:  My acting heroes are Ian McKellen and Derek Jacobi. They have such presence, such vocal and physical control. I once watched Jacobi walk across a stage and age 30 years without a costume or make-up change, lighting effect, or any external assistance - just the way he moved.

 

What is your dream role?

Phil: Macbeth. And, one day, Lear.

 

What is something that might surprise us about you?

Phil:  Hmmm. That I'm really a woman? Really only 25? Perhaps the fact that I can say "OK blue eyes, you dirty rate, you killed my brother!" in six different languages?

 

Any good stories about the rehearsal process?

Phil: I mostly remember the mountains of costumes that Sherri assembled... that and interminable wrestling matches on the bed....

 

Anything on the horizon?

Phil:  At this moment, I'm open to offers!

 

 

design by ksp