Monday, July 20, 1998
Actor Ian McKellan renews acquaintance with stage
THEATER: ‘Enemy of the People’ star returns home to London after
film stint
By Cheryl Klein
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Thanks to a shock of silver hair, soulful eyes and a
contemplative British baritone, actor Ian McKellen exudes a
professor-like aura as he sits behind the remnants of a
fruit-crackers-and-cheese lunch across the street from the Ahmanson
Theatre.
Beginning Wednesday, the venue will house Henrik Ibsen’s "An
Enemy of the People." McKellen stars as Dr. Stockmann, a physician
who wages an uphill battle against the powers that be when he
discovers the town’s water supply is contaminated.
It is a blistering day downtown, but McKellen is collected and
ever-articulate. Like all popular professors, he has a bit of a
naughty side, admitting that he has just sneaked out for a
cigarette ("I think you should really encourage drug addicts to
smoke privately. But no, California wants you to go outside").
But with a resume that hops from screen ( "Richard III," "Bent"
and the upcoming "Apt Pupil" and "Gods and Monsters") to stage (his
acclaimed solo show "A Knight Out" and countless Shakespeare
productions), McKellen has plenty to teach about the classics. This
time, he joins forces with director Trevor Nunn ("Cats" and "Les
Miserables") and England’s Royal National Theatre in Christopher
Hampton’s new translation of Ibsen’s play.
The man of many hats (actor, activist, writer) expounds candidly
on what drew him back to the stage after a film-induced, five-year
absence, what makes audiences so friendly to "Enemy" and some
advice for aspiring thespians.
Q: What first interested you in doing "An Enemy of the
People?"
A: Working with Trevor Nunn, I think. It was a nice return to
the theater for me.
Q: What made you want to go back?
A: I suppose to see if I could still do it. There are histories
of actors who have stayed away from the theater for too long, which
might be 10 years, but it might be only five years, you know? You
lose your grip a little bit, you lose your nerve. You lose maybe
your interest in it. But I suppose I just wanted to get back on my
home turf, which is not only the theater but also London. Films
often, of course, take you away from home. I hope the pattern in
the future will be film, theater, film, theater.
Q: I imagine in terms of your schedule it must be pretty
grueling to be doing theater, to travel so much, and to do this
many shows a week.
A: Theater is very hard work physically. But the rewards are
immediate. I’m not feeling sorry for myself. Here I am in L.A.,
surrounded with friends and colleagues. We’ve been doing this play
a long time in London, and we’re meeting a new sort of audience …
L.A. doesn’t frighten me. The received wisdom is that this isn’t a
theater town, but I don’t find that to be true at all.
Q: What about Christopher Hampton’s version of "An Enemy of the
People" is a departure from versions that have been performed in
the past?
A: I don’t think he wants it known as a version or an
adaptation. It’s very much a translation, the distinction being
that he has tried to stay as closely as possible to Ibsen’s
intention and language. Whereas when Arthur Miller wrote his "Enemy
of the People" it was very much Arthur Miller’s play.
Q: What about the play do you think will resonate with audiences
today?
A: Just talking to friends and corresponding with members of the
audience, they see the play entirely in terms of modern life. It’s
not a museum piece … This is a play about big government, a play
about overly powerful press that don’t tell the truth. It’s about
someone standing up for what they think is right and being reviled
for it.
These are all issues that we see in the present. And the
specific issue of a healthy environment – that the water should be
pure; that specific issue is still relevant. At the end of this
play, Dr. Stockmann decides to take his children out of the school
system and teach them himself. In the middle of the play he’s
thinking of emigrating to the United States of America, land of the
free. And of course the structure of the play hangs on the
relationship between two brothers, one who’s gone into politics and
one who’s gone into medicine. Everyone can understand sibling
rivalry, which is very strong in the play.
Q: It has sort of the personal and the larger social aspect.
A: And that passion for dramaturgy is one (Ibsen) very much
invented, which has been copied and followed by Miller, obviously,
and (Tony) Kushner and (David) Mamet. They’re all post-Ibsen
writers. And here is the master at work with one of his great
plays.
Q: What prompts you to return to the classics and bring them to
contemporary audiences?
A: I don’t, when I start on a play, think, "Oh dear, this is an
old play. What the hell are we going to do with it?" (But) if
you’re looking to do a great play, I tell you, they don’t come
through the letter box very often. (Although) perhaps in the end it
is more thrilling to originate a play that goes on to be a classic
in its own right. Audiences as much as actors don’t go to see
"Macbeth" saying, "Well, I’ve seen ‘Macbeth’ now." It’s like
saying, "Well, I’ve got a towel. I don’t need another one."
Q: "An Enemy of the People" has been performed in many countries
many times. Often it met with hostility and censorship. It seems
like in this time and place that’s not the thing you’d have to
worry about. But has there been a project you’ve been involved in
where you’ve had to worry about audience reaction or any kind of
censorship?
A: I’ve been in plays which some public figures have tried to
censor, yes. When I did, "Edward II" at the Edinburgh Festival in
1969, a play which includes inevitably two men kissing on the
stage, a local counselor did try to get that play banned
unsuccessfully … But when you do plays on vital public issues,
you’re likely to attract the attention of people who don’t like
what’s being said. They try to stop it, of course, and it’s called
censorship. And that won’t do. Theater is a very powerful medium.
The first thing dictators do is close down the theaters.
Q: Do you have any advice to young people who want to work in
the theater?
A: Go and do a course at UCLA. Try and win the Ian McKellen
scholarship. (At Cambridge University) I did a lot of acting in
undergraduate productions, and I suppose I would encourage other
people to do the same thing. This actor has learned more about
acting by doing it than by writing about it or reading about it.
I’m not at all certain about theater as an academic subject. The
idea that children can read Shakespeare and come to terms with it
and understand it seems rather cockeyed. It’s much better to act it
or go see other people act it.
I think if (young people at UCLA) are interested in the theater,
they should go see as much of it as possible – good and bad. Argue
about it, discuss it, try and analyze why it’s good, try and
analyze why it’s bad. Talk to people in the production, if you
possibly can. If anyone wants to communicate with me on a personal
level about my work, they only have to write to my e-mail on my web
site.
THEATER: "An Enemy of the People" opens July 22 at the Ahmanson
Theatre. For information, call (213) 628-2772. Tickets are $22 to
$52.50.