The play was produced in August 2004. This interview was completed 10/17/04
Alex Thrawn: When you say did a double bill of ACO 2004 and Midsummer's
Night Dream are you
talking back-to-back? How is it like to do that? That's a ton of energy to
maintain.
Ryan Graves: Yes. Both plays were performed with only a 20 minutes interval in
between and
with the dual role of Alex and Puck, I certainly had my work cut out for me! It
was a real challenge.
Did you do the play with music or did you jettison the songs?
Most of the songs were scrapped. Only Alex's solo 'Being young's a sort of
sickness...' and the final song 'Do not be a clockwork orange...' survived the
final cut.
When you sang the songs was it a capella or was it to music?
The songs were sung a capella and as both songs are set to the melody of the 'Ode To Joy', it wasn't too difficult to pitch.
Did you stick to the script of Anthony Burgess' 1990 Royal Shakespeare version?
We worked directly from Burgess' play however, in order to present both plays
the script was abridged to approx. 1 hour 10 minutes.
You were the only one in the cast to play one role. I recently saw the
play here and thought that it was a lot of lines to memorize. How hard and how
long does it take to memorize all those lines?
The Droogs' lines in particular are extremely difficult to learn, mainly
because of the Nadsat. In effect, you have to learn a whole new language, which
makes the job infinitely more difficult. Alex has by far the biggest amount of
lines and stage time. Throughout the entire show, I only left the stage 5 times! It was a really demanding role.
Did you go to the book or the movie for inspiration to play Alex before you
did the play?
In fact I purposefully decided not to watch Malcolm McDowell's
'career-defining' performance to ensure that my own was not influenced by his in
any way. However, I did look to Burgess' original book which delves even more
deeply into Alex's psyche.
Was your Alex more vicious or more likeable?
When playing Alex, I wanted to convey the menace and evil of the character,
while allowing the audience to be sympathetic. Alex is the 'anti-hero' of the
play and so the audience has to care about his fate.
I would guess you did the 21st chapter as most plays do. Do you prefer the
21st chapter or the 20th chapter ending like in the film?
Yes, we kept the events of the 21st chapter in the script. The whole point of
the story is not to brainwash troublesome teenagers, but to allow them to enjoy
the freedom of maturing in their own time. The final chapter of the book depicts
Alex's own maturation and we felt that it was vital to convey Burgess' message.
Burgess famously slammed Kubrick's film version of his book, which glamorizes
the sex and violence contained in the original text and does not offer a
resolution.
How violent was your version in comparison to the book/film?
All of the violence was stylized. Most of the fight scenes were choreographed
in slow-motion to classical music. By taking a stylistic approach, the audience
were able to withdraw themselves from the violent acts and further sympathize
with the Droogs, particularly Alex.
Was there nudity in the rape and Ludovico scenes?
No. We felt that it wasn't necessary in the approach that we were taking.
Did you go with the look of the book for the droogs clothes of black? Or the
movie white?
Though we distanced ourselves from Kubrick's film, we did decide to dress the
droogs in white, although the color was the only similarity.
Were there any intentional changes made to distance the play from the film?
We specifically wanted the production to be very different from the film,
however I do not believe that any specific changes were made in order to do so.
Instead, it was done simply through the style in which we presented the text.
Did you go with a classical score or a modern one?
A mixture of the two. Beethoven's original compositions featured heavily
throughout the production and we incorporated some modern rhythms for a
contemporary feel.
Describe the look and style of your Korova Milkbar?
We decided to have no set at all and to use token costumes and props
throughout the entire production. However, we were performing at the Edinburgh
Fringe Festival and our venue by night was a trendy nightclub. So we used the
fabulous atmosphere of 'Cabaret Voltaire' to create our milkbar.
I see a woman played the Minister. Why the change from the male role in the
book/film?
Although the role was played by a woman, the character of the Minister
remained male. We are a mixed-sex theatre company and as you will be aware, the
female characters in the play are few, most are victims of the Droogs.
Some of the female actors in the company preferred more challenging roles than
just helpless victims and therefore some of the male characters in our
production were played by women.
What role is Bullyboy?
Bullyboy is one of Alex's new droogs in the final scene of the play when Alex
relinquishes his role as leader. He is the only new droog to speak in the final
scene, therefore only he is named in the cast list.
How was the Ludovico scene handled? Were modern film clips
thrown in?
Yes. Video clips and still images were projected onto a stone wall in the
nightclub. Some of the clips were existing images of violence, others we shot
ourselves.
Were there any sets or scenes scrapped because of time?
Being an abridged version of the play, some scenes
were either shortened or cut altogether because of time limitations. Our
energetic, relentlessly fast-paced production packed a real punch and I felt the
pace of the play overall was ultimately improved by the cuts made to the text.
Did you do the attack at the library scene?
No. We also decided to change the setting of Mrs. Alexander's rape to the street
outside of the milkbar .
What were the main scenes that you skipped?
I suppose the most notable scene which was skipped for time was with Pete's wife
(in the 21st chapter). We felt that the scene in which Alex relinquishes his
power to Bullyboy and the other new droogs was much more effective and that it
makes that scene a little unnecessary.
Was approval from the Burgess estate needed to produce the play?
Yes. Although it was an abridged version of his play with many of the scenes
being trimmed for time or completely removed, we were required to pay £800
($1450) in royalties.
Now that the play is done did you finally go and watch the film?
Yes I did. Although it has such a huge cult following I can clearly see
why Burgess himself disliked it. However, I thought that McDowell's performance
was sensational although very different from my own interpretation of Alex.
This page © 2004-08 Alex D. Thrawn for www.MalcolmMcDowell.net