Indhu Rubasingham and Julia Horan

Indhu Rubasingham's Biography

Indhu's recent productions include; Pure Gold at Soho Theatre, Sugar Mummies at the Royal Court, Fabulation at the Tricycle, Yellowman and Anna in The Tropics at Hampstead Theatre. For the National she has directed The Waiting Room and the Ramayana and for Chichester she has directed Romeo and Juliet, The Misanthrope and The Secret Rapture. She most recently directed Free Outgoing for the Royal Court Theatre which will be returning to the Royal Court this summer. She has been associate director for the Young Vic (2006-07), Birmingham Rep (1999-2001) and the Gate Theatre (1995-97)

Julia Horan's Biography

Theatre includes: Three Sisters on Hope Street (Hampstead/Liverpool), Swimming with Sharks (Vaudeville Theatre); Tintin (Tour and Playhouse Theatre); Absolute Beginners (Lyric Hammersmith); Awake and Sing, Dying for It; Out of the Fog (Almeida Theatre); We That Are Left; Heartbreak House (Watford Theatre); pool (no water) (Frantic Assembly); Rabbit (Old Red Lion); Gaddafi - A Living Myth (English National Opera); Bad Jazz; A Brief History of Helen of Troy (Actors Touring Company); The Prayer Room (Birmingham Rep/Edinburgh International Festival); As You Like It (Wyndhams Theatre); One Under (Tricycle Theatre); Anna in the Tropics; Yellowman (Hampstead Theatre); Othello (Cheek by Jowl); The Soldiers' Fortune; Tintin; The Skin of our Teeth; Hobson’s Choice; The Daughter-in-law; Homebody Kabul; A Raisin in the Sun; Six Characters Looking for an Author; (Young Vic); The Morris, Port Authority; Urban Legend; The Kindness of Strangers; Yellowman (Liverpool Everyman); The Girl on the Sofa (Edinburgh International Festival/ Schaubuhne Theatre, Berlin); Original Sin (Crucible, Sheffield); Antarctica (Savoy); The Weir (Duke of York's); The Force of Change; Made of Stone;, Local; Trade; About a Boy; Yardgal; Holy Mothers; Last Dance at Dum-Dum (Royal Court).  Television includes: The Verdict; The Bill; The Badness of George IV. Julia is a member of the Casting Director’s Guild.  Television includes: The Verdict; The Bill; The Badness of George IV. Julia is a member of the Casting Director’s Guild.

Interview

So, Indhu Rubasingham you’re going to be the Director of the Chain Play and Julia  Horan you’re casting director for the play.  Given that ordinarily you would read a script and then decide if you want to direct the show and decide if you want to cast the show, in the situation of the Chain Play you didn’t get to read the play before you agreed to it, so can you give us your reaction to the script.

Indhu:  Yeah, actually, it was kind of quite daunting to take on a project where you don’t know what it’s going to end up like and what’s going to happen and you kind of go, this could be a nightmare and stuff, but when I got the script it is crazy… it is absolutely crazy and manic but it’s actually good fun and it’s going to be a real challenge and it’s very, very funny, well hopefully it will be funny in the production if I do my job right.

Jenny: Julia?

Julia:  I really enjoyed it when I read it.  I was very pleased that it was very, very funny but it does making casting it a bit harder cos you’ve got to make sure you’ve got very, very funny actors.

Indhu: And good, yes (laughter)

Both:Yes and good actors (laughter)

Jenny: But it does change your job, it does change your remit when you found out it was a comedy cos obviously it could have gone in any direction and what we’ve ended up with is an hour long very funny play.

Julia:  Yes definitely

Indhu: Hopefully.

Julia: There are lots of very good actors but not all of them are that funny, so it’s different lists now, but that’s fun and that’s quite freeing and you can be -  you can think - you can be a bit more off the wall about who you cast in this sort of thing.

Jenny: Ok.  So take us through your process now.

Julia: Well, I’ll go home and make some lists of people I think are good ideas and Indhu I hope will do the same.  Then we’ll meet up and talk about who we like and who we think is a good idea and then we’ll start meeting some actors.

Indhu: Yeah.

Jenny:  Do you think it’s likely that you’ll end up working with actors that you’ve worked with before?

Indhu:  I mean sometimes I think with a process like this, which is very intense and quick.  I mean I have no problems either way but sometimes it might be useful to have someone who knows you and knows how I work, because it just makes the process go a bit faster.  But either way it doesn’t matter, but I, you know, it’d be nice if there was someone I know.

Julia: And I’m hoping that it’ll be all new actors for Indhu cos I’ve got lots of good ideas and they’re people she hasn’t worked with before and that’s part of stretching herself for this.

Indhu: (makes a small strangled noise!)

Julia:  It’s making it nerve-wracking for her as well as nerve-wracking for everyone else!

Indhu: Well it’s nerve-wracking as it is!

Jenny:  So tell us about that.  Why is it nerve-wracking, Indhu, for you?

Indhu:  It’s nerve-wracking because it’s a very short rehearsal process and

Jenny:  Interjects:  And how many days have you got – remind us?

Indhu: Laughs.  It’s about ten days and I don’t even think it’s ten days when you actually talk about putting it in the theatre and teching in terms of actual rehearsal days and it’s a full length play.  And I’ve never done a full length play in such a short time.

Jenny:  What would a usual rehearsal be?

Indhu:  At least four weeks.

Jenny:  Four weeks.

Indhu:  Four weeks and you know if you’re really, you know, taking the biscuit you might have three and half, but, you know, this is a lot less.

Jenny:  And obviously we can imagine what the drawbacks of that might be.  What do you think the benefits of having a shorter rehearsal period are?

Indhu:  I think what’s quite good about a short rehearsal process is that ego can’t get involved.  You just have to get down… everyone will be panicking and everyone will just have to get down to it and do it, so there can’t be any sort of  prima donna moments or like “Oh my God I need to know my motivation” – it’s going to be “I have to learn my lines and get on stage”.  So that’s what I think will be the benefit of a short process.  The only benefit.  That I can think of! (laughs)

Jenny:  Thank you so much and we just wish you luck.

Indhu:  Thank you.

Julia:  Thank you.

The views and opinions expressed are those of the interviewees and are not necessarily shared by Coutts & Co.

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