Sponsored by
INTERVIEW: Christopher Timothy takes a journey back in time at the Chichester Festival Theatre
Christopher Timothy's first main house summer season role at Chichester Festival Theatre for nearly 20 years takes him right back to the golden summer of 1964.
He was here for Underneath The Arches in 1981 and for Henry VIII in 1991 – and also played the Minerva in 1994 in Dangerous Corner.
But his very time first on the Festival Theatre stage was in the CFT's third season 45 years ago in the landmark production of The Royal Hunt Of The Sun directed John Dexter.
Christopher had just one line ("I say right sir"), coming to the theatre after appearing in Chips With Everything in New York and three or four plays in Worthing rep.
"I joined the National to come here to do it," Christopher recalls. "I was here that summer. The other plays were Othello and a play called The Dutch Courtesan.
"John Dexter was seriously one of the greatest directors of our time, no question. It was his passion, his eye for detail, his enthusiasm. Some people thought he was cruel. I saw him be cruel… no, maybe that's not the right word. I saw him be less than kind.
"There were times when an effort on his part was needed, and that effort was rather harsh, but I just worshipped him. He was great with us young actors."
And he was a key part of a beautiful summer in the days when the only buildings on site were the theatre and the offices, long before the Minerva was built.
He remembers Maggie Smith lying on the lawn singing a rock song of the day; and he remembers the atmosphere of excitement which enveloped the CFT in those early days.
"It was just fantastic. I remember the general feeling from the hierarchy, with whom we had no contact, was that the play would be either a huge success or a flop.
"I was backstage on the phone talking to the girl who was to become my first wife, and this man came up and said 'I am terribly sorry, I need to use the phone. I need to phone my newspaper'."
Christopher made way and recalls hearing him dictate the first line of his review: "I heard him say 'This is probably the best play of the decade, if not the century'. And this was only the interval!' His review was glowing, as were most."
And then he reviewed it again. He started: "I just needed to check I was not being seduced by the spectacle."
He wasn't.
Happy memories indeed, as are Christopher's recollections of Underneath The Arches which is when he met his wife Annie, a Cicestrian: "We lived in Brighton for two or three years and then we came here to Chichester. Annie came full circle. And we have lived here now for the best part of 30 years."
All of which makes Grapes Of Wrath this summer a wonderfully-convenient job.
Christopher had met CFT artistic director Jonathan Church when they were both working in Birmingham, Christopher on the TV series Doctors. They met again last year, and Christopher asked his agent to see whether there would be anything for him at the CFT this summer.
Christopher was thinking more in terms of the production of Separate Tables.
He was delighted when the role of Pa in The Grapes Of Wrath came his way (until August 28).
The Joads, a family of impoverished Oklahoman sharecroppers, lose everything when their farm is repossessed after a devastating drought and are driven from their home to make the exhausting westward trek to California.
Seduced by the prospect of opportunity and dignity, they invest everything they have in the journey. When forced to face the possibility California may not after all be the Promised Land, they have no choice but to go on; nothing is left for them in Oklahoma.
"Pa is the patriarch, but the real leader of the family, as in most families, is Ma. The play opens with them leaving with great hope and great enthusiasm to cross America, a 2,000-mile trek to the wonderful land of California.
"He is proud. He is excited about the prospect. He is not beaten. There is great enthusiasm about the journey. And then when they get there… well, I am not going to spoil it.
"It's a great sprawling epic. Nicholas Nickleby is the nearest thing I can think of," says Christopher, whose lasting TV successes include Doctors and All Creatures Great And Small.
It's three years now since he came out of Doctors.
"When I went for the job, I knew it was a daytime show which didn't fill me with the greatest excitement.
"And I knew the money was going to be dire and the budget was going to be unbelievably low, but what was exciting about working on it and directing it was trying with no money and not enough time to produce something of the quality we occasionally achieved against seriously-unequal odds.
"I used to do more work than was necessary. No, actually, I did the work that was necessary. I was up half the night doing camera plans and trying to work out shots.
"But I was supported by the most fantastic crew. They were a core of really seasoned professionals."
Tickets on 01243 781312..
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Bognor
Sunday 27 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 13 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 12 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South west
