WORDS KATHERINE MURPHY
Simon Boyle is a Dublin-based actor who is currently starring in The Risen People in the Abbey Theatre. Since graduating with a B.A. in Acting from TCD in 2001 he has toured all over France, returning to Ireland to work with the crème of the Irish theatre scene. Although he has worked with the giants in the industry he admits that there’s something special about being a Dublin actor, in a Dublin play in the middle of Dublin’s own fair city.
How has the show been going thus far?
It’s been going very well. President Michael D. Higgins was there on the opening night. It was a momentous occasion. [The 1913 Lockout is] a huge moment in our history, it’s quite undervalued, and not as well known as the 1916 Easter Rising. But its historical significance is massive.
Did your time in Trinity give you the tools to build a life as an actor?
Through those three years, I read a lot, I browsed the theatre section. I got a taste for Peter Brook. After I left I went to France, where I expanded my knowledge… The voice coach Andrea Ainsworth [at the Abbey] was brilliant and I was exposed to excellent teachers. [Trinity] gave me a strong base, and made me very curious about other types of theatre and forms, of things outside the Irish context. Also, people like Beckett, they walked the same footpaths as you. I always found that environment exciting. I find all of my environments exciting.
So then performing such an iconic text, about Dublin right in the heart of the city must have been overwhelming…
I knew the TV series [Strumpet City] very well, but I was also very aware of the novel. I think when you do the play, you just do that play. I just immerse myself in the world of the historical event. Both sides of my family are from Dublin, so my great-great grandfather was affected by this. You’re quite aware of the link. [One of the cast members] had a family member who was in the building collapse; there was so much poverty it actually collapsed. This added more poignancy. We’ve added a poem by WB Yeats, and transposed music onto [September 1913]: they are so apt for now and have such a contemporary resonance. It’s funny as we’re singing Yeats’s song in the Abbey Theatre which he founded. It’s all very poignant.
You’ve worked with a host of Irish directors. Garry Hynes, Mikel Murfi, Wayne Jordan, Jason Byrne, Gavin Quinn. How was it different working with Jimmy Fay?
He’s been extremely collaborative, with Conor Linehan [Musical Director] and Colin Dunne [Movement Director]. Hopefully more people come and see it as a result. There’s the history, Conor’s music (which is fantastic), and Jimmy’s direction; it’s a lovely layered piece. We’ve had a great input into the process; while he’s been open, clear and encouraging. He’s lived with this production and this play for a long time. He’s been trying to make it tighter and stronger.
How do you think audiences are responding to the play?
Well, at the end of this show there’s ‘the call’. Fiach [Mac Conghail, director at the Abbey Theatre] wanted to introduce this tradition of inviting someone to the stage to speak after the show. The participants are really excited about doing something on that stage. As a result, there’s always that sense of responsibility, of awareness.
What’s next for you? I see you’ve been fairly active on the screen too, should we expect more of that?
I’ll be working down in Galway with Moonfish, on an adaptation of Jospeh O’Connor’’s book, Star of the Sea for the Galway Art’s Festival next year. I’ll be rehearsing and devising for that. It’s a long process that I started before this.
And after that…
Who knows after that? You’re an actor, which is a delight and also the painful part. A mixed blessing. The hunt for work is tricky, but that just goes with the territory.