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.