Heart of Darkness:

Heart of Darkness is adapted from Conrad’s novel of the same name. What changes occurred when the novel was adapted for the stage?
Conrad has a writing style that can get pretty rambly sometimes. Marlow’s narrative in the book is very stream-of-consciousness. He’s often going off on tangents that would be confusing and possibly boring on stage. They’re great in the novel, but they’re not exactly dramatic. Something we and the writer (George Johnston) worked on was shuffling and cutting these thoughts about so that they came in a place in the narrative that was more straightforward. 

Also, the book has a habit of expressing things in the negative. Everything is ‘inconceivable’ or ‘inscrutable’ or ‘implacable’. This was something of a challenge; no one really wants to go the theatre in order to be told only what is not happening. The language was not changed but we had to make sure it was very clear what exactly it was Marlow was struggling to get at and why he was struggling so much.

Was remaining true to the book important to you and your team?
Extremely important. We’re all huge fans of the book and it was the first ‘classic’ of English literature that I read and actually enjoyed. Dickens and Austen can be a bit dull when you’re 14 but I absolutely loved Heart of Darkness. That said, we were also keen to make the experience different from just reading the book. Marlow’s a bit of a tough character because he’s a sailor but he’s not really written like one; he’s incredibly literate and eloquent and speaks, (funnily enough) a lot like an author. A big part of rehearsals was developing him as a person rather than just a vehicle for a novel. Why is he telling his story? What are his reactions to what he saw? How does he feel about Kurtz, really? And how do we bring all of this out?

You were the only actor on stage in this production. What are some of the challenges or hurdles you have to adapt to with this kind of pressure?
To be honest, a big challenge was just the lines: there were 31 pages of them and there was nowhere to hide if you messed up. If you screw up a line, it throws you but usually you know that you’re going off-stage in a few minutes so you can take a moment and re-group. No such luck here, I only got a break at the interval. 

Transitioning between different characters onstage was something else I’d never done before and that I was very nervous about. Nothing looks worse than someone having a conversation with themselves in two slightly different voices. But there was a show in Edinburgh I saw that got it just right. Bane, a one-man film noir with a lead who flipped between these characters who were extremely developed vocally and physically and you completely forgot you were only watching one guy. A lot of time went into making sure each character was as individual as possible, with their own vocal and physical mannerisms.

Personality:

What is your most noticeable personality trait?
A complete inability to know what anyone else is thinking. This normally manifests itself in often being quite tactless, telling stories and jokes that are only funny to me, and getting more excited than is reasonable about basically anything.

What is your idea of happiness?
Having enough time in a day to do all the things I planned.

What virtue do you appreciate in others? 
The capacity to get stuff done.

What do you most deplore in others?
Taking yourself too seriously.

What’s your life motto?
Whatever it was that went wrong is not that big a deal. Keep working and everything will probably be fine. (see Leonard Cohen, Anthem)

Interests:

Favourite film?
Couldn’t say for sure. But The Usual Suspects is definitely a contender.Favourite novel?
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Hunter S. ThompsonFavourite poem?  
‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’, Samuel Taylor Coleridge.If you were on a desert island and could only have access to the works of one writer, who would it be?
Shakespeare. Yeah, some might say it's pretentious but no one else has the same breadth of language he does. Some of it’s poetic and beautiful, some of it’s heart-rending and some of it’s just plain badass. Plus, there’s also a lot of it; good desert island material.Either / Or: Nicki Minaj or Rihanna?
Rihanna. Though I can’t say I’m a huge fan of either.Reading the book or seeing the film first?
Completely depends on the book – and the film.Luck or Money?
Money. Call me soulless, but you can’t buy food with luck.Sweet or Savoury?
Savoury.Summer or Winter?
Winter. No man doesn’t look sexy in an overcoat. E-Book or Physical Book?
Physical book, every time. A book is an aesthetic thing as well as a piece of literature. A .txt file is not.