Interview: Selina Cadell, Director of Two Halves of Guinness
Selina Cadell, acclaimed theatre director of Two Halves of Guinness, shares insights into bringing the extraordinary life and career of Sir Alec Guinness to the stage in this candid conversation...
Learn more about Two Halves of Guinness here.
Hi Selina, what was the first project that you directed?
The first real production I directed was Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest at the Nottingham Playhouse some time ago, around the 1990s. I also did something at school, but of course it was very tiny, and my twin brother was excellent there.
But on one of the last nights coming out of The Importance of Being Earnest, that’s where I learnt the lesson that I carry with me to this day, and that is to really look at the text. Understand the text, you know, don't let a ion go by that is not understood.
For readers on the younger side, can you summarise the impact of Sir Alec Guinness’s career in the arts?
Well, I am so much on the older side that this is quite a hard question! What I would say is that if you were to look at his career, you would see that he has played absolutely everything. And that this idea that you have to be what you play is not very helpful to a career.
Alec Guinness found acting to be an outlet for his more reserved persona. So he could step outside of his usual self. Which is the case for a lot of people, I think and is a gift of acting. But the point is, now there's this great thing that you need to be a dog to play a dog, which is ridiculous, of course, because you can't be a dog! When you look at Alec Guinness, he did everything he feared. Everything from spies, Dukes, thieves and villains to aristocrats. He crossed over class, cultures, and the breadth of that is a truly impactful thing.
What was it like working with writer Mark Burgess on this production?
We didn't work that closely really, but when I did, it was marvellous. He was very open and very enthusiastic to get it to a slightly different place and to accommodate all ideas. There’s always a need for adjusting these things and getting it to stage and to fit actors and spaces, and he was really true and open to all of it.
Were there any scenes that evolved significantly during rehearsals in ways you didn’t anticipate?
Oh everything. Truly all of them! We've made a lot of developments as you’re thinking and working out, can it be done with lots of visual work and physical work, and that all goes into supporting the verbal. But honestly, everything is always evolving in the rehearsal room, which is why it’s such a unique moment in any production.
What’s exciting you in the UK cultural landscape right now?
Of course, I'm absolutely fascinated by is The Traitors because it's about acting and it's about trust, and that is what an actor's life is in order to trade who they are for what they pretend to be. I am a recent convert to the series, so it means being thrown into this mad concept. I love it, and I do think it teaches us a little bit about trust and faith in acting; what does it mean to betray somebody and even if it's just reported money that you might use for a good cause it obviously affects people very very deeply and it's not always easy to be pretending and to lie to people that you care about. Absolutely riveting.
Also, the Reflector podcast that I listened to just before Christmas. They always bring me a new perspective on the world, especially as we're entering a new world order. A marvellous series of lectures by this marvellous man, and basically the thing that interested me about was this idea that change can happen. It doesn't have to be quick or overnight, it doesn't have to be dramatic, it can be slow and thorough and can be about talking and telling the truth - always - amongst your friends. So change can be small - it can happen, it can work, it can happen anywhere. It just has to be understood that honesty, and time and listening are what make it happen.
And the other thing is books. I’ve actually been reading some children's books because I'm very interested in storytelling. So I've just recently been reading C. S. Lewis and Philip Pullman. I’ve read them before, but the storytelling is very good and certainly shouldn't change for adults or children. Always worth looking at!
Learn more about Two Halves of Guinness here.