Calling all StageSiders, welcome back to another installment of StageSide Stories. This time we speak with Efè Agwele, performer in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. If you are interested in how a performer prepares for a show, or how an actor balanced comedy and classical theatre, then settle in and let’s find out more!
To begin, could you introduce yourself, your role in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), and tell us a little about the show?
Hello I’m Efè Agwele, I play myself and a bunch of different characters including Antony, Hamlet and Macbeth (no women though!). Our show is essentially an exploration of what happens if three well meaning, but uninformed people get together to put on a performance of all Shakespeare’s works.
What drew you to be part of this particular production?
The enormity of the task! The Complete Works of William Shakespeare is no mean feat in 1.5 hours when you struggle to find a Complete Hamlet for under 3 hours! It seemed like an exciting challenge. Also the fact one of the original writers and performers would be the Director (Adam) made me feel like we were in safe hands for this revival.
The show asks performers to move at extraordinary pace, juggling comedy, character shifts and sheer theatrical chaos. How do you prepare for that kind of performance?
A LOT of warm-ups! Still, before every show, I practice the biggest vocal and thematic shifts that we do on stage.
Shakespeare can sometimes feel intimidating to audiences, but this show turns that on its head. What do you think makes it such an enduring and accessible piece?
The beauty of the show is that it’s essentially intelligent satire. The script is more funny and more impressive the more you know about Shakespeare, so even simple jokes which can engage non-Shakespeareans have multiple layers that other thespians can engage with more deeply. Everyone – at all times – can get something from the show, but some people might get it a little bit more! So this is a show you can love at five, and love even more at 50, hence its longevity.
Comedy often relies on rhythm and timing. How have you and the company worked together to find that shared comic language in rehearsals?
Getting to know each other helps! The best part is finding out where our natural rhythm sits and then developing a new rhythm that best serves the piece. And now we’re three months in, we have a new natural rhythm that has come from time with each other.
Comedy often comes with so much audience interaction and unpredictability, how does that keep the performance fresh night after night?
It means we can never really fall into autopilot which is when performances become stale. We have to stay alert because there is always something to react to, and I think it means the audience stay engaged with us, because they can tell we are fully focused on them. It definitely creates that feeling that this is our first time doing this.
The show affectionately pokes fun at Shakespeare while clearly celebrating him too. How do you strike that balance in performance?
Luckily as my character is the biggest Shakespeare lover, I get to join in with the group jokes but also got to perform what we’ve termed in rehearsals “micro-Shakespeare.” This is where I get to sit in the verse, the meter and the emotion, as if it was a classical performance, which I think really allows us to honour Shakespeare’s work.
Was there a moment in rehearsals where the show really clicked for you — where you thought, “Yes, this is going to be a lot of fun”?
Absolutely, when rehearsing our rendition of Romeo & Juliet, I play three characters and for each one I came into rehearsal with a different accent and Adam, our director, loved it & let me include it in the final performance. Any show where an actor has scope to play always feels incredibly special!
What do you hope audiences take away from the show — whether they’re lifelong Shakespeare fans or coming to his work for the first time?
I hope they appreciate the effort! Comedy is hard but being able to sit in those micro-Shakespeare moments then immediately run back to comedy is especially hard, even if we make it look easy, so I hope that comes across.
Finally, if you could give one piece of advice to an aspiring performer, what would it be?
I was working full-time at my Front of House job when I got this tour, stay positive and keep honing those acting skills, you will have a chance to show them off!
A huge thank you to Efè Agwele for answering my questions and providing some valuable insight into the world of performance. The show sounds like a hoot!
Have your say
Are you thinking of starting a career as a performer? Are you currently studying performance? How are you finding the process, and do you have any tips?
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