Moonlighting at the mill
One actor links a former prime minister, one of Hollywood's greatest screenwriters and Kenton Archer
What do Clement Attlee, Kenton Archer and an American scriptwriter have in common?
Richard Attlee. No wiser?
Richard, who will shortly be appearing in The Watermill's comedy Moonlight and Magnolias, has been cast as them all. But there's more...
He's also Clement Atlee's grandson.
I spoke to Richard before the second day of rehearsal as he sat in the spring sunshine supping a cuppa.
“I'm a lucky man,” he told me, ‘I have a career and a family that give me much pleasure, and here I am sitting in the sunshine in a beautiful place about to start doing something I love.
“It's great to be here playing one of Hollywood's greatest screenwriters. Although relatively unknown, Ben Hecht wrote or worked on films that are now thought of as classics including Some Like it Hot, Wuthering Heights and Mutiny on the Bounty.
“In this comedy, which is based on fact, he is called in to rewrite the script of Gone with the Wind three weeks into filming. The play follows the behind-the-scene antics of three men and a secretary as they set out to create what was to become one of the greatest films ever made.
“It's a very funny play with a good script and some nice surprises – just what people need at the moment.”
Richard is also enjoying a strong storyline in The Archers having just taken up with the Ambridge pub landlady Jolene Perks.
“It was 2000 when I first started playing loveable rogue Kenton Archer – I had a brief couple of months before he disappeared.
“Luckily for me he came back in 2002 and took up with Cathy Perks, which made him a regular character.
“It was great for us as a family to have that consistency of work as my kids were young and I could participate in their care.”
I wondered if Richard knew his Prime Minister grandfather?
“He died when I was four but I sort of became aware of him through family outings to the Palace of Westminster and Number 10 – history lessons gave me an insight.
“But it was the process of actually playing him on television and radio that brought him most alive. I did alot of background research and discovered he was a very private man though now regarded as one of the most businesslike and effective Prime Ministers.'
You can see Richard in Moonlight and Magnolias at The Watermill from May 5 to June 11. For tickets, telephone the box office on (01635) 46044 or visit www.watermill.org.uk