Just before making his West End debut and becoming one of of the country’s foremost actors, Sir Ian McKellen was part of the Nottingham Playhouse’s inaugural season in 1963-64, and the first actor to play Saturday Night and Sunday Morning’s Arthur Seaton on stage in a ten-week run that rammed out the new building and delighted critics and audiences alike…
Had you seen the film version before you took on the role of Seaton?
I’d never seen the film, and I still haven’t. As a matter for fact, I can’t remember if I even read the book – it was over 40 years ago, after all. As an actor, I’ve found it isn’t always helpful to read the source material, because that’s what the playwright has done, and after all, you’re doing their version. It’s not very helpful for you to say, 'Look, there’s a wonderful scene here that you’ve omitted.' Of course, I knew about the film – it was very important at the time that those sort of films about working-class people were being made.
What was your immediate reaction to the script?
I thought, 'Oh dear, I’m going to have to do a Nottingham accent.' Coming from Lancashire sort of helped, but I knew I was going to have to perform in front of local people. I visited Mrs Sillitoe in her house, and she talked enthusiastically about Alan, and came to see the show with relatives, and she said she enjoyed it, so I think I got away with it. Incidentally, David Brett, who wrote the adaptation, was employed as the Playhouse’s Dramatist, but he also earned a living as the Stage Doorman! A very nice fellow.
We know some actors who were told at drama school that the Nottingham accent is the hardest to imitate in the country…
Well, I’m glad I didn’t know that at the time. Being surrounded by local people was a help, of course, but I wouldn’t say my accent was the best part of my performance.
So where were you at the time, careerwise?
I’d been acting for three years professionally in Coventry and Ipswich, and then I joined Frank Dunlop’s company for the first season at the Playhouse, starting with Coriolanus, then I was involved with every production that season.
How did you get on with the role of Seaton?
(laughs) Well, what were you doing 45 years ago? I think that’d be for other people to judge. He wasn’t at all like me; he was a roustabout who drank a lot and involved himself in lots of activities that I wouldn’t, but that made it easier for me to get absorbed in a lifestyle I wasn’t involved in. I certainly didn’t find it a difficult part to play – the story races along, you know, and it’s a very simple one.
Did you enjoy the run?
It was a leading part in a new play that was very much relevant to its audience – I don’t suppose that there was a spare ticket to be had at any performance – and I enjoyed it enormously. It was presented very cleverly on stage with back projections that the locals would recognise, and I seem to recall the stage revolved at times. There was a lot of movement, and I enjoyed the technicality of it all – having to hit the right spot at the right time. You had to click straight into the scenes, because they weren’t long. It was actually like a musical without the music. It was more of a happening than a play.
Out of all the plays you acted in at the Playhouse, which one was your favourite?
Well, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was a big deal for me – the production was supposed to transfer to the West End, but I decided I wouldn’t go with it; I was too busy trying to learn how to act to appear in London. 1964 was the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth, and I played the lead in a little-known play of his called Sir Thomas More, and I got quite a bit of attention for my part in Coriolanus. Looking back, I chiefly remember the excitement of opening up a new theatre. The National Theatre had just opened up in London, but didn’t have its own premises at the time. And we rather thought that we were the National Theatre, because there we were in the middle of the country in an extremely successful place. The restaurant and café was always full, you could never get a seat, it was the place everyone wanted to visit – we felt that we were all involved in something special. We got a lot of attention from the national press, and I feel it really helped establish my subsequent career.
