James Beagon has adapted Sutcliff’s 1963 adult novel for the stage. It is to be performed between 25th February to 1st March 2014 at the Edinburgh University’s Bedlam Theatre. He took time out from rehearsals to answer my questions.
If you have never
read Sword At Sunset – WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!
Please tell us
something about your background
I was born in Oxford but moved to Stockport (Greater
Manchester, UK) at a young age. I'm currently in my fourth year of an Ancient and
Medieval History undergraduate degree at the University of Edinburgh.
graduating this summer.
What has particularly
lead up to theatre productions as opposed to fiction, or producing research
articles. Or are you somehow finding time to fit one or other of these in?!
I never did anything theatrical in my life bar nativity
plays at primary school until I came to university. I saw an opportunity in the
Fresher's Week booklet for something called Fresher's Play at
Bedlam Theatre, went along to see if I could write for it, ended up acting as well and
haven't looked back since. Before I started writing plays at university, my writing
tended to come out as short stories and prose fiction whilst I was at school
and sixth-form. I haven't done so much of that since the plays began but I do
hope to get back to it once I've graduated.
Are you a fan of
Rosemary Sutcliff’s novels? Did you read them as a child?
I am a very big fan. I read the Eagle of the Ninth trilogy
as a child many times and got introduced to Sword at Sunset slightly later on.
I've also read The Flowers of Adonis and Dawn Wind.
Do you read much
historical fiction? If so, which current authors have caught your eye?
The other major historical fiction series I've read is TheRoman Mysteries by Caroline Lawrence. I acquired The Thieves of Ostia when I
was 11 and diligently ploughed through the next 16 books to the end of the series
without shame, even though I had supposedly outgrown them. Other than that, I
don't usually go out of my way to read historical fiction - the last time I did
was when reading I, Claudius and Claudius the God.
What books have you
read recently, fiction or non-fiction
The amount I read for pleasure (as opposed to research) has
definitely taken a hit since coming to university but I still endeavour to try.
The last book I read cover-to-cover was the biography of Robert Enke over
Christmas. I'm currently taking tentative steps into the latest Terry Pratchett
book, Raising Steam.
Tell us about the
Bedlam Theatre. How do students run a theatre?
Sometimes I wonder myself, but we do manage it pretty well.
The Edinburgh University Theatre Company occupies Bedlam Theatre during
term-time, whilst also supplying two shows and the majority of the team for
when the building is a venue during the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In being the
largest non-sports society at the university and also with owning a building, the
EUTC has to be more organised than the average society. A committee made up of
students essentially run the building during the year and the workload for them
can be quite intense. Even those outside the committee have a lot on their
plates; with a show going up every week during term-time, most people are
usually involved with at least one production most of the time. But the
society, despite its size, is very close and people are very willing to help
each other out at times of need. All of this work is unpaid, but we all
immensely enjoy what we do so it doesn't matter.
Tell us about your
production of Imperator (on at the
theatre in January)
Imperator happened
just two days ago as I write this. It was a play about the Emperor Nero, Otho
and Poppaea Sabina written in conjunction with my dissertation, based on my
readings of the ancient sources and trying to interpret a sense of character
and what might have actually happened between the lines of the often
anti-Neronian sources. The cast only had two weeks to rehearse with the script
due to the Christmas break, but everything went very well. We had a couple of
hiccups here and there but the audience response was very positive,
particularly from non-Classicists who were pleasantly surprised to find that
they understood everything that happened. Which is always a plus.
Have you been
involved in any other theatre productions?
Um, yes. A lot over the past four years, both during
term-time and the Edinburgh Fringe. I won't bore you by rattling off a list but
I've been involved in writing and directing several of my own original plays
(about 12/13 now, I think, if you include short pieces), including Four Walls'
(****, Three Weeks) just gone to the Edinburgh Fringe 2013. I've also acted
quite a lot as well, both with the EUTC and other companies, such as Charlotte
Productions and Relief Theatre. I also got to be an extra in Carmen at the Edinburgh Playhouse
alongside a massive stallion last April. That was fun.
Do you go to watch
plays - which ones?
Largely, everyone in the student theatre circles at
Edinburgh end up watching each other's plays. During the Fringe, I've usually
had a comp pass to one venue or more due to being part of a show and also
reviewing, so I tend to binge-watch Fringe shows in those venues on my days
off. Outside of that, professional theatre tickets look expensive and
intimidating but I've seen a few things whilst in Edinburgh. Productions of
Fiddler on the Roof, Quiz Show and The Lieutenant of Inishmore immediately come
to mind. My girlfriend also took me to see a production of Swan Lake somewhat
unwillingly. However, as my first experience of ballet, I enjoyed a lot more
than I thought I would.
Have you seen Wolf
Hall by Mantel at the RSC?
I haven't. I have read it though! That's another piece of
historical fiction I forgot to mention.
Did the film based on
Eagle of the Ninth have anything to
do with your decision to do the play?
I actually haven't gotten around to watching The Eagle yet, initially because I
didn't realise it was actually The Eagle
of the Ninth because they changed the name for some reason and then because
some friends of mine hadn't particularly enjoyed it. But I've been looking
online and the reviews actually seem to be fairly decent, so I'll probably give
it a watch when I have some free time (which might not be for a while)
What did you see in Sword at Sunset that made you want to
adapt it for stage?
Why this version of
Arthur? There are many out there, and some of them focus on a 'real/authentic'
version of the story - why chose Sutcliff's?
Sutcliff's was a version that I had read and read again and
also one that I discovered that not as many people were aware of as I would
have thought. Therefore, I saw an opportunity to share this brilliant story
with people who might otherwise not pick up the book.
Did you need to get
permission from Sutcliff's estate to undertake this adaptation?
When I had the idea, I approached the rights holders back in
2012 who got in contact with the estate and we settled on a small rights
agreement for each performance.
What path through the
story have you chosen, and why?
The adaptation is, I think, largely faithful to the book.
The major story strand missing is that of Sutcliff 'Little Dark People'; the
biggest change that this resulted in is the reason for the early death of
Artos' child - Guenhumara blames it on the lingering effects of Ygerna's rape
of Artos rather than on the village of the 'Little Dark People'. Ygerna's role
is thus expanded; she appears to Artos as a vision quite more frequently than
she does in the book. That aside, the story plays out exactly as anyone who
read the book would expect it to. A fair few of Artos' trips to various lords
and princelings are left out to focus on the main story thread and Bedwyr's and
Gwalchmai's introductions are now one scene rather than two.
What compromises have
you had to make? Have you had to change
the story in any way?
Sword at Sunset
features horses; SO MANY HORSES. Horses are naturally quite difficult to get
onstage (Carmen's massive stallion not disproving this). Because of this, the
bits of battle scene are the companions on foot rather than horseback.
Similarly, Cabal the dog is always offstage even when characters are
interacting with him from a distance.
Have there been any
particular production problems to overcome?
For example, an important aspect in the book is cavalry and obviously
you can't have horses on stage - or can you?
How are you doing the battles - onstage/offstage/reported?
As mentioned above, the battles are largely on foot. There
is a fair bit of onstage fighting, though not a gratuitous amount. Quite often,
we might see a small group of characters rush onstage mid-battle and
mid-conversation before rushing offstage to a different side of the battlefield
and being replaced by a new group.
Are you attempting to
mirror Sutcliff's language in the script? Have you used any of the dialogue
directly from the novel?
Absolutely. I've used quite a large amount of dialogue
directly from the novel; much more than I expected to. Sutcliff has a fantastic
command of dialogue and because the book is written from Artos' perspective,
the book has a natural dramatic/cinematic feel to it. In some cases, I've
adapted some of Sutcliff's description into new dialogue - her description of
Artos and Guenhumara having sex for the first time is now a monologue from
Ygerna's spectre mocking Artos. Other times, I've used original dialogue from
several different places in the book and changed the order somewhat when
several events are compressed into one scene or occasionally re-attributing it
to different speakers. Sutcliff's book is not a play however and thus I've
written a lot of bits linking the story together and filling in the gaps
between events. I've tried to mimic her style of speech wherever I can.
Is there a narrator?
The book is written in first person, so does Artos address the audience?
There is no narrator. Artos has a brief soliloquy at the
beginning but he never directly addresses the audience.
How did you cast the
play? Eg. were you looking for someone who looked like Sutcliff's Artos, or may
be someone who had a particular presence?
I rarely cast based on physical appearance for stage shows
as it's not quite as important as it is in screen productions. In fact, my
approach to casting involved opening up a lot of roles to women as well as men.
The characters are predominantly male but we have a fairly even male/female split
within the companions. Artos and Bedwyr were limited to men, whilst Guenhumara
and Ygerna were limited to women. But these aside, the deciding factor in
whether to cast someone in a part was their suitability to the role and ability
to act it well, not their gender.
Will you film the
production?
We're certainly hoping to.
Are you studying
drama? Are you aiming for a career in the theatre?
I'm not a drama student. My plans post-graduation do
possibly involve setting up my own small-scale amateur production arm in
Edinburgh to continue my theatrical endeavours.
What are you hoping
to do in the future?
My goal in life has always been to write. Whether this
culminates in writing for theatre, writing novels or writing in some other context
(journalism and media, perhaps) remains to be seen.
What are your
ambitions?
I can't deny that a bit of fame and money from successful
plays or other writing wouldn't be nice, as it's what I love to do. However,
the main motivation in doing these theatrical things, and perhaps even in life
in general, is to have fun and enjoy myself. I can't help but feel that if
you're not enjoying what you're doing, then you're either doing it wrong or
doing the wrong thing.
Many thanks to James Beagon for answering all my questions!
Some parts of this interview were included in an article on the Historical Novel Society's web pages.
At the time of posting this blog, tickets for the play were not yet available on the Bedlam Theatre's website - keep checking!
Some parts of this interview were included in an article on the Historical Novel Society's web pages.
At the time of posting this blog, tickets for the play were not yet available on the Bedlam Theatre's website - keep checking!
