Stigmatic Dramaturgy II: Wilson James

Wilson James

What was it about The Local Stigmatic that attracted you to it?

It was about a year ago, and our director Michael Toumey; who I’d worked with previously at the Guildford School of Acting, handed me this script and said, ‘you’ve got to read this play.’ From the first read, I was totally sold. Not only by the themes within the story, but just by the sheer detail and complexities of the characters. Here were two people that should not be able to exist together, and yet they cannot live without one another. It is testament to Heathcote for creating such diverse characters within a beautiful and almost poetic language. As an actor, it has been a real pleasure to speak these words. 

It deals with some heavy duty themes: how has the process of making

the show been for you? It is tough to deal with such intense ideas?

I think the beauty of this piece is that the themes that are rooted within the play are as relevant now as they were back then. If not more so. With the advances of technology in our modern era, themes such as celebrity obsession are seen constantly via social media and the press which, unfortunately, can provoke a sense of animosity. I suppose with regards to the heavier themes such as violence, anarchy and the rage stimulated by an unfair class system, I would say I have found it tough at times. The process has been an incredible journey. Especially in delving into a subculture so empowered by music and the sense freedom. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed learning about it, and listening to as many stories as my old man can remember! I guess the difficulty is constantly having to appreciate that their sense of empowerment is so strong, they are willing to do whatever it takes to tell this ‘system’ how they really feel. 

Do you feel that the characters you play reflect anything of your own personality or experiences?

I hope not! Haha! I suppose you’re constantly looking for ways to sympathise with your character. For me, playing a sociopath with nihilistic tendencies, I looked for the vulnerabilities in him. Harnessing onto the unfairness or loneliness we all feel at times, and then allowing that to influence the brutality and aggression that I feel is ingrained in all of us.

When dealing with the violence aspects, I used a piece of advice given to me by my screen acting tutor at G.S.A, Julia Carey. She said to me ‘Take the moment you squashed an ant as a child or swatted a wasp on the window, and put a magnifying glass over the situation.’ This stayed with me throughout this process, constantly helping me to intensify the rage within. 

How do you deal with that? 

I must admit, sometimes not too well. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself. When you get offered the chance to perform in a piece like this, where the writing is so good, I feel a huge sense of responsibility. Every word or beat is golden. I like to throw myself in at the deep end with a character, and stay in that stream of consciousness for as long as I can, absorbing anything useful or insightful along the way. I suppose when you're dealing with someone like Graham who feels so much hate and isolation, it is very difficult to drop in and out of it. That has been the biggest challenge for me. Knowing when to let it go and not let it influence me. 

What is it that you enjoy about performing, that keeps you coming back to it?

I think it's a bit of an obsession with me. I honestly couldn't imagine doing anything else. It's not necessarily the performing aspect that makes me want to keep coming back, more the enjoyment of a story and bringing it to life. There's something incredibly fulfilling about working collaboratively with a group of people to create moments of real meaning that people can watch and allow it to have an effect on them. 

What role do you think theatre has in contemporary discussions of serious ideas?

What a question. One that I most definitely do not have enough experience to know the answer too. I suppose from what I have very briefly experienced I think theatre is completely subjective, everybody has their own opinion. Which in many cases is very similar to the serious ideas we look at throughout topics like education, politics and humanitarian issues.

I’ve always strongly believed that good theatre has the power to change you. Many times I have walked out of performances and it has made me question everything about myself and how I do it. Theatre has the potential to open up discussions and give them a platform in which to be debated on a higher level. It always comes back to a quote I love: ‘The earth without art is eh!?’

What experience do you think the audience will get from the show?

In all honesty, I'm not sure. I've never read anything like it. Our director Michael Toumey believes it's as good as any Pinter or Beckett he's read, and I totally agree with him. If I had to try and describe it to someone, I'd say it's a 'A Clockwork Orange' + 'Reservoir Dogs' x 'Dog Day Afternoon.' For me, regardless of whether they enjoy it or not, I think it will make them question. It lays our society bare for all to see, and that is something all generations can relate too. 

Stigmatic Dramaturgy: William Frazer @ Red Lion

The Local Stigmatic

Old Red Lion Theatre, 418 St John Street, London EC1V 4NJ Tuesday 3rd – Saturday 28th May
The Local Stigmatic is a sinister, deeply disturbing study of psychosis, fame, obsession and envy. Darkly comical at times, it reveals society’s fascination with ‘celebrity’ and the resentment it can provoke. In our celebrity obsessed culture, The Local Stigmatic seems as relevant as ever as it foreshadows the ‘fan culture’ that is now omnipresent.

Powerful, highly provocative and profoundly shocking, The Local Stigmatic finally returns to the London stage to mark its 50th anniversary.

Graham and Ray are working class sociopaths who idly spend their days gambling on the dogs, debating, bickering and reading the newspaper gossip columns. A chance encounter with a somewhat famous actor reveals their true psychotic nature as the pair begin to play a cruel and manipulative game with this innocent man - stalking, harassing and goading him. 

Delighting in their new found source of entertainment, they progressively assert their power, determined to gain the upper hand over their intended prey.
Misfits - disturbed, damaged and broken by their social boundaries - Graham and Ray then choose to take their animosity towards this individual to the very brink, culminating in a truly horrific conclusion.

Director Michael Toumey, comments:
I first became aware of The Local Stigmatic in 1999 whilst working as an actor. I was blown away, not only by the play’s unique dark narrative but also by its two main protagonists. These two powerfully written individuals have continued to lurk on the fringes of my mind for nearly 20 years. I’ve always thought that it is a superb, innovative piece of writing and something that I passionately wanted to direct. 

The Local Stigmatic speaks volumes about a society that still exists today. Certain factions on the one hand relishing in celebrity culture, whilst, on the other, often resenting what they themselves will never have - fame, status, and privilege. This message resonates through the vitriolic, biting voices of Graham and Ray. For me, the best writing doesn’t give you answers, but asks the most interesting questions and this play does precisely that.

William Frazer

What is it that first attracted you to TLS?
When I initially received a few scenes for the audition I instantly said 'I need to be in

this play’ and ‘it's a play I would love to see’! It's sinister, thought provoking, dark, light and at times even potentially comical. It is funny because you almost look upon it as if it is a piece of 'new writing' because I had never seen or heard about it before and getting a copy of the text in England was virtually impossible. I thought, how can this play have all these themes, be so incredibly in depth with its characters, so relevant to modern society and yet not be a play everyone's heard and talking about?! Therefore, I thought it would be incredible if I could be one of those creatives to bring this almost forgotten play back to life.

It deals with some heavy duty themes: how has the process of making the show been for you? It is tough to deal with such intense ideas?

Yes and no. We have had some extremely dark moments in the rehearsal rooms accessing our deepest, darkest thoughts, more so than I ever have before, but you have to for this piece. However, for me, I felt for my own sanity I needed to leave 'Ray' in the rehearsal room and try as best as I could to go back to ‘Will’ when I went home. The challenge was finding the balance of how far do I go investigating all of these sinister and dark emotions in order to create a psychopath alongside the fact that I'm still an actor, it's a play and I don't want to get into a fight on my way home!

Do you feel that the characters you play reflect anything of your own personality or experiences?

In terms of actually reflecting in my own personality, when Ray is winding Graham up, it is a little reminiscent of how I used to wind my older sister up as a child, which is interesting because these guys are like two children that never grew up. The main comparison can be found in the emotions of the characters. Take anger as an example: we have all been angry but you’ll stop yourself from acting in a violent way. This is where we differ, Ray wouldn’t stop himself. But if you take that anger you’ve experienced and time it by 100, take away the rational side you have and that’s how Ray would feel, which explains why he’d be violent.

How do you deal with that?

That was half he challenge at the beginning of the rehearsal process, thinking - how on earth do I become someone who is SO far away from myself. I feel it’s vital to have empathy with your character. You have to, on stage, no matter how dark, how horrible it is, believe that what you are doing is simply, what ‘Ray’ would do!

What is it that you enjoy about performing, that keeps you coming back to it?

The play is like a drug. You just want to do it again and again; it makes you feel euphoric, especially at the end. It’s because there as so many different highs and lows and as three actors we go on such an emotional rollercoaster at the end we’re absolutely exhausted but we just want to do it again!

What role do you think theatre has in contemporary discussions of serious ideas?

That’s what’s great about this play, being 50 years old it is actually more relevant now then it was then! For me theatre is the only place where I truly feel immersed and invested in something. I feel I disassociate myself when something is on a screen, whereas in theatre, you’re there, you’re present and in such an intimate space like The Old Red Lion it’s so small I feel like you have no choice but to be affected by the work.

What experience do you think the audience will get from the show?

I’m not sure. That’s the beauty of it.  We hope that they’ll realise that there are people out there that do this sort of behavior 24/7, they do actually exist and people should be aware of this! I also hope the audience will pause for thought about this celebrity revolved culture we evolve around and ask questions like ‘why people follow it’ and ‘what actually makes it interesting’? Ultimately we want this show to make people talk, in a good, bad or indifferent way, as long as they start talk about their own interpretations of the play, it’s a job well done on our part because I can guarantee no-one will leave with the same opinion.

The Local Stigmatic was first staged at The

Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh in 1966 before transferring to The Royal Court in the same year. The play was consequently made into a film in 1990 with Al Pacino both producing and playing the role of Graham.