Acclaimed UK actor, Samuel Barnett, outlines his approach to acting to ReviewsGate’s - Roderick Dungate

21 March 2024

Acclaimed Actor, Samuel Barnett, currently starring in the RSC’s Ben and Imo, is an actor who has been phenomenally busy for his 20 odd years in acting; appearances began at the National Theatre in The History Boys and has continued through, among other things, Allelujah! (another Alan Bennett show), Kiss of the Spider Woman, to his recent solo show, Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible Is Going To Happen by Marcelo Dos Santos. He also led, as Detective Dirk Gently, in the Netflix serials, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. He is, at present, in the two-hander Ben and Imo (Mark Revenhill) at the RSC. I wished to find out a bit about his work creating his character, the composer Benjamin Britten, and his thoughts about plays and acting.

Samuel creates Benjamin Britten at a period in the early 1950s when Britten is creating the opera Gloriana; the opera is about Elizabeth I and has been commissioned to celebrate the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth II. Britten has 9 months to create the work, so engages Imogen Holst as an assistant, she is daughter of Gustav Holst, and a composer and conductor in her own right.

I ask Samuel if the play is about the creative process or the relationship, and suggest that Ravenhill’s chosen topic is in danger of being exclusive because it is too esoteric. Samuel agrees that the play is about the creative process, about public and private funding of art and so on, but: ‘Primarily the play is about the relationship between Benjamin and Imogen. That human story is what every single person in the audience can relate to’.

Following his line of thought Samuel continues from Britten’s position as composer genius: ‘genius needs someone with them to support them, to create the right environment… Behind every genius is someone or a team of people who are making that [creative process] possible.’

Samuel explains that the play does not necessarily give neat conclusions. He adds: ‘One of the things Mark [Ravenhill] wanted to do was write a drama about the relationship between a gay man and a straight woman.’ He points out that there are many comedies doing this but no dramas. The play explores the love, friendship, stresses, ups and downs of this complex relationship. The specific of the opera creation explores the universal of relationships.

It is immediately noticeable that Samuel’s answers, for the most part, come quickly and coherently; it is just as clear these answers are not superficial but stem from an actor who has thought long and hard about both the work in hand and about performance more broadly.

Ravenhill’s script is sparce. Samuel: ‘It’s one of the hardest plays I’ve ever done… It offers no obvious clues, you need to mine the text.’ Samuel explains the important contributions from Director Erica Whyman and acting partner Victoria Yeates. Then continues, that the play is ‘brilliantly difficult and rewarding. The more you play it, the more it reveals.’

I note that Samuel (and the team) went to Britten’s home in Aldeburgh, walked around the house, touched the manuscripts; is this vital? Samuel suggests it is not vital, but for him, important, and there is: ‘Osmosis between me and the character. It helps create an authentic inner world for the character; it adds richness and it adds layers. It adds a kind of truth, it works in a psycho-physical way.’

Britten is a complex character. Samuel had described him elsewhere as ‘wounded’. I ask how he approached this, and how much he drew from himself to create a three-dimensional person. ‘Britten had a conflict within him which he never seems to quite come to terms with’. Then: ’there’s a lot of me in this character… Actors have to bring something of themselves to every character they play… Benjamin Britten is very far away from me, but, in order for me to be able to play him I’ve had to dig into my past, my own emotional history… The play is like climbing an emotional mountain… You can’t fake it. You must feel it every single moment. It is challenging and exhausting.’ He follows this up: ‘I’ve been lucky to have had an awful lot of therapy. I’m not the same person I was 20 years ago but the kind of emotions Ben goes through, I’m drawing on those I felt 20 years ago and it’s a very, very rewarding experience for the actors and I think for the audience’.

Samuel suggests the Swan Theatre itself supports the performer in this, but the performer cannot fake it.

Central within Benjamin Britten’s life was his life-long relationship with Peter Pears. Although Peter Pears never appears in the play he is very much present. They were totally open about their relationship, which Samuel describes as ‘brave and bold, way ahead of their time.’

It is easy to forget that in the 1950s such a relationship as Britten’s and Pear’s was illegal. Times have changed. Times change and tastes with them. I take Samuel back to his performances in The History Boys. There is comedy drawn from the fact the older school boys go for rides on the back of a teacher’s motor-cycle with the knowledge that he is certainly going to touch them up. I ask if that comedy would be acceptable in the present climate. Samuel’s answer is immediate and takes me by surprise.

‘None of us thought that was OK in rehearsal [20 years ago.] It wasn’t OK then… it’s not OK now.’ Samuel adds further insight: ‘The play was set in the 80s and that was what was written, so we had to find a way of justifying it.’ Samuel points out there is a production coming up in Bath quite soon and wonders how the production will handle it today. ‘I’m curious to see if they tackle that differently.’

Samuel elaborates: ‘We talked about it for a week in rehearsal. He’s [Bennett’s] setting the play in the 80s but writing about years ago. I love Alan, he’s a really good friend, not a criticism, he is writing his own experience and we wanted to honour that experience.’

Samuel further explains that he believes works can be adjusted and that in really good works the art still comes through. And also adds that there are some works which, maybe, should not be done any more.

To finish up, I ask Samuel what is coming up for him. ‘Feeling Afraid is going to be remounted for a London theatre and then to Australia.’ And is there something you really want to do but that is not on the horizon? ‘I never have and answer to that. I have no idea what I want to do. All I know, is what I want to do, is keep working and do interesting roles. That’s what I’ve done for the last 20 years and it’s served me very well.’

And long may it continue, Samuel.