James Nesbitt: Child’s play
TV and film actor James Nesbitt recounts his first ventures into theatre during a visit to The Unicorn with Anwar Brett
Above: Herne Hill actor James Nesbitt at The Unicorn Theatre in Tooley Street SE1 Photography by Eric Richardson © www.photograph-er.co.uk
Think of James Nesbitt and a few images might come to mind. The cockeyed roguish grin, the Ulster burr, the undying support for Manchester United and that rose carrying scene in Cold Feet. Away from the screen the 42-year-old is a devoted family man who is also passionate about his acting career, yet he only recently found a way to indulge both with his belated discovery of The Unicorn Theatre.
"I came here for the first time this year to see a production of Jemima Puddleduck," he explains over a cup of tea in the theatre. "I brought my kids and it was just astonishing – for all the right reasons. It was extremely evocative of a time when I was a kid, and it was uniquely bonding experience for the family. That’s increasingly hard nowadays because there are so many distractions for kids.
"When I was young I had a poster of Manchester United and a poster of Slade in my room but I didn’t spend much time in there. Now kids have got computers and games and phones, they live in this world where it’s hard to communicate with them. So in respect of that it was fantastic to come to this and do something together. What I think they’ve got here and what is key for children is that it’s not patronising in any way."
The Unicorn’s ethos, in its own words, is "providing young people with the opportunities to learn and play through the arts". Between now and the new year productions will include How To Beat A Giant, and Duck!, while the larger-than-life spirit embodied in this wonderful space is captured by the Snuff Puppet company from Melbourne – the giant examples of which Nesbitt cheerily agrees to be photographed with.
It’s a real confluence of positive energy, the young people’s theatre with a remit to entertain and educate, the puppetry group that challenges expectations through humour and the popular actor who is just delighted to find all this virtually on his doorstep.
"It’s true," he nods, "it’s not far from where I live in Herne Hill. What’s fantastic about this place is that it feels like it’s ours, in south London." And here Nesbitt reveals himself to be an adopted south Londoner through and through, eschewing the showbiz enclaves in the north and Notting Hill, favouring instead the diverse and cosmopolitan region of the capital he has called home these last 13 years.
"North Londoners have no idea about south London," he says, mischievously. "They recoil at the thought of ever crossing the river, but we who live in the south feel we’ve got a secret. We have this place that’s lovely, very community based, multi-cultural, very green, friendly. We’re fiercely proud of it, and slightly feel like underdogs to the north Londoners, I think. But I love it, I can’t imagine living anywhere else."
Treats like The Unicorn are emblematic of the fact that this part of London has just as much to offer as anywhere else. Born out of a mobile theatre project established by Caryl Jenner in 1947, The Unicorn has had its ups and downs over the years, but by 2005 had moved into its current purpose-built home thanks to a £4.5 million Arts Council grant. One of the reasons that Nesbitt, who recently returned to our screens in Murphy’s Law, loves it so is that he can remember when the acting bug first bit.
"I never went to the theatre," he recalls. "I was more into playing sport. When I was 13, we moved from the country to the town of Coleraine, where The Riverside Theatre had its own professional company. They were auditioning local kids for Oliver!, and I didn’t know anything about it. I’d been playing rugby, my Dad took me there afterwards and that was the first time I’d stepped into a theatre.
"I remember it vividly. I went in sang in my audition and got the part of The Artful Dodger. The director, a guy called Tony Newby Lee, took me backstage into what seemed like this labyrinth, found me an old battered top hat and put it on me saying ‘you’re the Dodger’. It was an amazing feeling," he smiles looking for the goosebumps tickling his arms. "I can feel it even now."
His own daughters, 10-year-old Peggy and 5-year-old Mary, can expect to gain a more hands-on experience of theatre at a younger age than their father ever did. But he recognises that, even if he did chance upon it as a teenager, it changed the course of his life.
"It’s about finding a voice. I was a pretty confident kid but it found me without me knowing that was my voice. If I hadn’t had the platform of youth theatre then maybe I’d have been a teacher or a journalist, I don’t know. It wasn’t dissimilar to The Unicorn, though this is bigger. We need to find outlets for our children, not to condemn them for being difficult or out of control. We’ve got to try and understand them and listen to them as well as be inspired by them."
At the risk of segueing into a Whitney Houston song, the children really are the future, and there are few better ways to glimpse their potential and enhance their sometimes misplaced youthful energy than through drama. The empowering nature of it was underlined to Nesbitt as a 19-year-old when a production of West Side Story at the Riverside Theatre held strong echoes of the situation at the height of the Troubles.
To this end The Unicorn fulfils a very important function, and having come upon it relatively late Nesbitt is a willing convert to its evident charms. "Once you discover this place you don’t really want to let it go," he agrees. "The biggest thing I can say about it is that now I’ve been here I’ll be back, and so will my kids."
Unicorn Theatre, 147 Tooley Street SE1; 020 7645 0560;
www.unicorntheatre.com
Quote Living South when booking tickets for Duck! and KIDS GO FREE (excluding performances 21 Dec-6 Jan)