Sam Walters, what are your feelings about the rehearsals and the Friday opening night?
The best rehearsals are those where the company discovers the play as it rehearses and this has certainly been the case with Leaving. It is a rich, complex, serious and funny play and very theatrical. I only hope we are going to do it justice.
What in Leaving do you like the best?
The main thrust of the play, of course, is about Reiger coming to terms, or rather not coming to terms, with leaving political office, but when a politician, or indeed anyone in power, leaves their position there is a fall-out for members of their family and all those who surround them. What Havel has done so brilliantly is to make this a play not just about one man, but about a whole household. All the characters in the play
(and even some only mentioned as off stage characters!) have their story and their part to play in the unfolding events. Havel's writing is great because he deals with big political and social issues through the personal lives of his characters.
For the Prague production, Havel recorded himself as the author’s Voice that he prescribed in the text. How did you solve this issue in your production in London?
The voice of the author does more than just commenting on the action, it also deals with the problems of playwriting in general. We are proud that our production is enhanced by also having the actual voice of Vaclav Havel himself, as he was generous enough to record "his part" in English for us. The fact that when the voice speaks it is the man himself clearly adds a gravitas to the proceedings and will I am sure be greatly enjoyed by British audiences.