BWW Interviews: Guy Rhys On BIRD And Returning To The Royal Exchange

The 2013 Bruntwood prize has proved to be a rich seam of writing talent, and the latest of that cohort looks set to keep that going when Katherine Chandler's Bird receives its world premiere at Cardiff's Sherman theatre on May 13, before heading to Manchester's Royal Exchange, the home of the Bruntwood Prize, in June.

For Manchester actor Guy Rhys it's another chance to work with a Bruntwood winner, after being in the acclaimed Pomona, by Alistair McDowall. And he's looking forward to working with a new play again: "New, bold writing is always exciting, so you're sort of blessed if that comes and finds you" For Rhys, working with new writing means you can help shape the creative process: "Having the writer right there, it's immediate and you can start to play with it and find out what works and what doesn't work."

Sherman Theatre Artistic Director Rachel O'Riordan is directing this production, and Rhys says she really brings out his best work.

"She's brilliant to work with and I'm just really lucky, it's like when you're taught by your favourite teacher, and you want to rush home and do your homework and bring it in."

After Pomona, Bird is another production with dark themes and Rhys says that plays like that just seem to find him - "I don't go out looking for them." He's tight lipped about the plot, which looks at the transition faced by a young girl coming out of care. He hints that "it's pretty rough going, but it's brilliant and Rachel did some really mad stuff with it."

Rhys, is looking forward to returning to his city to perform yet again on the Royal Exchange stage, after performing in the sensational Pomona - written by another Bruntwood Prize winner McDowall. "When I started out I was washing dishes and used to walk through the Royal Exchange Lobby at night, I just look at that spaceship - the whole building - going, 'I want to work here.'"

Rhys's excitement is palpable, when he talks about the writing and the set and the team he's working with - he says it's something really special: "I just can't wait to put it out there, to be honest."

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