BWW INTERVIEWS: Lorraine Burroughs And David Harewood of The Mountaintop At The OLIVIERS 2010

Miriam Zendle talks to the stars of the Olivier Award-winning play...

Good to see you! You must be so excited.

Lorraine Burroughs: Yeah, very happy!

Was it a shock, since it was very much the underdog of the competition?

Lorraine: We all believe in it, and we always have done. We will continue to know what we achieve. We all put 110% into that, and I think if you do that with any job then it's recognised and you will be given the dues that you deserve. We all loved it and love it, and we're all so happy.

What was the reaction when the award was announced?

Lorraine:[Giggles] For me it was less of an intense moment for the Best Actress one, I was kind of like...

David Harewood: She knows what she's talking about.

Lorraine: David Harewood's trying to get involved...

David: She knows what she's talking about.

How are you, David? You as excited as Lorraine and Katori?

David: It's fantastic, fantastic. I have to say, really unexpected. The fact that we've won that - it's great.

This is really a breakthrough for Katori...

David: We did it in two and a half weeks.

Lorraine: Exactly. It was the underdog, as you say. We had two and a half weeks to rehearse in a small theatre above a pub.

David: Two and a half weeks...

Lorraine: We didn't know... it's the fastest West End transfer that's ever been done. We had a director who nearly went grey, a designer who nearly passed out, me and David couldn't actually speak cos we were like 'what the hell's going on'. And then it went in there and we just went 'boom' with it and the only way we know how to is to respect the play and each other and we did that, and we've had the outcome we wanted.

And you're telling this story that people don't really know.

David: A lot of people were very surprised to see the story we displayed on stage, but it's all true. It'll be interesting to see what happens when the production is done in America. I think it's going. They've got a lot to beat. We kicked it out there, you know. Lot to live up to.

Would you like to go over with it?

I think it's going over with a whole new production over there, with Americans. But they've got a lot of competition on their hands.

What does the Oliviers night now hold for you?

David: We're probably going to stay here, actually. We've got the suite booked upstairs, The Mountaintop suite...

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