Guest Blog: 'I Feel So Grateful to Be a Part of It': Actor Baker Mukasa on Jazz, Smooth Rehearsals and Being Part of BRIEF ENCOUNTER

Do you know what Pneumoconiosis is? Well I didn’t either until the audition for this wonderful production of Brief Encounter came in! One thing I love about my job is that one day you’ll be minding your business in your south London flat finishing off a self tape or applying for a waiting shift to earn some extra cash and the next minute you’re on a train to Manchester googling what life is like for a Doctor in 1930s England.

Brief Encounter is a beautiful musical set in Milford Junction between 1938-1939 and if follows an extramarital affair between Dr Alec Harvey and Mrs Laura Jesson. I am so excited to be playing Alec Harvey and learning more about a man who is willing to risk it all for love.

Every part you do will require research as you need to deeply understand the world the character lives in and the world you play sits in. The further away from me I feel a play and or character is the more I have to research; usually it is my least favourite part of the creative process. However, on this project I found it really interesting. Particularly because it made me look into what the black British presence was during the 1930s; getting the opportunity to look at beautiful portraits of black people and read stories of how they were able to study and thrive regardless of the social constraints they were in definitely made the task feel less like tedious homework! 

Looking at portraits from the time is really helpful for me when I am building a character in a different time period. Seeing how a person holds themselves in a photo or portrait gives me an amazing starting point to make physical choices that are not incongruous with the time period. As the majority of the way we communicate is through our body language I need to make sure that I make choices I make not only support the story we are telling but also reflect the time the piece is set in.

The end of the rehearsal process is in mere sniffing distance at the moment and the process has been gloriously smooth (as I write this I am definitely knocking wood just to be sure not to jinx anything!)

One of the best parts of rehearsals so far has been hearing everyone sing for the first time. The nature of rehearsals is that you don’t always get to hear or see what other people are working on until you start running the show in its entirety however one of the perks of this job is that we get to rehearse with our jazz band (that will be on stage throughout the whole show!) once a week. As a jazz enthusiast it has been a joy hearing how each member of the company has interpreted these gorgeous songs gifted to us from Noel Coward and beautifully arranged by MATTHEW MALONE.

Love is a huge theme running through this piece, and I can tell you I have fallen in love many a time after bearing witness the insane talent and generosity displayed by everyone in this company.  I feel so grateful to be a part of this production and so excited to share it with an audience. If you love tasteful music, a heart wrenching script and are a romantic at heart like me then this is definitely a production for you.

(P.S Pneumoconiosis is a term given to a group of lung diseases caused by the inhalation and retention in the lungs of dusts… Every day is a school day!)

Brief Encounter runs at the Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre from 2 December – 13 January 2024.

Photo Credits: Joel Fildes

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