Interview: Actor Richard Cant on Collaboration and Research in PINS AND NEEDLES at Kiln Theatre

Rob Drummond’s new play, Pins and Needles, will premiere in Amit Sharma’s inaugural season at the Kiln Theatre on Wednesday 25 September.

Broadway World at down with actor Richard Cant, who plays Edward Jenner in the show, to find out more.

You are starring in the world premiere of Rob Drummond’s Pins and Needles at the Kiln Theatre. Can you tell us a little about the show?

It’s a brilliant idea that Rob has had. He has taken the idea of verbatim interviews of people whose lives have been affected by their experience of vaccination and he is interweaving it with the writer character as well and the character of Edward Jenner that I play, who is we think, the father of vaccination. He certainly is the father of vaccination in that he made up the term. There’s a character from 200 years ago, there’s a character from 2012 and one from 2023, plus the writer. It’s character driven and they’re finding out who they are and who the others are, while having this debate about vaccination. There’s a lot going on.

Is it a mixture of different stories or do the character’s lives interweave with one another?

It’s a bit of both. We’re still finding the balance of how all of that works. It has been a really creative process. It’s still weaving a path and we’re finding a way through. Amit [Sharma] who is directing it is incredibly open in the [rehearsal] room, so it’s very empowering for the four of us actors. Rob is very involved as-well and is being very generous. It feels like we’re all really creating it together. It’s terrific.

How did you approach your performance of the character of Edward Jenner? Was it based on real life research or solely on the information in the script?

With Edward Jenner I found it really fascinating. First thing, I had heard of him. When I read about him, it was really the way Rob has characterised him. He was an extraordinary person. Then I did the research and it just got more and more extraordinary as I was doing the research. Actually, the two do marry up really well. However there comes a point when you have to stop doing the research and just focus on the character. I do feel, if anyone goes away from the play and just has a little look at the things he did do, there’s a lot to be interested in, in his life and in his career. A great character.

What has it been like working with Amit Sharma for their inaugural season at the Kiln Theatre?

It has been great. I have worked at The Kiln before and I feel very at home in the building. There’s a very supportive team here. There’s a great feeling of team work in this theatre. I hadn’t worked with Amit before, but from day one, he has just made it a very happy, open, creative space. He runs the day really well and it’s all the things you could wish for, which is wonderful. Really, really wonderful.

You have starred in Handbagged and Wife at the Kiln. What makes the Kiln a great theatre to work at?

It’s always two things - the people and the space. In the programming they’re always trying to speak to different aspects of the community they’re in and the community beyond it. The building is very alive with meetings, the youth groups, community groups and there’s that enormous cinema downstairs. There’s a lot going on here and it feels very alive, which is wonderful. I think that informs into the work. Plus it’s a beautiful theatre to go into to perform.

What has it been like working with Rob Drummond on the world premiere of Pins and Needles?

It feels like a very collaborative process. He really understands what we discover in a rehearsal room and what we discover physically can absolutely change and develop the work. I really applaud him. It takes a real spirit of generosity to open your work out to other people like that.

The show opens on Wednesday 25 September. How are rehearsals going?

Great. I think clearly we all responded to the play when we were asked to interview for it and so, the linking passion of that is terrific. We’re working together very well. It’s nice as it’s a real ensemble.

You have had the most incredible career - both on stage and screen - appearing in films like Stan and Ollie and working with the RSC. Is there anything that you haven’t done, that you would love to do?

I think there are always things that you would like to do more of. I’ve been really lucky to tap into all of those worlds. I think I’ve done two thirds theatre to a third film and theatre was my initial passion. I suppose as I get older I might do more film and TV. I’d love to do more voice and radio work. I’m really enjoying that. I didn’t do much of that when I was younger at all. It’s great to have different things open up to you as you get older. I think I’ve grown into…I think I was always a character actor, but getting older has really allowed me to embrace that.

Can you remember the first theatre show that you saw, which made you think, 'I want to do this. I want to be an actor.’

I think it was probably the musical Godspell. It was full of the most brilliant actors - David Essex, Jeremy Irons. It was a cast full of incredible actors and I enjoyed the theatricality of it. We went three times to see it. Every time I go Wyndhams Theatre, I get this extra thrill of being eight or nine in that particular theatre. It was a very well put together show, lots of good tunes.

Pins and Needles is at the Kiln Theatre from 25 September - 26 October 2024.

Rehearsal Photo Credits: Mark Senior

Main Photo Credit: Ruth Crafer