Interview: 'To Be Playing the Lead is Mind-Blowing to Me': Actor Joanna Woodward on Universality, Creativity and Leading THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE

Based on Audrey Niffenegger’s internationally best-selling novel, new British musical The Time Traveller's Wife is thrillingly brought to life with original songs from Grammy Award winners Joss Stone and Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart. 

Following the initial run in Chester last year, Joanna Woodward is set to lead the opening of the show in the West End on 1 November as Clare, opposite David Hunter as Henry. She talks to BroadwayWorld about the value of creating from the ground up, the universality of this story, and the joy of a complex female character.

As a theatre fan, a new West End opening is always cause for real excitement, as we have new shows and people to fall in love with! How does it feel for you, its leading lady, and the team?

Doing a brand new show doesn’t come up often in your career, and so to be the first people to get your hands on the material is so amazing, you really feel like you’re part of creating it as well. To be playing the lead is mind-blowing to me – this is what I’ve always wanted, a brand new originated role! We’re all so excited, but the pressure is on too as we want it to be amazing…

You play Clare, the titular wife – tell us a little about her.

Clare is artistic, she’s strong willed, and she’s quite complex – definitely in the book I think her complexity comes across, she’s so well written, but Lauren’s version (Lauren Gunderson, our book writer) has just a really cool, strong woman. Actually getting to say a lot of these lines on stage is incredible to me as so often, women are underwritten, or written from a male perspective. She’s witty, out there, fast paced, and not just your typical ingenue, which is really satisfying.

The Time Traveller’s Wife is based on the novel of the same name, and has also been adapted for film and television. What is it about the story that you think lends itself well to the theatre medium?

The book is sensational, but I think when it comes down to it: it’s a very human story and you can relate to it in a very human way. We’re all trying to love and hold onto each other despite the hell going on around us: relationships where the partner has to be away for work, whether you’ve lost someone, or they’re unwell – it’s loving through loss, grief and trauma and finding your way back to love. But then, you’ve got these elements of magic and fantasy that theatre can create – the illusions will blow your mind. It’s quite disappointing knowing how they happen now, actually!

How have you approached playing Clare – is having the novel as a basis helpful in developing her as she appears in the musical?

It’s incredibly wonderful to have such so much source material, it’s all there, you don’t need to invent as much, but also: this is a lot of people’s favourite book, and so there’s pressure of making Clare what people imagine she is, whilst also putting my own spin on it, so it’s wonderful and terrifying.

I want to live up to the heart and soul of her, and the book, and because the source material is all there, it’ll hopefully be easier think of Clare as a real human being.

The show started life in Chester, how has it grown and developed since then?

Chester was invaluable – what a treat to try it before we bring it to this new level. The Storyhouse is such a gorgeous theatre and I can’t believe how much we created in that short space of time. This time around, we’ve really had time to focus on what works, and what maybe wasn’t as strong, so there are changes: like our new opening, and tiny little scenes that have come in, but the essence remains.

This rehearsal period has been so interesting, because we are trying to get back to a place where we were before: revisiting these characters, you sort of half know the lines and are on autopilot, but also it’s been a year and you want to rediscover it fresh. It’s been a different experience, coming back to something that you knew really well a year ago. I hope that the changes we have made elevate it even more.

And of course, some of your castmates have come with you from that production; is it reassuring to have  already developed the dynamic and camaraderie?

It’s lovely that we’ve managed to keep the four of us (David Hunter, Hiba Elchikhe and Tim Mahendran) together. With David as Henry, it’s been especially nice to revisit as you’re already in that safe space to explore their extremely intricate and intimate connection, and then with Hiba and Tim – I think the four of us are all so different, and when you get to a place in the show when you’re onstage together, it’s just really exciting and funny as we all have strong personalities!

The show is fast paced, so it’s necessary to be trusting with your fellow actors, and they are amazing; Tim and Hiba are hilarious, Hiba’s voice is sensational, and David in this role is just.. heartbreaking.

You could say that the show has the familiar romance, but with the added complication of time travel: Clare and Henry are obviously very much in love, but especially in Clare’s case, that takes a toll on the relationship – what’s it like for you to play that arc?

It’s tough! We’ve focused a lot of our show on Clare – the struggles of being left behind, of waiting; she doesn’t want to be waiting for a man, she wants to be out there creating her art… but she loves him.  I think she quite enjoys it at first when he is disappearing, because she has time to create, but when we meet her in Act Two, you can see that it has taken its toll, the waiting, wondering when he’s going to be back. And then when he is back, we’ve been working a lot on the physicality of that: how would you hold someone who is about to disappear at any moment? It’s very much living in that moment, because you don’t know when that might be taken away from you again, or when the last time might be. None of us know that, so that’s very human and real, but for Henry and Clare, it’s a heightened reality.

The music and lyrics for the show is in the hands of Joss Stone and Dave Stewart – how would you describe the sound of the show, and do you have a favourite melody, or lyric that you love?

The sound of the show is quite varied. It’s very poppy and its definitely got Joss’ soulful element running through it, but then there ar heartbreaking ballads and funky numbers. I think when people listen to our cast album, they’ll hear from that each number is an amazing standalone song, even if they weren’t in a musical. But then you do have the traditional musical theatre style – there’s a duet between Henry and his dad called “I See Her” which is so moving and probably more on that side of things.

Act Two opening, Henry’s “Journeyman” is like something you’ve never heard in theatre before, dare I say, and then my favourite solo number, Clare has a number in Act Two: “I’m in Control” that is just going to make all the women in our audience feel empowered and go: yeah! And all the harmonies that Nick Finlow has created, especially when the ensemble sing together in the finale are beautiful.. that was a very long winded way of saying I like everything!  There isn’t a dull song, or one you wish would hurry along: they are all there for a reason and Joss and Dave have done amazing things.

Has playing Clare taught you anything about yourself, or lessons you want to take forward in life, or in work?

She has – she’s constantly teaching me to be brave artistically, and to dive in feet first and see what happens, but also she’s reminded me to love those in my life, and that life is fleeting and magical. I think it’s very easy, and I say this as a married person with kids, to take for granted the people that are around me, in my household, so she has reminded me to love, appreciate and be present with the people that matter the most to you.

Has the reaction to and anticipation for the show given you hope for the future of new work in the industry?

I’m really hopeful that coming out of the pandemic and into this new phase that there will be in an influx of new work and creativity, and I think we do need to support more British musical theatre because it’s so hard to build anything from the ground up and get it the support it needs.

I ADORE new theatre – I remember going to Edinburgh Festival for three nights this summer and I did something like: 16 shows in two and a half days? I just wanted to take in fresh work and what people are out there creating and doing. I’m in a very privileged position to be leading a new West End show, so I wanted to remind myself that there are millions of us out there creating, and doing it on our own, and just be excited to see where things start!

The Time Traveller's Wife runs at The Apollo Theatre from Oct 7

Rehearsal Photo Credits: Danny Kaan