Joseph Potter on his role in Candida, Orange Tree Theatre

Do you think that the things people make fools of themselves about are any less real and true than the things they behave sensibly about? They are more true: they are the only things that are true.

George Bernard Shaw’s Candida is given new life in its latest revival. Artistic Director Paul Miller directs this latest production which runs at Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond from 22 November 2019 — 11 January 2020

Candida, the heroine, must choose between two men, the free-thinking Eugene who champions love and liberation and James who believes in social justice for all and conventional married life for himself. Candida believes in her own strength and her right to run her life as she wants.

A passionate power struggle is played out in one of Shaw’s most enduring and witty plays. Only Candida can decide who is the stronger – and who’s to be the winner.

Joseph Potter tells The Artiscape what attracted him to the script;

“To be honest what really attracted me to the script was how much it completely destroyed my preconception of Bernard-Shaw”, Potter begins.

“Before reading it I expected a rather heavy cerebral experience; it was completely the opposite – I was so shocked at how raw the writing is, how emotive it and each character is – their needs and desires are so strong and that makes it Uber human and Uber attractive!”  

So what about the character he plays?

Potter tells us, “I play the role of Eugene Marchbanks, he’s a young poet from a wealthy background, but he’s abandoned his past of privilege in order to pursue the ‘truth’. He goes on quite the journey, confronting different hurdles and facing harsh realities – he’s full of contradictions and ideas, as every young person is, and that makes him fun to explore.”

How did Potter prepare for the role?

“I prepared firstly by just really getting to grips with the text – it’s so intricate and intelligent so I wanted to make sure no rock was left unturned in that respect,” explains Potter.

He adds “… and then I tried to develop an understanding of who I thought his (Marchbanks) hero’s would have been – I looked a lot into the young poet Rimbaud and how he may in some ways be a mirror image to Marchbanks and how my character may want to emulate him.”

What is Potter most looking forward to about performing his play?

He tells us “As with any play I’m most looking forward to having an audience and how they react to this classic text, how we may have changed its meaning and how we hopefully shock them.”

Finally, what does Potter think  an audience will take away from the play?

“I think everyone will take something different from the play, so I don’t want to preempt what that might be.” says Potter. “For me it’s a play about love, masculinity and sexuality and these are timeless topics that will never stop being explored. So I think each audience member will leave the theatre changed.”

Candida runs at Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond from 22 November 2019 — 11 January 2020