Jordan Mifsúd on his new role in ‘While The Sun Shines’

“I’ll tell you but you won’t believe me. I slept in the same bed with an earl… No, not a girl, stupid, an earl”.

The first major London revival in decades of Terence Rattigan’s While The Sun Shines, a charming wartime comedy is currently showing at The Orange Theatre, Richmond, Surrey, from the 7 June 2019 — 27 July 2019.

It is the evening of Bobby’s wedding. He is the young Earl of Harpenden. On a drunken night out he offers his room to Joe, an American soldier. Bobby’s fiancée Lady Elizabeth turns up and thinking she must be Bobby’s ex, Joe makes his move. He is not alone in his admiration, a Free French lieutenant also has eyes for her. To complicate matters further, Bobby’s future father in law turns up too.

This is London in the Blitz …

The Artiscape spoke with actor Jordan Mifsúd about his role in the play.

What are you looking forward to about performing in this play?

Mifsúd: This is my third time at the Orange Tree Theatre and this space is what I always look forward to the most. Of course, the play is an absolute banger: it is Rattigan after all! But there’s something special about the space at the [Orange Theatre] that somehow heightens the life and heart of any play performed there. There’s [this] ‘shared’ energy in there between the audience and the actors that makes both performing and spectating an addictively exhilarating experience for everyone involved.  

What can you tell us about the character you play?

Mifsúd: Colbert is pure heart and soul. He tries at times to hold back but his emotions and passions get the better of him every time. My maternal grandad was also a French-Polish soldier and he too had the same qualities of voicing his opinions and standing firmly for what he believed to be true. To sum him up in one phrase would be “VIVE LA FRANCE!” 

What’s the biggest challenge about taking on this role?

Mifsúd: The French accent and mannerisms. I’m mixed Maltese, French-Polish and British heritage so I’ve been surrounded by different accents and cultures growing up. However, I was born and brought up in London and therefore to sustain the accents and mannerisms of any heritage aside from the dominant one you’ve mostly lived and breathed in is hard, especially when you’re surrounded by very strong and brilliantly played British archetype characters.

Finally, what will an audience like about this play?

Mifsúd: Rattigan is an incredible wit and the gags and laughter flow in abundance but what I think the audience will fall in love with is how he has so beautifully woven a strong beating heart into this play.

We’re living in very uncertain times but nothing like what the audience at the time of this play we’re experiencing. Yet that same laughter and gaiety mixed with the strong bonds between our loved ones and allies is still just as necessary now as it was back then.

While The Sun Shines is showing at The Orange Theatre, Richmond, Surrey, from the 7 June 2019 — 27 July 2019.