ROYAL Shakespeare Company actor Miles Richardson and former EastEnders soap star James Alexandrou will lead the cast for Giles Croft's revival of Anthony Shaffer's thriller Sleuth at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, from tomorrow.
Richardson plays rich and successful mystery writer Andrew Wyke, whose obsession with playing games is in danger of losing him everything. Matters take a surprising turn when he lures his wife's lover, Alexandrou's Milo, to his country house to take part in a specially created challenge.
Nothing is what it seems, but perhaps the arrival of Inspector Doppler will help untangle fact from fiction, deception from truth and murderer from victim.
Playhouse artistic director James Brining reckons Sleuth is "a classic thriller is ripe for a revival in Yorkshire" and welcomes the return of Giles Croft after his production of The Kite Runner was such a hit at the Playhouse.
Here Miles Richardson discusses his part in the ultimate game of cat and mouse.
What drew you to this play, Miles?
"I was stuck in a small village in Canada in the 1970s during a heatwave, the local cinema was air conditioned, and I must have watched the Olivier and Caine film about 15 times. Therefore it bled itself into my psyche when I was about 13. I thought, 'what a great piece drama'. So when I got asked would I like to go and meet Giles about Sleuth I thought of course, who wouldn’t!"
Miles Richardson in Sleuth
How would you describe the principal characters in Sleuth?
"Andrew Wyke is a cross between Evelyn Waugh and Jeffrey Archer. Readers may discern from that what they will! Both Andrew and Milo are chancers, opportunists and exploiters. They’re not nice people. I don’t think you’d want to spend time with these people outside the theatre."
What is your process for getting into character?
"I just put the costume on… No, I think the trick is to put your prejudices to one side and to adopt the prejudices of the character. Then, once you have all the things they don’t like about life as opposed to what you don’t like, finding out what they do like about life becomes tremendously easier. You’ve got to like your character, otherwise you can’t play them."
What has been the most challenging thing about the play in rehearsals?
"The most difficult thing is also the most pleasurable. I never leave the stage, except for the interval. In plays you either want to be on stage all the time or just make that one dramatic entrance for ten minutes, then go away again. Never leaving is challenging but joyous at the same time."
Miles Richardson as Andfrew Wyke, deep in thought in Sleuth
Andrew Wyke loves playing games. What was your favourite board game when growing up?
"I don’t play computer games but I’ve been in some, like Dark Souls. I gave my copy to my kids and it’s so complicated, they can’t get to where my character is.
"When I was a kid there was a great board game called Kingmaker, based around the War of the Roses, which I got one Christmas because my parents thought it’d be good for teaching me history. It did, but my poor old mother had to play it with me and games did last for about three days, driving her up the wall."
Finally, Miles, what makes Sleuth such a memorable stage thriller?
"It’s got a small cast and three principal characters where something like The Mousetrap has eight. Therefore the twists and turns are narrowed down to a much smaller margin. It’s the compactness of it that makes it work so well."
Sleuth, a West Yorkshire Playhouse co-production with Nottingham Playhouse, runs in the Quarry Theatre, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, from tomorrow to October 15. Box office: 0113 213 7700 or at wyp.org.uk
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