RICHARD Hope may have trained with the National Youth Theatre but he could have been lost to the world of acting.

"I did a degree in law at Nottingham Trent University and I had no intention of doing acting full time, but then I realised that Law was not for me," says Richard, whose change of heart led to a career with the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company and Shakespeare's Globe and now the role of maverick English teacher Hector in The History Boys.

"I worked for six months in the courts at Nottingham and I was too much of an idealist. I though the Law was about right and wrong when in fact it was about degrees of honesty. I saw people who were innocent being found guilty and those who were guilty being found innocent, and juries who never understood the difference between 'beyond reasonable doubt' and 'balance of probability'."

Richard had to make a crunch decision when his paths in the Law and as an actor came to a fork in the road. "I was offered a role as a court clerk and at the same time I was offered an Equity card. I was 22 and still part of the National Youth Theatre, and I thought I'd give the acting five years," he says. "If I wasn't making a living, I'd go back to the Law, but I've been lucky; I've always been a character player and got roles."

Reflecting on the legal career that never was, Richard says: "I wasn't clever enough to be a barrister; I would have been a solicitor, but I would have wanted to do crime cases."

Instead, the former Oakham School pupil has pursued a fruitful career in theatre. "I really like experiencing other people's lives without taking responsibility for them," he says.

His learning curve took in working with Ken Campbell, the English writer, actor, director and comedian known for his work in experimental theatre. "I was in a lot of shows with Ken, who would deliberately not rehearse sometimes and at other times would just put people on stage with no script," Richard remembers. "From Ken Campbell I got the sense of the role of danger in acting; later I learnt from Mike Alfreds at Shared Experience about the importance of being in the moment."

Just as Campbell and Alfreds were influential on Richard, so too was his Geography teacher, a Mr Barrett. "He made me want to do extra learning as you felt guilty that other pupils had come up with a better idea," he says. "He took us on field trips too where there would be boys and girls together, so it was chaotic, and maybe that's why I joined the National Youth Theatre...to meet girls!"

Now he is playing a teacher, Hector, whose methods are unconventional but whose encouragement to learn makes the pupils respond to him. "I had that feeling of encouragement with my geography teacher, wanting to do my best for him," says Richard. "I have kids and their education is much narrower now. Children's general knowledge is nil; field trips don't happen."

You sense his frustration; frustration that he has addressed by becoming a school governor at Greenhill School and Tenby Junior School at home in Wales.

 

Richard Hope stars as Hector in Alan Bennett's The History Boys at Grand Opera House, York, from June 8 to 13 at 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees. Box office: 0844 871 3024 or at atgtickets.com/york