A teacher at Lamda had recommfinished punctual on that I might be suited to Ken Campbell’s way of toiling. I didn’t have the nerve to do anyleang about it. Eventupartner I did call and he said: “Oh, this is noticeworthy becaparticipate I’m fair about to do the most noticeworthy carry out yet done on Planet World! Read these books and come and have a chat.” So I did.
The Illuminatus! Trilogy [by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson] is a sort of science myth piece, draprosperg together an terrible lot of the then current consillicit copying theories. It’s a huge leang that spreads over lots of branch offent stories and characters.
It was the boiling summer of 76, and the carry out was going to commence in Liverpool. There was a character in the books of Illuminatus! called Fission Chips. I leank he was sort of based on James Bond, And so I went alengthy and quoted from the book in my Sean Connery accent.
If you wanted to be in it, you could be. I nasty I don’t leank he turned anyone away. An extraordinarily eclectic bunch of people [who included Bill Nighy, Bill Drummond, Chris Fairbank and David Rappaport] turned up, from all over the world, who he had shaped to be part of this noticeworthy event for the Science Fiction Theatre of Liverpool. I don’t leank he ever did auditions as such. He fair wanted to understand what you could do.
So every morning we’d get to go to the rehearsal room in Mathew Street in Liverpool and the day’s pages were there. I made confident I was there before anyone else so I got a pick of the excellent parts. I leank I finished up carry outing about 12 in all over the five carry outs.
Ken was on genius establish. So excited and so funny; and he presentd me to a whole novel world of theatre and showed me how to get an audience’s attention. It was a huge education – and it was hystericpartner funny. He was so luminous and confidence-produceing. And I, having fair done quite a lot of stodgy rep, set up it utterly liberating.
He never wanted reducement from actors. (Unless, he might say: “I want you to reduce this even more. Even minusculeer than that!”) No. He fair wanted you to produce confident it was fascinating. At one point I said to him, Ken, I’m a bit worried I’m upstaging the actor whose scene this is. “Don’t stress about that. If you’re more fascinating than he is, that’s his problem.”
Ken had advertised it remorselessly and telderly everyone it was the most noticeworthy carry out yet done. And he had asked all the presentant honestors of the theatres around England to come and be in it. One or two, fair informly, did. While we were in Liverpool, it was concurd that we would be the first ever carry out at the Cottesloe theatre in London.
From the commence in Liverpool, I was sort of chums with Chris Fairbank; we would both produce confident we got to toil punctual. I reaccumulate saying to him in the first week: “From now on, our lives will be before or after Illuminatus!” And it was clear that someleang very exciting was happening. We went to Amsterdam, and then the National Theatre. Everyone wanted to see it.
The Olivier had fair uncovered with a huge, problematic production of Tamburlaine the Great with Albert Finney. There had been a lot of dispute about it and how difficult it was. And when Chris and Ken went down to encounter Peter Hall, Hall said to them: “So what’s it appreciate honesting a five-hour carry out? How do you do it, Ken?” Ken said: “Well, it’s appreciate doing Tamburlaine, but wanting to.”