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A Sevenoaks-educated Shakespeare star |
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Page 1 of 7 John Morrison meets Geoffrey Streatfeild, the Sevenoaks-educated actor who is becoming a rising star in the London Shakespeare arena
For a man who has spent the last two years running the theatrical
equivalent of a marathon, Geoffrey Streatfeild looks in pretty good
shape. The Sevenoaks-educated actor has followed in the footsteps of
Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh with a widely praised performance
as the young warrior monarch in Shakespeare’s Henry V at London’s
Roundhouse.
That role would be a challenge on its own, but he has
alternated it with playing Henry’s younger self, Prince Hal, in the two
parts of Henry IV, as well as the substantial part of Suffolk in Henry
VI. The Roundhouse cycle of all eight of Shakespeare’s histories was
the theatre event of the decade for those of us lucky enough to see it,
and Streatfeild is now being hailed as one of the brightest stage stars
of his generation.
Initially performed at Stratford, the cycle was created by Royal
Shakespeare Company artistic director Michael Boyd with an ensemble of
around three dozen actors, all of whom signed up for a schedule lasting
more than two years from first rehearsal to final performance.
To my astonishment, Streatfeild isn’t keen to have a well-earned
break from the Bard and do something completely different for a change.
“I would love to do more films but, having spent two and a half years
learning how to do Shakespeare on that stage, I would like to have
another go. I feel as though I am only just getting going. I am only
just becoming familiar with the idea of talking to an audience in
soliloquy and all those things. It would be great to do some more of
that.”
At 33, after nearly a decade as a professional actor, Streatfeild
is engagingly modest about his own success. “I’m beginning to learn my
trade,” he tells me without a hint of irony. And he’s generous in his
praise for the teachers at Sevenoaks School who encouraged his early
ambition to act. I asked him if he ever had any doubts about what he
wanted to do.
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Last Updated ( Monday, 07 July 2008 )
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