‘THERE’S SOMETHING IN MY OWN JEWISH BACKGROUND THAT HELPS ME WITH THIS - IT'S THERE FOR ME ALREADY'
Garnet h praise
WARREN MITCHELL is often seen as being as much of a grump as his alter ego Alf Garnett. But as he prepares to bring the hit London drama THE PRICE to Scottish audiences, Steve Cramer finds much more to him than this.
hat. haye you actually read the pIay'.’ You actually read the play hel'ore the interview"? 'I'hat‘s a very rare feature in a journalist.‘ Well. I‘d tried. Warren Mitchell is often noted among journalists to he something of a curmudgeon. who falls to the biting side of' sarcasm. To avoid this. I'd cut the small talk and gone straight to the point. asking Mitchell ahout his role in Arthur Miller‘s The Price. I’roy'ided I'd done my research. there could he no piss
taking. But I seemed to haye erred on the side of
caution.
Yet there’s something Very engaging about him. ()l'ten. phrases like 'oneahle old grump‘ are euphemisms in journalism l’or ‘miserahle old hastard‘. Not this time. though. You get the impression. heautil‘ully carried off in Mitchell's personality. that he wants you to like him. hut that you‘re going to lime to work. And somehow. you do.
The Price is comlortahle territory for Mitchell. The mid (ills piece about an ageing police officer in the process of selling the contents of his late parents‘ home to raise a little extra cash for his impoverished family is not as often seen as Dear/i ol'u Salesman. 'I‘lrc ('rucililc or .-I Iicw I’m/n the Bridge. httt its strong stul‘l'. As with other Miller pieces. the sense of a political world that encroaches upon and distorts family life is there. Mitchell. who plays Solomon. the old Jewish auctioneer who has come to examine the Iiotise’s contents. has a feeling for the work of Miller. IIis \ViIIy I.oman has been widely acclaimed as perhaps the best eyer deliyered to British audiences.
How does he Prepare for this kind of role‘."()l' course I do a hit of research. but I met some wonderful teachers
in the I'nited States and here. I studied a particular departure from method. hut it's kind oI method. In this system. there are always things you can fall hack on. things to help. So hel‘ore I did Willy cyery night. I'd
sing my way through a succession ol‘ American hits of
the time.‘ And the he hreaks into song: '(ionna take a Sentimental Journey. gonna set my heart at ease . . . 'I‘Ilose sot'Is oI songs got me in the mood I'ol‘ \ViIIy.‘
In preparing Solomon. Mitchell was able to fall hack on something much closer to home: 'I don't quite do that particular preparation for Solomon. he's just there with me. 'I‘here's something in my own Jewish hackground that helps me with that. it‘s there for me already. My grandmother was Russian Jewish. Iike Solomon. She opened a lish and chip shop when she arriyed in this country. She said to me. (and here he hreaks into wonderful Jewish cockneyl “\Varren. when things is good people eat liin and chips. When things is had people eat fish and chips. Start a fish and chip shop and you'll ney'er grow hungry Many 's the time when I wished I‘d l‘oIIow ed her ady ice.‘
Iiasy enough then. htrt how did Mitchell create the great comic grotesque. .-\Il' (iarnctt‘.’ 'I‘he notorioust anti-Semitic West Ham supporter from the Iiast Iind seems a far cry from the 'I‘ottcnham supporting north London Jewish actor. 'WeII. part of that is just great writing. \Vhen you'ye got Johnny Speight as writer. you can just go further as an actor.. 'I‘here's surer more to it than that. hill there's plainly more to this old curmudgeon than meets the eye.
The Price is at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh Tue 19-Sat 23 Oct.
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