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Howard Barker in interview while the Jerwood Vanbrugh prepares for his play I SAW MYSELF
Q. What first attracted you to the theatre?
A. I was never attracted to the theatre. I was born with a poetic and dramatic sensibility. Where else should I have gone? Let us say I was attracted to the idea of my own theatre.
Q. If you could pick any one person or theatre company to work with on your next project, who/which would it be?
A. I would like Bela Tarr to film HE STUMBLED.
Q. What is your opinion of Off West End theatre, in general?
A. It perfectly reflects the state of the national culture.
Q. What was the most inspiring performance you have ever seen? Why?
A. Jean-Marc Talbot in ANIMALS IN PARADISE. Why? Because he discarded his entire moral philosophy in order to play it.
Q. What piece of work are you the most proud of?
A. Incredible as it may seem, I am proud of none of them because pride is something entirely irrelevant to the art of theatre as I experience it. I have sometimes got near to what I thought I was capable of, and what the dramatic form was capable of in my hands. Essentially it is frustrating however well the actors deliver it.
Q. What makes a really good character?
A. The one who makes you wish you had lived a different life.
Q. Are there any actors / actresses you would like to write a play for?
A. Isabelle Huppert, and I have already written it.
Q. What play do you wish you’d written?
A. The one I know I must write one day.
Q. Can you tell our readers what you’re doing next?
A. I have made tragedy my speciality, and because theatre is about the speaking body, I have always written of living individuals. I now want to write a tragedy of things.
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