"We discovered a bit of raw reality."
William Shakespeare’s Macbeth is one of the most acclaimed and popular plays in history.
As the show readies itself to take the Harold Pinter Theatre by storm, DESIblitz spoke to Jatinder Singh Randhawa.
Jatinder stars as The Porter/Seytan in the production. His theatre credits include Moorcraft, Cinderella, The Musical, and Peter Gynt.
The actor has also worked extensively in television, appearing in Crime, Scot Squad, The Control Room, and The Nest.
He has also dabbled in film with Damaged and Shepard.
In our exclusive interview, Jatinder Singh Randhawa divulged starring in Macbeth alongside David Tennant and Cush Jumbo.
The play is directed by Max Webster who is famous for directing the stunning stage adaptation of Life of Pi.
Can you tell us a bit about the story of Macbeth?
Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most famous plays.
It’s a story about a Scottish Lord who encounters supernatural forces embodied by three witches who predict his future of becoming king of Scotland.
Through whispered scheming alongside his wife, they do everything within their power to achieve their power grab as rulers of Scotland.
What attracted you to the role of The Porter/Seytan and can you please describe the characters?
When I first met Max Webster, our director and Anna Cooper, our casting director at the Donmar Warehouse, discussed a vision of combining the Porter and Seytan to add another supernatural element on par with the witches.
The fact you have a character whose name is so close to another particular evil supernatural entity.
I believe we can all guess who – a character who is the only person in the play to break the fourth wall and engage with audience members about shamelessly calling out sinners, you can see the link between creating a physical close being to Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
They could potentially be influencing their descent to violent lusting for power.
For such small interactions there was a whole world of potential to be tapped into.
How has it been to collaborate with Max Webster? What have you learnt from him?
Being in a room with Max Webster has been a truly fascinating learning experience for myself as a performer.
He has given me the ability to take such a classic and famous role within British classical text and allowed me the truest freedom to explore and insert a part of me into it.
His support and enthusiasm in believing in me to do a good job gave me the confidence to just let the safety guards off and take risks when approaching roles and responsibilities that would leave me quite terrified.
From him, I have learnt to trust in myself.
There have been many adaptations of Macbeth. How does this production stand out?
Before I answer about our production, I just want to say a massive congratulations and love spread out to the other Macbeth companies.
But every production from what I read and knowing the creatives personally involved, have done themselves incredibly proud!
They all had an impact and service to the story being told in such incredibly creative ways to wider audiences from Edinburgh to Manchester, London and New York.
I hope one day we can all gather in one big room and have a big Macbaging party!
So, our production, the usual answer for people who come and see it would be the use of binaural sound and headphones.
Where they wouldn’t be wrong, I would argue what makes our show stand out is that we have managed to relate every character within this text to a person in the real world might know who is struggling with severe trauma and PTSD.
The headphone technology is the connecting force between the audience and actors to help us understand that in reality no one really is an evil person or naturally hateful, but some more than others are pushed to extremes due to unforeseen circumstances that could have been catalysts for pain within their lives.
Sometimes you can save and help these people. At other times it’s too late.
I think for me personally we discovered a bit of raw reality that’s been missing for a while that people have been craving to feel.
I think we permitted our audiences to let their guard down and trust us with their vulnerability.
What differences and similarities have you noticed between performing onstage and in front of the camera?
There are so many variables to this, but mostly the preparation.
Stage is a marathon, a physical and mental journey, you’re like an athlete when preparing for a show.
Camera, to me is more training to be an intellectual, and you have to really hone into yourself because there is no hiding from that lens.
Every twitch and every micro movement will be recorded, so you must be tactful but in a freeing way.
What inspired you to become an actor?
People who know me tend to describe me as a free spirit. So what’s more freeing than letting my spirit play other people?
Nothing really clicked as such – it just happened and when it did and that’s when the world started to make a bit of sense to me.
Are there any actors who have inspired you in your journey?
Robin Williams. I have so much love and respect for that man. His courage as a performer has no equal.
He put everything on the table and then some. His energy was outmatched and he could be as big and fiery as a supernova or quiet and calming as a cool breeze.
He had a big impact on how wonderful this world can be – in and outside of acting.
What advice would you give to young budding actors who want to succeed in the industry?
Love yourself, love yourself, love yourself! It’s a difficult industry and such a tough world.
You can feel tiny at times and you can feel like you don’t matter.
But remember to prioritise your mind, body and spirit. Be with good friends, eat good food, watch trash or great telly. It doesn’t matter.
Anything you can do to make yourself feel loved and then you can spread that love to others. It’ll be alright.
What do you hope the audience will take away from Macbeth?
Shakespeare can work in so many other ways other than being classically performed and by extension, theatre in general.
I believe that through the work the team have put in with the binaural sound and Gareth Fry’s work in bringing that to life alongside Laura Hammond, we can perhaps explore a whole other world of performance.
It might be extreme, but I believe that it is theatre’s exploration in comparison to what Andy Serkis did with the Apes franchise with MOCAP technology in film.
The presence of Jatinder Singh Randhawa in Macbeth promises to enhance the production like never before.
Praising the play, Daily Telegraph enthuses: “[It’s] an act of risk-taking theatre that also feels darkly, magically, like real-life.
“It’s as if the play is being discovered for the first time.”
Here is the full list of credits:
Ross
Moyo Akande
Musician and Gentlewoman
Annie Grace
Dinalbain/Soldier/Murderer and Musician
Brian James O’Sullivan
Lady Macbeth
Cush Jumbo
Macduff’s Son/Fleance/Young Siward
Casper Knopf
Banquo
Cal MacAninch
Singer and Ensemble
Kathleen Macinnes
Musician and Ensemble
Alasdair Macrae
Lady Macduff
Rona Morison
Macduff
Noof Ousellam
Macduff’s Son/Fleance/Young Siward
Raffi Phillips
The Porter/Seytan
Jatinder Singh Randhawa
Macbeth
David Tennant
Malcolm
Ros Watt
Duncan/The Doctor
Benny Young
Director
Max Webster
Director
Amit Sharma
Designer
Rosanna Vize
Lighting Designer
Bruno Poet
Sound Designer
Gareth Fry
Movement Director
Shelley Maxwell
Composer & Musical Director
Alasdair Macrae
Fight Directors
Rachel Brown Williams
Ruth Cooper-Brown of Rc-Annie LTD
Casting Director
Anna Cooper CDG
The production of Macbeth runs at the Harold Pinter Theatre from October 1 to December 14, 2024.
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