Jaydon Martin and Emma Clark speak with actor Michael Sheen before the Concert of the Unexpected, a celebration of Roald Dahl’s life.
Cardiff Philharmonic orchestra presented a creative insight into the world of one of most loved story teller’s with their highly successful Concert of the Unexpected: A Celebration of Roald Dahl. The concert paid tribute to both the colorful life and acclaimed work of the author to mark the 100 years since his birth in Llandaff.
The music was composed for specific extracts from books about Dahl’s life, read by Michael Sheen. Michael Sheen’s use of expression and animation made him the perfect storyteller for the evening, lifting the words of the extracts, whilst providing some comedic moments for the audience to enjoy.
What was your first childhood memory of Roald Dahl?
I don’t think I had read the stories when I was little, so my first memory really is the film of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Gene Wilder as Willy Wonka and that had a huge impression on me. The story was fantastic but that’s the weird eastern European setting of the story, you didn’t know where it was taking place and there were American people and British people. You know it was a real mixture and of course that performance by Gene Wilder was incredible and the random cruelty to children, which I think is part of the attraction of Roald Dahl. It’s not all sweetness and happiness, it’s kind of strange and dangerous and scary at times.
How’s this experience been for you in terms of discovering Roald Dahl?
Well the thing that’s been great about this is that I knew nothing about his life really, and being able to be a part of a piece that’s not really about his work, but about the stories from his life – and there’s some fantastic ones – and to be working with an orchestra, it’s terrific to have that. The swell of that music behind you; it’s been really wonderful.
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You recently stated that you may be moving back to Britain possibly Wales and going into directing. Would you be able to tell us anything about that?
I’ve been living in America because my daughter has grown up there and I wanted to be with her when she was growing up. She’s seventeen now and she will be going to college next year hopefully. Once she’s not there I don’t have to be there anymore, so I’m hoping I’ll have a lot more time to come back. Me and my daughter’s mother broke up when she was three so I’ve wanted to be with my daughter, I also try to come back as much as possible but I don’t like being away from her for too long. I’m hoping that I can spend a lot more time here, if not permanently. It’s my home and where I’ve got the strongest ties and it’s the culture I want to be a part of.
What do you miss most about Wales? What is the one thing you have that you take with you that reminds you of home?
Well what I miss is that it’s my tribe, it’s my place, it’s my people, it’s where my family and my friends are. It’s where my history is and the place I feel the most at home and the place I feel I have the strongest connection to, and I want to not just be a part of its past but I want to be a part of its present and its future. So in terms of what I take with me I mean it influences everything I do, I feel like I’m in constant connection with it, I’ve been more and more involved with different groups and organisations and projects here over the last few years, especially since I did The Passion in Port Talbot five years ago. That kind of drew me closer to the place and I’ve really wanted to develop all those relationships and go as far as I can with it.
Following on from that you are known for being very passionate and tackling inequality and poverty particularly effecting young people in Wales. As a magazine and our website we deal and attract a lot of young readers. What would you say for them to get involved and contribute to raising awareness of the issues that you particularly care about and involved in?
Sheen: Well I think we have a real contradiction in Wales as a culture. On the one hand I think we are incredibly passionate and fiercely proud of who we are but on the other hand we have over time been sort of subjugated really I suppose we depend, we become dependent on Westminster to provide the money for our country and were having more and more devolved powers now. So it’s a mixed message you know on the one hand we want to be independent as who wants to be dependent, so I want to see a country that is not being held back and certainly not being held back by its own limitations on its expectations and I’m not waiting for permission to succeed and to prosper and to thrive. So I would encourage all young people to get involved in their communities and to get organised and to get together and don’t wait around for permission to do something to try something but that needs support and does need help and it’s not all down to people saying go and do it as there’s all kind of cultural content as to why it is difficult for people to break out of that and to support what’s there that already works but there’s so much that’s incredibly positive about what’s going on in Wales especially what young people are doing. And so I want to do anything I can to support that and to encourage and to create more self confidence, there’s nothing we can’t do together.
Would you consider going into politics?
I got no desire to go into politics, I think part of the problem is that political thinking tends to be very short term, there’s always so many agendas and there’s always so many hidden conflicts that are going on. I feel like I have a lot more freedom and power ultimately staying independent in politics and hopefully people are less likely to question what my agenda is. You know I think there’s a lot of mistrust in politics and politicians, some rightly so, some maybe not, but I don’t think it helps me in what I’m trying to do, to be too cosied up during it.
Would you consider directing a play about Dahl’s life?
People always ask me who I’d like to play, I suppose because I’ve become quite well known for playing real people. But it’s never about that, it’s about the story, it’s about the piece itself, so I wouldn’t say yes but I wouldn’t say no. It would depend on the piece itself. I spent this morning reading some of the stuff from the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to some school children and it’s great stuff. His life is far more complicated and he’s known for being anti-Semitic, which is a very controversial piece of his life and history. Obviously I think that’s completely repellent but clearly it makes him a very complicated man and so that could be interesting to explore, for someone who is so well loved and associated with children to have such repellent views in other areas is interesting to explore dramatically, and so who knows.
Thank you.
Brilliant.