“EVERY TIME I WALK ON STAGE THERE’S A FEELING OF POSSIBILITY”

It’s an actor’s life to move from job to job, but Danny Sapani could be forgiven for feeling exhausted after his acclaimed run as King Lear.

If anything though, the Hackney-raised actor has been galvanised by playing Shakespeare’s mad king – and is raring to inhabit the role of foul-mouthed, irascible Pops Washington at Hampstead Theatre.

“I seem to be handling this,” says the 53-year-old.

“I don’t know if this is the final last whirlwind before I disappear to nowhere, but I am in the flow at the moment. I feel inspired and grateful for the opportunity to keep working.”

Sapani finds “many similarities” between Lear and Pops in Stephen Adly Guirgis’ Between Riverside and Crazy.

“It’s an interesting progression to go from something that heavy and well-known to something new and fresh that deals with a similar character but takes it in a different direction,” he says.

But how is an Olde English king similar to an ex-NYPD cop living in a rent controlled Manhattan apartment?

“They are both cantankerous old men who go from having huge egos at the beginning of the play to having some sort of grace or humility at the end. It’s the journey of every human from birth to death, and to explore it feels artistically satisfying.”


Between Riverside and Crazy plays on the main stage from 3 May to 15 June.

 

READ THE FULL INTERVIEW HERE

BOOK BETWEEN RIVERSIDE AND CRAZY HERE