Blackadder is the fun challenge for Horsham’s HAODS

SussexWorld

Horsham’s HAODS are bringing Blackadder II to the stage from August 1-3 at QEII school as their first play since 2019, pre-Covid.

Transcript

00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor for Sussex Newspapers. Lovely

00:06this afternoon to speak to Jay Alderson. Now, Jay, an exciting project, exciting production

00:12coming up for Hey Odds in Horsham. You are doing this August Blackadder. Now, this is

00:18a place slot that you haven't really had since the pandemic, have you? But finally that place

00:23slot has been fulfilled.

00:25Yes, it's nice to get back into some smaller shows as well, as good as it is to do the

00:30two big musicals that we always do. It's nice to have something smaller and slower paced

00:35to worry about as well and just still be able to entertain people. It's just fantastic.

00:39And so you have this slot, so why is it Blackadder you're filling it with? What's so attractive

00:45about it?

00:46It's one of those almost timeless comedies. It's such a classic British comedy and at

00:51its core, it's just laugh after laugh after laugh. And with all the things that have been

00:58going on in recent years, it's nice to be able to provide people and provide the audience

01:02with just a night out of pure entertainment, just pure laughter, pure fun. Nothing's too

01:08serious. Nothing's there to make people think or go, oh, this is deep or this is darker.

01:13It sounds ideal. And now of all the Blackadder eras that you could have chosen, you are going

01:17Elizabethan for this one, aren't you? Why that era?

01:21It's such a classic era. To have the character of Queenie, who's such a big spoiled brat

01:29of a character, to have Nercy to play off her as such a strange but hilarious character,

01:37and then to have the dynamic between Blackadder, Percy, Baldrick and Melchior, it's just brilliant.

01:43And then you've got all the supporting characters. You've got Prince Ludwig, you've got A-slash-Bob,

01:48you've got all of those characters who bring so much to each episode and steal the scenes

01:53of their episodes. It just made the most sense. And it was just hilarious reading through

01:57it and being like, this has got to be it.

01:59We should mention the core character that you are playing, you are Baldrick. That's

02:04a lot to take on, isn't it?

02:06It is.

02:07You say a lot.

02:08Yes, it is. I was very, very pleasantly surprised to pass the audition and get the role. It's

02:16such an iconic character, so you've got that feeling of you want to do it justice. And

02:22Baldrick, he is a man of very few words. In each episode, I've probably only got a handful

02:27of lines, but it's how you deliver them, it's reacting to what's going on around you and

02:32bringing that physical comedy that really makes the character what it is.

02:36And is he really truly as stupid as he seems?

02:41He's got a bit of a hidden side to him, I think. You get glimpses of this life beyond

02:46Blackadder when it comes to Baldrick, without wanting to say too much. But you get glimpses

02:52that he does go away and do other things. And as much as his life does revolve around

02:56Blackadder, he does do his own things and surprises Blackadder in ways that you might

03:01not consider otherwise.

03:03That sounds great. And it's at the start of August, and where are you performing?

03:07Yes, so 1st and 3rd August is when we're performing, and we're performing at the QE2 School this

03:12time. They've got this really lovely auditorium. It's a great space for smaller productions

03:17and it helps support the school as well. And it's normally where we perform our junior

03:20shows, but to put on a bigger production there is really nice to be able to do. They're very

03:26supportive, they enjoy having us there, and we're able to utilise it as well to build

03:32our own set and have a set built to the space that they have available.

03:35What a great thing for August, clearly.

03:38Yes, absolutely. It should be really great fun. I can't wait to show the audiences what

03:43we've been working on.

03:44Fantastic. Well, really lovely to speak to you. Hope it goes brilliantly. Thank you.

03:48Thank you very much. Thank you.

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