Billy Jenkins is our Artful Dodger in Chichester's Oliver!

SussexWorld

Billy Jenkins is our Artful Dodger in Oliver! at Chichester Festival Theatre this summer (until Saturday, September 7) – a role he has long history with.

Transcript

00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers. Lovely to

00:07meet the artful dodger, no less. Now, Oliver, the reports coming back about the show which

00:12has opened in Chichester Festival Theatre are fantastic. People are loving it, aren't

00:18they? And you can sense that, can't you? You must be getting great feedback from the audience.

00:24Yeah, it's great. I'm so happy they're enjoying it because it makes my job much happier. And

00:31yeah, I'm loving it. I'm absolutely loving it. I'm loving the energy of the audience as well.

00:35I can feel the buzz, especially when I do my big number, Consider Yourself.

00:42You must have them eating out of the palm of your hand when you do that one.

00:46Well, I do love that one because I love how everyone gets involved. It starts with Dodge

00:51and then everyone, everyone gets involved. There's so much dancing and movement and

00:56so much going on. And it's almost like London is the audience as well. I'm showing Oliver

01:03to the audience. So I love it. We're all together. But you've got such a fantastic part to play

01:10because Dodge is so likeable, isn't he? Yeah, he's a very likeable chap. He's a very nice,

01:17funny, cheeky chap. And yeah, he's, I've said this before, but he is very kind, I think,

01:23you know, getting Oliver and just putting him under his wing, you know, like his little,

01:28almost like his brother, really, I think. Yeah. And you were saying that you sense

01:32a not completely horrible side to Fagin too, that maybe it brings out.

01:37Yeah, I was thinking that. I was thinking, especially with Dodger and Fagin, their

01:41relationship, they're very close, I think, especially because they've spent such a long

01:46time with each other. It's definitely a, I think, a father and son relationship.

01:51Without actually being father and son. Without being father and son. I don't

01:55think blood related, but I think that kind of, yeah, father figure that is Dodger. Yeah,

02:01I think he really, or he almost inspires to be, you know, the next, the next thing,

02:07next Fagin, next Bill Sykes. And you have a long history as Dodger, don't you? On TV,

02:12before this, and before that? Yeah, I have. Yeah, maybe I am Dodger.

02:17You have to play the role clearly. Yeah, I started doing, I did an amateur role,

02:22and then I did it on TV. I got an audition, I did it on TV, and I did a 10 part series,

02:28and it was called Dodger, and it was about the artful Dodger, and I played Dodger. And it was

02:34about before he met Oliver, and how did he meet Fagin? How did he become the artful Dodger?

02:39Because his name's Jack Dawkins, he's just a normal, normal kid. He started like Oliver Twist,

02:44you know, but how did he develop into this such iconic character? And I did that. And then after

02:50that, I got a call for this, and with Cameron, and I was like, Oh my God, this must feel like

02:56it was just meant to be then. It meant to be. And I'm so excited.

03:00Fantastic. Well, really lovely to speak to you. Thank you for your time.

03:04I'm looking forward to seeing you very soon. Thank you.

03:06Thank you so much, Phil. Thank you.

03:08See you soon. Bye bye.

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