00:00Good afternoon, my name is Phil Hewitt, Group Arts Editor at Sussex Newspapers, just about
00:07to embark on the final play of the 2024 Chichester Festival Theatre summer season, and it is
00:12The Cat and the Canary. Lovely to speak to Will Merritt, who's in Chichester for the
00:16very first time, and you're going to promise there's a lot of fun with this play. It sounds
00:21a great laugh, but intriguing too.
00:23I think it's going to be riotous, I think is probably a good word. Yeah, it's a romp,
00:33so come along for a pretty, what's the word? Yeah, a rollercoaster of good fun and great
00:47comedy and intrigue.
00:50Without giving away too much, just set the scene and where you come into this.
00:55Me personally?
00:57Yeah.
00:58Okay. Well, there is a family, a very wealthy old family, whose patriarch was Cyrus Canby
01:08West, who, he actually died in the play. He died 20 years ago, but the reading of his
01:18will has been delayed by 20 years on Cyrus's request. And so the next generation of potential
01:25heirs all descend on this country house in the middle of Cornwall and gather for the
01:34reading of the late Cyrus's will. And then they all reckon they have a pretty good claim
01:42to the fortune.
01:43And do you think he's got a claim here then?
01:47Not really. Not everyone is as they seem, and people are hiding secrets, especially
01:57in terms of their belief in their state, what they claim they have.
02:04But on the surface, you sir, are a foppish actor, are you not?
02:07Yes, on the surface, I'm playing a character called Charlie Wilder, who is a foppish Broadway
02:14actor, who claims to have made a great name for himself. And yeah, he's in for the fortune.
02:25Or is he? Or isn't he? Or is he?
02:28Good fun to be an actor, acting an actor.
02:31Yeah, I haven't really thought about it. Yeah, I don't think I've... maybe it just comes
02:36very naturally. I think there's a satirical nature to playing an actor that I just have
02:43I play everything very selfishly. But I don't know how true that is or not. I think probably
02:51it's true. I mean, in my experience, for the last 10 years of working, I actually think
02:57that actors are beautifully kind and selfless people. I think there's a trope that actors
03:05are quite self-involved. And I think playing that trope is quite fun. So yeah.
03:11Fantastic.
03:12And I wonder if there's probably more truth in that trope. I mean, look, you know,
03:17actors can play selflessness brilliantly, you know, and I think they do quite often
03:25play essentially being more selfless than they are. Hey, who wants, you know,
03:29at the end of the day, these people want to stand up on a stage,
03:32you know, bathed in light, speaking to thousands of people. So...
03:38It sounds fantastic.
03:39It's that individualism, I guess, to that.
03:41It sounds brilliant. Well, really looking forward to seeing the play.
03:45Lovely to meet you. And thank you for your time.
03:48You.
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