00:00Good morning, my name is Phil Hewitt, group arts editor of Sussex Newspapers. Now this
00:06is a sneaky peek, if ever there was one. Lovely to speak to Chris Walker and John Burton,
00:11who are on the stage behind them of The Signalman, which is touring. It's going to come to Guildford
00:18I think next year, but this year, 2025 is heading for Eastbourne. Now between us, you
00:23two gentlemen, your intention is to scare the pants off us, isn't it? Why is that?
00:28Yes, that's the idea. That's the simple answer, yes. We love to do that.
00:35And the fact is, we're going to lap it up, aren't we? Chris, why do you think we love being scared in the theatre?
00:44I think that we've probably, as human beings, always been scared. From going way back to being
00:52hunter-gatherers, we've been used to it, and I think it's probably a throwback to something like that.
00:58That we like to be scared, because it means we're still alive.
01:04And John, without giving anything away, how do you scare an audience then? What's the essence of frightening us?
01:13Yeah, I mean, with this show, and we speak about this a lot, is the set, is the star of the show.
01:19So with all the atmospherics, the smoke, the haze, the sound effects, the music, the lighting, that's what will make you think,
01:30it's one of those moments.
01:32And it's just such a fascinating piece, isn't it, Chris?
01:36It's beautifully written. It's beautifully written.
01:38Charles Dickens is a master storyteller, and we hope that we're doing justice to him, and the adaptation, of course.
01:46Absolutely. It's a wonderful, wonderful adaptation, and we're loving saying the words. We are.
01:53And you are the signalman, who is an oddball, he's a loner.
01:59Yes, he is.
01:59He doesn't mix.
02:01No, he's a very strange character. He is.
02:04A bit like him in real life.
02:06Yes, exactly. That's why the cast means, because I'm a weirdo. That's what it is.
02:13Fantastic. So you've found your role, but tell me a bit more about his personality, then. He's by himself.
02:18Roles like that, they're wonderful to play. They really are.
02:22We always say, actors, actually, you'd rather play the baddie, to be honest.
02:26And I'm not saying that the signalman is a baddie, but he's not your normal person.
02:34Yeah. But can you say what's going on in his world without giving away too much?
02:39He's very, very troubled, as a lot of us are, because of what he's seen and what he's heard, what he's experienced.
02:49He's a troubled man, and he's carrying these demons around with him.
02:55Absolutely.
02:55Or is he?
02:58Well, that's the thing, isn't it, John?
03:00You're just saying that you want the audience to get away with no real answers, but just billions of questions.
03:06You're not going to answer our questions. You're just going to throw everything open, aren't you, at the end?
03:12And, yeah, I think that's very succinctly put. I think it's exactly that.
03:16The more questions the audience have when they leave the theatre, the better we have done our job.
03:21And not every single person will think the same thing or have seen the same thing or have heard something within the text.
03:28Each person will see things differently. And that is what we want, is we want to create that conversation.
03:34Yeah. So it's about opening up all the possibilities, supernatural, earthly, whatever, rather than shutting anything down.
03:41At the end of the day, it's about wonderful entertainment. That's what it's all about.
03:46And we can't wait to get it on its feet to do that. We think audiences are going to love it.
03:53Yeah. And, Chris, one of the really interesting things is that effectively there are other actors, but effectively this is a two-hander.
03:59So straight away, you know, it comes with an incredible intensity between the two of you, you as the signalman and John as the traveller.
04:06Yeah. And that's a double-edged sword. Once we get up on stage and we're comfortable with it, then we can't wait to make it fly.
04:16But it's a lot of hard work at the moment. But there's nothing wrong with that.
04:20Absolutely. We're really lovely to speak to you both. And thank you for the little glimpse of the stage that you'll be working on.
04:27It sounds super intriguing and I'm sure it'll be fabulous. Great to meet you both. Thank you.
04:32Come and see us. We've seen the show.
04:34Absolutely. Good to see you both. Thank you.
04:37Take care.
04:37Thank you. All the best. Bye-bye.
04:38Bye-bye.
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