In our profile series, Tell Us In 10, we ask cast members and creatives of top London shows to tell us all about themselves in just 10 questions. From how their castmates would describe them and alternative careers, to their Theatreland idols, we want to know it all!
This week, we hear from Martin Sherman, the writer of Rose, coming to the Ambassador’s Theatre from 23 May.
Find out more about Martin and his career so far below:
1) My route into theatre was…
It wasn’t a route. It was a little dirt road that, from childhood, I seemed to be stuck on, but I could see even then that it could keep me alive.
2) The thing I love most about my job is…
Not thinking of it as a job.
3) My favourite show from present or past (that isn’t one I have worked on) is…
One I recently saw (Dickie Beau’s iShowmanism!) or one I saw when I was eleven (the out of town tryout of the original Guys And Dolls) or many hundreds in between. I started going to the theatre when I was nine, which means, in terms of favourites, I have been promiscuous.
4) A misconception about my job is…
That a play must be readable. It’s nice if it is, but it must, above anything else, be actable.
5) The hardest part about my job is…
Every torturous moment between finishing the play and the first day of rehearsal. Which means, basically, not knowing if there will be a first day of rehearsal.
6) The career moment I’m most proud of is…
Simply having a career. That’s not a word to take for granted; it means being in it for the long haul and having a body of work and being defined, for better or worse, by the totality of what you have done.
7) On my days off I like to…
Wonder why anyone would think a playwright has a day off.
8) My daily work rituals include…
Finding inventive but ultimately unsuccessful ways to avoid the work.
9) My inspiration is…
Probably what inspires every writer, just trying to make sense of it.
10) The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given is…
Why don’t you send the play to Maureen Lipman? That was another play, many decades ago, but it began the sustaining relationship that lead to this production of Rose.