MR. NICE GUY
by Michael Romain

The winner of 1986 Richard Burton Award, 'Keeping Tom Nice', opens at the 
Almeida on August 11. Michael Romain talks to the rising young RSC actor
Linus Roache, about his title role in the play.

Hot on the heels of the recent success of Lucy Gannon's 'Raping The Gold'
at the Bush, her first play, 'Keeping Tom Nice', is about to be premiered
by the RSC as part of its stimulating season at the Almeida Theatre.

"It is an extremely powerful piece of theatre", Linus Roache told me
during rehearsals for the production. "Tom is 24 years old and severily
handicapped - he can't speak, he's partially blind, partially deaf,
spastic and epileptic. He lives at home with his parents and sister, and
the play shows how they have all coped over the years and the effect that
his condition has had on their lives."

"Lucy Gannon was a residential care worker for twenty years, and 'Keeping 
Tom Nice' doesn't have an answer for the problems it portrays but simply
shows how difficult such a situation is. The line between comedy and
tragedy is very fine in any circumstances, and there is quite a lot of
humour in the play. We all initially approached the play very seriously,
but its characters have been living with the situation for 24 years - it's
become routine daily life for them, so they have to be able to laugh
sometimes."

"What makes the play so important is the fact that it gives people a chance
to be a fly on the wall in such a situation. It's like opening up a book
that you would otherwise never pick up, though some people might not want
to do that. You can learn from it, and it tries to deal with its subject
positively because that is human nature. It really proves the nobility of
the human spirit, the sacrifices that people will make through love."

"Lucy doesn't try to indicate the level of Tom's intelligence as it's 
almost impossible to discover that in such an extreme case. I spent some
time in a social education centre in Stratford last year, where I tried to
talk to someone whose condition was similar to Tom's. Sometimes I felt that
there was a response and he could understand me, but you can never quite
be sure. You just have to give the benefit of the doubt, and Tom's family
have spent 24 years doing that."

"Rehearsing the play has been a little frightening, though I'm glad I did 
it. It gives you a taste of what it's like to be in such a situation,
though we all have the luxury of being able to walk away at the end of a
performance."

"Tom is certainly a physically demanding role to play, occasionally even
quite painful, and I have to concentrate every minute on his non-verbal
responses. And the intimate atmosphere of the Almeida is perfect for a
domestic drama like this."

As well as Tom, Linus Roache is currently playing Mark Antony in 'Julius Caesar' ("A marvellous production for the vast Barbican stage - Terry Hands really knows how to use that space.") and Caius in 'Titus Andronicus' ("We get lots of people fainting at that one!") in the RSC's London season.  In October he takes on the role of the young George Orwell in Stephen Lowe's new musical comedy 'Divine Gossip' at The Pit, before repeating his performance as Sacha in 'A Question of Geography' when John Berger's play arrives at the Barbican from Stratford.

How did it feel to be playing leading roles for the Royal Shakespeare Company at the tender age of 24?
"It's very nice! When I originally auditioned for the company I thought, well, they're not going to give me much because I'm too young, and they won't trust me. When I actually joined the company, though, I was given two diverse and demanding roles in 'Indigo' and 'A Question of Geography', which was great. Those were both new plays, and Mark Antony in the London revival of Caesar was my first major classical part. When I was offered it I wasn't sure about whether to do it or not, as I wondered if I should get more experience before tackling such a role on the Barbican stage. But then I thought nothing ventured, nothing gained, and had a go."

"What is so good about working for the RSC is the enormous variety of the work itself, - to go from a new play to a classic in the space of a day is immensely refreshing. And there's no other theatre in Britain that can match the company strength and ensemble playing of the RSC."

(Thanks to Rosaleen, who sent this to me! Mari)