Wrong way up - interview with playwright and actor Henry Lewis

Henry Lewis is 25 years old. Not an exceptional fact in its own right until you take into account that he has two successful theatre companies to his name, a string of critically acclaimed plays and a West End hit on his hands which he wrote and stars in. And suddenly his age becomes remarkable. But then Henry always knew that to make it in an enormously unpredictable world he needed to make his own luck, by writing work that he could star in and keep himself employed.

“I’ve always been interested in creating theatre, and from an early age wanted to be an actor. But you have to be realistic about your chances so we decided to create our own stuff and make a living rather than waiting for the phone to ring.”

The result was Mischief Theatre created in 2008 after Henry’s LAMDA foundation year, specialising in improvised theatre. However, once the founders graduated they wanted to “do something more scripted, something new, to take the theatre company in a new direction.”

Based on an idea of Henry’s, he sat down with his flatmates and fellow actors Mike Bodie, Josh Elliot and Dave Hearn, and started writing about a murder mystery by Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society where so much can and does go awry.

The Play That Went Wrong is the result, an instant hit described as “Noises Off meets Fawlty Towers,” that has sold out everywhere it goes, including the Trafalgar Studios in the West End, and now coming to the Oxford Playhouse on tour.

“There was so much scope for potential there,” Henry says. “Because things go wrong on stage all the time. I think it works because it deconstructs theatre and is silly while it all bubbles away under the surface. We have all seen amateur dramatics, either at school or locally, so we specialise in making mistakes and being shown up.”

With nods to old-school comedy, such as Laurel and Hardy or Charlie Chaplin, Mischief Theatre now fits this winning formula into various moulds. There was the Peter Pan That Goes Wrong over Christmas, Mogic about a magic show that goes wrong, and more recently Nativity, which is self-explanatory. “People really make that connection and buy into it because farce is such a great British tradition of comedy - it’s fun, it’s visual and it can be very physical - you can do so much with it.“ Henry says.

And yet even though Mischief Theatre has an ensemble group of actors, they don’t rest of their laurels. “Even though we know who we are writing for, who will say the jokes and how, you don’t know if the jokes work until you get on stage. Being a close knit group really helps though and makes it much easier to write.”

Greenhouse Theatre Company is Henry’s second company, specialising in more serious work, which was recently nominated for two Off West End Awards for its debut production, meaning that Henry and his team are constantly performing, writing and rehearsing.

So have they bitten off more than they can chew? ”We are beginning to get into the rhythm now and know how the cycle works, turning out new stuff while performing the old. We’ve got into a pattern, so while it can be tiring, what you perform inspires what you write,” Henry says.

So does he ever take time to pat himself on the back? “When you produce your own work you always have to keep an eye on the future and think about what’s happening next. You can never relax because there are so many incredible people and theatre companies out there that you always have to be ready to bring something new to the table and to continually reinvent yourself.

“So while it’s been a hell of a journey, the biggest challenge is to keep it fresh and real, to make sure it’s still spontaneous. Because if you lose that it becomes unbelievable.”

The Play That Goes Wrong comes to Oxford Playhouse from Monday January 27 to Saturday February 1.
Box Office on 01865 305305 or book online at www.oxfordplayhouse.com