A Christmas Carol- meet cast member Colin Davies!

Tell us a little about yourself.

I’m Colin Davies and I play Charles Dickens, who introduces the show, and also the Ghost of Christmas Present. I was brought up in England and graduated from Oxford University.  I lived in the Middle East for 15 years, came to the US with my wife over 30 years ago, and have been acting for 7 years.  I’ve acted with a lot of theatres in the DC area, both professional and community, have acted on TV and in short films, and have a rock’n’roll show on Radio Fairfax - www.theprofessorrocks.com

How does this show differ from other shows you have worked on?

We have 8 shows a week, which is a lot.  The show itself is short – less than 90 minutes, but it packs a lot in: adults, children, singing, dancing, drama, history, social awareness, romance, sadness, and happiness. Everything but animals. Most shows include one of two of these, not all!

What made you get involved in theatre? 

I’ve always loved theatre.  When I was boy our parents used to take me and my brother and sister to see plays at the Old Vic in London. That was in the classic days of Lawrence Olivier, John Guilgud, and Alec Guinness.

How did you get involved with LTA? 

I was acting in a film directed by the wonderful Roland Gomez and he suggested I audition for ‘Heaven Can Wait’.  I played the Doctor in that play. I loved the theatre itself, and the commitment of all the actors and backstage staff.

What advice would you give others who are interested in working in theatre? 

Join the Actors Center, read their bulletin, and attend their workshops.  Take a training course at the Shakespeare (I just finished one) or at the Theatre Lab.  Go to as many plays as you can – there are over 90 professional companies in the DC area, and you can often get tickets for $20 or less.  Watch the play from an actor’s/director’s perspective: what do the actors do when other actors are speaking, what do they do with their hands when they are speaking, how do they modulate their voices, how do they position themselves.  Things like that.

What do you want the audience to experience/take away from this show? 

People will leave the theatre with a smile on their lips and their spirits uplifted. Things may seem fairly desperate in this country at the moment, but remember that when Dickens was writing, the gap between the rich and the poor was huge, and things gradually improved.  This play ends happily, and we can only hope that things will end happily for our country.