My Last Show... At Drama School: Haydn Watts Talks ‘The Kitchen’

A little over a year ago, Italia Conti’s 3rd-year actors delivered a spectacular production of Arnold Wesker’s The Kitchen - a ‘slice of life’ play, which is “about people and their relationship to work.” Fuelled by a spectacular set, brilliant direction, and a plethora of excellent performances, Conti’s production of The Kitchen provided intricate chaos that encapsulates the feeling of confinement and madness that can exist while living a repetitive and never-ending cycle of work. Amidst the beautifully choreographed scenes, such as the almost cinematic sequence of orders coming into the kitchen, and the flamboyant and loud characters like Edward Neale’s Peter, live subtle yet engaging characters like Haydn Watts’ Paul.

In this instalment of My Last Show... At Drama School, Haydn Watts shares his experience working on The Kitchen, the meticulous detail behind finding his character and crafting various scenes, and his biggest takeaway from the experience. Enjoy!

The Kitchen is a very creative and unique play. A true representation of life, in this case, life in a kitchen. What was your first reaction after reading the script?

“I found it difficult to understand the script at first - there were so many characters and different conversations going on at once that I couldn’t picture it up on a stage. It seemed fun, but also a big feat to make it a smooth and transferable play. It wasn’t until the first read-through when hearing the play read out loud by the actors, that I was fully able to understand what was happening.”

One thing that makes this play so unique is it’s set in one location [a kitchen], and all the characters are essentially on stage throughout the whole show. What was that challenge like as an actor, and can you compare it to anything you have done before?

“It was certainly a challenge. I didn’t leave the stage until 10 minutes before the end of the play. That being said, it was so fun being able to be a character for more or less two hours. I didn’t get the break of coming off stage, and so was fully immersed in the character, and the tasks he was doing. I can’t compare it to any show I’ve done, but I used the techniques I’d learned from Uta Hagen to allow for the most truthful portrayal of the character in this story. Having to create and live in a moment for a long period of time without ‘performing’ or ‘demonstrating’ is what was required for a play like The Kitchen, we just needed to live in the space. By far one of my best experiences.”

You played Paul – who’s actually a more simple and subtle character – in a play full of loud people with various accents. What was your approach when taking on this role, and were there any challenges playing what some may call the simpler character in the play?

“Paul felt like the most human character. He was down to earth and genuinely a nice guy. This felt almost humbling to play someone so empathetic who had had an unfortunate life. He appreciated the small things and cared more about others than himself; I always prefer to play these kinds of characters because I always find it more interesting to search beneath the attributes that make someone kind. Besides, who doesn’t want to be the good guy? I wanted to make sure I fully understood his reasons for being empathetic when all he gets is slaps in the face. He had recently lost his wife to an affair and is a Jew living in post-World War 2 Britain in a kitchen full of Germans; you’d think he might have some distaste. He was the character that had been inspired by the writer himself, and so a lot of my research went into Arnold Wesker - learning that Paul was Wesker reincarnated.”

There was one sequence in The Kitchen that was amazing and so intricate. It’s when we see the chaos of the kitchen as orders keep coming in, and when orders come in, there’s almost a freeze in the action. What was it like rehearsing that because it was so precise, almost like one is working for film as opposed to theatre?

“A challenge to say the least. We knew that this section needed some oomph. It needed more than just orders being thrown out left, right, and centre. Martha, the director, had many ideas but played with this turn and pause after each order. It took 8 hours in one rehearsal session to trial and error this technique throughout the 16 pages of orders. By the end of the session, Martha was confident that this worked. Although the cast, including myself, thought otherwise. But the director knows best! And so we trusted her and would incorporate this into every movement call, before every rehearsal until it was bled into us. Safe to say the work paid off, and it is often brought up as a highlight of the show.”

Your set was fantastic. It really captured the atmosphere of the show and transported us to this world. How much did that help the show and your performance?

“Without the set, the play wouldn’t have been what it was. The style of Kitchen Sink is reliant on its naturalism and authenticity to real life. Having a set so cluttered and mapped out allowed for this to feel like a real kitchen. This only built the illusion and allowed for so much play and indulgence from the actors, really capturing the world of The Kitchen.”

A universal opinion about this production of The Kitchen was that it was brilliantly directed, which I 100% agree with. What did you learn from your experience working with the director, Martha?

“So much! I remember having a session with her where she would drill me on my monologue. Questioning me whenever necessary and being precise in her reasoning. But the thing that stood out with her style of directing was the table work. In our first two sessions, we would have open discussions about each character. This allowed for everyone’s interpretation of the character to be heard and allowed for a more collaborative process. I didn’t make Paul, we did. Once we had created these people, she told us her vision and stuck to it. Accepting all offers and ideas but keeping strict enough not to divulge from her original vision. It was great.”

Ed was a terrific lead, as Peter, he really captured the chaos of his character beautifully. What did you think of his performance, and who else stood out for you in the cast?

“Peter was a difficult part, such a troubled character with so much subtext. I’d seen the work Ed had gone through to portray such a confusing man, but watching his commitment to it from the start to the end was a credit to his methods. Not once did he allow himself to drop the ball. He knew who he wanted Peter to be and didn’t stop until he was successful, which, for him, he never was, so he kept working harder and harder. That being said, it was hard to see Peter as the lead. A play that is so reliant on the ensemble and world created can never have a lead. Without the dynamics of the other characters, Peter wouldn’t have had the journey he had. When it comes to performances, everyone was incredible, and I’m not saying that to ‘suck up’, I genuinely believe that everyone was just fantastic. For me, I couldn’t take my eyes off Isaac Gray. Multi-rolling three characters in a play where everyone is playing one character is difficult. He had to interact with a lot of us as three different people in the space of 2 hours. His differentiations were incredible, and his commitment to each character was more than commendable. He showed a full character arc of the restaurant’s owner while also coming in as a night porter and a homeless person.”

Finally, what were your big takeaways from your experience doing The Kitchen?

“As an actor - to take my time when it comes to approaching a character. I’m not going to understand them on my first day in the read-through and trust the development process. I’ve also learned that I love Kitchen Sink and naturalism. It’s exactly how I want to continue to tell stories by just living and breathing the character and world I am in. Finally, the understanding of the work that goes into the crew and production team is unprecedented. They made our job look easy! As a person, I’ve learned the amount of trust I can put into my peers. This wouldn’t have been a successful production without the support of all 17 members of the cast. Also, the trust and positive mindset to keep throughout a strenuous process.”