Interview: Jamie Beddard

Highlighting views of disability and difference, in past times and in the present day, disabled actor Jamie Beddard plays Joseph Merrick in Bristol Old Vic / Bristol Old Vic Theatre School’s bold, new production of Bernard Pomerance’s moving play The Elephant Man (BOV, June  26-July 7).

Joseph Merrick is ‘The Elephant Man’ – the wretched spectacle of a travelling freak show who is mercilessly put on display to the horrified delight of Victorian audiences. A London surgeon also takes a keen interest, but is faced with a moral dilemma – to help Merrick or to use him to advance his scientific career?

This year, the annual BOV and BOVTS co-production has become a three-way collaboration with Bristol Old Vic’s new Associate Company, Diverse City. Together they are creating a new, professionally integrated production with actor and Diverse City’s co-artistic director Jamie Beddard and the Theatre School’s graduating class of 2018.

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School Students rehearsing with Jamie Beddard. All pics: Alistair Campbell

Most recently seen on Bristol Old Vic’s stage (and consequently across 300 cinemas worldwide) playing The Beloved in Handel’s Messiah, Jamie tells us: “This is a really exciting opportunity to be working with drama school graduates and hopefully, by working with someone like me, it will normalise inclusion and exciting approaches to casting. Merrick is also a really iconic part for a disabled performer. In the past, the role of Joseph Merrick has been performed by non-disabled actors, which is really bizarre. It’s time to reclaim The Elephant Man.”

Here he is to tell us more.

The play “highlights views of disability and difference, in past times and in the present day.” How much progress have we made in this arena… and how much work remains?
Undoubtedly, we live in different times and much progress has been made around disability since I was growing up (a long time ago!).
Many attitudes and prejudices still exist around difference and  “otherness”, but there is greater awareness and disabled people are more visible. In many ways, the 2012 Paralympics were a turning point, and I remember visiting my children’s playground during that time and being celebrated; very different from my own childhood memories of playgrounds.

Since this high point, though, we have regressed as austerity measures and government policies have scapegoated disabled people. Once again, “folk devils” are being created around disability, with a prevalence of negative stereotypes coming from the government and associated media – scroungers, fraudsters, lives not worth living, and so on.
This is why The Elephant Man is key at the moment: it connects different eras and ensures that the humanity which underlies us all comes to the fore.

Society’s treatment of Joseph Merrick is obviously a key theme of the play… but are there other themes/narrative strands at work too?
The other themes include the ways in which we look at ourselves and others irrespective of being disabled or not. There is an element of the side show/freak show, and the way in which we gaze at and judge others.

What, if anything, would you hope to send audiences away thinking and feeling?
To think things they may not have thought before.
Back to the humanity of it all, this isn’t a play about disability. It is a play about people, and understanding that disability isn’t an overriding characteristic. It is merely one part of complex and nuanced identities. Also, obviously, to be entertained is key!

You’ve been working with Bristol Old Vic onstage and also offstage, helping the theatre to become a more accessible venue and place to work. Tell us more.
Our company, Diverse City, came into Bristol Old Vic in 2015 as Agents for Change with the brief to open up thinking and activity around diversity, and disability in particular. There was a lot of expertise already in the organisation: we merely provoked conversations and deeper thinking.
We really enjoyed the experience, and learned much ourselves; hopefully, this was mutual. Tom Morris invited me to play The Beloved in The Messiah – a marvellous if unexpected outcome of this relationship. It was a unique and brilliant experience.

We have since become an Associate Company of Bristol Old Vic and I hope this is the beginning of many further adventures. And, in this Year of Change, we hope Bristol Old Vic will become an even more inclusive and accessible organisation. I know there is genuine will and I’m delighted to be part of it.

You’re also helping to teach the next generation of actors from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School about representation on stage. Can you say more?
I am an actor who happens to have a disability, and perhaps allaying any fears and showing it’s not a big deal is my biggest impact. Working on a play together with the brilliant graduates from Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is far more impactful than teaching – we are all learning collaboratively whilst doing something we love. That’s the way it should be.

Tell us about Diverse City – how it came about, your hopes for the company, why Bristol is a good home for it…
Diverse City is an inclusive company making theatre and circus. We represent and reflect the world around us, and the rich diversity and creativity embodied in Bristol makes it a natural fit.

What are your views on the (hitherto strong) tradition of casting non-disabled actors in disabled roles?
It’s outdated and ridiculous. It tends to focus on mimicking an impairment, rather than on any authentic portrayal of disabled people and characters. The disability becomes the overriding feature, subsuming the intricacies and nuances that underpin fully-formed characters.
There are loads of brilliant disabled actors (unlike when I was young) who can give authenticity and depth to roles. Overlooking these in favour of tired, old cliches is as unacceptable as “blacking up”.

The Elephant Man is at Bristol Old Vic from June  26-July 7. For more info and to book tickets, visit bristololdvic.org.uk/whats-on/the-elephant-man

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