Okay
Emma, would you please start the www.racksandrazors.com readers with a visual and
describe the room where you are answering these
questions?
I'm in my
lounge. I have a collection of antique taxidermy,
most of which live (or not, as is the case!) in
this room. I love the Victorian Gothic look and
am really inspired by that era. I think this
comes across very much in my home. I'm fascinated
by the way the Victorians were into preserving
their pets forevermore. I have quite a few
animals in my collection, including two beautiful
cats and a magnificent raven.
First off let's
talk about the CD you've just released 'Beyond
The Shadows'. On the CD you narrate four classic
horror tales - Edgar Allan Poe's 'The
Tell Tale Heart', Nathaniel Hawthorn's
'The Haunted Mind', Saki's 'The
Open Window', and Louisa May Alcott's
'A Pair of Eyes, or Modern Magic'. Was a
tough to narrow your love of horror stories down
to four?
I was
first drawn to the idea through the works of
Edgar Allan Poe. It was difficult to decide which
Poe story to narrate, but, in many ways, the
writing dictated this for me. So many of the
tales are written in first person male narrative
and it would have been impossible for me to have
got them across believably. I love 'The Tell-Tale
Heart' as it's desperately manic and can be
interpreted by either a man or a woman. It's the
first track on the CD and the one people always
remember, because it's so mad!
What were a
couple of the stories you almost included but
didn't?
There
were quite a few I recorded and then literally
'left on the cutting room floor'. However, I've
decided to rediscover these as I'm doing a tour
of British theatres from July to November of this
year and the show is based solely on the writings
of Poe. I really feel that he defines the gothic
genre beautifully, although, again, it was hard
to pick which stories to use. 'The Tell-Tale
Heart' is in the performance, along with 'The
Masque of the Red Death' and 'The Fact in the
Case of M. Valdemar' , both of which were
recorded for the CD but not included in the final
edit. They are such great stories, though, and I
really look forward to performing them again.
I think many
racks and razors readers will be surprised to
hear that 'Little Women' author
Louisa May Alcott also wrote horror. Can you give
a quick synopsis or description of her story 'A
Pair of Eyes, or Modern Magic'?
I was
too! At the time, I really wanted to find an
unknown story to record for the CD. I was amazed
that Louisa May Alcott had written horror.
Apparently, it was before she wrote 'Little
Women' when she was a struggling author, trying
to pay the rent. She wrote quite a few gothic
stories anonymously for magazines, and they were
rediscovered about fifteen years ago and put into
a book.
'A Pair
of Eyes, or Modern Magic' is a favorite of mine,
as it deals with the Victorian's fascination for
mesmerism. In the story, a half-blind woman
hypnotizes an artist to fall in love with her
whist he is painting her portrait. They marry,
and she holds a strange spell over him, calling
him back to her every time he leaves the house.
He goes mad and tries to escape, but she follows
him to the place he has fled, through a terrible
storm. On appearing at his hide-away (a tower in
a remote part of the country), she immediately
drops dead, but continues to haunt him for all
eternity with her spellbinding voice.
Did you have an
original agenda or intent in choosing stories
from roughly the same era and all Americans (very
interesting considering you are British) as well?
The funny
thing is that the Brits didn't seem to write
horror as well as the Americans at that time.
Mary Shelley, of course, a few years earlier
defined the genre fantastically, but I found her
short stories a bit too long! Also, she seemed to
write as a male narrator a lot of the time.
Saki
(Hector Hugh Monroe) was British and I use his
story 'The Open Window' , although it is very
short and he wasn't predominantly a horror
writer. I think that Poe inspired so many writers
of his time (particularly through Graham's
Magazine) in quite a close circle, and maybe that
is why there was such great gothic writing coming
from America during the nineteenth century.
Other than the
above, did you find any common thread that ran
through those gothic horror tales?
Death and
despair! Lots references to graveyards and big,
scary houses. Seriously, though, there is a real
'style' in the writing, which I don't think could
be feasibly recreated by authors today. There's a
lot of underlying sexual repression in there as
well. I think it's very difficult for us to be
able to image what it was truly like living in
that era. Things such as the unavoidable darkness
of night, for example. We get scared, we turn on
the light, but in those days ...
I noticed too you
went to school for Scriptwriting - are you going
to be penning or adapting a horror movie anytime
soon?
I'd like
to but, realistically, it's so difficult to get
movies financed in Britain. It was drummed into
me at university and now, working in theatre, I
realize that it's the same old story. The problem
with the British film and theatre industry on the
whole is that it has a strange pretentiousness
about it, and commercialism is a dirty word,
which is sad as there's so much talent in this
country but, generally, it goes unseen.
I know you also
have directed a lot of film shorts --- did the 'Beyond
the Shadows' spark a desire to make some
horror?
I loved
making 16mm shorts when I was at college. I think
that 'Beyond the Shadows' created a lot of images
in my head that I could really see on the screen.
I'm a sucker for shooting on film as opposed to
digital, but it's so expensive. I feel like a
real novice now when I go into an editing suite
full of computers and always think 'Where are all
the reels?!'
Have you always
had a lifetime fascination with horror and if so
do you have a first memory of being drawn to the
genre?
I used to
watch all the old horror and sci-fi movies when I
was a kid with my dad. I remember sneaking
downstairs, when I was about five, to watch 'War
of the Worlds' and being utterly terrified,
especially when the priest got zapped! I think
horror is really interesting, as it plays on the
mind more than any other genre, even when the
film is finished and the audience leaves the
cinema. It's fascinating how horror directors can
manipulate the minds of their viewers.
Can you tell me a
little something about 'Weekend Break'?
'Weekend
Break' was a play I did just under three years
ago at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.
I played a mad, psycho, alcoholic actress who
killed her cheating husband with his own shotgun.
It was fun, as we did it at a venue that was
called 'The Caves' which was underground the old
city and reputed to be haunted (which brought the
audience in!). The play is actually being turned
into a film within the next year or so and,
hopefully, I'll get to recreate the role.
Do you any other
projects lined up in the near future you would
like to let the readers know about?
I'm
really looking forward to my theatre tour.
Initially, it was going to be an extension of the
CD, but, as mentioned, we've really decided to
focus on Poe, so the official title is Edgar
Allan Poe's 'Tales of Mystery and Imagination'. I
start rehearsing in June, so we're in the
pre-production stages right now. It's all coming
together really well and I think the actual look
of the show is going to recreate the gothic era
beautifully. My costume has been made by the very
talented designers at Nightshade Clothing
(www.nightshadelondon.com) and is absolutely
gorgeous. The set design is looking good (I think
my stuffed raven might even be coming on tour
with me!) so, hopefully, the play will attract a
wide range of people and create an interest in
gothic literature.
What makes you go
psycho in real life?
Rude
people. They're just so unnecessary.
What frightens
you in real life?
My own
imagination. I'm an only child and used to scare
myself senseless when I was alone. Problem is, I
still do! |