Currently, William Robinson is preparing to star as Peter/Mike in the world premiere of Tom Wright’s new play Please Please Me, which is based on the years of Brian Epstein discovering and managing The Beatles, and the play opens on Thursday 16th April at Kiln Theatre. William is working with a cast including Calam Lynch (Brian Epstein), Noah Ritter (John), Arthur Wilson (Geoffrey/Harry) and Eleanor Worthington-Cox (Cynthia/Cilla), and the Please Please Me run continues until Friday 29th May. In the new production of Philip Ridley’s 1991 stage play The Pitchfork Disney, William played Cosmo at the King’s Head Theatre last year, and he has appeared in All’s Wells That Ends Wells at Shakespeare’s Globe as Paroles and worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company playing Mark Antony in Julius Caesar. Further stage projects for William include the two-hander play Bacon (in which he played Darren for numerous runs including at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and New York City), and he played the lead role of Nero in Britannicus at Lyric Hammersmith in 2022, and the following year he was awarded the second prize at the Ian Charleson Awards for his portrayal of Nero. Answering our questions, William told us about the upcoming new play Please Please Me at Kiln Theatre (running 16th April until 29th May), starring as Peter/Mike in the world premiere, his time as Cosmo in The Pitchfork Disney last year and his lead role of Nero in Britannicus.
With the world premiere of Tom Wright’s new play Please Please Me open at Kiln Theatre from Thursday 16th April to Friday 29th May, can you tell us about the show?
Please Please Me follows the incredible years of Brian Epstein as he discovers and manages The Beatles. Along with having to deal with the extreme fame and success that subsequently brings, the play also charts his inner struggles with being queer at a time when it was illegal.
How familiar were you with Brian Epstein before booking the show, and how is it being part of telling Brian’s (portrayed by Calam Lynch) story?
I knew nothing about him! Absolutely criminal from me, so I’m glad that I booked the job (!) and that the play is being put on, allowing more people to learn about him.
How was it reading Tom’s script for the first time and what are you looking forward to for starring in the production at Kiln Theatre?
Reading Tom’s script was thrilling. Embarrassingly, I have to admit I also knew very little about The Beatles, let alone Brian, so doing a deep dive on his life was eye-opening. Tom has brought together the different aspects of Brian’s life in vivid detail, and it’s extremely exciting to be sharing this with audiences.
What is it like taking on the roles of Peter/Mike and how different are both characters to play?
It’s the first time I’ve multi-roled, so it’s very exciting to get to work on more than one character. Whilst being from very different backgrounds, they are both queer men whilst it’s illegal, so that brings similar struggles, but they both deal with it in very different ways.
How is it being in the cast alongside Calam, Noah Ritter (John), Arthur Wilson (Geoffrey/Harry) and Eleanor Worthington-Cox (Cynthia/Cilla), and have you worked with any of them before?
It’s a joy to be working alongside them all. I’d never worked with them before, so I feel very lucky to be watching them all work so diligently to bring the play to life. They’re extremely talented!!
Why would you recommend booking tickets to see Please Please Me in London and who do you think the show will appeal to?
Come to see a different side of how the Fab Four came to be, and how a queer man was at the centre of bringing them onto the world stage.
You played Cosmo in the new production of Philip Ridley’s 1991 stage play The Pitchfork Disney at King’s Head Theatre last year, how did you find the experience working on the play?
I loved working with Lidless and the team: Max (Harrison), Ned (Costello), Lizzie (Connick) and Matt (Yulish). It was such a special group of people to be able to work with on such a seminal play. The play itself was very demanding, with not just the content but also the technical aspects, so having such a brilliant group to work on it made it as smooth an experience as possible.
How was it getting into character as Cosmo and was there anything that originally drew you to the production?
With a character as dark as Cosmo, I find it more helpful just to do it technically, otherwise, there’s no way of sustaining a long run, along with your mental health intact. I found his costume extremely helpful. Otherwise, it was a joy to act opposite Ned, Lizzie and Matt, that I’d just have to focus on responding to them rather than worrying about getting into character.
Can you tell us about your time playing Paroles in All’s Well That Ends Well with Shakespeare’s Globe and Mark Antony in Julius Caesar with the Royal Shakespeare Company?
I loved working with Chelsea Walker on All’s Well That Ends Well. From the start, I found her vision and taste for the show very appealing and accessible, for what is deemed a ‘problem play’. She assembled such a brilliant team, both on and off stage, and Ruby Bentall as Helen was pure genius. I’m very proud of the production we ended up with – it was a lot of fun!
With Julius Caesar, watching Thalissa Teixeira each night as Brutus was a masterclass in acting, and I learnt so much from working with her. Given a chance in the future, Mark Antony would be a role that I’d love to revisit, as there’s aspects of him that I feel I didn’t manage to get to fully explore in this production.
In the two-hander play Bacon, you’ve starred as Darren for numerous runs including at Edinburgh Festival Fringe and in New York City; what are some of your favourite memories from being involved with the show?
I have a plethora of favourite memories from doing this production, but one in particular is being able to close off the show in New York with Corey Montague-Sholay. We’d been doing the show on and off for two years, and it was a real labour of love and dedication from all involved. Seeing that all culminating in Corey’s final speech of the show in our last performance is one of my most cherished memories. My god, he was astonishing.
What was it like playing lead character Nero in Britannicus at Lyric Hammersmith in 2022, and how was it being awarded the second prize at the Ian Charleson Awards the following year?
I loved playing Nero. To this day, it’s the role that I felt most freedom in, I think mainly due to Timberlake Wertenbaker’s translation. It’s such a modern and fresh translation, and catches all the contradictions that Racine’s put in for Nero, which makes it thrilling to play.
And getting the Ian Charleson Award was wonderful. Seeing the other actors who’ve previously got it makes you feel like an imposter, but I’m deeply grateful for it and for the doors it’s opened.
As a screen actor, your projects have included the feature film Bonhoeffer as Eberhard Bethge and the Apple TV series Masters of the Air as Stropp, can you say about your screen experience?
I’ve loved working on these projects and learnt a great deal. It’s intimidating walking onto a set that millions have been spent on, but then I’ve been fortunate that everyone I’ve worked with was extremely kind, which then settles you down and helps you focus. There’s still much more to learn with screen, but I love it.
Where does your love of acting come from and how did you get started in the industry?
I suppose from being taken to the cinema by my mum and dad as a kid. Money was short, so our treat was the occasional movie night, and the escape it offered immediately had me hooked.
I had no contacts or idea how to get started in the industry, so I remember googling drama schools and then just applying for the first four that came up. It then took me four years to get in. During that time I had jobs as a butcher/fishmonger, respite worker, and a speech therapist assistant to keep me afloat. I also joined a youth theatre during that time, and worked with amazing acting coaches from it, Rebekah and Craig Whiteley, who helped me finally crack how to get a place.
What are some of your favourite theatre shows to watch, and are there any you’d like to see that you haven’t done so as yet?
Iphigenia in Splott and Summer and Smoke remain to this day my two favourite shows I’ve ever seen.
Iphigenia – Sophie Melville in that show… I mean, just WOW. I’ve never seen a performance like it, and it’s what I aspire to be able to do, to this day.
Summer and Smoke, for me, is the apex of theatre. I very rarely go back and watch a show twice, but I saw this three times. Patsy Ferran captured loneliness and yearning so perfectly. Rebecca Frecknall is a visionary, and to be part of a production like that one day is the dream.
How do you like to spend your time away from your career?
Mainly seeing friends and taking my little sister to see shows. I’m an avid cook and baker, and I also taught myself to sew over lockdown, so I’m making the occasional pair of dungarees!