Hall of fame: An Interview with Rebecca Hall

After receiving a Golden Globe nomination and rave reviews for her role in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, 2009 isn’t looking too shabby for Rebecca Hall. Traditional wisdom suggests that Hall should strike while the iron is hot and continue to build on her foundation of film credits. With at least three movies in the pipeline (Frost/Nixon, 1974: The Red Riding Trilogy and Dorian Gray) she is by no means allowing opportunity to pass her by, but a growing fanbase will be surprised by her decision to spend the majority of this year treading the boards as part of a repertory theatre group.

Hall has committed to perform in an ambitious theatrical venture that will bring her around the world and over to Singapore. The Bridge Project links New York’s Brooklyn Academy of Music with London’s Old Vic Theatre, helmed by Kevin Spacey. Director Sam Mendes (who, like Spacey, won an Academy Award for American Beauty) pilots this three year effort, which brings together big names from stage and screen. Hall explains her reason for choosing to make a time-consuming commitment to theatre rather than focusing on her screen career: ‘I just think if you capitalise on a moment then it is just a moment, and nothing else. And I’m in it for a career, hopefully. I gravitate to wherever there are places I can learn things and be challenged. It doesn’t really bother me whether it’s film, theatre, or television, or, you know, on top of a London bus.’

During each of the one-year periods, one company of actors will appear in two different plays. This inaugural year of the project begins with Tom Stoppard’s take on Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard and Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale, which will be performed on alternate nights. ‘The same actors play different roles, and if you have seen both plays, I think they do tend to chime with each other in unexpected ways,’ Hall says. So, not only do audiences have the opportunity to appreciate resemblances between two seemingly unrelated works, they also witness the depth of an actor’s talents, as the same person tackles two distinct characters and genres – a unique proposition for theatregoers. 

For Hall, repertory theatre has further unexpected benefits. ‘For me, it’s helpful, in a way, because I play two such different types of women in these plays. They couldn’t be more antithetical to one another… The fact that one night I can play the virginal spinster means that I can be much more comfortable playing an empowered woman the next night. Their opposites force them into relief.’

Some might say that Hall has Shakespeare in her blood (her father Peter Hall founded the Royal Shakespeare Company), but Hall refuses to pick a favourite between her roles as innocent daughter Varya in The Cherry Orchard and empowered Hermione in The Winter’s Tale. Both characters have complex personalities – ideal for showcasing her acting chops – but delving into the two essentially tragic figures has not been a walk in the park. She admits that both roles can leave her feeling a bit down. ‘They are both pretty depressing, in the best possible way.’

The Winter’s Tale has been labelled one of the Bard’s ‘problem plays’ for its mixture of catastrophe and comedy, and is infamous for making one of the first published references to a dildo. ‘It’s about things that don’t go out of fashion – you know, forgiveness, marital strife, jealousy, time passing, parental relations, children – those universal things. It’s human, very human,’ Hall says. What’s more, it has a sense of humour. Mendes’ production plans to have a little fun with the dildo reference, so look out for cheeky symbolism; the director is known for employing grand visual stimuli (remember the rose petals in American Beauty?), and this flair promises to extend beyond film.

Hall sees The Winter’s Tale as an acutely affecting work, underscoring one of the many reasons she signed on for The Bridge Project. ‘It’s really epic in scope, and if you come to theatre and see The Winter’s Tale, I think you do come out slightly changed. I don’t mean in any fundamental way, but if you’ve gone in in a bad mood, you’ll probably come out in a very different mood.’ And for the Singapore arts scene, a transformation is very much in order: future Bridge Project productions tour in Singapore as well, and in the third year, Spacey is expected to take two roles for himself – meaning this month’s Shakespeare production is just the beginning.

Read about Hall's part in The Bridge Project - The Winter's Tale