Actor and director Rupert Hill opens up about his debut play tackling addiction and redemption

Rupert Hill has appeared on stage across Manchester at the Opera House, The Edge, The Royal Exchange Theatre and the Hope Mill too.

He is also a director and musician.

He has now turned his hand to writing and his debut play, Husk, opens at the Hope Mill Theatre later this month.

We caught up with him to chat about where the idea came from, along with him directing the play COCK at 53two later this year, and everything in-between.

Interview with Ruper Hill

What gave you the idea to write Husk? How did it begin?

Many years ago I pitched a revenge thriller Pilot for a TV series to RED Production Company in Manchester. They were quite keen on the idea but ultimately it never got commissioned. I redrafted and redrafted but nothing came of it and the script lay dormant in a discarded ideas folder on my computer from then on. As time went by the story kept popping up again inside my mind and I couldn’t let go of the idea that I needed to do something with it.

Three years ago I finally gave up alcohol and it was in these last few years that the concept of HUSK really cemented itself inside my mind. I would adapt it into a play and it would serve as an allegory for the prison of addiction and my newfound love of a life of sobriety. All the characters in the play are trapped in some kind of prison (some literally!) and are seeking salvation and freedom. The play is about finding the smallest glimmer of hope in the most hopeless of situations and letting the light in.

What playwrights do you admire and why?

I absolutely love Tennessee Williams. The big themes of sex, violence, death and class played out in the most lyrical and beautiful language and more often than not in the hot, sticky surroundings of some Southern town in America. I don’t know why but his plays really speak to me. I also love Arthur Miller for similar reasons and Jerusalem by Jez Butterworth is the greatest play I’ve ever seen, thanks to the match made in heaven collaboration of Jez and Mark Rylance.

I have also recently been asked to direct Mike Bartlett’s incredible play COCK which will be performed at 53Two from the 13th – 17th November. It is an amazing play. So dynamic, moving, brutal and incredibly funny. I’m so looking forward to getting stuck into it.

You talk about the sense of freedom you have experienced since you quit drinking. How does that freedom manifest itself?

When I finally quit I asked my youngest daughter to write “Free” on a piece of paper. I then took the piece of paper to a tattoo artist and asked them to recreate her handwriting as a tattoo on my right wrist. My old drinking hand so if I ever decided to drink again I would see the word and my daughter’s writing and it might give me pause for thought. When you’re stuck in a spiral of addiction, for me it was – drunk, hungover, hair of the dog, drunk, hungover, hair of the dog – day after day, month after month, year after year, you feel completely trapped.

They call it the ‘prison’ of addiction and it’s completely exhausting. You end up drinking to try and feel normal and that is completely insane. When I quit, my whole life slowed down and it felt like the world around me was now in stunning HD and technicolour. I have so much more time for my children and my friends and family. My memories are not cloudy anymore and I have an overwhelming sensation of being more present in the world. You still have bad days and problems! But bad days and problems plus a hangover are sooooooooo much worse.

What do you hope audiences will take away from the play?

Ok. My dream scenario is that audiences are on the edge of their seat throughout the play as they try and figure out exactly what has happened to these characters. I hope they laugh out loud!

Maybe they’re moved and ultimately I hope that they leave the theatre with a warm glimmer of ‘hope’ in their hearts. The world sometimes feels hopeless but we have to hang onto that little seed of hope that is always there, somewhere!

The play explores homelessness. What would you do to help homeless people in Manchester, if you had the power?

Blimey! I’m so glad that I’m not the person in the position of power to make such decisions. Homeless people need social mobility and this can only come through societal support either from charity or better still the local council and national government. In Manchester you see homeless people all the time and when you really stop to think about what that life must be like it its crushingly bleak. I have worked in the past with The Booth Centre in Manchester which is a charity for the homeless and the work that they do is incredible and is really changing people’s lives and I would encourage people to support this and other similar homeless charities. I also think our Mayor Andy Burnham is the right man for the job to help turn this problem around.

How does the venue of the Hope Mill suit your writing and the feel of the piece?

We are so lucky to be opening this show at Hope Mill and with its artistic director Joe Houston as our incredible Director too!

The space is intimate and urban and perfect for a multi-media landscape we need. HUSK utilises film projection and original score to help tell our story which spans over 30 years and incorporates several timelines. It’s an ambitious piece and where better to perform than in the most ambitious theatre in Manchester?

Tickets for Husk at Hope Mill Theatre

Rupert Hill’s first play Husk is at the Hope Mill Theatre from 25th – 29th September and can be booked here

You can also see COCK at 53two from the 13th to the 17th of November and can be booked here