We catch up with 2010 acting graduate Rosie Wyatt, who is currently appearing in the touring production of the hugely successful National Theatre show, One Man, Two Guvnors…
Tell us a bit about what else you have been up to since leaving College.
Since leaving RWCMD I’ve spent a huge portion of my time out on tour, as I am now. I’ve toured in plays for nabokov theatre, Paines Plough, Lyric Hammersmith and now for the National Theatre. Touring is great. You get to see so much of the country and perform in so many different theatres and it keeps the productions really fresh as you’re interacting with new audiences and performance spaces every week.
I even got to perform nabakov’s one woman show Bunny (main image) in a New York run as part of 59 East 59 Theatre’s ‘Brits Off-Broadway’ season. That was a really incredible experience.
And once we’ve finished the UK leg of this tour of One Man, Two Guvnors in February, we are heading out internationally, performing in Hong Kong, Auckland, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne. I couldn’t be more excited, and a little nervous too…I’ll be away for well over four months. I can’t wait to see those parts of the world. And that’s something that’s been incredible about the work I’ve been able to do since graduating. It’s presented opportunities and experiences I never thought I’d have.
Rosie Wyatt as Rachel Crabbe in One Man, Two Guvnors
Most recently before One Man, Two Guvnors I spent my summer doing the world premiere of a two-hander play by Phil Porter called Blink for nabokov theatre directed by the company’s Artistic Director Joe Murphy. We performed it first at the Traverse Theatre during the Edinburgh Festival, and then at the Soho Theatre in London. It couldn’t have been more different, going from a quiet, gentle two-hander studio play to the big, raucous farce performed in theatres as big as WMC – but that’s another great thing about this industry – the variety.
How did your training at RWCMD prepare you for your current role and your career so far?
Without the vocal and physical training I received at RWCMD I wouldn’t have known how to start approaching this role. My character, Rachel Crabbe, spends most of the play disguised as her twin brother, deceased notorious villain Roscoe Crabbe. I definitely drew upon elements of my training at RWCMD to find the masculine physical and vocal qualities for Roscoe. Even on a really technical level we are playing such big houses up to 1,300 seats, if it weren’t for my training I’m not sure the audience would be able to hear me!
It also has to be said that I can trace nearly all the professional work I’ve had back to connections I made and people I met or who saw me perform whilst I was at Royal Welsh – that aspect of the training, the exposure to the industry it gives you, can’t be underestimated.
What did you enjoy about training at the College, and are there any elements you miss now you’re a professional actor?
The sense of community at RWCMD was really wonderful and has been so genuine and long-lasting that when I moved to London it was really like there was a ready-made Royal Welsh family waiting here to support one another. I still see people I trained with on a weekly basis, and count them my closest friends.
When I’m not working as an actor I miss a lot about College – the fact that you get to act every day and are constantly developing your skills as an actor is something that you can really miss when you leave. But obviously there is so much satisfaction in doing professional acting work, that’s why we went to college. You miss people, and I often miss Cardiff (I’m so excited to finally be touring something here) but College prepares you so well for the industry that however tricky and frustrating it can often be, you rarely look back.
Do you have any words of advice for the actors about to graduate this summer?
Enjoy your showcase! It’s so easy to spiral in to panic and stress but you will absolutely do your best if you enjoy it. Don’t take performing on the Royal Court stage for granted, even if you do only get about 2 minutes stage time each, it is still an incredible feeling!
Photo: Tristram Kenton
One Man, Two Guvnors is at Wales Millennium Centre from 22-26 January.
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