From Dark Knights to Midsummer Dreams, an interview with David Ajala
 David Ajala is a talented young actor and is climbing the industry ladder. He has worked on stage and screen in Adulthood, The Bill and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. You can catch him at the Novello Theatre where he plays Cobweb in The Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Although originally, he was so busy, he turned down the part.
So how did you get into acting?
I got into acting from secondary school. When I first started I was doing music, I used to love drums and I would play in the choir at church. I did like acting as well, so when I was told I had to choose between music and drama I was like ‘oh man’! I chose music, but after a while my passion for drama increased and so I changed from music and went to drama. I suppose I got into acting because I enjoyed entertaining people and making people laugh. I grew up on Eddie Murphy movies, like Coming to America, and my mum and dad used to say that I remind them of Eddie Murphy and now it’s Chris Tucker. It that sort of encouragement that made me do it.
This is your debut working with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), how are you finding the company?
The company are great; it’s a great bunch of people. I was working on a TV series just before I started working with the RSC and I remembered when I was told I was going to audition for the RSC I was like ‘Wow! Let’s see what happens’. I went up for the audition and then I got a recall and they brought me in again and I had a one-on-one vocal session. Because they really wanted me to get the part they made sure I was as fully prepared as possible...
Hold on, the RSC arranged the vocal session for you?
Yeah, the casting director did that for me. So then I’ve done the voice lesson and then after doing the voice lesson I auditioned again the day after and I kinda just thought ‘It’s great that I’ve had a recall; I’ll just try my luck and see what happens’. Then a few days after I got a phone call saying I’d been offered the RSC, but the day before this I was also offered the lead in a BBC3 TV series called Trexx and Flipside and I had to turn down the RSC...I thought they would think I’m arrogant, they’d never employ me, they’d think ‘who does this guy think he is turning down the RSC?!’ I remember telling my agent, ‘please tell then I am so sorry, but so chuffed that they wanted to take me on board’. Then a week after they brought me in to see Gregory Doran [director] from a different company and I auditioned and then two weeks after I got offered to work with Gregory Doran – it was awesome. I remember working on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which we’re performing now, working on Hamlet with Patrick Stewart and David Tennant and then Love’s Labour’s Lost. It has been a sweet, sweet great season that I am so happy to have been part of.
Were you a fan of William Shakespeare’s work before you got this role?
Yeah I was. We studied it at secondary school and I remember doing The Merchant of Venice and Romeo and Juliet. I remember studying it and thinking ‘Yeah this is cool, I like the language’. But we never got the chance to perform it so it was totally different. Something which has been said and I strongly agree with, is Shakespeare shouldn’t be read it should be performed and it needs to be up on its feet. .So yeah I enjoyed it but I enjoy it so much more now because of the way it has been taught to me, the way I see other actors and what they can do with this language. Again, the RSC is just a great place to work and it has re-inspired me.
Did you have any difficulty getting to grips with the language?
The way Gregory works when we first come to rehearsals we’d all be sitting round the table with our scripts and we would read the scripts but no one would read their own part. Then after reading it we’d take it in bits around the table and you’d have to paraphrase, which is saying these words in your own language. Not only to see that you understand it, but for everyone’s understanding. Because it’s so important that everyone understands what’s going on.
Do you think this play is just for those who like Shakespeare?
I had my family come to watch A Midsummer Night’s Dream, now my dad has never seen a Shakespearean play and I brought them to see the show and they enjoyed it. I thought that yeah, they may not know much about Shakespeare but I think it’s good to open one’s mind to see new ideas and to see different styles of work. I think Shakespeare is for everyone because he writes about things that we all go through and are affected by.
What are your plans for 2009?
After this play I have been blessed and am so lucky, I finish this and then two days after I’ll be working with the National Theatre on Death and The King’s Horseman. I’m so chuffed to be able to work on that and I’m really looking forward to it.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream is at the Novello Theatre until 7 February, 2009 |
