French Without Tears, Cast In Doncaster

A major revival of Terence Rattigan's comedy hit French Without Tears comes to Cast in Doncaster next week.
French Without Tears Production Photos

Photo Credit: The Other Richard
info@theotherrichard.comFrench Without Tears Production Photos

Photo Credit: The Other Richard
info@theotherrichard.com
French Without Tears Production Photos Photo Credit: The Other Richard [email protected]

The play follows a group of eager young men spending the summer on the French coast learning the local lingo.

However, their studies are soon interrupted by arrival of the beautiful Diana Lake. Now the boys have to learn a whole new language: girls.

Mischief, mayhem and misplaced affections follow.

Here, actor Ziggy Heath talks about the show.

What can you tell us about French Without Tears?

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It tackles the universal problem of falling in love with the wrong person. It’s also a coming of age play about kids who learn a hell of a lot about themselves, and work out what’s important and what’s not important.

How does your character, Alan, fit into the story?

He is an absolute nightmare. He’s intelligent, frustrated and feeling the pressure of having to fulfil other people’s expectations. His family’s in particular.

During the course of the play he discovers which path he has to take in his life to achieve happiness.

Do you see much of yourself in Alan?

In this play, Rattigan mirrors a lot of his own life story in Alan. They were both the sons of diplomats and they were both caught between doing what they wanted to do and doing what they were expected to do.

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I definitely had a stage very recently of being in a position where I couldn’t do what I wanted – and not quite knowing what that thing was!

You’re in several big upcoming film and television projects including Denial, Black Mirror and Harlots. What can you tell us?

Unfortunately I can’t say anything about Black Mirror, other than it’s going to be on Netflix instead of Channel 4. All very hush hush!

Denial is very exciting. It’s a film about Holocaust denial and a legal case to try and prove the denier wrong. It was my first job out of drama school and it’s just coming to cinemas at the moment.

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More recently, I was filming a show for ITV called Harlots. It’s a show about these two boarding houses who are competing to be the best in Georgian Covent Garden.

It’s the world of Georgian prostitution told from the prostitutes’ point of view.

How does working for the stage differ from working for the screen?

For me there’s nothing like a live audience. It makes every show unique because no audience ever reacts the same way.

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The tone of each performance changes because we respond to the audience. It’s a much more visceral, active kind of acting.

It feels much more shared.

n French Without Tears is at Cast from Tuesday to Saturday. Box office: 01302 303959 or Cast In Doncaster