Robert Bathurst talks Cold Feet and grief and his new play Love, Loss and Chianti
LEANING over the arm of his chair, Robert Bathurst admits: “I don’t think my life will be complete until I’ve done this.”
The Cold Feet star has been working on a secret project which has been nine years in the making.
He’s been on telly almost my entire life but his passion is a series of Christopher Reid poems called A Scattering and The Song of Lunch about grief and romance that he is calling Love, Loss and Chianti which he is turning into a stage adaptation.
And his he’s even got the seal of approval from his Cold Feet cast and crew.
The veteran actor says: “I did it for the Cold Feet cast and crew at the Artzu art gallery in Manchester.
“I stood on a box among the paintings and I did it on my own and I wanted to test it out on them because I knew they wouldn’t usually go to the theatre, who wouldn’t necessarily go to a poetry event.
“The drivers, the cast, the crew were there. They all felt they had to come but I didn't force them.
“You could have heard a pin drop. It emboldened me to think that a non-theatre audience could absolutely get it because it’s so relatable.
“Christopher put into words what we all feel but can’t express.”
It’s no surprise that after working with the same cast for over 20 years they have become incredibly close.
But meeting up away from filming is something that is quite difficult and they have to “make dates” far in advance to stand any chance of catching up.
But hopefully at least a few will be able to make his show in Hammersmith, London, at the end of February.
For Robert it’s not just a new job for him. The play is deeply personal and it’s forced him to rethink how he deals with emotions.
He explains: “Everybody grieves at some stage in their life. That's a given.
“I haven’t escaped the clutches of grief and when I'm grieving I've always gone into myself.
“Yet, somehow, I found when I read that it expressed grief in a way, which was so completely humane.
“And made it express what it took to move away from grieving in some ways. And somehow it made me realise that you can confront it and express it.
“The work has made me less shy of dealing with it because when you’re talking about people that have died you feel almost guilty but this work reminds people to grab life while we’ve still got it.”
He knows the two-man show might not appeal to everyone but is hoping audiences come to see “the man off the telly” and take away something more.
Robert stars alongside Rebecca Johnson and behind them there is an animation of cartoons illustrating the show drawn by Charles Peattie.
The Dad’s Army actor is under no illusion that he will have a battle to win over his audience - actors always do, he says.
He adds: “I think of two numbers before I go on stage. 20 and 30. I assume that on any given night at the theatre that 30 per cent of the audience aren’t entirely sure they want to be there and 20 per cent might be asleep at any one time. Those categories might overlap.
“You’ve got to engage them, go get them and that’s what I like to do.
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“Some people will come to see that bloke off the telly and see what he does, but I’m going to get them. I’m going to draw you into the story and make you laugh.
“I want to surprise people. I want people to think blimey I never thought that could happen, how did they do that with those cartoons.
"How did they manage to pull that all together - how does something that odd work?”
Love, Loss and Chianti is at the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith, and stars Robert Bathurst and Rebecca Johnson.
Tickets start from £30 with the show running until May 17 2020.