According to Sir Ian McKellan, Brendan O'Connor is a troublemaker.
The multi-award-winning star of stage and screen had to (gently) chastise his interviewer for trying to stir up trouble between him and his good friend and fellow knight, Sir Patrick Stewart. Sir Ian, you see, is starring in the touring panto production, Mother Goose, alongside the comedian John Bishop. And it's his description of Bishop as, "the most lovable man I’ve worked with," that leads Brendan to wonder if Stewart might be, well, a little jealous? Sir Ian’s initial reply seems to confirm Brendan’s suspicions:
"Of course I told him I was doing it and of course he said he’d come and see it and he hasn’t. He hasn’t been to see it. And I think he may be a little bit jealous of my relationship with John Bishop."
Brendan then tells Sir Ian that he isn’t surprised Sir Patrick doesn’t want to come to see him having a grand old time on stage with his new bestie John Bishop, prompting Ian to fire back:
"Brendan, you are a troublemaker. And of course Patrick Stewart isn’t listening to Irish radio [ouch! - Ed] He’s fast asleep. He’s not up yet, he’s too old."
The man who very memorably played Gandalf, Magneto and Richard III is currently a panto dame and loving doing the show, albeit wishing it wasn't quite such hard work (he has a lot of costume changes during the show and several days with two shows). He’s full of praise for his co-star and the supporting cast. And he’s passionate about pantomime as a theatrical artform, suggesting that it may have been the first live theatre that the likes of Beckett and Joyce saw when they were children. On the subject of the dame, Sir Ian tells Brendan that it is – or it can be – different from drag:
"I’ve seen blokes in frocks who think it’s funny just to wear a frock. Well, that’s not for me. I’m more a Les Dawson sort of dame, or even a Brendan O’Carroll, you know, Mrs Browne, a recognisable woman. My script – and I got a script – is written by Jonathan Harvey, who writes for Coronation Street and I said, 'Jonathan, create a character who might appear in the Rovers Return.’ I wanted her to be a real, recognisable woman. And she is."
It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise when you consider his long history of treading the boards and all the roles he’s taken on and all the different interpretations of iconic characters he’s played, but, in a sort of meta turn, Mother Goose isn’t the only character Sir Ian plays in the panto:
"I’m not just playing Mother Goose, I’m also playing Ian McKellan and I’m also playing, in my imagination, the sidekick to John Bishop, who’s been working on the music hall with him for the last 20 years, you know, so, theatre can do that, it can be a mixture of things, all at the same time."
It’s clear that Sir Ian is doing exactly what he wants at this stage of his career – something new, something unexpected and something that delights him as well as countless audiences:
"The idea of doing a really good pantomime with a really fantastic cast – which we have – has made me very, very happy indeed. I just wish it wasn’t quite such hard work."
Mother Goose runs at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre in Dublin from 22nd - 26th March - find out more here.
