Lady Luck’s Been Kind to Star so Far

T he award-winning Donmar Warehouse is performing at the Hall for Cornwall for the first time with a run of the little-known Arthur Miller play, The Man Who Had All The Luck.

Written when Miller was just 28, it opened on Broadway in 1944 and received the Theater Guild Award. But it played for only four performances and has rarely been seen since.

“It was not what an American audience wanted during the war,” says Andrew Buchan, who takes on the lead role of David Beeves.

For Beeves, life can’t get much better. But as the lives of those around him begin to crumble, he starts to question his own destiny. Miller’s American fable follows one man’s struggle to change his fate, and asks the question – is there such a thing as too much luck?

Arthur Miller has written some of America’s greatest plays including All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, A View From the Bridge and Broken Glass.

Andrew is delighted to get the chance to work on something which has not been widely performed.

“It’s such a strong story and I always like acting where the stakes are quite high,” says Andrew.

“I like it when the tension builds and builds, then there’s a sudden snap and then it builds some more.”

Andrew has already made a name for himself as an actor. As well as early stage success, he is currently on television in The Fixer and has Cranford, Party Animals, Jane Eyre and Whistleblower to his credit.

“It’s about sniffing out the interesting parts and using your instinct,” he says.

“A cheesy play would not be my style and there is a lot of dross out there. I do get sent a mix.

“I always want to keep the theatre bubbling away.”

At university Andrew studied modern languages with the ambition, he jokes, “to be big in Malaga.”

He says he’s always loved languages.

“My mum spoke a bit of French and my dad a bit of German. I hate stepping off a plane and not being able to communicate on their turf.

“I particularly hate the British who go abroad and try and speak the same kind of Cockney they speak in London. Language is a huge passion of mine.”

Andrew says he’s looking forward to the short tour of The Man Who Had All The Luck.

“I’m bursting to do it. I can’t wait, and I’m really looking forward to Cornwall. I just can’t believe that there’s this part of Britain. It’s like going on holiday with all those beautiful beaches. We should all be wearing flowery shirts!”

The Man Who Had All The Luck is at the Hall for Cornwall, Truro from April 22-26. Box office: 01872 262 466

(c) 2008 Western Morning News, The Plymouth (UK). Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.