South African born actor and writer Paul Herzberg doesn’t shy away from racial politics. Born into an apartheid-ridden country with politicised parents, he was twice conscripted into the army, including fighting in the Angolan war. After studying acting and scriptwriting in his homeland, Herzberg moved to London in the 1970s and enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.
Despite a successful acting career on stage (A Streetcar Named Desire, Romeo and Juliet), in films such as Cry Freedom and My Week with Marilyn, and TV appearances in popular shows such as The Bill and The Inspector Lynley Mysteries, he also sustained a successful writing career. His latest play The Dead Wait, which looks at South Africa’s role in the Angolan war, originally premiered in Britain 11 years ago at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester where it was nominated for several awards. Herzberg tells Joy Francis about his joint passion for writing and acting, why he wrote The Dead Wait and the devastating impact of war on people’s lives.
You studied acting and scriptwriting while in South Africa. Were you hedging your bets?
I was 19 at the time and I was just starting out in a professional capacity. There was only one film course available in South Africa at that time and I wanted to be a scriptwriter. It was only a one year course. By the end of the course I decided that I wanted to be an actor and I went to drama school for three years. So no, it wasn’t a case of hedging my bets, but I love ideas. Acting didn’t feel enough. I wanted to explore ideas around race, having come from South Africa. When I came to London as a young man in the mid-1970s I began my career and retrained at LAMDA. When an idea took me, and there was a lull in acting, I began to write. I’ve been fortunate that I’m 60 and I’m still managing to do both things.
You’ve been acting for over 30 years. What draws you to a script?
The same thing that draws me to writing – telling a powerful story. I find the process relatively similar. The story can be incredibly complex or incredibly simple. Coming from South Africa there is a strong oral tradition of folk tales. My mother was a puppeteer and worked with African folk tales so I grew up with these amazing stories as a youngster. Effectively I’m exposing myself on two flanks [acting and writing] critically, but it is always story that draws me to a script.
How much does racial politics inform your writing?
Coming to the UK as a white South African after having served time in the Angolan war contributed greatly. Both my parents were politicised and were very much against the [apartheid] regime. There was no choice about the army. You had three options: go into the army, go to jail or flee the country and risk being met and the airport and being arrested. At 23, when I finished my second run of national service while the apartheid regime was still in power, I could no longer lend my services under conscription in good conscience. My experiences in the South African army and the three months in the Angolan war affected me deeply.
Does the Dead Wait reflect your experiences of the South African army and Angolan war?
The Dead Wait is my third play about the South African army. First there was Sweet Like Suga, then The Song of My Father, a radio play. I thought I had got the war out of my system as I had also written about other topics, but then, in my late 30s, I heard this anecdote about a dying African freedom fighter being carried by this young white kid in the heat of the Angolan war and the psychotic platoon commander trying to punish this kid. These two middle aged men were doing battle for the soul of this young white kid. Afterwards I couldn’t leave the story alone.
What do you want audiences to get from seeing The Dead Wait?
I would really love it if they come on this journey with us about what happened to these three men to get a deeper understanding of what war can do to people. Also to understand the long lasting effects of war and the crimes of war remaining unaddressed. Also, in a more optimistic sense, about how a change of heart can come about in the most unlikely of people under extreme circumstances.
What advice do you have for new writers and actors?
Training isn’t essential but it certainly helps. Some people, when they start acting or writing, have an extraordinary gift and so they don’t need to go to university or drama school. They are a tiny percentage. With playwriting and acting, you need to put in the time. I wouldn’t go into an operating theatre and think I can do what a heart surgeon does. You need to understand the craft and how stories are put together. Read other people’s brilliant screenplays avidly and immerse yourself in them. The magic doesn’t always come overnight.