The many faces of Sharon D Clark. As Odessa in The Amen Corner at the National (left) and as Nurse with Audrey Brisson (Juliet) in Romeo and Juliet at the Rose Theatre. Photo credits: Richard H Smith and Mark Douet
Sharon D Clarke is one of our most versatile actors and performers. From TV drama (Singing Detective), musical theatre (We Will Rock You), Shakespeare (Romeo & Juliet), popular TV series (Holby City), to soaring dramatic plays (The Amen Corner), panto (Mother Goose) and even a club classic (Nomad’s I Wanna Give You Devotion), there is no question of her bottomless talent.
Yet this charming Tottenham-born actor, who last year won an Olivier Award for best actress in a supporting role as Odessa in The Amen Corner at the National Theatre, is modest about her achievements. She tells Joy Francis why she is blessed to have such an eclectic career, the snobbery against musical theatre, her disappointment at the pace of change for actors of colour, and why she would drop everything to work with music legend Quincy Jones.
You are playing Nurse in Sally Cookson’s production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at Rose Theatre. How are you finding tackling your first Shakespeare role immediately after starring in the fabulous panto Mother Goose at Hackney Empire?
I love the diversity of my work. Mother Goose couldn’t be more different to Shakespeare, yet there are similarities as it is a fable story looking at how families affect you. With Romeo and Juliet, it’s their families who take over and destroy their lives. My work is so eclectic and diverse. As I do musical theatre, no one has asked me to do Shakespeare before. I did a singing role in Romeo and Juliet in 1989 at The Albany. I think there is a belief that musical theatre people are not actors. There is an undercutting and undermining of musical theatre.
You have done children’s TV, TV drama, musical theatre, plays, pantomime and had a chart hit with Nomad’s I Wanna Give You Devotion, which is now a club classic. What drives you to take on so many different genres? Is this what you always wanted for your career?
I’ve always wanted that mix. In this country we get put into boxes. We are compartmentalised, unlike the US. Here you are either a singer or an actor or a dancer or something else. In the States, you may say you sing, but they will always ask, what else do you do? I never wanted to do just one thing. You need people to think outside the box to enable you, as an actor, to show the full gamut of what you can do. This diversity keeps it fresh for me.
What inspired you to take up acting as I remember you from Dennis Potter’s Singing Detective?
I started when I was six. A friend was going to a dance school in Clapton Pond [east London], and I just fell in love. It was the Ivy Travers Dance School where they put on variety shows and pantos. I sung Paper Roses. That’s when I knew this was what I wanted to do when I grew up. When I left Ivy’s I went to Anna Scher Theatre and did work on improv and acting. My parents have always been supportive and never said, get a proper job. I went to North London College to study social work in case the acting thing didn’t work out, but I’ve never done a day’s work as a social worker but I do give out advice in my everyday life.
Last year you won the Olivier Award for best actress in a supporting role as Odessa in The Amen Corner, in which you were sublime. What was it like being in such a successful production with an all black cast at the National Theatre?
It was too short. We did 48 performances, but it was an absolute joy for us as a company. Rehearsals were a ball from the start. Rufus [Norris] would come in and kick off his shoes and bounce around the room like Tigger. I first saw The Amen Corner at the Tricycle in 1987. It was a seminal piece for me and it was a women-led and black-led. That is rare. I saw it six to seven times at the Tricycle, so to have the opportunity to perform in the show was joy untold for me.
Rufus Norris has made it plain that we need to keep our talent of colour in the UK by increasing the opportunities and creating the parts for them. There is also the Lenny Henry Plan on diversity. Do you feel that the landscape is improving for actors of colour in the UK?
The improvement is very very slow. There has been a slight improvement, but it’s taking too long for me. We need more black creatives backstage. When I do interviews I’m asked, what is the position for a black actor in Britain? If you are still asking this question then nothing much has changed. As an actor, I need writers, producers and directors with the insight, drive, backbone and money to put stuff on. I can scream as much as I like as an actor, but I need a gig and so need others to put those gigs on. I would like to see black people at the National producing, directing and writing. I can’t see how far we can go without having more people Paulette Randall, debbie tucker green and Roy Williams to make a difference. We have the talent here, but they have to go to the States to make a name for themselves and them come back with some weight behind them, like Lennie James, Idris Elba and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
What haven’t you done which you would love to do?
I would love to do an album with Quincy Jones. I get cussed sometimes by my family as I’m not one of those driven ambitious people. My work comes how it needs to come. I’m happy with that. But the greatness of that man and the people he has worked with. So Quincy, if you want a black singer from London to work, with I’m here.
What next for you?
I’m at the National doing Everyman.
What advice do you have for the next generation of actors of colour?
Be active. Know your stuff. Do your research. Get yourself a job in a theatre as an usher. That way you get to see the show every night and learn how actors deal with audiences, how they do their craft and how they deal with doing the same show every night. Do they phone in their performances at the matinees? Watch. Be active and learn. Nothing is going to drop into your lap. You have to seek it out. Finally, be a good company person. Even if it is a one man/woman show. There are people behind you, box office, stage management, dressers, creatives, etc. It’s not just about you. Remember, you’re part of a team.
Sharon D Clarke is performing in Romeo & Juliet at the Rose Theatre until Saturday 21 March, and then appears in Everyman with Chiwetel Ejiofor at the National Theatre from April 2015.