Interview: Daniel Boyd of Great Expectations at the West Yorkshire Playhouse

Photograph credited to Idil Sukan/Draw HQ

Following TSOTA’s interview with Shanaya Rafaat, we were also pleased to catch up with Daniel Boyd. The actor will be playing Pip in West Yorkshire Playhouse’s production of Great Expectations (4 March to 2 April.)

TSOTA: Is this your first time performing at West Yorkshire Playhouse?
DB: Yeah, I’d heard great things about it from actors who had loved working here but this is my first time.

TSOTA: You’re starring alongside Shanaya Rafaat, who plays Estella. Is this your first time working together?
DB: It is. We have some mutual friends so I was warned that she was brilliant but we hadn’t actually met until a few weeks ago.

TSOTA: You’ve played iconic Shakespearian roles such as Romeo, yet you’ve also starred in Bad Jews. Is it important to you to vary your roles?
DB: I think most actors enjoy variety. I’ve been fortunate enough to play some characters that are wildly different on paper, though they’re probably all still exaggerated versions of me.

TSOTA: What’s your favourite line from the show and why?
DB: It changes almost daily. ‘If it cease to beat, I’d cease to be’ is a favourite, though at the moment Rose Wardlaw (who plays Biddy in the West Yorkshire Playhouse production) saying ‘You dunder-headed King of the Noodles’ probably tops it…

TSOTA: Is there a big difference between the book and this stage adaptation by Michael Eaton?
DB: I think Michael Eaton has been very true to the book’s heart. The medium of the novel allows for tangents and streams of conscious (that Dickens did so well) But the economy of Michael’s adaptation is what makes it so exciting to perform.

You can catch Great Expectations at the West Yorkshire Playhouse. Book tickets via the website.