Jane McGowan talks to actor Mark Womack about Clybourne Park, a biting satire that come to Richmond Theatre on April 25-30 and Yvonne Arnaud in Guildford from May 2–7
When I catch-up with actor Mark Womack, one of the stars of the hit play Clybourne Park which opens in Richmond this week, he has just walked off stage after a matinee performance.
“The audience was full of senior citizens,” he laughs. “And there is a lot, of shall we say, choice language in some of the scenes, but they seemed to like it.”
Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park is set in a Chicago suburb in the early 1960s, where a black family is trying to move into an all-white neighbourhood. The second act takes place in the same house 50 years later, but now the house is in a mainly black area and this time the tables are turned as a white family are trying to buy it.
Womack, who is probably best known for his work on TV in such shows as Liverpool One (where he met his wife Samantha Womack who plays the gutsy Ronnie in EastEnders) takes on the role of Russ in the first half of the play – the quintessential all-American dad whose apple pie world has been turned upside down by the death of his son, who has killed himself after returning home from the Korean War. In the second half, he plays Dan, a builder who unwittingly brings the plot full circle.
“The play is almost like two separate plays, with the cast all playing different characters in each half,” Mark says. “It’s very witty but it has a tragedy at its heart. And even though the second act is quite outrageously funny, the sadness is never far away.”
This is the first national tour of the play, and has meant that for once, both acting Womacks are working at the same time, leaving the children Benjamin and Lily-Rose with a “manny”.
“We usually try and take it in turns,” explains Mark. “Sam is very busy filming EastEnders and also on Mount Pleasant (the Sky comedy drama series). But when this came along, I just couldn’t turn it down.”
The multi-award winning Clybourne Park is a hard-hitting piece that deals with issues of race, class and community, themes that are very relevant for today’s audiences.
“It’s quite a challenging piece,” he admits. “It’s all about the fear of something new, which of course is big news with the migrant crisis at the moment. The fear that we can’t accept something new because it can only change our lives for the worse. The fact is neighbourhoods do change, like in the play, but unfortunately the issues stay the same.”
Born in Liverpool in 1961, Womack came to acting by chance after stumbling into his local community theatre – the Unity Theatre - where such luminaries as David Morrissey, Jimmy McGovern and Willy Russell were honing their craft.
“There was a lot of improvisation going on and some bloke said, ‘Do you wanna be in a play?’ and I said, ‘Okay’ and that was that.”
Womack is passionate not only about his career but also his Liverpool roots and is one of a growing number of ‘northern’ actors voicing concerns about elitism in the profession.
“I couldn’t get a grant for drama school. Eventually I got a scholarship but these days there aren’t as many of those. So it then becomes only kids from privileged backgrounds who can afford to go,” he says.
“If you don’t allow kids from different backgrounds to have a go you are cutting off a whole part of our culture which is really sad.”
You can buy tickets to watch Clybourne Park here
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