Happy Days

Was casting Peter Carroll as Willie, the near-silent husband in Samuel Beckett's Happy Days, an extravagant waste of talent? Why give one of our finest actors, widely loved for his deep and expressive singing voice, a part consisting of just 50 words, and where he is invisible to the audience most of the time?

Willie is not Beckett's only absentee character. In Waiting for Godot, the much-anticipated Mr Godot famously fails to arrive before the final curtain. In the TV play Eh Joe, the title role has no speaking part: he merely shuffles around his flat to a barrage of recriminations by a disembodied female voice. Yet the role was made famous by Michael Gambon, one of the greatest living actors.

So director Michael Kantor has some precedent for this "luxury casting" of Carroll. Nobody would question his choice of Julie Forsyth as Winnie, the garrulous wife who talks so closely to constantly that the play borders on a monologue. Carroll cites the opportunity to watch Kantor direct Forsyth as a prime reason for taking the part. "She has a wonderful complicated voice, and the most beautiful face that is capable of endless variation of mood, and an alert excitement about comedy and absurdity in behaviour. So it's wonderfully funny. And like all people who are wonderfully funny, they can often break your heart in a second, like flicking a switch."

Kantor takes the long view when challenged about his decision to use an actor of Carroll's calibre to deliver just a dozen lines. "But what a dozen lines!" he retorts. "Happy Days is determinedly a two-hander, and the subtle but deadly interaction between Winnie and Willie is as profound an insight into dysfunctional marriages and the  power of love as you're likely to find. Peter brings a grace and humility to a part that could be viewed on the page as a mere brute. Peter's Willie is in his way charming and mature in thought, maybe more developed in his understanding of human frailty and death than Winnie. These are vitally important nuances that a lesser actor would struggle with. Peter is one of the few actors I know who can grunt with intelligence!"

When the question of whether his talents are wasted is put to Carroll himself, he is a model of modesty and respect for his task. "It's a very kind question," he begins. "The answer is really that the two characters are absolutely one. They've been in a relationship for many years.  When Winnie speaks about Willie, whether you're on stage or under it, the physical presence is very important." Carroll cites archetypal duos from vaudeville with one near-silent partner, and even Dame Edna's mute bridesmaid Madge Allsop. "It's important to hit the right notes to feed Winnie's monologue. The actions have a precision about them that feed the relationship. In a sense it's an almost wordless small part, but it's a very rigorous part, and it's very engaging." Jason Catlett