THE RENDITION MEETS JOSHUA-ALEXANDER WILLIAMS
Image Credit - Steffi Njoya
2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell's iconic novel Animal Farm. This sharp and satirical tale chronicles the uprising of farm animals against their human masters, who then set out to build an idealistic society. However, what begins as a vision of equality ultimately devolves into a dystopian regime, as a single group of animals exploits the rest, mirroring the very systems they sought to escape.
While Animal Farm has seen various adaptations over the years, none quite like this. Tatty Hennessy’s reimagining brings a groundbreaking twist, featuring a diverse cast that includes deaf and disabled performers, offering a bold new lens through which Orwell's exploration of loss, identity, greed, and the corrupting influence of power is brought to life.
We had the privilege of sitting down with Joshua-Alexander Williams, who takes on the role of Blue in this innovative production. Joshua previously captivated audiences as Mercutio in the West End’s Romeo and Juliet (Jamie Lloyd Company), earning the Best Supporting Male Actor in a Play Award at the 2024 Black British Theatre Awards. In our conversation, we delved into Joshua's acting journey, his first encounter with both Orwell's novel and this new stage adaptation, the intersection of art and politics, and much more.
“I’m grateful for the fact that I’ve had that [visibility], because it is a blessing to be able to be visible. So for me, it’s about making others visible, because there are so many amazing black creatives and people that are doing things, like - The Rendition.”
QUESTION: What aspects of your life sparked a realisation that a career in acting was your true passion?
Joshua-Alexander: Every parent's evening the feedback was always, “Josh is a good student, he just talks too much, he's just very distracted”. That’s what my parents evening from year one till year 11 consisted of. I also really loved novels, I always read books! I read the whole Maze Runner series, I read the whole Hunger Games series, all the Alex Riders. I don't read novels as much now, which is interesting, but I used to read a lot of books. I used to write my own stories sometimes. So I’ve always liked storytelling, and I love films, so I think it was subconscious, I didn't realise it until, one time my mom took me to an acting class.
I used to be a dancer, and there was a school in the area where I live, called Scott and Wiseman, they don’t exist anymore, but it was a school where they did dance and acting and I was doing dance lessons every Saturday there. One day, my mom said, “Josh you know, they do acting classes, you talk a lot - maybe you should try it”. I was young, [so] I had a lot of energy and acting was [maybe] that thing that allowed all of those things to come together and channel it in a good way. He loves stories, he loves novels, he loves talking, acting is perfect.
I probably have the video somewhere, on an old phone in my house, I don't know. But there's a video of me when I was, like, 10 years old, and I played the King in Cinderella and I acted alongside Taylor Bradshaw. We've got this small kid wearing a crown on a cape, and then this tall guy playing the prince, and it was at this really comedic moment. I remember that moment as a 10 year old thinking, I need to do this. I need to do this more.
QUESTION: Can you recall your initial encounter with George Orwell’s Animal Farm? What was your impression, and what aspects of the story or experience stood out to you?
Joshua-Alexander: Mr. O'Brien was my English literature teacher in year 10 and 11 and he made us focus. He had the whole class on lock, like genuinely - my highest grade was in English Lit, and that speaks for itself. I remember him taking us through this book, and [the class] reading it. It was one of those books that you just fell in love with, straight away, and I remember, we were talking about power and corruption, and then the historical element - Joseph Stalin and the Russian Revolution, and other things.
Before I started this role, I used to think it was this horrific story, and quite visceral where the characters were really big and impactful. When I got the email confirming that I’d booked the role, I was kind of confused, but excited at the same time, because I know the book is great, but then I started to think how are we going to put this on stage, you know? When I heard the way Amy [the director]was talking about it [the play], I called my agent after the audition saying - I need to do this play!
QUESTION: Tell me a little bit about your character in this rendition of Animal Farm? How do you approach and interpret their role?
Joshua-Alexander: So initially, whenever I get a script, one of my biggest things is that I just read it. So over the Christmas period, probably from boxing day until the first day of rehearsal, which was the 6th of Jan, so from the 26th of December to the 6th January, I probably read the play every day. I like to indulge myself in the whole world before I even approach my character. I want to understand the story and the overview of it from every perspective - from a bird's eye view, almost and then I begin to look at each character and observe how each person affects the other person.
I approach this play completely differently than how I have approached any other play and I think that's something I'm learning on my journey, that different plays require different things from you. You are working with a different director, you have a different cast, people have different ways of working. For example, when I did Romeo & Juliet, Jamie Lloyd wanted everybody off book from day one, which was right for that play. So it meant, I had to know my character, I'm in my room learning all my lines as Mercutio, because I’ve got to have a sense of who he is, at least. Whereas with this play, Amy [has] kept it very open, and she wants us to come in and just bring ourselves, and feel like you need to pre-prep any work. So I didn't go into the room with a solid idea of who he [Blue] was. I saw the arc that he has throughout the story, [and, you know, if you're reading this come and watch the play, so you can see], I had a, had a brief overview of who he was, but I didn't have, like, a direct one, but that's what's nice, because it means that now I'm in the room, I'm approaching it in a different way.
Right now in this process, I'm focusing on looking up, and when I say that I mean I don't have anything that looks like the text. Usually, I'm always looking at a script, but I think that in this process, looking at the script will hinder me, because we're creating something in the room. So I've really practiced looking up and looking at what we're building together, looking at the offers that other characters and other actors are bringing in the room, and I'm building Blue based on that.
So I’m doing the opposite of what I usually do, which is looking and asking, what have I said about myself? What have the other characters said about me? What do I say about everyone else? And [though] that's still useful and helpful to have, I think I've taken most of my understanding of who Blue is in the context of the actors that I'm with, because they're really bringing some great offers, and the directors have given us some really good things to think about.
I [also] wouldn't say I'm there yet, but I think that's good because It's a very ensemble play [and], there are big scenes where all the actors and the characters are in. So, we've been working on those things, and sometimes it feels like you're cooking, a big Christmas dinner, because there are so many elements going on, but I think it's nice, because when you begin to see how they transition, and line up next to each other, you can look back, and say oh! you know, I mean.
In an essay entitled "Why I Write", Orwell says: "Animal Farm was the first book in which I tried, with full consciousness of what I was doing, to fuse political purpose and artistic purpose into one whole." The novel is both creative and politically outspoken against the Russian Revolution and the resulting communism that took hold, allowing for conditions to become more oppressive than before the rebellion.
QUESTION: How do you perceive the relationship between art and politics, and in what ways do you think theatre can serve as a powerful medium for telling stories that reflect real-life issues?
Joshua-Alexander: I love this question because it's something I think I've tried to avoid for so long.
I’ve forgotten who has that statement;but they basically say that, to be an artist, means you're naturally a politician. And I used to disagree with that, I used to be like, “nope, I'm just an artist, I'm gonna do what I'm gonna do, leave me alone”. But I think there is an element of truth to that statement.
As a writer, I’d say from a writing perspective, I struggle because everything is political. Let's say I write romance, if I made the two characters black, everyone would say it’s a black romance. If I make the woman White and the man Black, then there's going to be so many conversations. And if I flip that, it's going to be mad. If I make both of them white, the question will be why didn't I write them black? So everything is political.
And so I think, you have a duty as an artist to to be aware of that, but I don't think you should let it, hinder your work or influence your work to a point where you're crippled. But I think it’s important, [for example], what you guys are doing with The Rendition, to use art to be able to connect to people, in ways that people are oppressed and taken from through politics and the way that society has been built.
So, when I think about myself, I don't necessarily think I'm the type of person that will write plays about, politics and all, but I think I'll be that person that will do a lot of community building, you know, getting people into the Theatre, getting black directors and actors and writers in places where people can be seen.
Image Credit - Steffi Njoya
“See it before you see it, and see it before anyone else sees it.”
QUESTION: Given that Animal Farm is celebrating its 80th anniversary since it was written by George Orwell, do you believe the themes of the play remain relevant and resonant in today’s world?
Joshua-Alexander: I think humans are so funny, we’re forgetful beings, which is why history repeats itself. You can go from the beginning of time and see how power and corruption has been an issue even in the times of Jesus. You know, where the Romans are oppressing the Jews, and it’s always been a thing - though it’s sad to say that it has always been a thing. However, I think art, in that way, can be a mirror to say, “hey, guys, look, nothing is changing”.
So, the themes are still present and they're still very much relevant. You have class, gender, race, [and] religion, all of these things are very relevant. And like I said, the way in which we’ve opened up the text, you can really read anything into it. We haven’t created specific characters that represent people in society and we've done that for a reason, because we want it to be very ambiguous for you to be able to read anything into it.
Something that's cool about us as actors, [in situations like this] is that we can really just have fun with it; [and say] today, I might play a little bit of this or that, because you're not set into a rigid box, and that's what politics does. It puts people in boxes and statistics and numbers rather than appreciating people for people.
In the press release, it states that:
This ANIMAL FARM features a cast that includes deaf and disabled performers, reflecting the production’s dedication to ensuring disability is an integral and celebrated part of the storytelling and creative process. Creative audio description will be available from press night onwards… integrated BSL performances throughout, seamlessly weaving British Sign Language into the storytelling to ensure d/Deaf audiences experience the production as an organic part of the action.
QUESTION: Talk to me about the way in which this level of inclusion has elevated this production and the story being told?
Joshua-Alexander: I think that it has made people work harder, and what I mean by that is, we live in a society where if something doesn't really pertain to you, then you don't really care about it and I used to have that mindset. But being in this production means that, because you have people in a room who are in whatever way, less able than you in one way or another, instead of trying to make a person rise to your standard, or it's not even necessarily about rising - but trying to get someone to do something they're not able to do, it's about you actually taking on an onus, for example, to learn BSL. In this process, I've learned a bit of BSL, and I'm not a pro at all, but it's integrating gestures in a way that I'm talking, you know, speaking, having a conversation, asking, learning. I've been learning through this process.
[Now] I don't even look at the person speaking, I'm looking at the BSL interpreter, because I can hear, so I'm looking at the BSL interpreter [to learn]. Day one, I didn't understand anything - now day fourteen, I can look at two deaf people having a conversation and understand what they're saying. I might not be able to sign everything they are saying, but I can still understand the conversation they're having.
And so I think that the level of inclusiveness has made us all a lot more aware of the privilege we have, which is what it should do, which should then lead you to a place where you can aid people that are less able than you, rather than continuing to do your thing and then making others feel like an outcast almost.
It's been amazing, and I was saying to one of the deaf actors today, I didn't even consider that was a thing - a deaf actor, and being in a room seeing how they're working - it's amazing. I've really enjoyed it, and it has challenged me, but in a good way and I'm down for the challenge. It's growing me in a way that I've risen to that and learnt so much through the process.
QUESTION: What does it feel like to return to Stratford East as an actor, stepping onto a stage that has been home to so many powerful and transformative stories?
Joshua-Alexander: I like to think that I think highly of myself, I don't really have any boundaries in my head. So, when I worked there, of course, I thought I would probably act on this stage one day. Did I think it would come this quickly? No, did I think I'd be on the WestEnd that quickly? No. So there is that kind of shock from the last job that it’s all come quicker than I expected.
I remember doing one of my last shifts at Stratford East before I booked Romeo and Juliet and thinking - “wow, I never really have to work here again, that's crazy”, and to think I'm returning to work there, but as an actor is kind of cool, and it's very exciting. I've sat in every single level, done countless shifts there and like you said, I know the theater, I know the people who work there very well. So it's just exciting, but I think more so it's just like a testament of God's grace and His beauty in my life. In everything, I try to see, where is God in this, and yes, I booked this amazing job, but the fact that it is in the place that I used to work is just the cherry on top that makes it crazy to me - I don’t think things like that are accidents.
So, I'm really excited to open in Stratford [East]. I hope that Stratford [East] likes it. I have a big feeling that this will probably be one of the greatest things that Stratford East has seen in a while. The shows that’ve been here in the last year have been amazing and I've had the luxury of seeing some of them, but I think that we're going to bring something really crazy to Stratford East - Amy is an amazing director.
QUESTION: What encouragement do you have for any young black man, who is as passionate and as interested as you are in pursuing the arts?
Joshua-Alexander: Let your vision of yourself be the biggest vision that matters, obviously, I'm not gonna ignore the fact that there are societal things in place that limit black people. [Being a very Spiritual person] I have found that I don't play by the rules that everyone else plays by, that's how I see in my head.
But I would say let the vision you have of yourself be the biggest one because people will tell you, that you can’t do things for so many reasons but if you have a clear vision of where you want to go, you will get there. I remember saying a few things to my agent when I initially got signed, and you know for a graduate to say those kind things, people would look at me and say you're ungrateful or you're crazy - but I just had a clear sense of who I am and where I wanted to be. The fact that my first job was on the Westend - yes I was surprised but at the same time, there was an element of, well that's where I had set my mind - not particularly on Westend - but I had set my mind on not settling.
I’d [also] say, get people around you that affirm that and believe that, but then also put in the work. There are people that say I want to be X or I want to be Y, but they don’t put in the hard work - both matter; having the faith to believe in yourself and the hard work.
I’m always trying to find new ways to build my craft, to add new things to my tool kit to change my philosophy around acting and the way I work and not just allow the whole faith side of it to carry me. So, know the vision and do not let anyone sway you off the vision, because people will try to - but it’s about you knowing what you want and knowing how you're going to get there regardless of how long it takes.
The reason I think this is important is because when you do get that small win, it gives you the motivation and the momentum to get the next win and the next win. The person that I see in my mind is possible and it’s about me really believing that to actually step forward.
The conversation with Joshua-Alexander paints a compelling picture of the power of faith, the importance of having a clear vision, and the need to make that vision tangible. More importantly, it highlights the transformative impact of inclusion and the necessity of making theatre accessible and giving a voice to those often overlooked.
Animal Farm opens at Stratford East and is showing from 07th February - 08th March before commencing on a tour to Leeds Playhouse 12th– 29th March and Nottingham Playhouse 02nd – 12th April.
