Ryan Kopel (We Had a World)

Having recently captivated audiences in productions including Dear Evan Hansen, Newsies and In Pieces, Ryan Kopel now takes on a very different challenge in We Had a World at Hampstead Theatre. Written by acclaimed playwright Joshua Harmon and inspired by his own life, the deeply personal yet universally relatable play explores family, memory and the different ways people remember the same events. We caught up with Ryan to discuss bringing the semi-autobiographical character of Joshua to life, the unique experience of working alongside the playwright himself, and why this poignant, funny and thought-provoking story is resonating so strongly with audiences.

Q) Please could you tell us a little bit about We Had a World and your character, Joshua?

Yeah, so We Had a World is written by Joshua Harmon and it's basically a story about his life. It's about the relationship he has with his mother and his grandmother. And it's all about kind of family dynamics, family history, stories that you have been told by your parents or your grandparents, and kind of figuring out at a certain point and a certain age that memory is faulty. And that what we remember might not actually be reality and that every single person has a different version of events. Yeah, it's one of the most exciting plays I've ever read, honestly. When I got it through at the start of the year, I was just so incredibly obsessed with it. It's fast moving and fast paced, and it really is familiar as well. You watch these characters and you feel like, oh, I know them, I have a version of that. And it's intergenerational because there's my character, Joshua, who is in his 20s throughout most of the play and is a writer, and then it's his mother who's in her 50s and his grandmother who's in her 70s. So yeah, it's really, really fascinating.

Q) How did this job come about - is it a play or writer that’s always been on your radar? Or was it something in particular about the character or the play itself that made you want to be involved?

I wasn't really aware. I was aware of Joshua Harmon because I knew some of his work before, but I didn't know loads about the play. I think it had maybe been in kind of my subconscious because Andrew Barth Feldman did it in New York before. So I think I'd kind of seen little bits about it but I'd never read it. I didn't know what it was about. And then when I got the play through and I had a read, I was like, oh my God, this is incredible, I've not read anything like this before. Because you read quite a lot of things as an actor, and some are amazing and some are maybe not as amazing or not for you. And I remember when I read The Inheritance back in 2018, just being completely enthralled by it and just tearing through it in an afternoon. And it was the same with this. I just, once I started reading, I couldn't stop. So I think that's always a good sign.

Q) And, obviously, recently we've seen you in Dear Evan Hansen, In Pieces, Newsies, which are all musicals. What makes you want to approach a play instead?

You know what? It's not really a deliberate thing. It sounds so cliché to say, but it really is the truth. It's kind of the stories that resonate with me and are the things I'm drawn to. Because I love a musical number, I love a big song as well. But it's a different challenge. I mean, even just kind of logistically, in a rehearsal process, maybe you have four or five weeks for a production. In a musical, you have to spend kind of a good few weeks of that learning the music and the choreography, if there's choreography or whatever it is. In a play, there's none of that. It's all just text-based. But ultimately you're just trying to tell a story in both avenues. So it's exciting to have that variety, I think.

Q) We Had a World is a semi-autobiographical play written by Joshua Harmon - can you tell us a little bit more about the creative process of bringing Joshua to life on stage, particularly when the character is based on real-life events and memories of the writer?

Well, yeah, it's such a good question because obviously pretty much 90% of the play is based on truth and things that actually happened. So, myself and co-stars Suzanne Bertish and Anna Francolini, and Josh Seymour, our director, the full first week was just going through the play and working out the play itself. It's one act and it just goes straight through and it's not really split into scenes. It's just all kind of flowing. So we really went through for the first week and just properly deciphered when each event is happening, what age are we all? What has just happened previous to this? What does your character know? Because it all helps and it's all important.

And especially with it being factual. Depending on what year it was, I mean, I loved it. I love history and politics anyway, so it was amazing for me because we went into each kind of scene and figured out where we are in the timeline of events, what year it is and what's happening socially or politically. Because it all informs where your character is. And then at the end of week one, we actually got to speak to Joshua on FaceTime and kind of ask him questions about these characters, these women and his life, and like silly things about him, his college degree and his internships. And then at the end of week three, he came over and sat in rehearsals for a few days, which was just so incredible. And to have him there and to be able to kind of ask him things, like, when you're creating a character, you obviously have the freedom to create it. But if it's based on a real person, to actually have the person there who I could go up to and say, okay, how did you feel at this moment? I mean, you kind of don't want to get caught in the trap of doing an impersonation of Joshua Harmon. You know, you're creating a version of this character, but it's the first time I've played a real person, so it's been, yeah, it's been an exciting experience.

Q) Are there any specific ways in which you relate to Joshua that translates onto the stage?

Totally. I mean, I think when I read it, that was kind of what drew me to him. I related to him so much. His humour, his perspective on the world, all felt very similar to mine in a weird way. And the way he moved about the world and the way he talked to his mother and his grandmother. I mean, I'm close to both my mum and both of my grans. And both of my grans were really kind of instrumental in bringing me up as well. So I really related to it and I really have those relationships. So I think I saw a lot of similarities there.

Q) And so this play is very intimate and personal, and it's a three-hander taking place in an intimate space. How do you like approach this kind of play in such an intimate space?

Well, it's a really interesting space because it's on three sides. And so craft-wise and logistics-wise, there's always an awareness that wherever you are on stage, there's kind of a part of the audience that you're not turning to. So that's been a real thought during rehearsals, we want to make sure at all times the audience is getting some part of the story, whether if they don't see my face, they maybe see Suzanne's, or whatever it is. Which is just like an added kind of pressure, I guess. I mean, we had a little bit similar to that in Newsies, but obviously on a much bigger scale because that was on three sides, but it was like ginormous. And it's a different thing, because with something like Newsies, which is so choreographed, it's kind of built into the routines. To work like that with a play, it's a little bit freer. So you want to feel free and relaxed on stage, but you also have to keep that thought in your head the whole time. So it's been interesting.

And the intimacy part of it. I've loved being in a theatre space like this. I mean, I think I had a little taste of it last year doing the Dear Evan Hansen tour. You'd go from the Liverpool Empire to the Storyhouse in Chester, which you're just going from gigantic theatres to much more intimate. And I realised then, I was like, oh we're all adapting our performances for these spaces because what you do in a 3000 seater theatre is very different from what you do in a 600 seater theatre And yet you can't let the story kind of lose any of the storytelling. So it takes a while.

And for the first few performances, I think we're all just getting used to the space as well. And the audience are right there. I talk to the audience throughout the whole play. In rehearsals, I just started to refer to the audience as my friends, because it helped me build that dynamic and that really kind of relaxed relationship with them, instead of talking at them as speaker and audience. I'm telling the story to my friends. So that's been really helpful.

Q) The writing balances humour with emotional intensity - can you tell us your processes in exploring this in your acting that allows the audience to connect?

Oh, it's so funny. It's hilarious. I think some of the darkest things in life, that's how we deal with them as humans, right? We find the comedy in them. I mean, I certainly do. You find the light and you find the humour, because if you don't, you'll just wallow in it. And you can't do that forever. You have to allow yourself to go through these things. But I know for me, how I kind of deal with things and cope with things is through humour and laughter. And that's the people I'm drawn to. And a lot of my friends, that's how we kind of move through the world.And I think this play does that. It takes on these big, big themes, topics and emotions that we all go through, but it deals with them in such humorous, funny way that it's just a joy to get to do really, because you don't always get that.

Q) How does the show attempt to portray memories for Joshua and his family?

So it's constantly flashing back from the past to the present to the future. And then the play also lives in this world of Joshua just talking to the audience, which we kind of just call the meta world. It doesn't really exist in a timeframe. It's just Joshua, writer Joshua, explaining to the audience what's going on and talking to the audience. And yeah, it's difficult to do because it moves so quickly. It moves so quickly that you need the audience to understand, okay, we are in a different point now, we are in a different place. It's been so fun figuring out how to show that. Like whether that's through physicality, these characters getting older and younger, or how we sound, or even if it's just doing fun little staging things. But sometimes the way the dialogue's written, we can change scene but the conversation is continuing, because as you know, you talk about the same things with your families over and over. Like it's really, it's one of the most clever plays I've ever read. And I'm excited for people to see it.

Q) The themes explored are deeply personal but also universal; why do you think it’s important to have plays like We Had a World on the stage?

I think it's important because people will, without a doubt, see themselves in the play. They will see their families in the play. I mean, I'm excited for my family to see it. I'm excited for the women in my family to see it, because I think there's so much juicy stuff there for people to kind of latch on to. And I honestly, I think the representation of mothers on stage, there's not a lot of it. And this is a story about motherhood and being a mum and what that entails. And I just don't remember seeing a lot of that growing up. SoI think it's a really, really important story to tell. And I think more importantly, the way Joshua has told it is so effective. And I just really, really can't wait for people to see it.

Q) Do you have a particular stand out moment or line in the play that sums up why you resonate with this play?

At one point, Joshua says, "it's the first time I understand that two people or three people can look at the same thing and see something entirely different." And for me, that kind of is the thesis of the play. It kind of sums it up. And I love saying that line every single night. We've done four performances now. And every time I say it, I see people in the audience agree, which is so lovely.

Q) The play is dialogue heavy for Joshua in particular, and with the themes explored, it can be quite emotionally draining. How are you able to protect yourself mentally when approaching these kinds of shows?

Well, as you know, because I've spoken to you about it before. With Evan, the discipline there was crazy and like nothing I'd ever experienced. It was just all about keeping my voice healthy, keeping myself healthy, not getting kind of too deep into the emotional stuff and taking that home in a way. So I feel like I've had a little bit of an experience with that.

This is different. This is about concentration. Like the play moves so quickly that if you just are out of the scene for a minute, you're like scrambling. You're like, oh my God, I don't actually know where we are. I need to pick this up. So really it's about the discipline. This time has been about staying focused and staying concentrated on stage, which is honestly, it's a lot to do with how good Suzanne and Anna are opposite me. I mean, Suzanne and Anna are two of the greatest actresses. They are both incredible and the things they have done are phenomenal. So I just don't feel like, acting opposite them, there is no way I want to drop the ball. So I think it's just being on stage with them is really, really helpful, because they are so good at what they're doing that it makes you want to up your game and be better. And we really feel like a little triangle of energy on stage. It's a constant kind of like, passing the ball to each other, which is, it's really lovely. I've never really been in anything like this before.

Q) The play looks back on memories; if you were having to create your own memory box, what three things would you want to include? And what in particular, would you want to be remembered for?

I would have the concert ticket from the first Lady Gaga concert I went to. Obviously, there she is. Can't get through an interview without her. I would have a picture of me and my nieces. I think I've got it on my phone. One of my favourite photos. It's of me, my nieces and Johnny. And then maybe like a little souvenir from each kind of show I've done.

Q) What are you hoping audiences take away from We Had a World and why should they come along?

Come along because it's honestly one of the best plays I've ever read. And what I hope they take away is, I hope it sparks conversations. I mean, just from our first four previews, I've been stopped in the theatre and mums and daughters keep telling me they've already started talking and we've had that conversation. And I hope it sparks those conversations because it's important and the play does it so beautifully. And yeah, I would love for that to be kind of the take away from it.

We Had a World plays at the Hampstead Theatre in London until 04th July - tickets and more information can be found here.

Photography by Marc Brenner