Macbeth.
 Stephen Dillane has an extraordinarily impressive CV, a veritable 'what's what' of contemporary theatre and film appearances, too numerous to mention. He seems, to judge from our interview, to be a slightly earnest man who puts in the hours of preparation required to give as good a performance as is possible to give. Neither quietly spoken nor brash and opinionated, he seemed to be the kind of man you might easily overlook in a crowded room. Begin talking to him on a one to one level, however, and you might soon discover the life in his eyes.
In short, perhaps the perfect candidate to take on a one man version of the world's most famous play, William Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'. Dillane thought long and hard about taking on this play, and its myriad roles, but I suspect that in the end the lure of the challenge proved too great to resist.
When I ask him about his preparation - you need to be organised into the headspace required to play such a role - and so many roles - he parries his answer. "To say the least. Well, go on then, ask me about that."
So I did.
"It takes pretty much everything I've got, so when I'm not on stage I'm pretty much eating or sleeping. That's to try to maintain the energy levels - the concentration that I've got to keep." This is the sort of answer you might expect from an elite athlete; a total dedication to achieving the result and keeping his body together for such an ordeal.
"The other aspect is being aware of how I'm feeling on any day, and keeping my brain together so that I'm conscious of how I'm reacting to the text," he admits.
"In terms of being able to perform, that's pretty much the primary target."
Remember he's onstage for an hour and forty minutes each and every night, playing all of the main characters in this most twisting and tortuous of psychological thrillers.
The argument would suggest that the subtleties and intricacies of the performance are slightly altered during each and every performance. "
None of these things are any different to a conventional production," he counsels, and we consider the audience reactions, and how they affect a night at the theatre.
"Quite often you can tell if you walk through a foyer if the atmosphere is significantly different from one night to another... it's quite intriguing that the thing that we do is very definitely a shared experience."
Having said that, he quite understands he's all alone up there onstage...
Not often discussed in articles I've read about this performance is the impact of the music which seems to underpin the power of the scenes. He's joined by guitarist Jeremy Drake, drummer and percussionist Harris Eisenstadt and woodwind instrumentalist Vinny Golia... "They've grown up alongside, and with, the performance," he tells me, and when I ask whether the performance could be done without it he's very slow to reply. Considered, and halting in his reply he offers "I don't know... it might be worth trying,
When I try to examine places and stage directions in Shakespearean tragedy I trip over my own question, and conclude lamely 'Shakespeare is often about the text, isn't it?'. Bless the man for setting me straight: "It's entirely about the text," he says firmly. "Do you mean the settings?
"From reading the text I see it has a power and fascination that is very rarely seen on the stage, especially when the scene is concretised, when the language is concretised, and so on."
By all accounts Stephen Dillane's performance in 'Macbeth' is likely to be one of the highlights of this Festival, so highly is it rated. I frame a question about whether he feels the weight of expectations.
"There are clearly great roles and there are clearly great plays," is as far as he will go toward admitting any pride in his achievements, sure-footed and modest in his abilities. I realise later - very much later - that at no point did he mention the word 'Macbeth'. A traditional actor with a traditionalist's superstition, I think approvingly.
Alex Wheaton
 | 'Macbeth' plays at the Scott Theatre (Kintore Ave, city) from Wed 8 March. |
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