Andrew Strachan
Young actor on his role as Johnny Boyle in Juno and the Paycock
To play Johnny Boyle, Andrew Strachan had to have a handle 'on all things Irish.' He also read Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes about poverty stricken families in 1922 Dublin.
"I needed to come into this role prepared. The play starts from such a high place." admitted Strachan. "The lights come up and Juno tells me my best friend has been brutally murdered and she is hinting that I am responsible somehow. The first month I was doing this role, I had clenched jaw and anger on the outside but you forget that when you are in a highly emotional state you are open and your body responds better if you don’t try to inform it."
How does Johnny Boyle get involved with the IRA. Do his parents know how deeply involved he is?
"You make your own determination. He turns his best friend in. It is fun to build up a history because it helps inform you in the moment about what Johnny would be thinking. Johnny is nothing like me. At first I thought it was really miscast because he was angry, aggressive, bruding – not that I don’t have my moments – so you have to imagine a lot. I think the play very much starts in the middle towards the end so you have to invent what’s come before.
Why did Johnny Boyle make these choices?
Why has the war been going on for so long? It’s the same with Ireland. Part of me thinks a vast majority of the Irish want the war to end and wish it had never begun in the first place. If someone was to admit they were wrong, they would lose face and come to a crumbling halt. Johnny makes a choice and once he’s made it, he can’t go back on it and then he’s hiding the rest of the play. O’Casey’s text makes mention of Johnny running to his aunt's and uncle’s back yard running, hiding. He can’t stand up and face the situation because he has made such a botch up of everything. It’s relentless in that way. It’s always on his mind which makes it challenging and exciting for me as an actor. Even when Johnny is in the house alone, there is always something bombarding him."
Does Johnny act this way to get back at his father?
"I think every kid at some time in their life does a lot of things to frustrate their parents. The Captain (James Blendick) is a mess – he would rather live on welfare than work – drinks like a fish with Joxer Daly ( Brian Tree) and has no clue what his son is up to. I think it’s a case - like any great piece of modern literature - of families in denial – that family dynamic. In rehearsal you have to look at someone if you want to be honest with them and (director) Janet Wright said this great thing ‘You are family. You hate each other. You never look at each other.'
How many times were you a teenager eternally hating your parents? I guess Juno (Lally Cadeau )and the Captain have made their decision whether they know about me or not.There are clues in O’Casey’s text that hint at that fact when Juno says 'I’ll put on a cup of tea, and everything will be alright.' She’s a woman who thinks a cup of tea or a flask of brandy is going to alleviate a situation and it is the same with Captain Jack who gets drunk to ignore the situation."
Why is John so angry at his sister Mary?
"John is angry at Mary (Cara Hunter) because she is doing all the things he wants to. She’s a go-getter and out of the whole family, she’s the one who stands a chance to get out. So for the audience, it is a real upset when she doesn’t and my character wants her to escape. It's a very intense moment for Johnny Boyle - what actually does happen to him. I was little worried that the character was so unsympathetic that people wouldn’t care."
