An interview with SAM HARRISON

Interviewer: Pat Hayward 23rd September 2026

Ahead of Jeeves Takes Charge opening in Southampton at Mayflower Studios prior to its West End opening, Overture’s Pat Hayward had the opportunity to spend time with the star of the show Sam Harrison to find out about the show and Sam’s career.

PH: Hi there Sam. I’m really interested in the new production of Jeeves Takes Charge. And I know a lot of my readers are going to be fascinated by it, because Jeeves has been a part of their lives and PG Wodehouse is probably one of the most respected people in the whole business. Now with this new production which you’re bringing to the Mayflower Studios next week, Jeeves is very well known amongst the older generation, but I’m wondering how the play might be received by younger audiences and people new to the characters?

SH: Well, with Jeeves Takes Charge I think the characters are absolutely timeless and I think it is one of the great achievements of Wodehouse and the fun of it all is that you don’t need to know anything about them. I think there’s this notion that when you first meet Wodehouse, you’ll want to read everything and you will love it all. You feel like you’ve become part of a special club that loves him and therefore you need to know about him to appreciate him. And it’s the exact opposite. I think that his great genius is that you can pick up any of the books and just start laughing then and there. You don’t need to have a relationship with all the characters at all. Each story works on its own terms. They are just classic stories of people being idiotic and doing the wrong things It’s sort of his great genius and it’s very, very funny.

You know, people being in love with the wrong person, people, a master being ruled by his servant, terrifying family members who are telling you to do things that you don’t want to do. I mean, you don’t need to know anything about PG Wodehouse or the 1930s or Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie to connect with all of that. And then in this production, I think there is something really joyful about seeing one person do all of this. People know that Wodehouse wrote many wonderful novels and short stories, but seldom realise he was also a man of the theatre. And, you know, he had four shows running simultaneously on Broadway at one point. He was, in terms of the history of musical theatre, was there at the beginning of two of the seminal musicals that that are sort of the foundation stones of musical theatre. He wrote the book to Anything Goes and he contributed lyrics to Showboat. And so he understands theatre. So I think when you read the novels, the dialogue is so theatrical. It’s so perfectly suited to being performed. So when you come to see the show, you see an actor in these stories that feel as though they were written for the stage, because basically they’re like little farces. Each one is a little farce where things just go chaotically wrong. And then you get this added layer of watching one person do it. So, you know, there’s the comedy of Bertie Worcester being trapped between, a fiancé, who he’s a bit afraid of, and an aunt who he’s even more afraid of and a headmistress who he’s terrified of. And that’s funny, but when you see one person playing all four people and trying to have conversations with himself, it gets an added layer of farce, which is very, very funny.

And then I think the other thing that I would just add to it all is that our wonderful production by Hugh Aldridge has been designed by Kate Hefner, who has done the most spectacular video design for the piece. And so there’s something that actually gives the entire production this modern lift because, yes, it is one actor, but he is surrounded by this extraordinary state-of-the-art video technology that transports you from location to location, but in a very witty way. It’s not like you’re on a film set. It’s something much more theatrical and creative than that. And it’s very clever. And again, it allows the stories to go back to your question. If you do, the younger people, seeing someone be funny and silly on a set that does extraordinary things, can appeal to anyone really. And as far as the youngsters are concerned, they don’t really get to see that done by people very often. It’s all amazing. It even appeals to children, we’ve had children like 7,8,9, years old watching and just giggling the whole way through it because it, you know, a lot of it is, it’s a bit like clowning. It’s very silly. It’s very funny.

PH: Now it must be, I don’t know whether it’s a challenge or what, but to play 22 different characters in one production and as you say, they’re very different characters, how on earth do you do that?

SH: A lot of practise and a lot of preparation. You know, you have to treat every single character as though they are the only person you’re playing. So you have to treat each one with the same dignity and thought that you would if you were playing Edwin the Boy Scout for all two hours of the show. So it’s about detail, it’s about practice, it’s about preparation. I have a wonderful vocal coach, Sam Kenyon, who has helped me develop these instinctive voices that I’ve created for everyone and make them sustainable and clear. It’s about looking at myself in the mirror for hours, looking at the various characters. So maybe Uncle Willoughby had, you know, a hunchback. Maybe Florence is wearing high heels. Maybe Jeeves had ballet training and so always stands in first position. You know, you sort of find these ways of, of delineating the characters so that they each have their own energy and as you say, they’re so beautifully drawn by Wodehouse. You just have to lean into the descriptions he makes of them and you go from there.

PH: Keeping on that same topic, I can understand how you can flip from 1 character to another when moving from one Act to another. But being able to switch from one to another and not just once or twice, but continually through, the show. I mean that must be a challenge that very few people have ever, ever, ever been confronted with.

SH: That’s what was so appealing about the project for me. It was was being able to do something like that. I mean, what better way to test your technique and test your ability than on 22 different people all talking to each other at the same time? I mean, it’s such a fantastic challenge and it’s a real joy to do. I love doing it, there’s so much fun you can get out of making the differences between them as clear as possible and the conflict between them as strong as possible. It just, makes it as enjoyable for me as it does for you.

PH: It’s not your first encounter with Jeeves Takes Charge, is it? What way is this production different from the ones you’ve been involved in before?

SH: Well, it’s the same director Hugh Wooldridge. We did Jeeves Takes Charge in Theatre Royal Bath two Christmases ago. And so it’s sort of related to that production where we developed a lot of the ideas and many sort of found their way into the production. And this is a play that Hugh worked on in the 80s with another actor called Edward Duke. And he’s been wanting to revive it ever since. So, this is the revival that Hugh has made into a production for today, where we’ve developed it into a visual experience and have now refined it for its Southampton opening ahead of a West End run and we’re ready to take it around the world and hopefully into the United States where Wodehouse has a massive folllowing.

PH: So, Sam how did you first get involved in this play?

SH: So it was that first lockdown in 20/21 and the wonderful actress Alex Young, who’s a friend of mine put on Twitter within 2 weeks of lockdown happening, “Guys I miss theatre, let’s meet on Zoom and let’s just read a play.“ And we all sat down and she decided that as there was a huge amount of interest, she decided to pull the names of the characters out of a hat. So she got the names of everyone who wanted to read. And we were going to do the play to Shakespeare in Love. And we took the names out of a hat and I ended up playing Edward Kemp and that was that. We all loved it. So we met the next week and we did Earthquakes Across London by Mike Bartlett. And I think the third week she said should we do Gosford Park? And you know, we’d all been locked down for over a month now. We miss dressing up. Why don’t we all dress up a bit like let’s wear some nice frocks, get our DJs on, do the whole thing. And so everyone turned on their cameras and suddenly there were feather boas, there was lipstick, there was, you know, finery everywhere. And we loved it so much. The following week we did the screenplay to Titanic. And I was the captain of the ship. And I ran around to the corner store because it was the only shop that was open.

I thought, well, I have to make his iconic beard. But, you know, you couldn’t just order a beard online at that moment. So I got myself some flour and eggs and some cotton wool balls and I made myself pancake batter and stuck the cotton wool balls to my face to become the captain of the ship. And when I went down with the ship, I poured a giant glass of water over my head in the middle of my living room. And it was just the most mad thing. And so, the casting was completely done out of a bowl who’ll be called Sally Bowls. And so it was completely random. So I played Camilla Parker Bowles in Charles the Third. I played Prior in Angels in America. I was Stanley Kowalski in A Street Car Named Desire. I was one of the butlers in An Ideal Husband. And so on and on it went. And everyone was invited to watch. So you could watch without participating.

And watching all of these was Hugh Aldridge. And Hugh at the time was thinking we’re in a situation where if more than one person is on stage and they cough, then the entire production is gone. You know, this is when everyone was nervous about covid. The one person show is the way forward. And he thought, well, maybe I should do one. He remembered Jeeves Takes Charge and thought, now’s the time to do it. And then he saw me as the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet and went, I think this is the man who might be able to play 22 ridiculous characters. And so he invited me to read for him. And then we developed the show on our own for a couple of years, just making sure that the script was up to date and was right for now. And then he sort of forged a relationship with Theatre Royal Bath, which is where we launched the new production.

PH: Sam, how old were you when you first had a little spark in your brain that maybe performance could be part of your future?

SH: Well, I’m from Sydney, Australia and I come from a rugby playing dynasty. My grandfather played rugby for Australia and my father played rugby for NSW and I popped out and my dad dutifully took me down the park in I think around 1992, you know, in Sydney, like all red blooded Australian men do with a rugby ball. I had absolutely no interest whatsoever. And my dad being the extraordinary man that he was, thought, well, maybe rugby’s not for this boy. He’s clearly got a lot of energy. I’m going to take him to a ballet class instead. And that’s where it all started. He took me to ballet and I just fell in love. And that led to acting classes and then singing lessons and it’s just been a part of my life since since then, really. My father was really gentle and, you know, coming from that background, a sporting family in general, let alone one where your father played for Australia and in Australia in 92, you know, it wasn’t just anywhere, it was Australia. It was an extraordinary thing, an extraordinary gift to give to me and I’m forever grateful for it actually.

PH: What brought you to the UK?

SH: Dad, Dad’s work, actually, we were supposed to be here for two years, and that was, I think 25 years ago now. It’s sad but he died a few years ago, but he never got his British citizenship. Actually, I’ve got mine, but no, he never got his citizenship. But I don’t think he would have done. He was too proud of being Australian. I don’t think he would he would ever want to mix that up with anything else.

PH: So Sam how did you actually move into the business?

SH: Well, I went to the Arts Educational Pupil School. It is a tertiary training course, but they also run a theatre school which functions as a proper secondary school. So you do French and maths in the morning and then tap and Shakespeare in the afternoon, which is just phenomenal. So I did that and sort of gained some training there, but then I also really enjoyed academia. So I actually end up going to university and studying English. And then after that I went to the Royal Academy of Music and did the postgraduate musical theatre course and graduated and off I went. And I’ve sort of been working on and off ever since.

PH: And what does the future hold for you, Sam, after Jeeves Takes Charge?

SH: Well, there’s the hope that more will happen with Jeeves next year. It’s very exciting, it seems like quite a few people are interested to develop it and take it on. But also, I’m a writer and my first play, Love Is Only Love, was developed at the The Other Palace in London and then transferred to the Chichester Minerva. And I’m working on a few other writing projects, including, including a farce. So potentially something might happen with that. I also do a lot of teaching, which is a really important part of my life and, you know, sort of teaching the next generation of actors, which means a lot to me. And then like every jobbing actor just auditioning as well. So I’m lucky to have so many other different ways of engaging with the industry.

PH: Sounds like you have some very interesting times ahead. Thank you for sharing so much with me today and I am very much looking forward to seeing you when Jeeves Takes Charge at Mayflower Studios in Southampton next week.