Joshua McGuire: ‘I wish theatre had better childcare provision’
Joshua McGuire, star of Channel 4’s Lovesick and BBC One series Cheaters, has had a seven-year hiatus from the stage. He talks to Fergus Morgan about his return to theatre in Omar Elerian’s Rhinoceros at London’s Almeida
It has been a long time since Joshua McGuire set foot on stage. His last theatrical appearance was in David Hare’s I’m Not Running at the National Theatre in 2018. Now – seven years, one global pandemic and a child later – he is deep in rehearsals (when we speak) for Omar Elerian’s new version of Eugène Ionesco’s Rhinoceros at London’s Almeida Theatre.
“Oh, it’s just so nice to be back,” says McGuire. “I never decided not to do plays. Covid forced that hand really, then I had a kid and blah, blah, blah. I am so excited to be back, though, working with Omar on Rhinoceros with this cast at the Almeida Theatre. I am really loving it.”
His seven-year theatrical hiatus is by far the longest time McGuire has spent off stage in his career. Born in 1987, he grew up in Warwick, had a small role with the Royal Shakespeare Company as a teenager, then trained at RADA. Success came quickly after graduating: Laura Wade’s Posh at the Royal Court and then in the West End, Hamlet at Shakespeare’s Globe, followed by James Graham’s Privacy at the Donmar Warehouse. Perhaps his most famous role to date was as Guildenstern to Daniel Radcliffe’s Rosencrantz in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at the Old Vic in 2017.
On screen, McGuire appeared with Domhnall Gleeson in Richard Curtis’ 2013 romcom About Time, had a recurring role alongside Johnny Flynn and Antonia Thomas in Channel 4’s Lovesick, and currently stars alongside Susan Wokoma in BBC One’s short-form comedy series Cheaters.
“A journalist reminded me the other day that I once said something about playing clever arseholes on stage and nice, less clever people on telly,” McGuire says. “That has blurred a bit in the past couple of years, I think. And Rhinoceros is definitely different to anything I’ve done before. It is not a devised show, but there are a lot of devising people in the room, which is inspiring. I feel like I’ve not flexed that muscle for a long time.”
Related to this article
What production made you fall in love with theatre?
Propeller, the all-male Shakespeare company, did a two-part version of Henry VI called Rose Rage. It was set in an abattoir and used hunks of meat and red cabbages when people got beheaded. I saw it as a teenager and thought it was amazing. And it is not very fashionable or PC to say any more, but Jerry Springer the Opera blew my mind.
What are you finding inspiring at the moment?
The last thing I saw was The Comeuppance at the Almeida Theatre. I came to a matinee on my own while my son was in nursery, and I had the best afternoon. I loved it so much.
At one performance of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, I started the play about three pages in. Daniel Radcliffe looked at me like: What the fuck?
What role do you really want to play?
I have never really had dream roles in my head, and I don’t think I would say them out loud if I did, because then, if I did get the chance to play them, everyone would be like: “Well, this is the one he’s always wanted to play so it better be good.”
What do you wish you could change about the performing arts industry?
I wish childcare provision was better. My wife [the actor Amy Morgan] is going to work at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and what co-artistic directors Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans have done to facilitate people with children to work in Stratford is amazing. It has its own nursery. I know that is not possible for every theatre, or on every film and TV set, but I think companies that have money should facilitate that in some way.
What is the worst thing that has happened to you on stage?
At the beginning of one performance of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, I started the play three pages in. I must have been thinking about what I was going to have for dinner or something. I remember Dan looking at me like: “What the fuck?” I had to rewind the play in my head until I found the right line and got us back on track. That was terrifying.
What is the best thing that has happened to you on stage?
Being in Posh was electric. That was my first job. And being in a rehearsal room with Tom Stoppard for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, going over the play together, was amazing.
What projects are you involved in at the moment?
I am in Rhinoceros at the Almeida Theatre until the end of April. I don’t want to give too much away, but I think Omar has a really fresh and exciting take on the play. We all have our own kazoos, for example. Mine is green with three dots on it.
The cast is incredible: Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, Paul Hunter, Hayley Carmichael, Alan Williams, Sophie Steer, Anoushka Lucas, John Biddle. They all bring such creativity and imagination. I am the least talented member of the company by far. I just act.
I am in the next series of The Gold on BBC One, too, which is coming later this year, and I am in an American series called The Gray House that should be out soon. I have no idea whether there will be another series of Cheaters. Actors are always the last to know.
Rhinoceros runs at the Almeida Theatre until April 26. More details at: almeida.co.uk
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