Interview: Actor Kyle Rowe on performing in ECHO at King’s Head Theatre

Photo credit: Lidia Crisafulli

In psychological thriller ECHO, currently playing at the King’s Head Theatre, the ethics of reproductive technology, the performance of intimacy, and the terrifying beauty of being made are thrust under the microscope for all to see. We spoke to actor Kyle Rowe about the play and his career thus far.

What is ECHO about and what made you want to be part of it?

Echo takes place over 20 years. We open in Act One with a couple, a young couple who have their own personal struggles, both individually and as a pair (without giving anything away) and what we see unfold is raw, visceral and in some ways beautifully devastating. We watch them trying to find happiness in one another and in themselves or perhaps, someone else… As soon as I read the script, I felt I needed to be a part of it, I want to tell stories with a heart, with a truth and humanity to them and Echo absolutely has this in abundance. Even just reading it, it was an emotional rollercoaster, and then sitting in the words on that stage, it’s just another beast, and it is an absolute honour to bring this role to life every night and share the stage with the wonderful Amara Okereke. The second act comes back to the same hotel room 20 years later, with a different couple with different struggles. That’s all I’ll say…. It’s about love and loss, grief and longing. It’s about happiness and sadness, joy and pure pain and everything else in between.

Why do you think now is the right time for ECHO to return to the stage, with this new name?

I think the world we live in is forever evolving and reshaping, being re-imagined, discovered and rediscovered, whether it’s the nature/nurture debate or the science element. It’s all happening and we kind of just have to go with it. This world is evolving faster than the speed of light; it’s like Black Mirror, the early ones felt so far away for the reality we exist within, now, it feels not so far away? Right? With every piece of work, I ask myself why are we telling this story NOW? And I think with this show, for me, the question is the same. Is it is a fly on the wall observation of a couple, living in a world that perhaps neither of them can keep up with, or are struggling to grasp ahold of (without giving anything away)? This play explores themes of a similar nature, and I think it is absolutely resonant with the society we live in today, science, and change and the big question of what life really should be…

How are you finding working on a two-hander in comparison to plays with larger casts?

It’s brilliant. It’s a different beast, you’re in and there’s no escape, but there’s something very special about that. It flexes different muscles; it’s been tough at times. Given our two-week rehearsal process, we perhaps haven’t had that thinking time, that breathing time you perhaps get with a larger cast, those moments outside of the room to let the work digest, sit and settle. But it’s been great, it’s been rigorous and it’s gone like a runaway train, but I’ve loved it, the team has been amazing, creatives, our writer, our director and Amara has been an absolute dream to work alongside.

What advice would you give to aspiring actors who want to build careers in both TV and stage work as you have done?

It’s tough, let’s be honest, now more than ever, but nothing worth having is easy. Work hard, be the hardest worker in that room, be it a classroom, a rehearsal room, a church hall or a field. Work hard, do your work, do not try and be THE best, be YOUR best, because that’s all you can do; you can only be you, because everybody else is taken.

You recently appeared in Abigail's Party at Manchester's Royal Exchange, a very unique performance space. Did working in this space teach you anything that you will take with you into your future work?

I think the Royal Exchange teaches you so much. It’s such a gorgeous space, it’s vast, but it’s intimate. It’s huge, but it’s tiny and I learnt so much work there. Abigail‘s Party was actually my second time working at the Royal Exchange so even from the first time I appeared there in LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, I had taken on so much in terms of the vocality of the space and how to work that, how to be vocally efficient in such a space and I was very lucky during my time there to work with two incredible directors who set up the rules of the space and then just let us play with it. It was an absolute paradise, an actor's dream to be able to just play in that space and that space is just the most incredible space for playing. I think vocally at first, it was a challenge. How do you hit second gallery but also make it feel as if you were talking intimately to the people in the banquettes seats, and a really interesting fact about the Royal Exchange is that you’re never actually more than eight metres away as an audience member, whether you’re in the front row or you’re on the second gallery. Playing in the round itself is a completely different beast. You have to be so hyper aware of where you are for sight lines. You don’t ever want to be stuck anywhere as an actor, let alone in the round, so what the Exchange drilled into me was absolutely trust your instincts as an actor, because it’s probably right. The round has this real sense of hyper realism, because it’s life like, you’re not end on, or in traverse, you can be seen from wherever you are on that stage, so as an actor, you’ve got to stay alive, you got to stay present and I think that is the biggest lesson I’ve taken away from that space that I can bring into my other work.

What do you hope audiences will take away from ECHO with them?

I hope the audience leaves asking questions. I hope the audience leaves wanting more, because I certainly do! There’s so much I want to know about the life beyond the play, what happens next? Where do these couples end up? But if we’re looking at the themes of the play and the politics, I hope people leave having felt, and I know that sounds so broad, but this play is electric, it’s an emotional rollercoaster but at the heart of it is love, is longing, a search for happiness and in fact, how far will we go to to find that. I think audiences will leave identifying with one of the four characters we see, in whatever way, shape or form that is.

ECHO plays at London’s King’s Head Theatre until 17 August, with further info here.