 IT'S a bit of a leap from plaything of Xena, warrior princess,
to a 17th-century Spanish army commander consumed by passion.
Or maybe not. For the actor Marton Csokas, every role is to be
treasured and treated seriously.
Filmgoers might recognise Csokas from such recent blockbusters
as Aeon Flux, xXx, The Bourne Supremacy and
Kingdom of Heaven. But for the past 16 years he has worked
steadily in theatre, television and independent films, in his
native New Zealand and around the world.
"I have done as much theatre as I have film and television," he
says, keen to focus on more than recent history. "But for the last
five years I've been part of the publicity machine, and I guess
people know me from that."
Csokas will bring his trademark intensity to his latest role,
the Commander of Ocana in the Company B production of
Peribanez. The sprawling work by the Spanish playwright Lope
de Vega, legend of the Spanish Golden Age, tells of the commander's
adulterous passion for Casilda, the wife of the peasant Pedro, and
the struggle between love and honour. When charm doesn't win
Casilda over, the commander sends Pedro off to war, and the play
turns into a life-and-death chase against time, power and
desire.
It's a hot and heady drama befitting the swashbuckling de Vega,
who was a poet, sailor, priest, inquisitor, bigamist and murderer,
who at one time lived with four of his children, none of whom
shared a mother.
Csokas is relishing the romp's theatricality. "It's pretty wild
in some ways, but it's quite simple as well, with a folkloric
quality.
"This play is a very vital, fun, exploratory adventure true to
the spirit of Lope de Vega. At the same time, like any good story,
it's full of humour, intrigue, suspense, tragedy and heightened
excitement and joy as well as sorrow and tragedy."
The work was written in Spanish verse, and its director, Neil
Armfiel,d is using a translation by Tanya Ronder, with choreography
by Kate Champion and music by Alan John.
"But we're maintaining a simplicity about it," says Csokas. "I
mean, it's not Cats or anything."
Csokas has made his mark playing villains, but says that while
the commander has his darker side, no bad guy is ever black and
white. "Casilda and Pedro are innocent, pure love and he represents
a form of corrupt love.
"However, the way we're doing it he's also very innocent within
that. He has an intensity and a particular concentration - quite
wild, quite mad."
Article taken from here
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