Michael Alexander speaks to Fife-raised actor Richard Colvin who is playing the lead role of Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days, currently being performed at Pitlochry Festival Theatre.
He has done everything from performing as a backing singer for Elton John to playing the lead part in Melvyn Bragg’s The Hired Man on Broadway.
But while actor and singer Richard Colvin has loved travelling the world multiple times during his career, he laughs about the reaction he sometimes gets when he returns to his home village of Ballingry in West Fife.
Fae Ballingry
“I’m a Ballingry boy,” says the former pupil of Lochgelly High School, who is currently starring in Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days.
“But when I went back to my high school about 10 years ago, my old head master came up to me and said ‘you’ve fair lost your accent, eh?’
“I was just like ‘that’s it, eh? When I grew up this is the way I spoke, eh?’
“And then you study in Wales and you go to London for a bit and your accent just has to soften or you only get a certain amount of work.”
Richard says he goes back to Ballingry quite a lot because he’s still got friends there.
He and his brother also visit their drama and music teachers who still live in Fife.
He laughs that it doesn’t take long to pick up the Fife accent again.
But he adds: “Then you are stuck between a rock and a hard place because you get there and everyone rips you a little bit for sounding posh because you don’t live in Fife anymore!
“Then you go back to London because you’ve been in Fife for a couple of weeks and everyone is like ‘you are so Scottish now!’”
Bitten by acting bug
Raised in Ballingry with his twin brother David and two older sisters, Richard and his brother– also an actor – got the acting bug after starring in plays at Lochgelly High School.
After starting a degree as an opera singer then dropping out in second year, he took a year out before studying acting at the Welsh College of Music and Drama.
After a stage career including parts in Sweeney Todd and Jesus Christ Superstar, in 2008, Richard landed the lead role in The Hired Man, a musical adaptation of Bragg’s book.
A few years earlier, Richard and his brother – currently touring with his own play Thunderstruck – both played extras in TV show Casualty.
However, while Broadway was a pinnacle and with credits to his name since including the UK tour of Sunshine on Leith, Richard relishes the rich tapestry of opportunity his career brings.
“You speak to your agent and they say ‘where do you want to go looking forward darling’,” he laughs, “and I’m like ‘I’ve always just been interested in interesting things’.
“I haven’t really been a ‘West End Wendy’.
“I was on Broadway in 2008 with the musical The Hired Man, which I suppose is a pretty big deal.
“But I’m quite lucky with my career.
“It’s taken me around the world three times, and I’ve toured America twice.
“I’ve been in every state in America apart from four which is more than most Americans – and Canada, Eastern Asia and a lot of Europe too.
“I think I’ve been very lucky. Luckier than a lot of people.”
Perthshire countryside
Richard may have been around the world several times.
But having taken on the lead role of Phileas Fogg in Around the World in 80 Days, currently being performed at Pitlochry Festival Theatre, he’s thoroughly enjoying the calming environment of the Perthshire countryside.
“I’m living in a little cottage just on the outskirts of Pitlochry, and even the walk to work is a joy!” he says.
“You walk in across the wobbly bridge and when the dam’s open there’s this huge waterfall down the Tummel.
“I don’t think I’ve ever had a walk to work like my walk to work in Pitlochry.”
The show itself is “going great”, says Richard.
It’s his fourth contract at Pitlochry Festival Theatre.
He’s done two Rep seasons before and a Christmas show.
Version of Jules Verne classic
Adapted for the stage by Mark Powell (The Wind in the Willows, Pitlochry Festival Theatre) and performed in the outdoor area with the River Tummel and Ben-y-Vrackie mountain as its spectacular backdrop, the adaptation from the novel by Jules Verne is directed by Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s Elizabeth Newman and Ben Occhipinti.
It’s been adapted in many forms over the years, and it’s one of those kind of iconic stories that everyone knows, says Richard, who plays the part of lead character Phileas Fogg.
When the up-tight Victorian gentleman agrees to take a globe-trotting gamble, he puts both his fortune and his life on the line.
The fearless adventurer and his faithful servant encounter a kaleidoscope of colourful characters and exotic animals on their madcap adventure around the world in a race to beat the clock.
“I’ve been very lucky,” says Richard. “This adaptation is great.”
Impact of Covid-19 on arts
Reflecting on the impact of the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020, which hit the arts and theatre sector hard, Richard recalls how he was due to start the Rep season at Pitlochry when the first lockdown happened.
He remains grateful that Pitlochry Festival Theatre’s artistic director Elizabeth Newman did everything she could to keep actors employed.
“Not only did Elizabeth keep the actors that were meant to go to that Rep season employed for three months after the season got cancelled, but she instigated a whole series of online theatre events,” he says.
“She also instigated a telephone club so that if anyone wanted to volunteer they could ring people isolated in the community, just to make sure anyone who was isolated was getting human contact.
“I know friends who were working for some of the biggest production houses in the country who when lockdown happened were abandoned.
“That didn’t happen at Pitlochry Festival Theatre. We kept working and kept doing things. That was amazing. You just can’t fault how she and the theatre reacted to Covid.”
Benefits of outdoor venue
As Covid-19 restrictions have eased and life has returned to some normality, Richard says it’s understandable why some theatre goers might remain nervous about being amongst crowds again – particularly when Covid-19 cases have been reportedly rising again in recent times.
The beauty of holding shows like Around the World in 80 Days outside, however, has been a masterstroke.
“We did Wind in the Willows last year at a time when due to necessity we couldn’t have people in doors,” he says.
“Elizabeth quite smartly thought we’ll make a piece that will abide by the strongest measures of lockdown.
“If the lockdown level goes up then Wind in the Willows can carry on. As it turned out the levels didn’t go up.
“But actually it got such great plaudits from the audience who loved showing up with their blankets and their dogs and kids and picnics and drinks. It had a great energy about it.
“People just sat outside in the sunshine with the River Tummel sailing by.
“It’s the same now with 80 Days. People absolutely love it out there.”
But what about the weather?
Of course, staging theatre outdoors in Scotland can come at a cost.
Who knows what weather has in store for the rest of the season!
While there haven’t been any downpours marring the shows by the time of this interview, Richard is sure that theatre audiences will continue dealing with any meteorological developments with characteristic resolve and humour.
“I think Scottish people in general are good at taking their work seriously but not taking themselves too seriously, which I think is quite a healthy thing,” he says.
“Everyone shows up – especially with outdoor theatre – and they just want a really nice time, a really nice story with a lovely bunch of people, whatever the weather!”
Richard says there are a “couple of big set piece events” in the show, which children in particular love.
“There’s audience participation as well, so it’s not passive,” he adds.
“You have to earn your keep as an audience member when you are outdoors!”
Strong cast
Playwright Mark Powell has also enjoyed the outdoor experience, as he did with Wind in the Willows last summer.
“There is a great freedom in Verne’s madcap mission and an equally great challenge to give any Victorian values a dramatic dust-down,” he says.
Alongside Richard Colvin, the cast features Nalân Burgess as grandmother, Egyptian officer, Mother Superior and Aouda.
It features Marc Small as Brown, Kinnar, Butch Cassidy and Captain Cassidy.
Rhiane Drummond stars as Queen Victoria.
Connor Going plays Robert and Bertie.
Blythe Jandoo plays Jean; James Hudson is Arthur and Jessica Brydges is Calamity Jane.
*Around the World in 80 Days runs at Pitlochry Festival Theatre until September 17.
Tickets are available from the box office on 01796 484626 online at
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