Andrei Maniata, a multi-talented young actor, graduated from the London College of Music, just about in time for the pandemic to lockdown society, and particularly the performing arts. Andrei’s passion for the craft saw him through, and now he’s playing the role of Amir in Bren Gosling’s PROUD on the stage of the King’s Head Theatre, London.
After his Pentecostal mother dies, Roland is liberated to live openly as a gay man. He relocates from Brixton to Walthamstow, where he unexpectedly falls for Amir, a refugee with a war-torn past. Their magnetic connection is tested, however, by Amir’s PTSD, his inability to identify as gay, and Roland’s strained relationship with his teenage son, Gary.
Overview of PROUD by Bren Gosling
In an athletic 90 minutes of live theatre, Marlie Haco’s production brings together movement, music, and naturalistic dialogue, to tell an original story of queer love.
Self-Tapes, and Zoom auditions
“Just before Christmas, I got an e-mail from Marlie (Director Marlie Haco), she found me on spotlight, asking if I’d be interested. She sent me the script – insert – I auditioned by self-tape, then a zoom audition, and I was in.”
I ask what drew him to the play…
“Why I got drawn to the experience? I want to be part of work that really tells a story, I’m from a marginalised background, and I’m also a gay man, so there’s so much I resonate with in the play: Amir, the character of Roland, being closeted, having internalised homophobia, coming from a country that does not accept homosexuality. Being able to tell these underrepresented stories, I’m very passionate about this.”
Taking the stage after lockdown…
“I was expecting to have a lot more energy, but I’ve realised it’s quite a demanding character. The physical theatre involved is like a workout! It’s been really nice to hear the feedback, and how people relate to it. To hear people connect with it, it’s been really beautiful.
In terms of performing, especially with what’s happening in Ukraine right now, and looking at the themes in PROUD, it’s so relevant. There’s going to be LGBT refugees now as well, and I feel I have a responsibility in playing Amir, indeed we all do! We need to do it justice, which I think we are.”
Deep into the play’s run at the King’s Head Theatre, I ask how it’s been…
“We’re reached a place now where we can play around, to experiment, it’s so beautiful, we’re allowing ourselves to play, making every performance different whilst sticking within the boundaries of the story.”
I ask about his feelings towards his character, and whether they have changed or deepened over the run …
“Yeah, especially for Amir, there’s this constant push and pull, this is a theme which is very present — again which stems from the internalised homophobia – having this natural instinct of finding men attractive, or finding a spark between him and Roland (played by Taofique Folarin), but feeling that it’s not OK to do anything about this.”
Then once he gets more emotionally involved, even more inner conflict, which plays to a universal human fear of being vulnerable with each other. He’s also being asked questions of his past, and not wanting to speak of it, which pushes him away even further. Amir embodies this by always leaving unexpectedly: he gets close, when he gets too close, he leaves. This is his journey till the end of the play when he’s held accountable for his behaviours.
Then looking to the character of Gary (played by Kaine Hatukai), and his passion for playing the violin. The more we’re doing the run, the more I’m realising that Amir really, really wanted to be a basketball player. So, the play asks, if Amir had been brought up in the UK, could he have succeeded as a basketball player? There’s a huge ‘what if?’ hanging over his head.
Trust is just such a huge issue for Amir, trust with Roland, trust with Gary, I see Amir as finally, by the end finally beginning to think the world isn’t such a bad place.“
Though the book from which the play was adapted had yet to be published when Andrei and the company began rehearsals, he was still able to ask writer (insert) how the story of Proud was born…
“Bren had been dealing with some health issues, a few years ago, and was quite homebound for a period. He developed a ritual of looking out of the window, where he saw a street-cleaner, and he began to wonder what their story was. He combined this with his experience of the LGBT community, and the stories he knows from the black community during the AIDS period.“
These inspirations would lead first to a short story, then a novel, and as 2018 passed into 2019, the stage-play now amazing reviewers in post-lockdown London.
I ask Andrei about himself, his own story…
“I grew up in Romania, the middle of nowhere,” he says, “I moved to the UK ten years ago with no idea what I wanted to do. In Romania, art is not taken very seriously, the only art on offer was painting. I made some friends in the UK who were doing GSCE drama, so I decided to stick with them, and realised I quite liked it! When secondary school finished, I had no idea where to go but for performing arts college. I did a two-year course at City and Islington College, and that’s when I realised how much there was out there: movement, dance, acting, singing, it’s all so beautiful!
I took a gap year after college, joined the dance company, East London Dance, then after that I went to the London College of Music for three years, did a BA in Acting, graduated, and then the pandemic struck, but I’ve been pushing to keep going, and I’m so glad things are slowly picking up again.
Doing the work…
“Its part of the struggles of being an artist, an actor, there was a period of time when I really asked myself I this was what I wanted to do. Being a fresh graduate and not being able to work in the field was heart-breaking. I came across a course by the artist Julia Cameron. I picked up her book in Waterstones, and it changed my life in terms of realising what I want to do with my career, and why. Actually working through my inner blocks, realising how much I lived in fear. Why am I afraid of committing to working hard on my craft? Fear of failure, fear of success? It was so interesting to un-pick and work through, and finally realising the bottom line really is fear.
Then asking myself if I’m willing to live my life authentically, and do the work, or live in fear? Realising that living in fear is worse than just doing the work was a really big revelation.
Since then, I’ve really got my head down, and I’m doing that work: it’s really paying off. It feels so much better than procrastinating!
Andrei shares his pleasure in being part of this production, and how pleased they all were when it received an extension…
“The guys are such a pleasure to work with. We all come from such different backgrounds, to be able to come together, with Marlie as director: it’s been a joy to be part of. The process has been so good, both working on the play, and on a human level, getting to know one another, and building rapport everyday where we look after each other. It’s a very special project; I’m working with special people.”
I ask Andrei what’s coming next for him…
“I’m already working on it. I’ve realised I’ve been living my life quite comfortably, so daily I’m putting myself out there. I’ve changed my agent, changed my game up, and really committed to my craft. Part of that is starting with a clean slate. I really like film, my experiences on sets, is so beautifully different from stage, so I really want to look to get trained in stunts. I want to be an actor that can do stunts! I like action films quite a lot,” he laughs.
“On the flip side I want to look at my queerness, and looking at that more. Looking at my dance side, learning how to do vogueing, that side of my femininity. It’s a very big part of me, where I find so much expression on that side. It’s such a different side of me, but it is my own. I want to really develop these two sides.
I also want to build my network: seeing more work, supporting more work, seeing what’s happening and present, relatable to the world right now. Galleries, theatre, films, whatever it is, beginning to have an understanding of what is out there at the moment. Building my relationship with industry professionals, and also new playwrights, new writers. It’s very important to me.”
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Wow. Big smile here. Fascinating young man.
These interviews with creative people are really a huge pleasure and a privilege. Overtime I hope I can make a useful social document of creative minds of our time, particularly the people who do great work but don’t make it into Wikipedia etc.