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William Gaminara is, undoubtedly, best known for playing Professor Leo Dalton in the hit BBC One crime series Silent Witness; a role he left in 2013 after 11 series alongside Amanda Burton, Emelia Fox and Tom Ward amongst others.
Radio 4 listeners will also be familiar with his voice being that of Dr. Richard Locke in The Archers, as well as being the reader of the Richard Sharpe audio books written by Bernard Cornwell.
What may be less well known is that William is also a successful screenwriter – he contributed scripts for TV series The Lakes and This Life¬ – and is the playwright of several stage productions, the latest of which, The 3 Lions, opens at The Liverpool Playhouse this week and reveals what might have happened when Prince William met David Cameron in David Beckham’s hotel room, the night before England’s ill-fated bid to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
With allegations still rife about underhanded corruption and back-handed deals, this comedy of diplomacy in action is as relevant as ever. “I first started to write as soon as news of these three being involved in this World Cup bid came out,” William explained. “The very simple comedic value of it really struck home and the thought of these three individuals, Beckham, Cameron and Prince William, being all in one room just made me laugh.”
“They are all very different, high status super-egos so I just wondered what sort of conversations they might have. That’s not enough around which to base a play, though, so I then had to come up with a plot which ended up surrounding the bid itself. What it has become is a satirical comedy based on what might have happened during those two days with, hopefully, one or two serious things to say as well.”
“I love the writing process when its going well, but there’s a kind of pattern to it. You get the idea and that’s when you are full of enthusiasm and excited by the project. By the time you get to write then rewrite those ideas in full, that’s when the real graft kicks in, even before you’ve found somewhere to put the play out.
“Writing can be a tough and quite lonely business, but I still enjoy it. It has a very different dynamic to acting which is very collaborative by its very nature and a very social thing to be a part of. Writing is pretty solitary, so although the two are diametrically opposed they work well together as an occupation.”
Whilst on the stage, being an actor takes so much concentration it can become all consuming. Sitting in the Stalls, watching one’s own ‘children’ being brought to life before the writer’s eyes, must be pretty daunting. “I am quite a nervous audience member, it has to be said,” William agreed. “When my first play was staged I found it quite hard to let go because, as the writer, you have in your head your own image of how it should be. Once you have written it, you then have to hand it over and place in other people’s hands. Actors and directors bring things to the work that you may not necessarily have been expecting, so it takes on a different interpretation.”
The play’s director, Philip Wilson, returns to The Playhouse following glowing reviews of his last stint in the city with 2012s adaptation of The Norman Conquests. “I hadn’t worked with Philip previously, but it has been great to see what he has brought The 3 Lions. We began this journey back in 2013 so that it could be staged at that year’s Edinburgh Fringe and it’s received some pretty good reviews, which is very gratifying. Reviews are very much a double-edged thing. Obviously we want them all to be great because they help fill the theatre, whereas if they’re not so great the opposite can be the case. Fortunately, The 3 Lions has provided more of the former than the latter.”
The play is coming to Liverpool at the end of a tour that has taken in Guilford and Ipswich, before having an extended stay at the St James’ Theatre in London’s West End. “That’s very exciting, particularly as it’s a nice new theatre and ideal for staging comedy. That’s great for this show in particular because it’s an out-and-out comedy, but one with a strong satirical element, too.”
And as though this weren’t enough, William is about to reprise his role for the RSC as General Leslie Groves in Oppenheimer, which opens at The Vaudeville Theatre in London on March 27. “I’ve been working with the RSC for the past five months and Oppenheimer has, speaking about reviews, been very well received so I’m looking forward to being in one play on in the West End whilst another I have written is being performed not too far away.”
THE THREE LIONS by William Gaminara is at The Liverpool Playhouse Mon 16 to Sat 21 March