INTERVIEW | Director Bill Buckhurst, The Time Travellers Wife Musical
Last week we shared a post from the launch event for the new musical, The Time Travellers Wife which heads to London’s West End in October 2023. Penny had the opportunity to chat with Director Bill Buckhurst about this exciting production and its journey from Chester to London.
When Director Bill Buckhurst was approached about the show he was concerned as to how the time travel element would be executed on stage. Enter Illusionist Chris Fisher, who has worked on Back to the Future and Harry Potter. His work is absolutely integral to the storytelling and is a huge part of how the story is told. I asked Bill if there was anything he could share about the illusions and he replied:
“Come and see the show and we’ll talk afterwards! I had long conversations with Chris about how Henry had to disappear and reappear on stage. Then when I went to a workshop with him, it was incredible, like stepping into Hogwarts! Chris took me through a series of illusions that we could use, it’s a jigsaw that we really want to get right, and once I got my head around it all, I could see it was going to be great”.
I asked Bill why he wanted to work on the show:
I already knew the novel and it had left an impression on me and so I was immediately drawn to the challenge. There’s no show without the time travel and so we have to really make the audience buy into it. That was so much fun and really theatrical and so for me it was a no-brainer, I love the challenge of it all. And then when Dave Stewart and Joss Stone come on board you know the music is going to be amazing. It’s an amazing, exciting project and a new British musical”.
Directing a show without a traditional linear narrative is quite a challenge, so how I wanted to know how Bill went about it.
“With great difficulty! It’s a challenge shall we say!
I was very lucky as Laura (Gundereson) did the hard work adapting such a complex and unique novel, she unpicked it brilliantly and was able to navigate a way through which was very thorough and very user-friendly. When the book first came out and I started to read it, I remember thinking what’s going on? But you have to go with it and it’s so clever that it quickly draws you into the story. We knew from the start we had to keep the flow going and without spoon feeding but also not scaring the audience and I think that together we have found a really clear way through”.
And why should people come and see the show?
“Some people might be drawn to it as they know the novel, so it’s wonderful for them to reconnect with the characters and see them presented in a different way. And if you don’t know it, you’ll be transported by an extraordinary story. It’s going to be brilliant fun, you’ll love these new songs and the book, it’s full of huge emotion, very funny and beautifully acted”.
The Time Traveller’s Wife will run at London’s Apollo Theatre (Shaftesbury Avenue). Previews start on 7th October with a press night on 1st November. You can find out more about the show and book tickets on the official website.
