Interview: Actor Lewis Cornay on WHISTLE DOWN THE WIND at The Watermill

A cast of actor-musicians alongside a cast of talented local young people will bring Andrew Lloyd Webber's Whistle Down The Wind to life at the Watermill this summer. We spoke to actor Lewis Cornay about the revival and playing Amos in the piece.

For those who may not know much about this lesser known Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, tell us a little about the show and your character in the piece.

Whistle Down The Wind is a beautiful story about community, religion and faith in the late 1950’s. A group of children find a man in their barn who they believe is Jesus. They protect him at all costs whilst the community around them are trying to hunt him down. It’s a really interesting examination of a very human story.

I’m playing Amos, a local teen who’s desperate to escape the small town. He’s a bit of a player and in love with two different girls. Swallow is his pull to stay and Candy is his pull to escape. Coming from a difficult upbringing, he is constantly on the verge of exploding and lashing out. Ultimately he’s a really complex teenage boy who hasn’t quite found his place in the world yet.

This is the first major revival of the musical. What do you think makes now the right time to revive it?

This feels like the perfect time to revive the show. The themes of religious extremism and scapegoating seem very much in the zeitgeist. It also feels like this show hasn’t really had the moment in the spotlight that it deserves- there’s a lot of heart in it.

Tom Jackson Greaves is both directing and choreographing. What has he brought to the production for 2022 and what is it like to have one person doing both jobs?

Tom has been the most brilliant person to bring our new version to life. Coming from a background in choreography, it means that we’ve spent a lot of time working as an ensemble- analysing the text and asking questions about every character, no matter how big or small. This means that very early on the cast have bonded on a level I’ve never experienced. It’s just really refreshing to be in such a safe and liberating atmosphere where it never feels hierarchical but instead democratic. We’re given autonomy as actors to make choices and then trust Tom to sculpt these into the vision for the show. He’s honestly such a genius.

What is it like to work at the Watermill, such an intimate venue? How is creating work for an intimate setting like this different from creating shows for bigger venues?

It honestly feels like a retreat here! I’m surprised the show hasn’t been staged in the venue previously. We’re literally in an old barn and pretty much isolated from the rest of the world. I’ve played in small venues before and I find the intimacy really exciting. For the audience, the stakes will feel higher because it will feel like they’re sat in the barn with us. Sure, there are challenges when it comes to staging (especially with instruments) but that only makes the whole thing far more interesting to create and watch.

You recently performed your own show, The Curious Case of Lewis Cornay. What was it like to be able to put your own writing in front of an audience?

In the last couple of years, I’ve been fortunate to have some of my work staged in workshops and various concerts. There’s a sense of distance I can have from the material, as usually this work is new musicals I’m working on so a whole range of characters. This gig was terrifying! It felt almost like stand-up, I sat for just over an hour with a completely new set of songs about my life. It sounds very self-indulgent (it was) but it was also very cathartic. I was so happy with the responses and shocked with how much the material resonated with people. I doubt it will be the last you’ll hear of the show...

What can people expect from Whistle Down the Wind and why should they come to see it?

They can expect power house performances, vocals that make you wanna sob and musicianship that makes you question reality. It sounds trite to say, but the cast are phenomenal. Stuart Morley and George Francis’ work on the music is breathtaking, so audiences can expect to hear a whole new take on some of the classics. All in all, it’s a completely fresh take on the show, full of guts, heart and more than anything- humanity.

Whistle Down The Wind plays at The Watermill from 22 July-10 September, with tickets available here.