INTERVIEW: Ashley Stillburn & Chris Peluso on re-imagining Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Woman in White

The first ever revival of THE WOMAN IN WHITE is currently enjoying a run at the Charing Cross Theatre and we couldn't be more excited about it! Chris Peluso and Ashley Stilburn are starring in this long-awaited production and our friends at the Musical Theatre Review caught up with the two to chat about re-imagining the show in 2017...

It is during rehearsals between previews for THE WOMAN IN WHITE that Susan Elkin caught up wth the Ashley and Chris in the bar at Charing Cross Theatre accompanied by Peluso’s rather engaging, very patient dog Peety.

“This is my favourite part of the process,” says Stillburn. “Each preview has – shall we say? – a character all of its own. Things happen sometimes spontaneously and then we rehearse them and work on them to see whether we’ll go on using them. Our director Thom Southerland is very relaxed and collaborative.”

Peluso agrees. “It keeps a show fresh if you’re innovative but it’s no good setting out to be ‘different’ for the sake of it. It’s essential that you remain true to your character and the situation he’s in.”

The creative process is continuous, they both stress. Stillburn quotes Joan Littlewood’s maxim: “Once a show is finished it’s dead.”

These two men have worked together before and are clearly very comfortable in each other’s company. They joke that there’s a dinner party scene in The Woman in White that feels like deja vu. “We’ve done this scene together before,” they chuckle...