From Uppingham to the West End

Uppingham has produced many famous actors over the years, often seen on our television screens or employed in theatre and the dramatic arts.

In this article, we shine a spotlight on two lesser-known talents, both of whom are fully immersed in the world of theatre, performing on stage and working behind the scenes…

Max Krupski (WD 99), has been treading the boards at many of London’s theatres through the years, including Shakespeare’s Globe, the National Theatre, as well as an international performance at The Public Theatre in New York. With television and film appearances on London’s Burning, Miss Austen Regrets and radio performances on The Archers, Max’s emerging acting career has taken him in many directions.

After being inspired at Uppingham by the magical and calming atmosphere of the Theatre, and by the novels and plays he studied in English lessons, Max left Uppingham bursting with enthusiasm and desire for a career in acting.

After accepting a place at the highly acclaimed Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA), Max embarked on three years of training which equipped him with the fundamental skills he needed to underpin a productive, creative life across theatre, television, film and radio.

During his final year at ALRA, Max found himself teaching Stage Combat to his peers, which led him to his first break into acting. In 2009, Max made his debut screen appearance in a historical drama, as he battled his way through the scenes and stunt-doubled for many highly acclaimed actors in the TV miniseries 1066: The Battle for Middle Earth.

The radio technical training he also received at ALRA soon came into great use as he scooped a role on the longstanding BBC Radio 4 programme The Archers.

In 2017, along with two of his close friends from School, Oliver Nias (F 99) and Sam Featherstone (B 99), Max wrote and acted in The Speechwriter, and they were honoured to have their film screened at the Raindance Film Festival in Leicester Square.

More recently, Max has performed in many immersive theatre productions, which are dramatically different to traditional theatre shows. With immersive theatre, rather than sitting back and simply watching a show, the audience is very much a part of it. They can move from one scene to the next and the separation between the actors and the audience is removed. Max commented:

As an actor, the key to working in immersive theatre is improvisation. Some of our audiences haven’t been to the West End before and they really respond to the format and become completely invested in the story. There are set outcomes, and limitations to what the audience are able to influence, but without their direction the show would stop.

Out of the many roles Max has played, his favourite was Jay Gatsby, from the West End’s longest running immersive theatrical production The Great Gatsby. Set in the roaring 1920s – an era of bootleg liquor, red-hot jazz and hedonistic pleasures – Max played Jay Gatsby, a wealthy young man who was infamous for throwing lavish, indulgent parties. Max looks back at this with great memories:

Gatsby was a lot of fun. People would turn up thinking they were coming to a cocktail night and suddenly realise they were in the middle of a theatrical show, with moments of theatrical gravitas, there was also singing and dancing; it was wonderful to see people experience it.

One of the most challenging roles Max has ever played was the part of the White Rabbit in Alice’s Adventures Underground.

The rabbit’s mask looked beautiful from the outside, however, it was physically challenging to wear, and it was very restrictive on the senses. I had to rely on muscle memory, knowing my way around the set, and trust.

Max is currently working alongside Daleks, Cybermen, Time Lords and many other strange and mysterious characters in the ground-breaking immersive theatrical adventure of Doctor Who: Time Fracture in the West End. He is playing the parts of a unit scientist and William Shakespeare. In preparation for the role, he diligently watched over 60 hours of Doctor Who, to fully understand his characters.

Performing three times a night, fans are plunged into an epic journey, as they travel across space and time to discover new worlds and undertake a mission to save the universe as we know it.

Doctor Who is bonkers, let alone trying to perform it in the middle of a pandemic. In immersive theatre, the actors often shake someone’s hand or tap them on the shoulder, but we couldn’t do that with social distancing restrictions – I had to relearn how to interact with the audience. We had to build trust. The team are incredible. I feel very lucky to be one of the few actors that managed to work this year and especially in such a fun job.

Max reflects on his acting career and offers advice to anyone looking for their first break into acting:

There is no one way of becoming an actor, everyone has a right and a wrong way. It is important to be aware of what you can and can’t control, take responsibility for the things you have agency over. Love it, be passionate about it and throw yourself into it.

Behind any successful theatre production is a well-organised production team, essential for coordinating and refining the logistics of the show, enabling the magic to come together.

Jess Richardson (L 10), Production Manager at The Royal National Theatre, works meticulously from one production to the next, ensuring all the elements run safely and smoothly so that audiences experience spectacular performances time and time again. Jess is used to putting others in the limelight, so we took the opportunity to focus on her and celebrate the incredible achievements through her career so far…

When did you first realise that you wanted a career in theatre?

It was when Mr Chessell, my Head of Drama at Uppingham in 2010, told me that Stage Management was a professional job. I was in my first term of the Lower Sixth and had recently started volunteering on both professional and School productions held at Uppingham Theatre. As soon as he told me this could be my fulltime job, my university application processes completely changed!

What route did you take after leaving Uppingham and how did it lead you to where you are today?

I studied Technical Theatre Arts, with a major in Stage and Production Management, at the internationally acclaimed Guildhall School of Music & Drama. This degree gave me the foundation industry knowledge I needed to start my professional career. It not only provided me with an insight into the commercial scale of theatre and opera, but I also began building relationships and contacts that would come to be invaluable once I started working.

You have a crucial role which makes the magic of theatre come together, can you tell us about your role and what it involves?

As Production Manager for the Digital Media department at The Royal National Theatre, I work across a breadth of digital content for the organisation, including our NT Live programme of live broadcasts to cinemas worldwide, captures for our streaming platform NT at Home, and short form content for our social media channels. I am responsible for hiring camera directors, script supervisors, editors and other specialist staff, along with scheduling all the production activity required for each project, managing health and safety procedures and risk assessments, and being in control of project and departmental budgets from start to finish. It is my responsibility to ensure all logistical measures are in place so that the creative vision for the content can be achieved.

Are you working on any productions at the moment?

Yes, we’ve got a number of broadcasts and captures for productions currently on the go: Rockets & Blue Lights and Manor at the National Theatre, East is East at Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Leopolstadt at the Wyndham’s Theatre in London, plus quite a few more scheduled for later this year and into Spring 2022 that I am not allowed to talk about just yet!

Behind the scenes – a camera rehearsal of Hamlet at the Barbican. By Ludovic des Cognets

What has been the pinnacle moment in your career so far?

There have been some brilliant stand out moments: stage managing for Opera Australia at Sydney Opera House and being part of the team that brought live theatre to YouTube every week during the UK’s Covid lockdown in 2020. Although very different moments, they really shine for me – in Sydney, the whole experience felt like such an adventure. I was so pleased at that time with the career I’d picked, thinking that it had already brought me here, so who knows where else I might go. Then during lockdown, bringing theatre to those who can’t easily access it, is a huge reason why I was so driven to join the department that delivers the NT Live programme. I felt incredibly proud to be able to watch the work I’d been a part of being brought to more people, and for them to watch for free in the safety of their homes during such a testing time.

Is there someone in the theatre world you would particularly like to work with or a special production that would mean the world to you to be a part of?

I’d really like to work on a show on Broadway; it’s difficult to do that as a UK technician but I’d jump at the chance if offered. I also worked on a number of circus productions during my time at the Roundhouse and I’d love to do that again, something large scale in Las Vegas would be an incredible opportunity.

Our huge thanks to Jess for taking time out of her incredibly busy schedule to contribute to the feature, it has provided a real insight into a side of theatre production most of us don’t give a second thought to whilst immersed in a show.