Peter Francis James
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Peter Francis James is currently appearing alongside Dame Maggie Smith in Edward Albee’s
The Lady from Dubuque at London’s Haymarket Theatre. As a young man, the Chicago-born actor was initially inspired to seek out classical training after witnessing James Earl Jones playing
King Lear. For James, Jones’ performance lit a fire under the idea that it was conceivable for a black actor to find work performing Shakespeare in America. This inspiration led him to London—and specifically to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). As well as equipping him for an ensuing decade as a classical actor, his studies there took place at a time when the now preeminent elders of British theatre such as Ian McKellen, Alan Bates and Maggie Smith herself were ascending, and he became an avowed enthusiast of their work. Since those days, James has carved out an impressive niche for himself as a performer on both stage and screen. His theatre work includes
Cymbeline for the RSC, the title role in
Othello at Baltimore’s Center Stage, Oberon in Sir Peter Hall’s production of
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Horatio in Kevin Kline’s
Hamlet and a lauded performance in
Stuff Happens on Broadway, which earned him both an Obie Award and a Drama Desk Award. On film and TV, he has appeared in HBO’s
The Rosa Parks Story with Angela Bassett,
Joe Gould’s Secret,
The Ruby Bridges Story, Law and Order, SVU, Third Watch and
Simple Justice. He is an associate of RADA and teaches acting at Yale University’s School of Drama. Having previously fulfilled one dream of working with James Earl Jones in the Broadway production of
On Golden Pond, here he describes how his present experience with Dame Maggie in
The Lady from Dubuque represents the fulfillment of another.
When I graduated from RADA, I elected to return to the U.S., after coming to the realization that I would, in some way, be homesick no matter which side of the Atlantic I was on. I would long for London from the States or long for the States from London.
Maggie Smith and Peter Francis James
in The Lady from Dubuque
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I have from time to time wondered what my life and career might have been like had I stayed in Britain after I graduated from RADA. One particular moment, I remember with great clarity. I had returned to London to visit friends and see what was happening in London theatre. “Do you want to go back and see her?” my friend and old flatmate asked, as we wound our way down the stairs, amongst the crowd letting out from the Haymarket Theatre.
He and I had been part of the "colonial" contingent in our class at RADA—he being Canadian, and myself, American. Our artistic preferences and aesthetic sensibilities had been forged and refined in the numerous productions in which we had acted, the many more we had seen and the late night discussions—if you can call "discussion" the oh-so-passionate, and more-than-mildly-inebriated ravings about
art—that feel so essential to any drama student.
A short, few years had mellowed us considerably, and we now agreed on a few essentials: The good stuff is rare. Perfection is rarer still. And we had just seen something perfect. Maggie Smith, in
The Way of the World, had given an astonishing performance. Superlatives could tumble out here, but the important thing to me was that she had, beyond completely captivating me, caused me to rethink—no—re-understand
the lives of women.
“Yes, I’d like to see her…” And so, round to the back of the theatre we went, taking up a position a good 30 yards from the stage door, where we could continue talking, unimpeded by the press of the congratulatory throng. After a time, she emerged, and I watched as she received the greetings of well-wishers, the compelling stage presence tucked mildly about her, allowing others into her sphere. “Amazing, isn’t she?” one said. “Yes, amazing.”
We made no move forward. It would have felt redundant. The exchange had already been made. And as she entered her car, we turned and walked away.
And now I find myself entering that same stage door, into that same theatre, to share that same stage with one of the world's most remarkable actors. I cannot know if this is the place I would have arrived had I made a different decision years ago. But as it has worked out, I find myself in that most unusual of circumstances. Perfection.