(2016, April) Jeff Konter played Bill Sikes in Oliver!

What do you like most about the character you play?

I like the blend of raw violence with an arrogance and powerfulness that intends to hide a deep vulnerability and the painful past which has made Bill Sikes into the monster that he is now. He brings a truthfulness, in his action and grittiness, to the play that is essential for a more accurate depiction of Dicken’s novel.

What have you enjoyed most about the rehearsal process?

What I enjoyed most, was probably finding the character more and more along the rehearsal process, and playing around with the intensity and the intention of this beast. Seeing where I can and even have to go within myself to find the necessary emotional world that I intend to reveal.

I also enjoyed watching all of the songs being rehearsed and the joyful craziness of having so many kids around you at rehearsals.

What has been the hardest thing to do when preparing for this role?

The hardest thing to do, is going to those dark, angry and raging places within myself that help me to build up the anger, viciousness and most of all the violence that this character incorporates. But also to live through the imaginary emotional world of such a tortured soul that has been corrupted and broken by the miserable life that has forged him. Some scenes just take it out of me and leave me exhausted afterwards.