Click Liverpool took a moment to lightly grill the Fahrenheit Twins, the upcoming Unity Theatre adaptaion performed by Told By An Idiot's Paul Hunter and Hayley Carmichael.
We checked just how telepathic they are...
Adapted from the dark and captivating short story by Michel Faber, The Fahrenheit Twins tells the tale of a brother and sister who live with their scientist parents on a remote arctic exploration station.
They spend their days racing huskies across the wintry tundra, rolling in the snow and recording key events in The Book of Knowledge. Their existence is unusual but very content, until one day their mother unexpectedly takes to her bed and life for the twins is never the same again.
Funny and savage, The Fahrenheit Twins is a tender tale about childhood interrupted by life’s cruel turns, and the irreversible progression towards becoming an adult.
Paul Hunter is a co-founder and co-Artistic Director of Told by an Idiot with Hayley Carmichael, and is an Associate Director at The Octagon, Bolton. Paul stars in ITV drama Trinity.
Hayley was awarded the TMA Best Actress Award in 1999 for her performance in I Weep at my Piano and The Dispute.
What's your ideal temperature?
P: I don't like it too hot. Australia is too hot for me. September in Barcelona. I like going there, Autumn in Spain is great, it's warm enough to sit outside.
H: Hot with a breeze.
What kind of twin are you? (Hayley is a real-life twin) Are you telepathic?
P: I'm the kind of twin who wouldn't want to be like the other. I would strive for individuality.
H: Non-identical. Once in my life I had a funny feeling and my twin sister had had an accident. I'm close to my twin but we went our separate ways as teens to become our own person. In our 30s we became close again.
How did you prepare for your role?
H: In a way Paul and I don't talk about the roles. We've been working together for 20 years. We are writing on our feet in the room, our first concern is to write the show. I don't think about how to play it. We have a shorthand and understanding of each other. We play twins in their twosome and as individuals.
How would you cope in isolation?
P: I'm good in my own company, and spent three months alone in Helsinki not knowing anyone.
Do you believe in trying to 'stop time?'
P: We can't stop time. The Book Of Knowledge embraces change and the struggle with inevitable change and going to extremes to stop it. I want to grow old gracefully. My little girl makes me think about not trying to stop time.
If you could time travel where would you go?
H: It's a bit superficial, but I've been to Italy on holiday, near Capri, near Naples. To a Hollywood Hangout where Greta Garbot used to go. It's really naff.
P: I'd go back to 1966 when I was born. The world of the 60s intrigues me, it was a post-war time and a time of change in society, the first time we had a real sense of optimism. And the fashion and music were great too.
When was the last time you were in fits of laughter?
H: I do stupid things with my sister a lot. Like going up to a man in a bar who looked like Warren Beatty - how he used to look 50 years ago. My sister was deeply embarrassed when I approached this young man wearing a bow tie. I'd had a couple of drinks and it caused a lot of laughter.
And the toilet scene in the Fahrenheit Twins. We always try to put a toilet scene into a lot of our shows. It was puerile, but I laughed a lot.
P: The other day in rehearsal doing the toilet scene where we try to grow a tree by digging a hole in the snow and getting the huskies to sh*t in it. I played the husky.
When was the last time you cried?
H: Last night. I had a 'mini moment' on stage appropriately, it's not an everyday occurence. It's a scene towards the end of the play where the pair divide and the girl gets upset, I have a little blub and move on.
P: At the birth of my daughter three years ago.
Describe your fantastical day - real or imaginary.
P: It happened recently. I was directing a play in Helsinki in mid-winter. I rany my wife and took my gloves off briefly. It was -20 degrees. My hands were welded to the phone. I felt as if I was in a horror flick, I rushed into a shop to warm up and thawed out.
What would you put in your Book Of Knowledge?
H: Probably what a lot have already put and continue to. Remember to make sure you live in the moment. What seem like big problems are nothing in the grand scheme of things.
P: Something like always try different things. Keep changing. My hero is Miles Davis and he was always evolving.
The Fahrenheit Twins runs at unity from Tue 20 – Sat 24 October, Tickets £10/£8 concessions. Preview Night Tue 20 October, Tickets £7.
http://www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk/
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