A FORMER student of Welshpool High school and Montgomeryshire Youth Theatre starred in a play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Chris Cookson, 22, once of Leighton, starred alongside three other actors in the show Cabaret Chekov. The show was directed by the former head of BBC radio drama, Michael Early.
Cabaret Chekov was performed at the Roxy Arthouse at a midnight showing every night during the Fringe, with approximately 50 coming to watch each time.
Chris said: “It was a whole series of short Chekov plays that have never been performed in the UK before. I had about five different roles in it, from doctors to devils.
“I was extremely lucky because I had the director ring me up and offer me the job, that was very exciting.”
Chris said preparing for this role was very challenging: “We only rehearsed two weeks before, that’s not very much at all, so I did find it very hard.
“My favourite role in the play was the doctor. It was ridiculously silly, yet very rewarding.”
A recent review online at Whatsonstage said: “Red Roses Theatre reveals something about Chekov that is so often overlooked: his wonderful sense of humour.”
Performing at the Roxy Arthouse was an experience in itself, Chris said: “It was a really intimate space, and because it had a vodka bar, as it was celebrating a Russian writer, the audience got pretty relaxed.
“After the final performance we made good use of the vodka bar and pulled an all-nighter, ending up sitting on Arthur’s Seat.”
Chris has recently made his writing and directing debut with a play called Sons of Helmand, which was performed at the Cockpit Theatre, London. “We might take that one to the Fringe next year,” he says.
However, Chris is currently focusing on the band he is in. The Kid Jones was formed three years ago and since then they have had two records released on iTunes and Spotify, entitled Greenlight and Juliet.
Recently the band was flown to the Maldives to perform at a festival in front of a couple of thousand people. But Chris said that the best gig he has done was at the O2 Academy.
There are high hopes for the band that supported Eliza Doolitle a few weeks ago.
“We have an upcoming tour to start in the new year, so it’s the band full time at the moment,” he says.
But more projects are on their way for Chris, who has just begun writing some solo songs.
“It’s folksy and Indie-ish stuff that I am interested in and some are up online now,” he says.
At a young age Chris has achieved a lot already.
He says that acting and music, “was something I’d always wanted to do since I was eight years old, which was when I attended Montgomeryshire Youth Theatre. I would say Montgomeryshire Youth Theatre is the foundation that everything else has been built on.
“If you love something just go ahead and do it, don’t worry about what others will think.”