Charles Ross brings One-Man Lord of the Rings to Poole

10:58am Friday 19th March 2010

By Ruth Meech

FILMS can usually be divided into two categories. The first, usually those with Roman numerals tacked on to the end of their title or starring Jennifer Aniston, skate across the top of public consciousness without making any impression.

The second denomination, however, change our lives forever, be it through speech, inspiration, cultural reference or the buying of miniature action figures of the film’s heroes and villains.

The Star Wars franchise was such a case in point – it was even responsible for starting the Jedi religion – and the Lord of the Rings trilogy had a similar effect.

A couple of years ago, Canadian actor Charles Ross became a cult hit with One-Man Star Wars, a short show that took the best bits and the most memorable characters from all three films and told their stories in just under an hour.

Now he’s done it again, this time with Lord of the Rings – and he is bringing it to Dorset in March, much to the delight of his fanbase who, he appreciates, may have more than a passing interest in the tale he is telling.

“I suppose you could say there is a geeky quality to the people who come and see me because both films have a similar fanbase,” said Charles, stressing that he does not mean this in a disrespectful way.

“I suppose you could say they are the ‘extreme’ sort of fan who has a personal experience of the source material, whether it is the book or the film or both. I find that the fans of Lord of the Rings are more intense than the Star Wars fans and I mean that in the best possible way.

“They are the scholarly types because in the realm of academia, the books have so many levels and are crafted in a way that perhaps Star Wars was not. Hopefully they are like me in that when I first read Lord of the Rings as a child I then wanted to read everything by Tolkein that I could lay my hands on – The Hobbit, the Silmarillion.

“There is always something extra to come from the stories too, whether from the artwork or the cartoon or the films and they add another level. It is the same with this show and hopefully people will see it for what it is.

“I genuinely love the work and I want people to be able to enjoy this and not think I am poking fun at it.”

For some time it was touch-and-go that anyone would be able to see the show, let alone form an opinion of it.

Once the three films were completed there was a time of protracted legal wrangling (‘fandangling’ as Charles calls it) to do with filming rights and who was going to direct the film of The Hobbit, which will be released in two parts starting in December 2011.

As a result if this, all extraneous projects were sidelined and it took years for Charles to get the go-ahead for his one-man show.

“I really didn’t think it would be so difficult because in a lot of ways, Star Wars came so naturally, even my relationship with Lucasfilm (the company that produced the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises) who were so wonderful and easy to deal with.”

Choosing what went in to the show, which runs at just 70 minutes, boiled down to what Charles could remember from each film, as these would be the scenes that probably stood out for most fans.

“I have gone for the epic moments but also for the weird bits such as the in-fighting between the orcs which is seen more in the extended versions of the films,” Charles explained.

“I think there is quite a rich relationship between the different ranks of orcs because they are just like one dysfunctional family.”

“Voices were the biggest hurdle and I said right at the start that if I couldn’t get Gollum’s voice right, then there was no point in doing the show.

“I had problems doing Yoda with the Star Wars show so maybe I was just being very hard on myself. It took a while to get it right.”

One-Man Lord of the Rings is at Lighthouse in Poole on Thursday, March 25 at 7.30pm. Tickets are £14.50 from 08444 068666.