A man. A life. A legend.
A couple of days ago I saw a play about a force of nature called Ken Campbell.
If you were not around in the UK in the 1960’s-80’s then you probably never heard of him. But he influenced a whole group of promising actors, some of them became stars, but some fell by the wayside.
The show is running in an new space called The Bunker at the City end of the London southbank. It’s a two-hander written and narrated by Terry Johnson who lived through the era and was ‘recruited’ by Ken. The other actor, Jeremy Stockwell, channels the spirit of Ken so well that you could swear it was him in the room.
Ken was someone who would challenge, call-out and cajole the most creativity he could from himself and others. He was also a great practical joker. The story of his life is both hugely enjoyable and a bit tragic. There are few side-references to events you might not know about, but that’s to be expected in a story so wide-ranging.
