Interview – Paul Ready on his Fringe debut and Ann Droid

Motherland star Paul Ready, talking about his Scottish roots, male friendship and his Edinburgh Fringe debut.

Paul Ready is no stranger to exploring the stranger corners of human nature. One moment, he is playing psychopaths in cult dramas such as Utopia or navigating the absurd political infighting in The Death of Stalin, the next, he is the endlessly patient stay-at-home dad Kevin in the BBC comedy Motherland.

Now the actor, whose late father was a Glaswegian carpenter, is bringing his first self-penned solo play, Little Animals, to this year’s Edinburgh Fringe.

Speaking over Zoom ahead of the festival, Ready says the Scottish connection has remained with him throughout his life, despite growing up in Birmingham. “My dad was a big character with a great sense of humour, and he definitely influenced my own style. He was a self-employed builder and carpenter who raised four of us on that wage. I don’t know how you’d even do that nowadays. Even with the stresses of work, he brought a lot of laughter to the family, which has often saved me when life feels overwhelming.”

Although his father died when Paul was 21, Scotland has continued to exert a pull. “I didn’t spend a huge amount of time there as a child, but I feel a real umbilical thing for Scotland. There is an air of mystery about my dad’s upbringing because he passed away when I was 21, but I feel such positive things whenever I go back. Birmingham and Glasgow are actually quite similar. They are both salt of the earth post-industrial cities with a very genuine spirit.”

That connection was strengthened recently while filming an upcoming Netflix production in Glasgow and the Highlands.”I love the landscape, but I was also incredibly inspired by the attitude of the people. I met some young people in their early twenties in Glasgow, and their positivity and outlook on life were just incredible, especially given how messy UK politics has felt lately.”

Ready began writing Little Animals when the arts were facing an uncertain future. “I started writing this piece about five years ago in lockdown when theatre felt threatened for a little while. I was thinking about how the arts can respond to the uncertainty of the climate crisis, which is something very close to my heart. I wanted the format to be very adaptable; it’s supposed to be done in any space. Initially, I thought I could go around schools with it, but there were far too many swear words, so it’s definitely for an older audience now.”

The play takes the form of a memorial, with Ready playing James, a man reflecting on the death of his closest friend Richard. It quickly becomes clear there is more to the story than grief alone.”It takes the form of a memorial for a character who has died. James, the narrator, is his best friend, but he wasn’t allowed to go to the funeral for a reason that becomes apparent.”

As the script evolved, Ready found himself writing about the strength of male friendship. “We live in a world with a lot of talk about toxic masculinity, but this shows another side of it. It’s about how you can still love each other across differing opinions in our polarised society.”The character’s search for perspective runs through the play. James, repeatedly looks skywards, asking questions that stretch beyond everyday life. “The main character wanted to be an astronaut growing up. Part of the question of the play concerns a human being standing there looking at the moon and realising the world is a lot bigger than just their job and family. It’s asking, ‘What is a human being?’ which is why it’s called Little Animals.”

Many will know Ready as Kevin, the quietly dependable stay-at-home father in Motherland. He believes the chemistry between the cast was one of the reasons the sitcom struck such a chord. “It felt very easy right from the start. I’d actually known Anna Maxwell Martin since we were at LAMDA together, though we’d never worked together before the show. We were such an odd group of friends thrown together by parenthood, but the characters played off each other perfectly.”

The cast had little time together, relying on their own instincts. “We didn’t get a great deal of rehearsal, so it really just relied on everyone being amazing and just doing it. I think it worked because every character was allowed their own space. It felt like those people would actually be friends in real life.”

Ready suggests Kevin resonated because he represented a different model of masculinity.”Kevin is a brilliant dad. He throws his life into his kids, and that’s something to be celebrated. It was important not to make him too much of a figure of fun because he is a positive figure.”

He admits there were moments when he had concerns about becoming typecast. “I worried that after playing him I’d only ever be cast in those clownish roles, but luckily that hasn’t happened. I think life is serious, but there is always a humour to life, even in drama.” Ready has reunited with Diane Morgan in the forthcoming BBC comedy Ann Droid, also starring Sue Johnston, and the pair have worked together at various points.

“I love working with Di. She has a refreshing way of looking at the world. We actually first met years ago on Utopia, where I was playing a complete psychopath, and she was in a scene with me. She’s a brilliant writer who can play with the ridiculous and the slapstick while keeping something really interesting and poignant underneath.”

In Ann Droid, Morgan plays a domestic robot, while Ready plays Michael, the son of Sue Johnston’s character. “It’s a six-part comedy series where Diane is a crappy second-hand repurposed android. I play the son of Sue’s character. He’s quite selfish and moves out, he buys his mother a robot to take care of her and do the things he should have been doing. It’s funny, but it’s also a poignant look at loneliness and growing older.”

After years of wanting to perform at the festival, Ready is finally making his Fringe debut and intends to keep things as simple as possible. “I actually can’t wait. It’s been one of those places I’ve wanted to go my whole life, but it never worked out until now. We’re performing in the Lyceum rehearsal room, and I want it to be in the round as much as possible. There are no lighting effects or sound effects. It’s just a narrator in the room telling a story.”

In an age of polarised debate, he believes there is something quietly radical about the experience of watching a play. “In a world of toxic politics and ‘manosphere’ narratives, there is something very powerful about humans simply coming together in a room to share a story. It’s a very particular, positive human thing to do.”

Little Animals runs at the Royal Lyceum Theatre from 18–30 August as part of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Ann Droid, starring Diane Morgan, Sue Johnston and Paul Ready, is a six-part BBC comedy series which starts on Friday BBC 1 at 9:30pm