11 Questions with... Sebastien Torkia

We meet West End and Matilda The Musical star Sebastien Torkia who plays Sylvestor the Shoemaker in the Red Shoes.

Current role: Sylvestor the Shoemaker and the Priest in The Red Shoes

Previous roles with RSC: Mr Wormwood, Matilda The Musical

Would love to play: Malvolio in Twelfth Night

Trained: London Studio Theatre

1. What was your first professional acting job?

My first job was in the ensemble of Grease the musical at the Dominion Theatre in 1993. I covered one of the T-Birds, but I went on so much for that part, the rest of the company started calling me the ‘Alternate Sonny’. It was the best way to start my working life because it was one of the films I idolised as a child. The music is great, and it's kind of cheesy but it just works, and people still love it now.

Sebastien Torkia_2024_c_ the artist_381621

2. What were your first impressions of Stratford and the RSC?

I visited Stratford and the RSC when I saw a production here in 1988 – Carrie, the Musical, of all things! Growing up as a teenager, I religiously watched the TV series Fame and some of the actors from the show were in Carrie so a friend and I came, to watch the show and I happened to get the late Gene Anthony Ray’s autograph at stage door.

Then when I did Matilda on tour, while in Birmingham, the whole company was invited to Stratford. We had lunch in the Ashcroft rehearsal room, and then Gregory Doran (the Artistic Director at that time) gave us a history of the building and we went on a tour. Then I watched Miss Littlewood in The Swan. I sat in the theatre and thought it was such a beautiful space – now I get to perform in it.

Sebastien Torkia plays Sylvestor the Shoemaker in The Red Shoes, 2024
© Manuel Harlan Browse and license our images

3. What has your experience been like at the RSC so far? Anything that has surprised you?

The RSC has a fantastic reputation. It's a far-reaching, internationally-known organisation so it's been a real privilege to perform here. It's like a box ticked.

As I’d been to The Swan to see Miss Littlewood, I was also very excited about performing this show in this space. I particularly love the thrust stage – it's thrilling being so close to the audience. You're sort of flying by the seat of your pants – you really can't hide. And it’s perfect for this character, because I speak to the audience directly. It’s a bit terrifying but thrilling as well. I'm really looking forward to that.

I also didn’t realise that we were going to have live musicians in this production, and we've got seven. I think it’s great that the RSC recognises the importance of live music in theatre.

4. What have the rehearsals of The Red Shoes been like?

Every experience as an actor is so different and you can never quite anticipate how it’s going to be in the rehearsal room. Every director has their way of working and obviously the story is going to be different each time, so it’s always exciting to start a new show. Kimberly (Rampersad, the Director) maintains a room that's so full of fun and joy and so it feels very relaxed.

I’ve also really appreciated how much time we’ve had to rehearse. We had five weeks in Clapham, and then one week in Stratford and then into tech. It's been such a luxury to have that amount of time, because often you don't get a nice long rehearsal period like this. That’s one of the great things about the RSC. We've had a lot of fun and there's been laughs along the way, but we’ve also been able to have the time to do the work to explore the story and the script.

5. What stands out about this story for you?

The important thing about it is that it’s a fairytale, but it's dark – Nancy’s script does not shy away from the darker sides of the original fairytale. However, we’re also in the position that it's one of the RSC’s festive shows this year. Kimberley has been very aware that we're putting on this production in the festive season, and that we’ve had to put an age recommendation on the piece. She’s injected the whole show with a lot of humour and fun, while not avoiding the dark sides of the story.

Sebastien Torkia as Sylvestor the Shoemaker with the cast of The Red Shoes, 2024
© Manuel Harlan Browse and license our images

6. Tell us about the character you play.

I play Sylvester the Shoemaker, who is a mercurial, quite ambiguous character. I don't want to give too much away but you could say he’s also a bit of a devilish character. We want the audience to always be asking, ‘Is he a good guy or a bad guy?’ But even though he’s an ambiguous, slightly devilish character, it doesn't mean I can't be entertaining. I’ve really had the freedom to be able to clown around in this part, and I've been given the space to bring a lot of humour to it.

7. Is the production scary?

I'd say it’s thrilling rather than scary. I mean, life is full of moments of difficulty, and bad things happen in the world, and this story doesn’t shy away from that. What we’ve had to do is find that balance between the light and the darkness, especially for the children in the audience.

Children have to develop resilience, and these days there’s perhaps a tendency to mollycoddle and overprotect them, and I don't know if that's a good thing in the long run. Roald Dahl is another writer who didn't shy away from some of the tougher topics in his children's books, and they love those stories.

8. Speaking of Roald Dahl, you played the deliciously awful Mr Wormwood in the first UK tour of Matilda the Musical. What was that experience like?

I loved it. Sometimes you get to play a part that you just feel is more ‘you’ than other parts. Not that I'm a crook or a second-hand car salesman or anything, but I really enjoyed exploring different emotions and playing out his journey. Yes, he’s a villain, but he also gets a moment of redemption very briefly at the end.

It’s also an incredibly physical role, and there were so many moments of physical comedy and slapstick, which were perfect for me. I come from a physical background – I started off as a dancer – so I enjoyed bringing those skills to the character.

It might be a cliché to say ‘don’t work with children or animals’, but I just loved having a group of kids around on tour because it really felt like we were a family. I've got children who weren’t that much younger than the children in the cast, and I think having so many around helped me at times when I felt far from my own.

9. How important are music and dance to The Red Shoes?

Both music and dance are absolutely crucial to the show. When they first put on this play in Dublin, it was a musical. And, while now it’s more of a play with one song, the music is still vital to the story. Mark Teitler’s (the composer) music is so beautiful, and Jennifer Whyte has created these incredible orchestrations which bring so much atmosphere. Plus, Karen, the lead character, has a passion for dance, and Nikki (Cheung, who plays Karen) is a trained ballerina, so she is just breathtaking to watch.

Before appearing in The Red Shoes, Sebastien Torkia played Mr Wormwood in the 2018-19 UK and Ireland tour of Matilda the Musical
© Manuel Harlan Browse and license our images
A man with dark curly hair and glasses sitting on a chair with a script on his lap
Sebastien Torkia in rehearsals for The Red Shoes, 2024
Photo by Manuel Harlan © Browse and license our images

My character doesn’t sing so much as - what the rest of the company are calling - 'rap'. It's not rap exactly, but because of the nature of my character and the nature of Nancy’s script, it’s rhythmic and in rhyme, so Jen (Whyte) the orchestrator and Tom (Slade) the MD have worked quite closely in making it all fit together, to hit the accents at the right time.

10. What about the future? Is there a particular role that you've always wanted to play?

Well, I'm at the RSC now and I've never had the opportunity to play Shakespeare. Twelfth Night is one of the plays I've seen several times, and I've always thought Malvolio would be a wonderful part to play one day – he’s the kind of villainous character who draws a lot of empathy from the audience, and I’d love the challenge of playing him. In comedy, the “baddie” is often the best past, right? Those are the ones that people remember.

In the nearer future, I'm really looking forward to spending two and a half months in Stratford over Christmas, because it’s a beautiful town.

11. Finally, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve received in your career?

I think one of the most important pieces of advice I've received is to never compare my path or my career with somebody else's. Jealousy is very destructive, and it's so easy to compare oneself to others or to become resentful and forget all the amazing things you’ve achieved in your own career.

You may also like

The Red Shoes

The Red Shoes Production Pictures

The Red Shoes Behind the scenes