Esteemed English actor Toby Jones is taking a break from his busy filming schedule this week to read at the Happy Days Enniskillen Beckett Festival.

A versatile film, TV, stage and radio actor – and also known as the voice of Dobby the house elf in Harry Potter films – Toby will entertain audiences this weekend in Fermanagh as he takes on the works of Samuel Beckett, a writer who has had a “profound” effect on him from his youth.

In a rare media interview, Toby spoke to The Impartial Reporter about his involvement in the festival, which starts today, Thursday, July 21.

“I’m thrilled to be doing it – it’s a big challenge, because back when I was 18, we did ‘Waiting for Godot’ at school, and it had a profound effect on me,” he told this newspaper.

“I didn’t know anything about Beckett before that, and I’ve never worked on any of his texts. Since that time, he’s been an inescapable writer.”

Although Toby has never previously participated in the Beckett Festival, he is no stranger to the work of Arts Over Borders and its ‘artspreneurs’, DoranBrowne (Seán Doran and Liam Browne), having performed as part of FrielFest: Brian Friel International Festival in the past.

“What’s wonderful about Seán’s projects is that you get to reacquaint yourself with a writer and often in an unexpected and three-dimensional form, and often unexpected locations,” said Toby.

‘Enthusiasm’

He added: “That’s just such a pleasure for me because, in a way, it allows me to revisit my enthusiasm with, in the past, Brian Friel, with Sebald, with Elliot, and now with Beckett.

“It’s a pleasure for me and, hopefully, I can convey some of that enthusiasm and pleasure to the audience,” he said.

During the festival weekend, Toby will perform a number of readings by Beckett, at two unique locations.

Toby’s first event, entitled ‘Astride a Grave: The Graveyard Readings’, will take place on Saturday, July 23 at 4pm in Breandrum Chapel, Enniskillen.

Talking about the Graveyard Readings Texts and what they will entail, Toby said: “They are a selection that Seán has made; readings that are loosely linked, with the graveyard.

“In a way, all of Beckett’s writings are about ‘the graveyard’,” he added with a laugh, continuing: “Of course, when you say a load of writings about the graveyard, anyone who knows anything about Beckett knows that there’s also a lot of linguistic and just straightforward fun and humour, in the basic sort of oscillation between birth and death, and playing with the timespan in between.

“In these readings, they all explore that basic Beckett meme, as it were. They all share that, and they deal with it in humorous ways, in different registers, really,” Toby told this newspaper, noting that some of the readings feel much darker than others but there are a couple of diverse sections.

“They’re usually quite short, complete prose. Prose essays, as it were.”

The second event featuring a reading by Toby, entitled ‘Among the Reeds: Krapp’s Vision’, will take place at 8am on Sunday, July 24 in a boat at Devenish Island.

“On the boat, I’m going to be reading a section of Krapp’s Last Tape. I’ve never read anything on a boat before, so I’m looking forward to the challenge of it,” he told this newspaper.

Toby is also looking forward to visiting the Fermanagh Lakelands, and hopes to make the most of his flying visit for the festival.

“I’ve never been to Fermanagh, to my shame! I’ve heard extraordinary things about it. And I know that, obviously, Beckett was in school there over 100 years ago.

“I imagine at this time of year, if you’re lucky with the weather, it can be absolutely stunningly beautiful,” he said, adding: “It’ll be a little bit of a flying visit, but I’m hoping to spend some time at a couple of the other events at the festival.

“There’s fantastic music, some singing and indeed, the Ohio Impromptu directed by Adrian Dunbar, which will take place on the water as well. So I’m hoping to go to that as well.”

Aside from his upcoming appearance at the Beckett Festival, the in-demand actor is currently filming for TV.

“I’m working on a bit of TV. It’s a bit frustrating, because I’m not really allowed to talk about it, but I’ve just finished a film that Sam Mendes has directed of his own screenplay, just before this TV thing.

“So I’ve been doing that and I’ve been doing a very long radio project, based on ‘Darkness Rising’ – the young adult novel by Susan Cooper.

“Those two things are the most recent things I’ve been doing,” he said.

Eagerly anticipating

Describing his previous involvement with Arts Over Borders as “one of the most memorable things” he’s “ever done” due to its site-specific nature, Toby is eagerly anticipating his Happy Days Enniskillen Beckett Festival readings for a similar reason.

“When I did the FrielFest, I played Teddy in ‘Faith Healer’, and it was one of the most memorable things I’ve ever done. The audience were transported from different village halls to hear each of the four different acts of that play.

“I found it so moving; it’s an amazing, strange play. As with Beckett, it seems very appropriate to the place, all of these readings,” he said, adding: “Just being in a different orientation with the material, I think, gives people obviously a new perspective.”