Anjli Mohindra is part of the five-strong female cast performing the stage version of Annie Ernaux’s memoir, now transferring to the West End. The actor tells Fergus Morgan about how the show has opened up conversations in her personal life
Last year, a play changed Anjli Mohindra’s life. The 34-year-old actor appeared alongside Gina McKee, Deborah Findlay, Romola Garai and Harmony Rose-Bremner in Eline Arbo’s adaptation of Annie Ernaux’s memoir The Years at the Almeida Theatre in August, a role she will soon be returning to when the show transfers to the West End.
“There is a bit at the beginning of the show when all five of us stand in complete darkness at the centre of the stage,” Mohindra says. “I remember getting this tingling feeling all over my body the first time. I was like: ‘This feels different and special.’
“The show has sparked so many conversations,” Mohindra continues.
“I had a conversation about sexual pleasure with my mum. I had a conversation about consent with my dad. Those are huge things I never thought I’d talk to my parents about. I can’t tell you how much it meant to be part of a piece of work that had that power. It has totally changed my ambitions. It has made me want to strive to do more work like that.”
Mohindra grew up in Nottinghamshire and started acting on television as a teenager in the mid-noughties. She has been a regular onscreen presence since, starring in The Sarah Jane Adventures, Vigil and The Lazarus Project among other series. On stage, meanwhile, her credits include Behind the Beautiful Forevers at the National Theatre, Teddy Ferrara at the Donmar Warehouse, Noises Off in the West End and The Years.
The play, which earned glowing reviews across the board, sees its five-strong female cast play five iterations of Ernaux at different stages of her life. Some scenes – a backstreet abortion in particular – made headlines after causing some audience members to feel faint, but Mohindra says the production is not interested in cheap shocks.
‘I’d like to stop getting asked to film auditions on Friday nights as it ruins your weekend’
“The most vocal reaction was when a man stood up and said that it was disgusting that we hadn’t warned anyone about that scene,” Mohindra says. “What was incredible was that the entire audience turned round and said: ‘They did.’ The show never tries to be provocative or bold, however. It simply presents the facts of Ernaux’s life and doesn’t shy away from stuff like grief, brutality, violence and unfiltered sexual pleasure. I think that is what people have found so moving. It feels like a new way of telling a story.”
What production made you fall in love with theatre?
When I was 16 or 17, I got the coach down to London and I saw the Enda Walsh play The Walworth Farce at the National Theatre. It was so raw and exciting. I was already acting, but that was the show that made me want to work on stage.
What are you finding inspiring at the moment?
I really liked Annie Baker’s play The Flick a few years ago. Recently, I really liked The Other Place at the National Theatre. I’d never seen theatre so naturalistic and awkward like that before.
What do you wish you could change about the performing arts industry?
In Amsterdam, actors get time before rehearsals to learn their lines and develop their character. That is included in their contract. In this country, we are expected to find the time for that kind of thing ourselves. I would like to see that change. Also, I’d like to stop getting asked to film auditions on Friday nights as it totally ruins your weekend.
What is the worst thing that has happened to you on stage?
In Noises Off, a door came off its latch and opened when it shouldn’t have. We had to work out who could feasibly walk on stage and close it. I was playing the stage manager, so I did it. I tripped as I went and ended up crawling across the stage. I think I got away with it, though. The audience just thought it was part of the show.
What is the best thing that has happened to you on stage?
The Years, definitely. Working with those women on that show has been so amazing. Eline is so intelligent and inclusive. She has really pushed my boundaries as an actor. I have reached a level of human connection I didn’t know I could through acting.
What role do you really want to play?
Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire. It’s too soon to be stepping into Patsy Ferran’s shoes, though. She was amazing. I’d like to play Hedda Gabler, too.
What projects are you involved in at the moment?
The Years is running in the West End until mid-April. I cannot wait to start on it again. And I am in a series called Fear with Martin Compston coming out later this year on Amazon. It is about a family who start a peaceful new life in Scotland, then discover someone living in their basement. I had the best time filming in Glasgow with Martin.