Gravity Universe
Gravity is a universe based on a play written by one of my best friends. I just fell in love with the character I was playing, a bitter woman called Réka (played by Anna Chancellor) and before I realized what was happening over 20 years of backstory were born. Robert and Nigel started out as relatively background characters but soon they became the centre of my attention.
Robert (played by Jesse Spencer) is loosely based on Robert Chase from House MD but his personality is very different and his background partly too. Just like Chase he's Australian, his Dad left and his Mum drank herself to death but Robert has a younger sister, Olivia (played by Sophia Myles). He's a doctor just like Chase and worked in the USA briefly but there was no House in his life. He's been living in Dublin for years now where he works as a surgeon.
Nigel Benson (played by James Murray) is a singer and songwriter from Manchester. He's been living in Dublin with his Mum for the last couple of years but she loses the battle with cancer just a few days before Nigel meets Robert for the first time in a small pub. It starts as a one night stand but soon Nigel finds himself fighting hard against Robert's catholic guilt over being gay.
Other Important Characters:
Réka (played by Anna Chancellor) is a bitter woman in her late thirties who can cut you into pieces with her sharp tongue in seconds. She's Hungarian but left Hungary right after finishing university, mainly to turn her back on the bad memories of the past (like falling down the stairs in her teens following a prank of her friends - she has a limp ever since). She lived in England briefly, married to a banker, but it didn't last long and she soon moved to Dublin. She remarried after a while but the marriage was doomed from the start and ended when it turned out she was having an affair with her husband's brother. Soon after she'll go back to Hungary for a school reunion which will end in one of her friends killing everybody out of revenge for the death of his wife for which he holds them responsible. (This reunion is what my friend's play is about.)
Paul (played by Hugh Laurie) is a grumpy musician. He and Réka meet in Dublin and soon form a really close but rather sado-masochistic friendship. He's involved with Robert for a while but ends it abruptly without an explanation when he realizes his cancer has come back. Paul's death sends Robert spiralling into deep guilt about his sexuality, he believes Paul's death was some kind of punishment from God (which is why he tries hard not to get involved with Nigel)
Gavin (played by Lee Williams) was Robert's first in many ways still back in Australia. Not just his first male lover but first lover ever and he offered Robert freedom at night when his days were completely devoted to taking care of his drunk Mum and his little sister. After his Mum died Robert broke every contact with Gavin and his own family (except Olivia) and left Australia but many years later they meet again; by then Gavin is not just a boy who loves to occasionally get high at parties but a junkie completely hooked on drugs.
Robert (played by Jesse Spencer) is loosely based on Robert Chase from House MD but his personality is very different and his background partly too. Just like Chase he's Australian, his Dad left and his Mum drank herself to death but Robert has a younger sister, Olivia (played by Sophia Myles). He's a doctor just like Chase and worked in the USA briefly but there was no House in his life. He's been living in Dublin for years now where he works as a surgeon.
Nigel Benson (played by James Murray) is a singer and songwriter from Manchester. He's been living in Dublin with his Mum for the last couple of years but she loses the battle with cancer just a few days before Nigel meets Robert for the first time in a small pub. It starts as a one night stand but soon Nigel finds himself fighting hard against Robert's catholic guilt over being gay.
Other Important Characters:
Réka (played by Anna Chancellor) is a bitter woman in her late thirties who can cut you into pieces with her sharp tongue in seconds. She's Hungarian but left Hungary right after finishing university, mainly to turn her back on the bad memories of the past (like falling down the stairs in her teens following a prank of her friends - she has a limp ever since). She lived in England briefly, married to a banker, but it didn't last long and she soon moved to Dublin. She remarried after a while but the marriage was doomed from the start and ended when it turned out she was having an affair with her husband's brother. Soon after she'll go back to Hungary for a school reunion which will end in one of her friends killing everybody out of revenge for the death of his wife for which he holds them responsible. (This reunion is what my friend's play is about.)
Paul (played by Hugh Laurie) is a grumpy musician. He and Réka meet in Dublin and soon form a really close but rather sado-masochistic friendship. He's involved with Robert for a while but ends it abruptly without an explanation when he realizes his cancer has come back. Paul's death sends Robert spiralling into deep guilt about his sexuality, he believes Paul's death was some kind of punishment from God (which is why he tries hard not to get involved with Nigel)
Gavin (played by Lee Williams) was Robert's first in many ways still back in Australia. Not just his first male lover but first lover ever and he offered Robert freedom at night when his days were completely devoted to taking care of his drunk Mum and his little sister. After his Mum died Robert broke every contact with Gavin and his own family (except Olivia) and left Australia but many years later they meet again; by then Gavin is not just a boy who loves to occasionally get high at parties but a junkie completely hooked on drugs.