Backstage Magazine, Digital Edition: September 9, 2021

Backstage 5 With...

Sharon D. Clarke By Allie Volpe

Sharon D. Clarke has lived with Caroline, the maid for the wealthy Gellman family in “Caroline, or Change,” since 2017. She earned an Olivier Award for playing the character in the West End. Last March, she was prepping for her Broadway debut as the musical was getting ready to open at Studio 54, but the pandemic had other plans. A year and a half later, Clarke will finally make that debut when performances begin Oct. 8.

How did you get your Equity card? I went to college and did social work training. It was while I was waiting for my exam results that there was a copy of the Stage in the common room. I picked it up, [looked at the classifieds], and went for the job. It was a job at Battersea Arts Centre. Jude Kelly was directing, and Jude Kelly is a major player over here [in the U.K.]. Jude gave me my first job with my Equity card. When I went for the audition, they were like, “We don’t know if we can employ you, because it’s an Equity job.” But she gave me my card.

said, “Babe, Rufus, I hear you’re doing ‘Ma Rainey.’ That’s all I’m saying,” and walked away. What performance should every actor see and why? The show was called “No Child….” Her name is Nilaja Sun, and I saw her at the Edinburgh Festival [Fringe] in a small space. It’s a show that she’d written from the No Child Left Behind Act. She played 20, 30 characters—one woman onstage, absolutely breathtaking. Just the way she morphed into each of these characters in a blink of an eye was a joy to behold.

ILLUSTRATION: NATHAN ARIZONA/PHOTO: DARREN BELL

What’s your worst audition horror story? The only thing I can think of—and it’s nothing to do with me—but a friend of mine was auditioning, and the directors were sat out in the front in the darkness. She’d finished her piece and the light was shining on her face and they tried to talk to her, and she couldn’t quite hear them. So she stepped forward and they continued to talk to her, and she still wasn’t quite hearing. So she kept stepping forward until she stepped off the edge of the stage.

What advice would you give your younger self? Don’t be so afraid of confrontation. My mom was a strong woman—very forthright, very outspoken—and was not afraid of confrontation in any way, shape, or form, which made me really admire that quality. But it’s not always so great when you’re on the receiving end of that as a kid. Then I had the opportunity to play a character called Dr. Lola Griffin in a series over here called “Holby City.” Lola I based very much on my mom, and Lola was very opinionated and strong. People loved her…. It gave me the validation to go: You know what? Speak your truth.

What’s the wildest thing you ever did to get a job? I had been doing “The Amen Corner” at the National [Theatre] with a director called Rufus Norris, who, at that point, we found out was up in the leadership to become the artistic director, which he got. I heard they were going to be doing “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” There was some event at the National, and I saw Rufus across the room. And I headed to him, and I just

“I’ve been growing with [Caroline], and I’m hoping to find even deeper, richer points that maybe I hadn’t found before.”

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09.09.21 BACKSTAGE