Theatre
Steven Berkoff’s new project, ‘unpeeling’ Harvey Weinstein
The playwright's new one man show is about the disgraced movie mogul
September 5, 2019 12:17
By, Aleks
1 min read
The playwright's new one man show is about the disgraced movie mogul
September 5, 2019 12:17ByAleks Phillips, Aleks
Straight off the back of his recent play at The Playground Theatre in London, Harvey — Steven Berkoff’s one man play about disgraced media mogul Harvey Weinstein — is set to be released on DVD with a one-off screening and Q&A later this month.
Harvey is Berkoff’s attempt to understand and explain Weinstein and his actions, or “to expose him, to actually unpeel him so it’s not just about the story, he’s defending himself.
“He admits his guilt, his wrong, and he doesn’t justify it, he just explains how it came about.”
The Harvey of the play is a fictionalised character whose redeeming feature is the “terrible, terrible pain” he feels for the loss of his children and his wife.
“It’s not been worth it because in the end the price he paid was incredibly high, that was the loss of his beloved children. So no shags or any self-abuse or anything could match and make it worthwhile,” Mr Berkoff says.
“He’s an addict, his behaviour is that of someone who is suffering from a compulsive disorder. He feels that the only thing he really enjoys apart from producing movies is blatant, sordid, quick sex. And that is part of the industry’s perks, and it always has been, been like that for decades.
“But what he did, he took it much further, he took it to almost astronomical levels, which probably no one else has done, and that made him a target. And what makes him a greater target is that he was famous.”
Berkoff says he finds Weinstein’s actions “disgraceful” and “disgusting”, but as an actor it wasthe mogul’s “humanity” that first interested him, over and above many of the other villains he is known for playing. He tells me that villains are, mostly, “very thinly drawn, you know, they’re two-dimensional.
“But he is a real human being and that fascinated me. I didn’t want to do it because he was just an evil man, he was against the norm.
“That makes him the perfect material in which to delve when you’re creating a subject which is exciting. The difference between that and maybe some soppy guy in Octopussy is that this is something far more real.”
From inhabiting the role of one of the most vilified men in modern times, the subject of Berkoff’s next play will be the battle of Cable Street. No word yet as to whether Jeremy Corbyn’s mother will make an appearance.
Harvey is available on DVD now. A screening with a Q&A will take place at Genesis Cinema on 15 September.