Ken O’Hara
Mark Twain in Person
Linda Brown
You might already recognise the name – or the face – of Ken O’Hara. Since taking early retirement from teaching around a decade ago, Ken has channelled his creativity into MAD Productions, the business he set up to showcase his passions: Music, Art and Drama.
Guitar in hand, Ken’s a familiar figure on Ayrshire’s live music scene, performing solo gigs around Ayr and Prestwick. A gifted artist, he’s held four exhibitions of his paintings including at Ayr’s Cutty Sark Centre. Donning his Tam O’Shanter bunnet, he’s stepped into the character of Burns’ boozy rogue at Mauchline’s Holy Fair and the sorely-missed Tamfest.
More recently, Ken’s taken to the stage in one-man plays, including memorable performances as Rab, the inebriated ex-fisherman, in Catherine Czerkawska’s play, The Price of a Fish Supper, and Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol, adapted by Greg Oliver Bodine.
I’m catching up with Ken to discuss his latest MAD project – Mark Twain in Person – a new one-man play he’s researched and written, based on the life, and using the words and writings of, the iconic American novelist. Mark Twain is the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), best known for The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and his masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Ken will be performing his play at local venues very soon.
“Mark Twain in Person is a collection of the man’s stories, famous quips, observations and witty one-liners,” Ken tells me.
I’m interested to know what inspired him to write about Twain. Originally, he explains, he planned to write a solo play featuring Robert Burns, but found he couldn’t get enthused about it.
“There’s so much about Burns that everybody knows. There’s not a new story to tell. Then I came across a one-man performance (Mark Twain Tonight!) by an American actor called Hal Halbrook. He died a couple of years ago, but was doing his show up to the very end of his life. Holbrook’s production was the initial spark for me. Its energy piqued my interest.”
Contacting Holbrook’s agent, Ken tried to obtain the licence for this production, but, like other actors and producers before him, was declined with an emphatic “NO!”
“But Holbrook’s personal assistant gave me advice – ‘All Mark Twain’s material is out there licence free. So write your own play.’ And that’s what I’ve done. I read Twain’s autobiography, and that took me down different rabbit holes to other areas of his life. I found a variety of stories, and my writing came in where I had to link all the stories together and get them to flow.
“Twain’s a fascinating character. He had an extraordinary, but quite tragic, life. Three of his children and his wife died in his lifetime. His younger brother died too, and Twain blamed himself for his death.
“Twain did reading tours around the US during the same period as Charles Dickens was doing his. He was forced to do the lecture circuit because he was bankrupt. He lost the equivalent today of millions of dollars through bad investments. Because he stood up and told stories, and had famous quips and one-liners, many people have considered Twain as the first stand-up comedian. He would have his audiences in fits of laughter at the end of his shows.”
I’m curious to learn how Ken has prepared for the production. How does he transform himself into Mark Twain?
“I’ve developed his character through holding a cigar (unlit) and a glass of whiskey – Twain was a great whiskey drinker and smoked about 20 cigars a day! His hair was a bit wild. As Dickens I had to use two wigs, but fortunately, I can use my own hair for this role. My hairdresser will make it a bit messier and higher just by using mousse, and back-combing.”
With custom-made bushy eyebrows and moustache matching his own hair colour, and wearing a copy of Twain’s trademark white suit, Ken will look the part. In fact, comparing his promotional photographs for the play to images of Twain, Ken’s resemblance to the author is remarkable. But has he mastered Twain’s distinctive Southern drawl?
“Actually, there is no recording of Twain’s voice. But there is a recording of one of his friends who impersonated him, and he reads one of Twain’s stories in Twain’s voice. He is very slow. I had to be careful not to be too slow and develop my own way of delivery. During the second half of my performance I’m doing a reading from Huckleberry Finn, which will be a challenge, because Huck tells his own story, so I need to tell it in Huck’s voice. There are other characters too: the steamboat pilot, William Brown, a horrible man, a bully and a tyrant, the steamboat Captain, and Huck Finn’s ‘Pap,’ a racist drunkard. So, I will be changing voices.”
Having heard Ken effortlessly switch between Dickens’s characters’ voices during his production of A Christmas Carol, I’ve no doubt he will bring Twain’s characters to life just as vividly.
My final question is simple – does Ken prefer performing solo or being part of a cast?
“Obviously, I’ve done both. But I love the challenge and buzz of a solo performance. There’s no-one onstage to help me out, there’s no prompt… although Isi Nimmo, my stage director, would help me if I was in trouble… as she has done in the past. But it’s the connection I get with the audience – the focus is on me. And that’s where the challenge comes in – how am I going to hold this audience? I’ve got to grab the audience right away. It’s quite frightening,” he laughs.
There’s a pause, then Ken concludes, “Of course, Mark Twain, like Dickens and Rab, is a storyteller. And people like to hear stories.”
They do indeed, and I can’t wait to hear Twain’s. My ticket is already purchased. See you there?
Gaiety Theatre Studio, Ayr – 21st & 22nd August.
Harbour Arts Centre, Irvine – 30th August.
