It is plausible that you may have seen the cast of Sir Trevor Nunn’s The Wars of the Roses wandering back to The Rose Theatre recently armed with life-sized novelty inflatables.

Don’t panic, this was not a last-minute prop dash - Sir Trevor has not taken leave of his senses.

Actor Robert Sheehan, who plays Richard III in the ‘box set’ trilogy of Shakespearean plays, explained:

“Myself and Kare Conradi, our lovely Edward IV, have a little dressing room at the back with Rufus Hound and Michael Xavier and to decorate it we were just at the other end of town in a party shop and we got a load of inflatable things to put in the dressing room.

“We got a gigantic Stormtropper and a big-boobed lady. Kare was just walking through central Kingston with a giant Stormtrooper and I had a booby lady on a pink ribbon.

“We were getting some strange looks from the people of Kingston.”

A certain amount of levity is probably necessary given the task at hand for the actors.

Surrey Comet:

Robert in rehearsals. Photo by Mark Douet.

The Wars of the Roses is probably the most ambitious project The Rose has hosted: three Shakespearean histories, latterly described as the Bard’s Game of Thrones, running concurrently.

The heavyweight cast includes acting royalty Joely Richardson and Rufus Hound. They are all directed by the theatre legend that is Sir Trevor Nunn.

Robert, himself a BAFTA-nominated star in the ascendency, said: “Being in the old Nunnery is a joy.

“It was not something that could be easily ignored or passed up. The opportunity of being under the man’s stewardship for nine weeks of rehearsals and flannelling around in rehearsals and getting the chance to play Richard III for him is a pretty big deal.

“I’m trying my best to bring the old A-game of actoring.”

The 27-year-old added: “It’s such a monumental task to get the three plays in order. I think we’re there. It has been sort of crazed and panicked.

“I think the only patient and calm person in the rehearsal room consistently has been Trevor.”

Robert has worked with Joely Richardson before on The Messenger, which is out Friday and also starred Lily Cole and Jack Fox, though this time he has relished spending more time with her on set.

He said: “In The Messenger, we only had all of about three days together.

“It was very intense, we were moving at a very quick pace and we didn’t get to know each other that well. It has been lovely having all this time to get to know each other a little better.

“She gave me a nice Thermos the other day, which was lovely. She’s so sweet and lovely, she really is.”

As well as working with Sir Trevor, the chance to get stuck in to a classic Shakespearean character obviously appealed to the Irish actor.

He said: “From Richard’s point of view, you see a huge transformation from how he begins – not as Darth Vader – but as a young man who is in awe of his dad and goes to the embodiment of evil.

“It’s an incredibly huge span dramatically, timewise and everything else. That’s why it is rewarding. That’s why it is like a box set.

“The challenge has not been the Darth Vader stuff – Trevor’s going to kill me for saying Darth Vader – it has not been the gleeful, evil mischievous stuff.

“It has been more when Richard was younger and warmer and part of the family. That is actually trickier.”

Surrey Comet:

Photo by Mark Douet  

The Wars of the Roses begins its previews tonight and runs until Halloween but that’s unlikely to be the last you’ll see of Robert.

He’s got long list of impressive film projects in the pipeline, including one called Geostorm in which his co-stars are Andy Garcia and Gerard Butler.

He said: “I wish I got to work with Andy Garcia more. Because of the nature of the film, he was on earth and I was in space. We didn’t really get any scenes together.

“Gerry Butler was fantastic to work with on that. He was very much the captain acting-wise on that gig.

“He is someone with endless energy, enthusiasm, charisma. He is fantastic – a really lovely guy – and he has just a thirst and a hunger for creating stuff.”

The Wars of the Roses consists  Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard III and previews begin tonight. The shows run until October 31, with tickets from £5. Go to rosetheatrekingston.org