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Some stories arrive already warped by the decades — bent out of shape by gossip, studio politics, and the public’s appetite for a villain. Room 1219 walks straight into that fog. In this production, Douglas Arbuckle takes on Roscoe Arbuckle at the exact moment his life detonates, and what follows is a study in collapse, reputation, and the uneasy space between fact and folklore. Our conversation moved between research, responsibility, and the strange intimacy of portraying a man history has half‑remembered and half‑invented.
You’re stepping into Roscoe Arbuckle’s shoes at a moment when his life implodes — “arrested and charged with murder” in Room 1219. What part of that emotional freefall hit you hardest as a performer?
I think the more you find out about Roscoe, the more you realise how much his difficult upbringing — and specifically his loneliness — propelled him to seek acceptance and approval from everybody. So it would be the loss of his friends and love from the public that hit me the hardest, as it was undeserved and unjust.
The show promises to tell “his side of the story.” How did you approach portraying a man whose public image was shaped more by scandal than truth?
I’d already read widely about Roscoe’s life, so knew a lot more about him than most, I’d say. The contemporary histories of his life and story are essentially agreed on the truths and untruths — the public records of the trials are available. I approached it as I would approach any character, trying to tell their truth, based upon what I had researched and what I felt.
Arbuckle’s downfall was brutal — the press, the public, Hollywood all turned on him. What did you discover in your research that surprised you or challenged the received narrative?
Nothing really surprised me. I was more disappointed that the story is very human, and there is avarice, greed, jealousy… and that in a sense it is no different, over a hundred years later, today. We seem not to have learned anything, in some ways, and put ourselves above others when there is a dollar to be made or someone to destroy.
This is a one‑man show. What’s the biggest challenge in holding an audience through a story that spans fame, scandal, and collapse without another actor to bounce off?
I think pacing is always a huge challenge when you are solely responsible for dictating it. You should always remember as a performer that you are there to tell a story, entertain, and most importantly hold a mirror up to society. So the biggest challenge is getting that story across in a way that engages and allows you to paint a picture of that particular world at that particular time, to allow the audience to reflect on their own thoughts. And not put them to sleep!
James Beyer says he wants to “set the record straight.” Did his script push you toward a particular emotional truth, or did you find your own angle on Roscoe?
I think both. There were obviously details of Roscoe’s story that were new to me too, despite my previous knowledge. James, the writer, does not try to make Roscoe a man without faults. But we do lay out the facts, and use artistic license to a degree, to imagine the emotional impact on Roscoe. Because the themes are universal though — love, loss, loneliness, struggle, success, greed — it’s not hard to find emotional truth, playing Roscoe and knowing what the historical facts were, as far as we can determine them.
Arbuckle was a silent‑film star. How did you translate that physical, expressive performance style into a modern Fringe setting without slipping into caricature?
I don’t know — let’s see! In a way avoiding caricature is easy because there is very little to go on playing Roscoe, as opposed to Fatty. The play is about Roscoe, and to a lesser extent his screen persona, Fatty. The childishness, playfulness and physicality that made him so successful on screen is of course naturally part of him, but is by no means all of him. So you can exhibit some of those qualities playing him as a person, rather than a performer, and to a large degree that is the creative process, because there is very little to go on about how Roscoe genuinely felt and expressed himself about the tragedies and injustices that befell him.
The production features original music by David Lyle. How does the score shape your performance rhythm or the emotional temperature of the piece?
It’s used in different ways, and allows me to play the lightness of the man, the romanticism, which was effervescent. So in terms of emotional temperature, it’s great for me to unlock the joy that Roscoe had in entertaining people, which is his essence. We are lucky to have such accomplished contributors musically, and theatrically in the creative team. I’ve not sung on stage for a while and the pipes are a little rusty, so David and others have been invaluable to me. And very patient!
The scandal destroyed careers — “No one was hit harder than Arbuckle himself.” Do you feel the show asks the audience to reconsider him, or simply to understand him?
Both. Before I started reading years ago, which was because I was researching the Arbuckles — my ancestry — all I thought I knew about him was that he was a silent film star who killed a young actress in sordid circumstances. I think most people even today would give you a similar view. So I think the play asks you to look at the evidence presented — not just about the scandal but his whole life — and make your own mind up. It doesn’t answer all the questions, it can’t.
You share a surname with Roscoe. Has that created any unexpected connection, pressure, or curiosity from audiences or the creative team?
No pressure, certainly from the audiences or creative team, but certainly curiosity. When I saw the advert for the audition (sounding like Roscoe himself here) I saw it as fate. Everybody of course asks if we are related. I can say with quite a lot of confidence that we probably are. I’m one step away from proving Roscoe’s lineage back to South Lanarkshire, and I know my own is from that area and/or Glasgow. There are not many Arbuckles and it’s fascinating trying to put it all together. I’m hoping to get records from Jefferson County Library in Indiana… Lots of Arbuckles left Scotland for the US via Northern Ireland, and it looks like Roscoe and my line may be the same. And there are other performers in his ancestry too. I do feel a certain responsibility though, to make a good job of telling the story, as it’s my name too and my family’s.
After living inside this story, what do you hope audiences walk out questioning — about Arbuckle, about celebrity, or about how quickly public judgement hardens?
All of that! But more than celebrity and public judgement, questioning how we behave and treat each other as humans. Celebrity and status did not really matter in original drama — comedy and satires — as they were stripped away with the targets not only front and centre in the audience but often paying for the whole festival. So hopefully it’s a leveller in some way, like all good drama, and we reflect on ourselves and our own relationships.
You can buy tickets for the show here
