Am-dram showmance couple insist affair is simply method acting

TWO married amateur actors who inevitably began an affair after being cast opposite each other have reassured their respective partners that they are simply taking method acting extremely seriously.

Fabricated Players members Jonathan and Claire became romantically involved six weeks after being cast as lovers in the society’s latest production, surprising absolutely nobody except Jonathan and Claire.

Director Susan said: “The chemistry was obvious from the first rehearsal.

“By week three they were staying behind to ‘work on the relationship between the characters’.

“By week five we’d stopped booking them separate dressing rooms.”

The pair initially insisted they were merely good friends despite suddenly travelling to every rehearsal together, spending intervals alone in Jonathan’s car and posting black-and-white photographs of each other on social media captioned “This one ❤️”.

Rumours intensified when Jonathan’s wife, Caroline, discovered a message from Claire reading “Last night was incredible xxx”.

Jonathan explained that this referred to Tuesday’s line run.

He said: “People outside theatre don’t always understand the level of commitment required.

“Our characters are having an affair, so obviously Claire and I needed to explore that truthfully.

“Otherwise we’d just be pretending.

“And that isn’t acting.”

Claire has similarly reassured her husband David that the weekend she and Jonathan spent together in a boutique hotel was entirely rehearsal-related.

She said: “We needed somewhere neutral to explore intimacy away from the distractions of the rehearsal room.

“The four-poster bed was coincidental.”

David said: “I asked why method acting required a bottle of Prosecco, massage oil and late checkout.

“She said Stanislavski.”

The couple insist nothing occurring between them should be interpreted outside the context of the production.

Holding hands in public is character development.

Secret dinners are improvisational workshops.

Kissing in the theatre car park is rehearsing physical vocabulary.

And being discovered partially dressed in the props cupboard was an intensive exploration of subtext.

Jonathan said: “You have to understand that when Claire says she loves me, that isn’t Claire speaking.

“That’s her character.”

Asked why she had said it while they were shopping in IKEA, Jonathan replied: “Immersive theatre.”

Other society members remain supportive, mainly because the affair has been the most interesting thing to happen at rehearsals in years.

Cast member Peter said: “We’ve got two WhatsApp groups now.

“One for the production and one for discussing Jonathan and Claire.

“The second one is considerably more active.”

Susan is nevertheless concerned about what will happen when the production finishes.

She said: “Their characters’ relationship ends tragically, so presumably Jonathan and Claire will immediately return to their spouses and explain that the last four months were all artistic research.

“I’m sure everyone will be completely normal about it.”

The production closes Saturday.

Jonathan and Claire have already booked a week in Tenerife to help them come out of character.