A new audio play explores a lesser-known chapter of the life of famed actor Cary Grant, particularly his struggle with identity and experimentation with the hallucinogenic drug LSD.
Cary On, available now as a special edition audio CD, offers up an unrivaled depiction of Grant as he tries to understand who he is and what separates Cary Grant from Archie Leach (Grant’s real name). Cary On invites listeners into the heart and mind of an icon of stage and screen and, more importantly, the man who brought him to life.
About Cary On
It’s 1958 and Cary Grant is at the height of his fame and his powers. He is adored by cinematic audiences around the world but there’s something missing.
On screen, he is the sophisticated romantic. In the real world, he’s staring down the barrel of yet another divorce. On screen, he’s light-hearted and level-headed. In the real world, he hides from (and is troubled by) the dark secrets of his past.
If he’s honest, the biggest problem is that he doesn’t have the slightest clue who he really is.
He just knows he’s not Hollywood’s Cary Grant. But he also knows he’s not Archie Leach either, his birth name in Bristol, England. What can he do about that?
Well, he does what any self-respecting Hollywood movie star would do, under the circumstances. He decides to try LSD.
Presented as a duologue, Cary On stars Wink Taylor (as Cary Grant) and Barnaby Eaton-Jones, who and served as producer and director. The script was written by Kenton Hall (London After Midnight, Getting Better: The Fight for the NHS, Bisection).
“Cary Grant has always struck me as a wounded soul, in search of something. For me, that’s what Cary On is really about. The universal search for meaning and for self. Just in a finely tailored suit and with a twinkle in its eye,” says Hall. “I was exceedingly fortunate to be asked to write it.”
The concept for the play came from Barnaby Eaton-Jones, who adapted Hall’s original theatre script for audio. Eaton-Jones had previously written a TV documentary about Grant and became fascinated with the actor’s experimentation with drugs.
“Cary On was a joy to perform,” says actor Wink Taylor who had previously portrayed Winston Churchill in the Kenton Hall-penned audio drama Getting Better: The Fight for the NHS. “Ever Since I can remember I have always loved Cary Grant,” he adds. “When I found out that the super smooth Cary Grant was, in reality, an anxious man from Bristol called Archibald Leach I became even more fascinated”.
Cary On is described by AUK Studios as “a delicate two-hander” to be enjoyed by fans of Cary Grant and those new to his work. Cary On gets inside the mind of a man famed for his charisma and charm but shows why he never really left Archie Leach behind.
Cary On is available now as a limited edition audio CD. A digital release is planned for sometime in the future.