Brian Beacom

LITLE signpost moments appear in life, don’t they?

Little flashes of the future perhaps, a nano-second when you can sense a hint of things to come?

Actor Nebli Basani has experienced several such moments.

“At the age of 16, for example, I watched Slumdog Millionaire and told my mum I wanted to work with director Danny Boyle,” he recalls, grinning.

“And it for me happened when I landed a role in Trainspotting 2.

“I came to Britain on the back of a lorry when I was six years old and and I realised here I was working with such an incredible man.

“A year later I was working on Murder On The Orient Express with Sir Kenneth Branagh. Life can happen that way.”

Nebli, who stars in Oran Mor theatre’s The Lottery Ticket this week, has certainly been on an incredible journey.

Around 20 years ago his family were political asylum seekers, ethnic Albanians, forced to leave their home and make their way across Europe on a truck.

After three months, life on the road was almost over.

“We finally arrived in London and were met by the police who gave us Cadbury’s chocolate,” the actor recalls.

“Two months later, the Home Office brought us to Glasgow, to Sighthill and we (he has two sisters, now doctors) were in school within a week.”

It must have been difficult to assimilate?

“It was hard to fit in,” he agrees. “I learned to speak English at St Aloysius from the likes of the boy next to me pointing and saying ‘Pencil.’

“But the sense of being an outsider didn’t emerge just because I couldn’t speak the language. It was because habits of early years stay with you.

“For so many years in my early life we found ourselves running. I guess in my adult life I’m wondering where I should be running to.”

He adds; “It’s ingrained in me to expect to be abandoned and my social life has suffered. But I find that actors understand this sense of detachment. They welcome those who are different. They don’t judge.”

That’s not to suggest Nebli Basani felt persecuted when his family came to Glasgow. “Growing up in Scotland, people have been welcoming. I think there is something of a clan nature here, and when you arrive people are curious about you, which is great.

“And I feel a real mutuality between Scots and Albanians.”

There was another signpost moment in the actor’s life.

“When I was eight, my mum worked as a cleaner in the house of the RSAMD’s Dean of Drama, and she told him about me, how I was always doing impressions of the likes of Mr Bean or characters from Goodfellas.

“The Dean suggested I come along to the drama classes for kids on a Saturday and this was fantastic for me.

“During the week, I was trapped in school but now I could actually be myself. I’d really look forward to it.

“One Saturday morning I looked around and said to myself ‘ I want to be a graduate of this college’.” He grins; “And after auditioning three times I managed to get in. I believe that if you persevere you get there in the end. That’s the message in the play as well.”

The Lottery Ticket is written by the acclaimed Donna Franceschild of TV drama Takin’ Over The Asylum fame.

It tells the story of an asylum seeker Salih from Kurdistan, who was once a doctor but after having suffered a racially motivated attack finds himself sleeping in a bin shed with Polish friend friend Jacek (Stephen Duffy) outside the home of .a stranger (Helen Mallon).

Salih is a man who believes in sighs. “He’s looking for answers in life, he’s looking for answers to Jacek’s life. But then a lottery ticket is blown in their hands.”

But is it really the answer to their prayers? The actor adds; “It’s a very beautifully observed piece of writing. Donna’s words almost do the acting for you.”

There’s a real sense Basani is immensely appreciate of his chance to become an actor. “I’ve been very lucky,” he says. “Just out of drama school I appeared with the Young Chekhov Trilogy in Chichester, and more recently I worked at the Lyceum in Edinburgh.”

Does he believe more roles for ethnic actors have emerged? “Yes, there is still work to be done in terms of diversity but things are changing. Just look at the casting differences in Trainspotting and the follow up 20 years later.”

Is he still looking for signs? That Albania will beat Scotland for example? “I went to the last match,” he says, laughing.

“And the Albanians applauded the Scots goals. But what was really funny was people hearing my broad Glasgow accent. That really had them surprised.”

The Lottery Ticket, Oran Mor, Glasgow, until Saturday.