Solo Actor in ‘The Nonsense’ Is Man in Motion, Onstage and Off

When Dan Hildebrand says his stage role in “The Nonsense” is a workout, believe him.

“I have this trainer, Niki Evans, who takes me for runs,” said the actor, who has a tour-de-force role as a street boxer in Kevin Cotter’s one-man play at Theatre/Theater. “I run a half-mile to the steps in Santa Monica, do the 189 steps, then a half-mile back--and I do that three times.” Such rigorous training not only provides Hildebrand with an athlete’s toned physique, but the endurance to play a character constantly in motion: skipping rope, doing pushups, beating on a punching bag.

“It’s very rare that you come across a part that forces you to work this hard,” said the British-born actor, 29, who agrees that the physicality of his role in the 70-minute, one-act play is an undeniable attention-grabber.

Hildebrand plays Ronnie Taylor, a disaffected London street tough grappling with issues of violence, morality and social responsibility. “I think the themes are quite serious,” he said. “So in a way, it’s easier to concentrate on me doing millions of press-ups.”

Although the role was written expressly for him, the actor sees little in common between himself and his working-class character. “I think he’s a pig,” Hildebrand said genially, “a horrible, fascist pig. He makes a lot of references to blacks, gays, Jews--I’m Jewish myself--and we don’t try to cover that up, because he’s not a soft, sentimental person. I do enjoy the macho bit, though; I’d like to be that tough. I’m a big crybaby. This is a man who doesn’t cry, can’t cry. He punches things to get rid of his anger and frustration.”

Hildebrand’s relationship with the playwright dates to the time when he was 13 and Cotter, then 15, rescued him from a London bully. “I never saw him again for five years,” the actor recalled. “Then we met through a mutual mate: Kevin needed someone who played the sax for a short film he’d written.” Later, when Hildebrand started going to a boxing gym, Cotter joined him, and the two became sparring partners. “I think he wrote this play as compensation for beating the crap out of me all those years,” the actor said wryly.

“The Nonsense” (the title refers to a child molester) was originally performed at the Old Red Lion and Donmar Warehouse in London and later at the Royal Exchange in Manchester. For this run, the program has been amended with a handy glossary of terms and the text slightly altered for American viewers.

“I hope audiences come out with more than a powerful piece of writing,” said director Barry Philips, who staged Steven Berkoff’s “East” earlier this year at the Odyssey. “But I didn’t do it because it’d have any great social impact. It’s purely theatrical.”

“The thing about the play is it’s so well-written, it actually pulls you through,” said Hildebrand, who has also appeared at the National Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre in London, and in the series “East Enders” and “Agatha Christie’s Poirot” on British television. “When I’m doing it correctly, it is. If it’s a good story, you can tell it the same way or embellish it--and you won’t forget it.”

Hildebrand says the lengthy memorization wasn’t easy, but credits his training at London’s Central School of Speech and Drama for his technical confidence.

Of course, that still leaves his dreaded daily workout.

“It’s easier mentally to come at the part now,” said the actor, who resettled in Los Angeles in April. “And I like to think I’m a better actor than I was when I did it a couple of years ago. But I don’t care what anyone says: After 25, the body starts going downhill. I look forward to the time I don’t have to get up at 6 o’clock to train. I prefer to be fit, and I don’t drink and don’t smoke, but the 6 o’clock malarkey I’ll be quite happy to give up. There’s a reason to do it, so I do. But I hate every second of it.”

“The Nonsense” plays at 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays at Theatre/Theater, 1713 Cahuenga Blvd., Hollywood, through Dec. 27. Admission $12. (213) 464-8938.