Tug Rice talks ‘Tableaux’ and the difference between Broadway & the West End

Tug Rice is a New York based actor and illustrator known for his glamorous, theatrical work made of fluid lines and charming characters. He recently collaborated with Benjamin Pollock’s Toyshop on our latest release: Tableaux, a series of three paper theatre dioramas. We spoke to Tug on his recent visit to London at the shop about his love of theatre including the ‘toy theatre’.

Tableaux by Tug Rice at Benjamin Pollock’s Toyshop

Chiara: Hey Tug, thank you for answering some of our questions today! Let’s start from the beginning: you are a NYC-based actor and illustrator. How did you stumble upon Benjamin Pollock’s Toyshop and the world of toy theatres?

Tug: There were years when people were telling me I have to come to this shop and I had just never gotten here until I came finally and it was like entering another world, truly one of my favourite places on Earth. I do think it’s hard to describe to people unless you walk in here, how magical it really is. I mean you’re constantly looking at things you’ve never seen before, I’m always buying things for my niece and nephew and it’s just the best place ever. So I was hell bent on collaborating with Benjamin Pollocks on something. I don’t normally do this, but I reached out to Louise and I said, ‘I would just love to work on something with you, at some point, if you’re interested’. So the ideas started turning and yeah here we are. But it’s been one of the best experiences I’ve had as an illustrator, I mean I have loved every minute of working on this.

Chiara: Thank-you so much. We’ve been so happy to have you on board. Tell us more about Tableaux, your collaboration with Benjamin Pollock’s Toyshop. Where did the idea of three miniature dioramas and a Victorian-style play come from? Your work generally presents a quintessential New York and, particularly, Broadway aesthetic, so did you feel the need to slightly steer away from that in favour of a more British style?

Tug: Well the diorama idea came from the desire to do something unique. You know, there’s wonderful toy theatres that exist (like the one’s behind us right now). What’s really fun about a diorama is that it’s smaller and it can live on a bookcase or a desk, we’ve even been talking about putting them on Christmas trees. There’s so much imagination involved with a toy theatre  and in our case with ‘Tableaux’ – you are the playwright, you’re creating you’re own play, which is very different from most toy theatres where the play is already dictated for you. I do work alot here in London and I love London so there’s a sensibility that is different from New York, there’s a maturity, there’s a different kind of sophistication than the New York sophistication. I think colourwise…I don’t know if I can really articulate why it feels like British Theatre to me, but it feels like it, it feels like there’s a wonderful combination of hopefully freshness but also nostalgia.

Tug Rice at Benjamin Pollock’s Toyshop with ‘Tableaux’

Chiara: Had you ever worked on a three-dimensional product? What was the most challenging part of this project? And the most fun?

Tug: I haven’t worked with paper in that way. I’ve worked with fine bone china, with canvas, with fabric. But I’ve never worked with paper that’s cut and folded. I’m very far away from being a mathematician, so alot of that stuff…it took me a little while. I remember, we had a template and I printed it out and folded it. It was the first thing I did and I was so proud of myself. So, it does take a little bit of visualising it, before you create it. You go…”this is going to be the front, the sides are going to fold in, the tops going to come down” but then once you get it, it’s really fun and then you know, I mean this is the first time I’ve seen these in person this week because of course I was doing these virtually and they’ve been printed here in England. So it’s been really fun to come into the shop and see them. I just love everything about them, I love how the colour is printed, I love the scale of them. You hope that it all looks the way it’s going to in your mind and it did, which is great.

Tableaux by Tug Rice complete with a cast of stickers

Chiara: What else have you got coming up that we should be on the lookout for?

Tug: This is the third year I’ve been working with Harry Winston in New York which is a wonderful experience, they are wonderful and I enjoy doing that alot. And I’m also illustrating the House of Celebration campaign for St Regis Hotels worldwide, so that’s a big holiday campaign that has just launched this this week and has lots of fun events.

Chiara: Last, but not least – if you could go see any show on the West End right now, which one would you pick?

Tug: Right now?

Chiara: Yes, right now.

Tug: Well I just saw ‘Fallen Angels’ last night at The Menier Chocolate Factory which was fantastic. I’ve heard ‘Oliver’ is really great. I’ve never seen ‘Oliver’ actually so I’d love to see ‘Oliver’. I wish I had more time. What else? I mean I just love sitting in any West End theatre and I mean you get ice cream at the interval which you don’t get in New York, I don’t know why that never came across the pond but that’s one of the best parts. I’ll see anything if I get invited to see a show. I always love going to the theatre.

Tug Rice Interview by Chiara Scoglio December 2025 at The Nomad Hotel, Covent Garden