‘Three wonderful women changed my life’
Actress Tessa Peake-Jones, currently on tour in a hilarious John Cleese-adapted farce, thanks three very special ladies from her youth who helped her dreams come true
It can be hard starting out in any profession but the world of acting is particularly tough and always has been. No matter how talented they may be, all wannabe performers need luck, help and inspiration to set them on course to fulfilling their potential. Often that comes in the form of a teacher and Tessa Peake-Jones is no exception. She counts herself very lucky as she had two exceptional teachers – who did their utmost to help her on her way – and a generous work friend.
“It’s fair to say they altered the course of my life,” she says. “The drama teacher at my after-school dancing class – a lady called Rita Pritchard – persuaded a choreographer to come and watch me perform when I was in my teens. The choreographer then gave me a provisional Equity card, which meant I could start working professionally – you couldn’t without one back then.
“My dancing teacher, Joanna Blackwell, also worked really hard to help me. She taught me everything about dance. Both women helped me with auditions, and so on. It’s thanks to them – and the Equity card – that I was able to go into panto at the Palace Theatre in Redditch, aged 16. Back row of the chorus it may have been, but it started it all off for me. I went to drama school aged 18 and already having an Equity card when I left meant I was able to accept a job straight away. It was my first TV role in a serial drama called Telford’s Change in 1979. Sadly, Joanna has passed away but Rita, who’s now in her 80s, came to see me perform in Bang Bang! recently, the French farce I’m currently appearing in.”
So who was Tessa’s work friend to whom she’ll always be grateful? “Her name was Betty Sweetman. She sat next to me when I was temping in the complaints department of the Gas Board before I went to drama school,” recalls Tessa. “I had an audition but was worried because I had absolutely no spare cash and desperately needed
some new dancing shoes. A few days later, Betty gave me a cheque. ‘Go and buy yourself those dance shoes,’ she insisted. It was such a generous gesture and I’ve never forgotten it. I was able to buy the shoes and I got the part!
“I kept in contact with Betty until she died some years ago, writing to her and telling her what I was doing. After she’d passed away, her daughter wrote to me saying how happy Betty had been to
‘We were all so nervous when John Cleese came to see us for rehearsals but he was wonderful’
help me and that she’d loved following my career. Joanna, Rita and Betty – three amazing women and I’ll never be able to thank them enough.”
Tessa (62) says she’s currently having a ball appearing in Bang Bang! “I’m a farce novice and I’m loving it. It’s the usual thing – lots of door slamming, cases of mistaken identity and three men on stage with their trousers down at any one time! It has been adapted from its original French form to English by the comedy legend that is John Cleese. Like John, the play is witty, funny and a bit left field. It’s Fawlty Towers-influenced. We were all so nervous when he came to see us in rehearsals but he was wonderful. He just has a knack for knowing what’s funny and what will work – that’s his genius. Having him with us was rather like taking a wonderful masterclass.”
A professional actress for more than 40 years, does Tessa still suffer from nerves before a live performance?
“Always,” she replies. “It gets no easier the older you are – in fact, you probably get more nervous because you’re worrying about remembering lines. You’re vulnerable on stage. It’s exposing. You’re putting yourself out there and saying, ‘This is me and my performance’. If you don’t get the reaction you’d hoped for, you immediately think you’re not very good. Nerves are a good thing, though. If you don’t feel nervous, it could be because you’re complacent and, actually, not so good an actor.”
As with any job, there are pros and cons to a nationwide theatre tour.
“One of the best things is pitching up in a new town every week,” Tessa says. “Most of the dates on this tour are to places I’ve never visited before. I enjoy exploring and getting to know my new home from home and getting to know the different audiences, too. I like getting cosy in my AirBnB or theatre digs. I find the worse thing about touring is the parking; in the old days there were no parking restrictions and the theatre car parks were free. Not any more!”
Bang Bang! finishes at the end of May and Tessa’s hoping that, after a short break, she’ll start filming the sixth series of Grantchester. “Fingers crossed,” she smiles. “We are hopeful. Series Five went down very well but nobody likes to say for sure that we’ll be going again until it’s confirmed. Six months theatre, followed by six months filming a TV series is my absolute ideal.”
■ For more details about Bang Bang! visit www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/bang-bang