‘With Oscar Wilde you have to learn every word as it is written. Every word’
Jeffrey Davies chats to actress Susan Hampshire ahead of her three-week run in An Ideal Husband at Bath’s Theatre Royal
DIRECT from a West End Season at the Vaudeville Theatre, and featuring one of the starriest casts ever seen at Bath’s Theatre Royal, Oscar Wilde’s glittering classic An Ideal Husband is at the beautiful Georgian venue from July 18 to August 4 as part of the theatre’s 2018 summer Ssason. This ‘Rolls Royce of English comedies’ stars real-life father and son Edward Fox and Freddie Fox, Susan Hampshire, Nathaniel Parker, Frances Barber and Sally Bretton, in a new production of one of Wilde’s finest dramatic works which is directed by Jonathan Church, the artistic director of the Theatre Royal’s summer seasons. Sir Robert Chiltern is a promising politician, destined for the highest office, wealthy and adored by his wife. He is unquestionably an ideal husband. Until, that is, the enigmatic Mrs Cheveley appears in London with a damning secret from his past that could ruin both his career and his marriage. Set in London in 1895, Wilde’s drama about political corruption, blackmail, scandal-loving journalists and the pitfalls of holding public figures to higher standards than the rest of us, displays “the most sparkling wit and sharp humour in a feast for both ear and the eye”. “Oh it’s a terrific play and a terrific production. And I am very happy to be in it,” a most delightful Susan Hampshire who plays Lady Markby told me. “It is quite a small but nice part in the first act of the show. She’s the person who introduces Mrs Cheveley into the family, which sets the cat among the pigeons,” she laughed. “You know, I had booked to stay in Bath for the whole three weeks with my family but my husband is not well enough so we had to cancel that and instead I will have to commute to and from my home in London everyday, travelling about three hours one way and three hours the other. But I’ll manage!” the very sprightly and young at heart octogenarian added. A true British institution, with a most impressive pedigree of fine drama performances behind her (in all genres of acting) how does London-born Susan begin the process of transforming herself into her latest stage incarnation? “I start by going over and over the lines, and consider the physical things like how that person might move. I need to absorb the lines really before I can ever think too deeply about it. But, you know, it is different for every single play you do. And for some characters you’re doing research on them for weeks, finding out everything you can possibly find out. “However, this particular character I’m playing now can be played in a million different ways and I’ve chosen to play it the way I play it. I can’t be too technical I’m afraid Jeffrey,” Susan said, charmingly. An actress who’s always taken a pride in choosing roles carefully, Susan concedes readily that she does become a little bit like the character she plays during ‘a run.’ “Oh yes, very often, particularly if you’re in a long television series like The Pallisers or The Forsyte Saga. You definitely do actually absorb some of the characteristics and mannersisms of the person that you’re playing. “For instance, when I was doing Alan Bennett’s The Lady in the Van, playing the well-bred tramp, I kind of absorbed some of that. And, of course, that can kind of slightly change your character when you’re at home, but not so much that people can’t recognise who you are, thank goodness!” she laughed again. Most actors say that each stage performance, each show, is different from the
last one. Unlike in TV and film productions where what’s ‘in the can’ stays, obviously, the same. “Oh yes, absolutely,” Susan agreed. “Every single performance is slightly different. It’s a chemical relationship not only between the actors on stage, but what’s happened in the world and how that will affect the audience. But, for me, that’s what makes a production exciting and fresh every night. And really, you don’t want somebody to look as if they’ve done it a thousand times and have not got their heart and soul in it, do you? You have to make it as though it happened just this once.” Susan said most actors are very quick to sense the mood of an audience on a particular evening or during a matinee performance. “Oh you can, yes. Sometimes people come to the theatre straight from work so they may be tired, hungry or too hot. Sometimes they haven’t had enough time to even have a cup of tea, therefore it is your job, or duty if you like, to pull them into the play, get them to understand the plot and to thoroughly enjoy it.” I told Susan that learning so many lines would be very difficult for me. So how, I wondered, does the much-loved actress, who suffers from dyslexia, manage to do it? “There are a lot of dyslexic actors and actresses,” Susan answered, matter-offactly. “And, yes, it does mean, as you inferred, that we spend a lot more time learning lines than other people who might have a photographic memory and learn their lines instantly. Really, it means if you’re doing research it’s more laborious because it takes you longer to read a book and so on. But I certainly wouldn’t grumble. I think being dyslexic makes you see things in another way. You know, however you are born, you just have to take advantage of the disadvantages. “But, of course, I do spend a lot of time learning my lines, which is my job, isn’t it? I just go over and over them. And, before I start rehearsals I want to have an understanding of the lines and the story and the emotional journey I’m taking. And, the truth is with Oscar Wilde you have to learn every word as it is written. Every word,” Susan emphasised. Three-time Emmy Award-winner Susan Hampshire is one of this country’s most popular actresses. Her career spans seven decades since first appearing as a child in the film The Woman in the Hall in 1947. Known more on television for her role as Molly in the highly successful BBC series Monarch of the Glen, Susan gained international acclaim and her first Emmy Award playing Fleur in the original landmark TV series of The Forsyte Saga. She also received Emmy Awards for her role as Sarah Churchill in The First Churchills and as Becky in Vanity Fair. Her extensive film credits include The Three Lives of Thomasina, Wonderful Life, Monte Carlo or Bust and David Copperfield. Her equally impressive theatre credits include: The Circle, Relative Values, The Lady in the Van, Pride and Prejudice - all of which have played the Theatre Royal Bath - and The King and I. Susan has worked with many theatre, TV and film greats, too. Laurence Olivier, Albert Finney, Orson Welles, Tony Curtis, Dame Edith Evans, Gina Lollabrigida, Charles Aznavour, Ralph Richardson, Nicol Williamson, Albert Finney, Paul Schofield, Ann Bancroft and Cliff Richard amongst them. Did she have a particular favourite? “The awful thing is Jeffrey that as you grow older, you forget. I’m so sorry I can’t remember,” she laughed, while apologising profusely. Of course, no chat with Susan could possibly end without mentioning The Forsyte Saga and her portrayal of Fleur in it. “I was very lucky to be in that. I got on very well with the leading man Eric Porter, who played my father. He was a man without children so he enjoyed playing a father in The Forsyte Saga, even though Fleur was a very difficult daughter in it we had a good working relationship. In fact everyone in the drama got on well together. It was lovely. And it was the turning point in my working life.” Looking back over her career, does she feel blessed? “I think that any actor who works a lot is a very, very, very lucky person. This is a very overcrowded business where there aren’t enough jobs and I’m sure every actor might wish that he’d done this, that or the other. But there’s no point regretting what you haven’t done. “The fact that one has worked (and I’ve certainly worked very constantly) I have to say I’ve been very fortunate. You have to know how to use your luck when it comes your way.”