Two queens
Theatre writer and director Robert Icke (Oresteia, 1984) is shaking things up again at London’s Almeida with a version of Friedrich Schiller’s Mary Stuart, which tells the story of the Scottish queen’s final days as Elizabeth I’s prisoner. Actresses Juliet Stevenson and Lia Williams (pictured, above) will flip a coin each night to see who will play Mary and Elizabeth. ‘The two queens have blood claims to the same throne,’ Icke explains. ‘By having Lia and Juliet alternate the roles, this mirroring becomes the centre of the evening.’ With Laura Marling having composed an original score for the play, expect a spectacular Stuart/ indie-folk mash-up. But the biggest question of the night remains: heads or tails? From 2 December 2016 to 21 January 2017 at the Almeida, London
ZADIE’S GIRL
The woman on everyone’s radar this autumn? Zadie Smith. She releases her much-anticipated new novel Swing Time, and BBC2 is airing a dramatisation of her 2012 bestseller, NW.
Nikki Amuka-Bird, who stars as Natalie in the adaptation, grew up in Antigua before moving to the UK, and first came across the book when she was living in north London: ‘Zadie was very honest about the experience of feeling simultaneously English and West Indian in London,’ she says, ‘and that they are equal parts of who you are.’ She could identify with the character of Natalie, who has a seemingly perfect life as a barrister and a mother, but begins to question how happy she really is. ‘We continually assess the things that make us happy, whether it’s family or work or whatever our passions are,’ explains Nikki. ‘As a child, it’s very clear that you have to push yourself forward through education, getting a job, having a relationship and then you arrive at a point in adulthood where you achieve them and you think “What do I achieve now?”’
Nikki had to wait until the last day of shooting before meeting Zadie. ‘She came on set with her mother and the first thing she said was, “Doesn’t she look perfect for Natalie?” I cannot tell you what a relief that was.’ NW is on BBC2 in December