WOMEN IN THEATRE by Susan Croft, Cheryl Robson
Published by Supernova
Part of a series called “50 Women in…”, this book must have been good fun and rather satisfying to research and assemble. It consists, after a detailed introduction, of 50 short celebrations of the contributions made to theatre by women since 1945. And they are wonderfully diverse both in terms of who they are and what they’ve achieved. Thus, we go from choreographer Gillian Lyne to producer Thelma Holt, director Jenny Sealey and voice guru Cicely
Berry. Actors include Audra McDonald, Meera Syal, Glenda Jackson and Judi Dench. We also read about producers such as Nica Burns, actor/directors like Michelle Terry and playwrights including Moira Buffini and Bryony Lavery.
Some of these accounts are written in the third person (Caryl Churchill,
Sonia Friedman) not least because some of them are dead (Joan Littlewood, Jocelyn Herbert) or, presumably, preferred not to be interviewed. Others are presented as “in their own words” and written at greater length usually in a question-and-answer format.
We learn, for example, that playwright Winsome Pinnock’s ideas come from being moved by something – often an “incredible gem” from a stranger. Denise Gough ran away to London from her home in Ireland, aged 15. and had a pretty difficult time. Today she feels that roles “come and find me” and they’re not always the ones she thought she wanted.
It’s an attractive hard back book on shiny paper with lots of coloured photographs. It’s perfect for dipping into – or referring to – if you don’t want to gobble it whole. One for the Drama department library?
choirs and so on. I also had twelve private piano pupils so I could pay my bills.
I stayed in the USA working professionally in Los Angeles and elsewhere. I returned to the UK seven or eight years ago and I’m now living back in Catford.
Not really. I was strongly advised only to do one thing in the music industry so that you get known for it, but that’s boring! So I’ve always explored lots of avenues and it seems to have worked for me. I do theatre, commercial, orchestrations, recordings and lots more but not film – yet.
Well I can do both now, although I admit it was a struggle for a long time and I’m still not a brilliant sight reader. I don’t have perfect pitch, but I can read a score and know how it will sound. When I play, I often put a bit of my own spin into whatever it is. In many ways the two skills are complementary and give me a bit of advantage. Lots of musicians can extemporise and plenty can read every note. It’s not so common to be able to do both.
Winning an award for my work was a real boost, especially in such a tough year when we’d lost six months of it. The award isn’t show-specific. It’s an acknowledgement of my work in general which, in a way, is better still. Even leaving the house to attend the awards ceremony felt fantastic given everything that happened last year. I’ve never won anything before. Well, I’ve won pool tournaments but…
I’m cautiously optimistic but I think we’re on a knife edge. We desperately need tourism. Touring shows might help if people feel more confident about buying tickets locally than travelling to or around big cities. It’s not just the pandemic either. There’s Brexit waiting in the wings too. What a time to be alive!
Since our interview with him we are delighted to announce that Ian has been appointed assistant musical director on the national tour. He has also been nominated for two 2021 British Black Theatre awards: best MD and MD recognition award.