Meryl helps Scots comic get serious
SHE is best known for TV comedy classics such as Chewin’ The Fat, Rab C Nesbitt and her own self-titled BBC sketch show.
Now Scots comedian Karen Dunbar will step into the shoes vacated by Dames Judi Dench and Maggie Smith to play Oscar Wilde’s iconic Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest.
Her switch to more heavyweight roles comes, she says, after being given the confidence to try out for more serious acting parts by Oscar winner Meryl Streep.
Ayrshire-born Miss Dunbar, 48, will star as social climber-turned-elitist Bracknell in a production of Wilde’s 1895 farce, and has notched up some serious roles since being complimented by Streep, who watched her in an all-female version of Shakespeare’s Henry IV in New York in 2015.
She said: ‘It was one of the highlights of my life. Meryl Streep is far and away the best actor I’ve ever watched. She came back and met us after the performance and I was like a seven-year-old, smiling.
‘She took my hand and said I was wonderful. In fact, she looked into my eyes and said, “Wonderful, wonderful” and I said, “Thanks Meryl”.’
Speaking of her latest role, Miss Dunbar said: ‘It’s such a classic play – funny, smart, timeless and very relevant, especially in times like these. So far, I’m pitching my Lady Bracknell somewhere between Mary Berry and Ena Sharples. We’ll see what comes out.’