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Playwright Michael Frayn, right, with friends Diana and
Geoffrey de Deney
Actress Linda Bellingham (centre) with her friends Angie
and John Chandler |
Stage stars say happy third birthday to Hampstead Theatre
THE new Hampstead Theatre celebrated its third birthday on
Thursday with a champagne reception, dinner and fund-raising
auction.
Actors Prunella Scales, Belinda Lang, Warren Mitchell, and author
and playwright Michael Frayn – each holding fond memories
of the old Hampstead Theatre – were among the celebrities
showing support for the new building in Eton Avenue.
Many careers of actors who are now household names began at
the old Hampstead Theatre in Avenue Road, Swiss Cottage. That
theatre, a dilapidated shed, became renowned over the 40 years
of its existence for launching new writers and actors. Among
its many achievements was putting on the first production of
Abigail’s Party by Mike Leigh.
Mr Frayn – author of award-winning novels and plays –
was among the founding members of the theatre in 1964. The new
£15m theatre – built with £10m of lottery money
in nearby Eton Avenue – named its second performance area
after him.
Mr Frayn, who used to live in Camden Town but recently moved
to Richmond with his wife the biographer and critic Claire Tomalin,
said: “Later on tonight I will be in somewhat peculiar
situation of eating a meal in my own space.
“I like the new building. But I have warm memories of the
old theatre. Two of my first critically acclaimed plays –
Clouds and Alpha Order – started out there. Michael Rodner
was director for both shows in 1975 and 1976.
“One of the best things about Michael Rodner’s reign
at the theatre was that he ignored all possible regulations.
We had people sitting in the isles like a packed House of Commons.
“It was a fantastic atmosphere and wonderfully packed.
They just wouldn’t let you do that now.”
Prunella Scales, best known for playing Sybil in John Cleese’s
Fawlty Towers, also began her career in the Swiss Cottage stage
and joined actors Ewan MacGregor and Kathy Burke in a fundraising
offensive for the £15.7million in 2003.
Ms Scales, who lives in Wandsworth, said: “Hooray, hooray
for the Hampstead Theatre. I used to work in the old theatre
as a young girl starting out.
“I can’t remember the plays now but I enjoyed my time
here immensely. I used to come and see the shows here. But I’m
a South London person now and I very rarely venture North of
Regent’s Park.
“I still see John (Cleese) from time to time. He lives
in California and I go and visit him there.”
Hampstead Theatre has been in the vanguard of new writing for
40 years.
Actress Belinda Lang, best known for her performances in Two
Point Four Children and recently in Hampstead’s What the
Butler Saw which transferred to the West End, said her mother
trod the boards of the old venue.
She said: “I saw my mum play The Disorderly Woman at the
Hampstead Theatre. It is what made me want to act. I went to
the Central School of Speech and Drama and I lived in Fitzjohn’s
Avenue for ten years.
“The old theatre nurtured a lot of young talent who are
now household names.
“What they are doing with the young people here in the
new theatre is even more impressive.” The party also marked
the closing night of the theatre’s lastest production,
The Best of Friends, which starred Patricia Routledge and Roy
Dotrice.
After the performance there was an auction of a pair of cricket
gloves signed by Ashes heroes Andrew Flintoff, Ian Bell and
Kevin Peterson, which went for £5,000.
A first edition of Sir Ian Flemming’s novel Octopussy,
first published in 1956, went for £800. The theatre raised
over £11,000 for its summer season. |
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