| Virgin.net, 2002 |
A flurry of fairy lights, cotton wool and bags of bargains
from nearby Paul Smith. It's surprising there's any room
left in these three tiny dressing rooms for Zoë Wanamaker, Anna
Chancellor and newcomer Lyndsey Marshal. The trio have
invaded the New Ambassadors Theatre (onstage and backstage) with
a production of David Mamet's fast-paced comedy Boston
Marriage. While Lyndsey popped off to get the coffees,
Virgin.net holed up with Anna and Zoë for some backstage goss.
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Have
you made any New Year's resolutions?
Anna: Er, no. I always break them.
Zoë: I haven't had any particular ones.
A: Is that bad?
Z: Wait. Mine is never to work with Anna
Chancellor again!
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Have
we disturbed any pre-show ritual?
A: Oh yes, we do have a ritual. Zoë gets in
first and is organising herself. Then Lyndsey
arrives. Then I come in last and immediately go out with
Lyndsey to get something to eat. Then we sit in the
corridor chatting while Zoë is trying to get on with
things. Then she leaves us while we're still eating and
does her warm up. Then at the very last minute, we go,
'Must go and do a warm up!' Zoë is ready ages before
everyone else. I'm always last, it's always the
same. Isn't it? Until we pushed it so far that my
costume wasn't really on when I went on stage one night and I
got a fright.
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On
to the play. How would you describe Boston Marriage?
Z: It's a play written by David Mamet who is known
for his acerbic...
A: ...masculine?"
Z: ...masculine writing. It's a play with
three women, which he has never done before. It has the
same boldness...
A: ...muscularity?
Z: ...thank you! Muscularity and strength but
it is set in the early 1900s and it is two ladies of fashion who
are in a relationship.
A: They are sort of high-brow bluestockings.
At the turn of the century, many women would live together
because your only choice was to marry. If you were going
to get out of that, you would maybe pool your money and
resources and share with another woman. That sharing could
involve a love affair - or not.
Z: It is very funny because he uses archaic
language and it is full of wit. There's a gag a minute.
A: They're also quotes, aren't they? His
brain! You feel like you're living in it when you're doing
it! His brain is like a magnet to things that he's
heard. So he's semi-quoting Gertrude Stein...
Z: The Bible...
A: Everything he's read.
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It's
very fast. Sometimes in the audience you find yourself laughing
at two jokes past.
A: We don't go as fast as he [Mamet] would have
liked us to have gone. I don't think, do you?
Z: No.
A: If he'd directed it, he would have had it go as
fast as you could possibly have spoken.
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Mamet
came and helped during rehearsals, didn't he?
Z: He didn't help, but he came for our third
preview when we were at the Donmar Warehouse. Then the
next day he gave us a sort of masterclass. It was a very
interesting discussion about how he felt the language should go.
A: He had his braces on, do you remember? He
literally came with his boots and braces, rubbing his hands
together like he was in a cake shop.
Z: I think he just enjoys the use of language and
the silliness of the language.
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Do
you think he's qualified to write about women?
Z: Yes of course. Why shouldn't he be
qualified? I don't understand that. He's very
qualified. He knows lots of women, he likes women and I
think when people say he can't write for women, it's
bollocks. He's written for women before. It's not a
new thing. He actually wrote this play for his wife. |
Mamet's
wife played your role, Anna. Did that put pressure on you?
A: Well, it wasn't really until I met him.
Then of course, because you're always so self-centred, I
wondered if I had been so different to what he wanted. I think
his production was very different to ours. Which was
probably quite hard for him. I felt when he first saw it
and we met him off stage, he looked quite shocked.
Z: We were far more eccentric than I think he
thought we would be.
A: Do you think?
Z: Yes, far more, far more.
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I
heard you called him Daddy. How did that come about?
Z: It was a backstage joke. Because first we
called him God.
A: Because during rehearsals we never saw him. Of
course, because he was in America. But he used to send us
faxes about this and that. So it was like there was this
omnipotent sort of power over us. We used to think he was
like Charlie from Charlie's Angels. You know when Charlie
used to send in all the information but you never saw him? So
there were different things that we thought he was. Mammy we
sometimes called him!
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How
was it working with an all-female cast and director?
A: You missed the blokes, didn't you?
Z: I miss a bit of testosterone. But, I mean,
I've worked in plays with all women before. It's very
good...
A: ...if the dynamics work.
Z: Yes.
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Has
there been any cat-fighting?
Z: Only on stage!
A: No, we all get on well. That is
lucky. Because three is not an easy dynamic. I think
it's a great dynamic but it is a potential for, you
know... a lot!
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You've
both hopped from film to TV to the stage. Do you have a
preference?
Z: They feed each other, I think. They really
do. When you're in a play you want to be doing a film and
when you're in a film you want to be in a play. Each
discipline is completely different and requires an incredible
amount of energy. It's a different rhythm.
A: When you're on stage, you're on and there's no
stopping. It's a bit like a horse in a race, once the
gates are up, you're off. That lack of choice I quite
like. Like you're being shot out of gun. |
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