Celebrating this website's 12th anniversary with the launch of 'From the Archive'!

30 July 2014 00:10

Today, 30 July 2014, is this website's 12th anniversary! Thank you to everyone who visits the site for your continued support. Hopefully you find it useful and enjoyable. I am always open to comments and ideas about what you would like to see here.

It's hard to believe that so much time has passed since I launched the first version of the site, during summer 2002. The first Harry Potter film, in which Zoë stars as Madam Hooch, had only recently been released; the third series of popular sitcom My Family was soon to be broadcast on BBC1; and Boston Marriage had completed its run at London's New Ambassadors Theatre a matter of months ago.

The site's 12th anniversary has inspired me to look back at some of Zoe's earliest roles, as well as dig out some rare pieces of memorabilia. The result is a new series of articles, called 'From the Archive', which I am launching to coincide with the anniversary. The aim is to show you things that you might not have seen or heard of before, or that might bring back some wonderful memories for you.

Please read on for the first article in the series...

'From the Archive' part one: portraits of Zoë by Gemma Levine

For this first instalment of 'From the archive', I have chosen two books of beautiful black-and-white photographs, featuring Zoë and her peers, by the very talented photographer Gemma Levine. Levine has photographed Zoe several times over the years, always producing very striking, memorable images.

The first book, Faces of British Theatre (1990), showcases (in Levine's words) 'some of the most eminent exponents of British theatre today'. It includes a preface by legendary actor John Gielgud, who emphasises that Levine's 'friendly and perceptive attitude' helped him to relax in front of the camera.

In her portrait (below) Zoë also looks relaxed, and is dressed informally. The accompanying text notes that she has established herself as a great theatre actress through her work with the RSC on productions such as Once in a Lifetime (1979).

Other actors photographed for the book include many of Zoë's friends and colleagues: Judi Dench, Alex Jennings, Ian McKellen, Imogen Stubbs, David Suchet and many more. The book is truly a 'who's who' of UK theatre in the early 1990s.

The scope of the second book is wider: People of the 90s (1995) aims to 'reflect the people who are synonymous with or are shaping Britain in the 1990s, either in the public eye or behind the scenes', as noted on the dust jacket. The book was published in aid of the Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund for Children (now known as CLIC Sargent, following a merger with Cancer and Leukaemia in Childhood) and accompanied by a major photographic exhibition.

The book emphasises that the individuals featured in it 'have been photographed with disarming honesty'. The bold images are accompanied by descriptions by author Sheridan Morley. He comments that Zoë 'is now fulfilling the dream of her father Sam to recreate Shakespeare's Globe', which would open on London's South Bank a couple of years after the book's publication. In her portrait (below) Zoë looks fixedly at the camera with a cigarette in one hand, as if waiting for you to speak.

The diverse range of individuals photographed by Levine for the book also include politician Paddy Ashdown, ballerina Darcey Bussell, actor Nigel Hawthorne, broadcaster Jenni Murray and many others from numerous walks of life.

This book and Faces of British Theatre are now both out-of-print, but you can find them second-hand quite easily. Incidentally, Gemma Levine recently published her memoir, Just One More....

Further articles in the 'From the Archive' series will be published here from time to time. If there is a topic that you would like to write about – for example, perhaps you saw Zoe on stage in the 1970s or have a rare or unusual item connected to her career that you would like to discuss – please feel free to contact me about writing a guest article.

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