LIVE theatre remains on a knife-edge. The good news is that the National Theatre and the Theatre Royal, Bath, are among those that are re-opening: less happily, thousands of workers have been laid off and fear of a second lockdown remains. This month, although welcoming a few green shoots, I thought I’d look back at the past and pay tribute to three great artists who all died in the course of a week in September.
One of the quirks of modern life is that, when a famous actor dies, he or she is identified by the TV roles they have played. Thus it was with Diana Rigg, who was inevitably tagged as Emma Peel from The Avengers and Lady Olenna Tyrell from Game of Thrones.
There was, however, infinitely more to Dame Diana than that. She was a superb theatre actress, latterly in classical tragedy, but initially in comedy. I would pick out three parts from the 1970s: Dotty in Tom Stoppard’s Jumpers in 1972, where she was the epitome of stylish glamour, descending from the heavens seated aboard a crescent moon; the ultra-feminine Celimene in Tony Harrison’s rhyming update of Molière’s The Misanthrope; and Eliza Doolittle in Shaw’s Pygmalion. In these last two, she played opposite Alec McCowen and they proved perfect comic partners: both had a relish for language and for a contest of wit and emotion.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Tales as old as time
By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth
Do the active farmer test
Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
SOS: save our wild salmon
Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish
Into the deep
Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel
It's alive!
Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters
There's orange gold in them thar fields
A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd
True blues
I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.
Oh so hip
Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland
A best kept secret
Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning
