"You're sort of in a tunnel, your entire being is focused on this, she says. She was here in rehearsals until 11pm the night before. Today, she is sitting at a table with a large coffee. Does she enjoy this bit, the putting together of a play? I think it's love-hate actually. The process is really why I do theatre. She says she finds it energising, but it's also very trying, and you just don't want to be left with your own limitations."
"Hodge's first work was in the theatre, although it was TV that brought her to a far wider audience: she is most likely to be recognised on the street as Penny, the overbearing mother in the joyous sitcom Miranda, though her career seems to have spanned everything from Shakespeare to Pinter, Orton to Frayn. She has even been in a Bruce Willis movie (Sunset, 1988)."
Patricia Hodge, after six decades as an actor, still experiences pre-opening nerves, describing them as fear of the unknown, especially in comedy where audience reaction is unpredictable. She finds the rehearsal and creation process energising but also trying, expressing love-hate feelings and concern about personal limitations. Hodge appears at the Orange Tree theatre in Richmond as Mrs Malaprop in The Rivals and values smaller venues for the work they produce. Her career began in theatre but television brought wider recognition, notably as Penny in Miranda, with roles spanning Shakespeare, Pinter, Orton, Frayn and film.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]