The photo you never thought you’d see.
WHO ARE THEY KIDDING. THIS ALARM WHICH WILL SCREAM OUT AT OUT US THIS AFTERNOON I DON’T BELIEVE IS TO GIVE A WARNING OF FLOODS OR HURRICANES, MORE LIKELY A PANIC CALL THAT RUSSIA HAS PUSHED THEIR NUCLEAR BUTTON. PERISH THE THOUGHT. I HEAR ON THE NEWS THIS MORNING THAT THEY HAVE ADDED ‘TERRORIST’ TO THE WARNINGS. I DON’T REMEMBER THE AIR RAID WARNINGS DURING THE WAR BUT I SUPPOSE THIS IS THE MODERN VERSION.
THE MAGIC OF THEATRE
Mystic Meg passed away earlier this year but thankfully Magic May is on hand to fill the gap and keep people glued to her crystal ball, people like Mrs. Cameron not a foolish women although she makes the mistake of talking too much, giving too much away and our fortune teller Madam Emadura, otherwise Lizzy from the Glens of Gormley, otherwise May McFetteridge, otherwise multi-talented John Lineman, takes advantage and impresses the gullible client. What does the future hold for Mrs. Cameron, played by Olivia Nash? I won’t tell you, all is revealed in ‘A Happy Medium’ which has been steadily making its way round the country and this week arrives in Derry, Omagh, Armagh, Ballymena and Enniskillen.
I spent an afternoon with Olivia on the eve of the opening night in Strabane and she admitted to a few butterflies but it’s obvious that this professional woman knows deep down it will be all right on the night, after all she’s been treading the professional boards for the last 60 years. Before that, in her hometown of Larne her training ground was on the amateur stage with the local drama circle.
“We took part in all the festivals and we’d pray to get through to the Grand Opera House, that was the dream.” The dream came true when at 18 Olivia won best actress when appearing in ‘My Flesh My Blood’. In the next post she received two letters one from James Young and the other from Hibby Wilmot both inviting her to meet with a view to joining their companies.
“I chose to go with Jimmy at the Group Theatre and I learned from him everything I know today, stage craft, recognising that each night is the first time for the audience and they deserve the best, if a play was getting a bit tired he’d immediately call a rehearsal to pick up the pace.
Perfecting Her Craft
“The most important lesson I learned from him was timing, very important when it comes to acting and he was the master, he’d a great way of coping with hecklers. Saturday night, second house was the worst but if members of the audience became disruptive he would slowly cross his hands in front of his tummy and gradually drop his voice until it was a whisper then just his lips moved, no sound, his timing was perfect. Of course the audience got annoyed and told the rowdies to pipe down. I don’t think you could do it today, there’d be a riot!”
Usually there’s an announcement from the management that photographs or recordings are forbidden but it’s often ignored and if it’s distracting for those on stage it’s equally infuriating for those in the audience; so many annoyances. One theatre goer told me she was sitting in front of a woman who’d already seen the show and insisted on loudly telling her friend the outcome of the tense play. I watched Jesus Christ Superstar in London and two Cockney women were sitting behind me. In the interval the conversation was riveting – “Who’s the woman in white?” Her exasperated friend: “That’s Mary Magdalene, Jesus’s friend.” Nonplussed the next question was: “ So what happens in the end?”
Is there a theatre etiquette?
Like me, Olivia feels it’s a mistake to allow alcoholic drinks into the auditorium, I’d also ban mobile phones, cameras and smart watches that glow in the dark. Food also. I was at the cinema one afternoon, not many people there, when two women came in with a complete Chinese carryout!
Another problem is block booking for corporate events when people fail to turn up or prefer to stay in the bar, resulting in genuine punters being unable to get tickets.
But it’s rare that a show will be stopped because of disruption as happened recently in Manchester during the musical ‘Bodyguard’. Singing along loudly and out of tune isn’t acceptable to cast or audience. Let’s hope for better luck when the cast bring the show to the Grand Opera House in September!
Olivia has graced stages not only in Ireland and the UK but also America and Canada. Although she’s thought of as a comedian thanks to her incarnation as Ma in the popular BBC series Give My Head Peace, she is in fact a respected character actress who was awarded an MBE for services to theatre and charity, most notably the Hospice movement.
Embracing The Role
Ask her to name her favourite play and she becomes emotional. In Brian Friel’s ‘The Loves of Cass Maguire’ she played Cass, an Irish woman who emigrates to America, works her fingers to the bone to send money home to her family only to be rejected when she returns to Ireland after 52 years away. “I was 35 when I played her, she was 70 and I realised I walked too well for her age. So I bought what were called sneakers in those days, cut the toes out and bound my legs with crepe bandages and that slowed me down and made for more awkward movement.” It’s that attention to detail which makes a great actress. She quotes lines from the play and suddenly becomes Cass. “She ended up in a home and I still wonder how she’s getting on, she became a real person to me.”
It’s a busy time for the cast including Thomas Lappin, Antoinette Morelli and Sarah Lyle and director Roy Heayberd and it will be a happy times for audiences all over the country, a good old belly laugh is the best medicine.
Through dramas, the ‘Billy’ plays, commercials like ‘Fred No Bread’, BBC’s ‘Give My Head Peace’ and now ‘A Happy Medium’, Olivia Nash continues to make her mark. This was demonstrated recently when a 10 year old shouted after her, ‘Hey Ma where’s the bread?’ She laughs. “Just about sums up my career!”
The company move on to Millennium Forum Derry on Tuesday, Wednesday Strule Arts Centre Omagh, Thursday Market Place Theatre Armagh, Friday The Braid Ballymena and Saturday Ardhowen Theatre Enniskillen. All performances at 8 p.m.
DOUBLE UP
Bullying seems to be a fact of life, at school, in the workplace, even much later in life. I wasn’t bullied at school but I know people who were and the memories of name calling last into middle age but I was in one place of work where a colleague made a business of undermining me. Stupidly I said nothing but it was noticed thank goodness and put right. I bet most of us, especially but not exclusively, women have experienced bullying to some extent and at its worst people have been known to take their own lives because of it. So lots of excitement on Friday with the step down of Dominic Raab lately Deputy Prime Minister. Filled the news airways most of the weekend. He always fascinated me in the House of Commons - who did he resemble?
If you are a member of a union, get out your banner and polish up ur walking shoes.
My most recent art work. Might enter it for the next prestigious Royal Ulster Academy exhibition!
