And Furthermore (25 page)

In
Langrishe, Go Down
, Jeremy Irons was a German student, and I played the uninhibited object of his affections.

Beatrice in rehearsal for
Much Ado About Nothing
with Donald Sinden as Benedick. The director, John Barton, set it at the time of the British Raj in India, which worked brilliantly.

I loved the challenge of doing
Juno and the Paycock
with an all-Irish cast, and it was a great help to have old friends like Norman Rodway there.

With Anna Massey in
A Kind of Alaska
, as the victim of sleeping sickness awakening after sixteen years.

Michael played my husband in
Pack of Lies
, though we never talked about work when we came home.

In
Mr and Mrs Nobody
, which Michael and I mistakenly thought would be an absolute breeze.

Playing Goneril to John Gielgud’s
King Lear
on BBC Radio 3, with an all-star cast.

With Tim Pigott-Smith(above) and Peter Hall (below) on a research trip for
Entertaining Strangers
. Tim started our long-running black glove saga; the gloves are now on display in his study.

With Helen Fitzgerald and Miranda Foster in
Antony and Cleopatra
. Alison Chitty designed the wonderful costumes, with all the Egyptian characters in earth tones of orange, yellow and pink.

Gertrude with Daniel Day-Lewis as Hamlet at the National Theatre, 1989. I thought I would try to play her like his real mother, Jill Balcon, tall and dark, but found I couldn’t do it.

With Michael Pennington as my husband in
The Gift of the Gorgon
. It was a great success, and I still don’t know why I was the only person not to enjoy that play.

Christine Foskett in
Absolute Hell
, 1995. Still today if anyone asks me what I want to be doing tonight, my answer is
Absolute Hell
.