Reviews
Hapgood: West Yorkshire Playhouse
JOSIE Lawrence has never
been one to sit around
waiting for the phone to
ring. So she had no
worries putting her career on hold
and devoting nearly a year to a
charity walk taking her across
China, Cuba, Peru and Tanzania
raising funds for Breakthrough
Breast Cancer.
Then she took time off again to
climb Mount Kilimanjaro for a
school for children with learning
difficulties, of which shes a
patron.
Missing out on work didnt
worry me, she says. I dont think
you should get too scared of
walking away. Ive never been one
to sit waiting for the phone to ring.
Im a great believer that if its
meant to happen, itll happen.
The marathon walk took her
along the Great Wall of China,
across the Gobi desert, to Cuba
and to Machu Pichu in South
America. All this despite an old
knee injury sustained while
performing in a Royal
Shakespeare Company
production.
One of the trickiest moments of
the walk came during the final
stages in China. We were
climbing in snow, roped together
for the difficult parts because
some of it was very steep, she
recalls.
I did like climbing Mount
Kilimanjaro but it was so busy that
at times it was like the M25. It was
the most amazing year of my life.
Lawrence has now joined the
ranks of British spies as she stars
in a revival C the first in 20 years in
this country C of Tom Stoppards
play, Hapgood.
She takes the title role of a
spymaster, seeking the person
responsible for leaking vital
information to the Russians.
She didnt know the play, but
did want to work with director
Rachel Kavanaugh, who
suggested she take a look at
Hapgood. This is the version that
was staged in the US, although
the author has also tweaked the
play since then.
Theres a lot happening in the
plot, with Lawrence happy that
Hapgood is a single mum and you
see her away from her spying
work. That means shes acquired
two sons who alternate playing
the role C George Snaith, ten, who
attends Riccall Community
Primary School in York, and
Jonathan Gilworth, 11, from
Huddersfield.
Im used to working with
young people. There were 20 of
them in the cast every night when
I was in The King And I. They used
to come in my dressing room and
climb all over me while I was
putting on my make-up.
Lawrence made her name
improvising on TVs Whose Line Is
It Anyway? and has been
performing at the Comedy Store in
London for 22 years. That came
about thanks to an appearance in
Newcastle.
Trained as an actress, she was
appearing at the Playhouse in a
Pam Gems play, Passionaria, with
Denise Black and Kate McKenzie.
The three found they could
harmonise and, with the help of
Blacks husband, formed a jazz
group, Denise Black and the Kray
Sisters.
Performing with the group
introduced Lawrence to the
comedy circuit and, through that,
to improvisation after seeing
performers in after-show cabaret.
I consider improv to be an
acting job because I did
improvisation at theatre college. A
lot of pieces were devised through
improvisation, thats the way I was
introduced to it, she says.
She doesnt feel theres any
confusion in the minds of the
public as to whether shes a
comedian or actor. Its all one to
her. When people realise youre a
performer they know its jumping
from one to the next and readily
accept it, she says.
ö Hapgood: West Yorkshire
Playhouse, Leeds, until May 24.
Tickets 0113-2137700.
10:26am Monday 5th May 2008
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