Totally Trollope

HE might be 72 and a former Coldstream Guard, but actor Edward Fox has no difficulty in taking on a range of female characters for An Evening with Anthony Trollope. He says of his visit to The Georgian Theatre Royal. Richmond, on March 13: "It’s just like portraying male characters. What their minds are doing rather than their gender is what’s relevant. "It’s like when you’re reading, you don’t necessarily differentiate between male and female characters. It’s the same when you’re watching them in extracts performed on stage. It would be different in a straight play. I think I’d find if more difficult to play Lady Macbeth." In addition to the celebrated Mrs Proudie, there are plenty of male roles as well as Fox reels off the Trollope favourites of The Warden Septimus Harding, Dr Grantly, The Bishop and the notorious Mr Obadiah Slope. His one-man show about Trollope’s Victorian novels on imaginary Barsetshire developed into a national tour because the actor realised the world of Trollope suited him. "I feel like I have a real affinity with the author. He writes about a world which we all love. It’s strange, yet quintessentially English and audiences can relate at once to his work. "A chimney sweep came to clean out our chimney this morning and I thought I could have been talking to his greatgreat- grandfather. In this one person, you could recognise a whole line of history. Trollope creates characters so convincingly and paints on such a rich canvas that it’s like seeing these people in 3D," Fox says. Awarded an OBE in 2002, Fox and wife Joanna David are part of an acting dynasty which includes daughter Emilia, Edward’s brother James and nephew Laurence. Despite memorable screen performances like The Day Of The Jackal, Fox is keenest on live performance and says: People have a genuine need to go out and be entertained. The act of going to the theatre should be magical and glamorous. Audiences lap Trollope up because these days they hear such words so rarely. "If I was doing a few dates just acting out characters from The Beano, I’d be exasperated. These days so many people, from sportsmen to pop stars, are labelled a hero. But Trollope is a genuine hero." ■ Edward Fox, An Evening with Anthony Trollope. Saturday, March 13. Tickets: £10-£20. Box Office: 01748-825252 georgiantheatreroyal.co.uk IT’S all systems go at Esk Valley Theatre following the news that Arts Council England has awarded the company a National Lottery grant of £10,000 towards their summer production of Second from Last in the Sack Race. As a condition of the grant, the company has been asked apply for other funding, and the first fund-raiser is this weekend. On Saturday there’s an evening with Denis King, one third of one of the most successful pop groups of the Fifties and Sixties, The King Brothers (Britain’s first boy band). In the Seventies, Denis studied orchestration at the Guildhall in London and got his first break in television, writing the theme for Black Beauty, which won the Ivor Novello Award. To date, he has created themes and incidental music for over 200 television series including Lovejoy, Dick Turpin, We’ll Meet Again and Hannay. Denis will be joining Mark Stratton on the Robinson Institute stage for an evening of conversation, anecdotes and a sprinkling of songs and music from his vast repertoire. “It’s a thrill that Denis is coming to Glaisdale,” says Mark, “He’s a wonderful musician, a composer, and a very charming man.” ■ An Evening with Denis King, Esk Valley Theatre, Glaisdale. Saturday. Tickets: £8. Box Office: 01947-897587 or Glaisdale Village Shop. Further details: eskvalleytheatre.co.uk