Diana Rigg (as Contessa Teresa de Vicenzo, in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service (film), 1969).
Former Bond girl Dame Diana Rigg is on fire.
Dame Diana, immortal for her character of Emma Peel in The Avengers has criticized Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold (one of the premier Welsh theatre companies) for not giving actors (read: both genders) prominent billing in the production of Anton Chekhov’s cult classic The Cherry Orchard. Take a look at what exactly Dame Diana Rigg wrote to the newspaper. (She was not part of the Play.)
This week, I wrote a letter to The Daily Telegraph complaining about an advertisement I’d seen in last Saturday’s Review for a new production of The Cherry Orchard at Theatr Clywd. My complaint: that only the director, designer and composer were billed – there was no mention of the actors involved. I described it as “provincial pretension”. But the problem goes much deeper than that.
The Theatr Clwyd advert illustrates what has become over the past 20 years or so an entrenched ethos, and it comes from the top down. You can see that ethos at work just by walking round the National Theatre and looking at the posters for their productions. Not one actor is mentioned. More here.
Surely a negative blow (out from the blue) to the theater company. They certainly are shocked and don’t know what to say. When contacted by the media for a response, the spokesperson declined to comment. Tch Tch. Understood.
