IN AN INDUSTRY regularly criticised for offering too few strong roles for older women, Irish actors Clare Higgins and Sinéad Cusack have stumbled on a couple of gems.
The pair lead the cast in the British debut of Jon Robin Baitz’s much anticipated Other Desert Cities, which kicks off at the Old Vic theatre this week.
Their characters — Silda Grauman and Polly Wyeth respectively — provide the central force for Baitz’s acclaimed piece, which took America by storm in its Broadway debut, racking up five Tony award nominations along the way.
For Baitz — a Pulitzer Prize finalist and creator of hit TV series Brothers & Sisters — it offers a ‘fierce but funny’ exploration of family politics, love, loss and redemption.
And it’s an exciting production to be a part of in London, claims Higgins, where it makes its British debut with strong females at its heart and a ‘life to live’ for each and every part played.
“It’s a wonderful play and every character is a wonderful character,” the Bradford-born actor told Rí-Rá. In fact there are no small characters in this play, as they all have a lot to say and they all have a lot of life to live on stage.”
She added: “There is a constant complaint these days that there aren’t enough parts for older women but there are two sensational parts in this play for women over 50. These characters just jump off the page, so it’s very exciting to be a part of that,” she admits.
“They are very distinct, they inhabit a very rich Republican world where they are insulated from the outside pretty much because of their influence and money, but then along comes a family member who drops a bomb, right in the middle of them all. Who can’t relate to that, in some way?” she asks.
Sinéad Cusack in rehearsals for Other Desert Cities at the Old Vic“It might be set in America but it could be anywhere in Ireland or Britain,” the actor adds, “It’s a totally human situation that anyone who has ever had a family can react to.”
That’s not to say there were no challenges for the cast, who have been in rehearsals at the Old Vic for the past month.
“It’s an American play and we only have one real American in it, so we are all quickly learning how to be American,” Higgins laughs. “That is completely different from being English or Irish, of course, as they have a very different way of thinking and being. But that’s the excitement of it, the challenge.
“And everyone understands betrayal and sibling rivalry, no matter how well disguised,” she adds.
“Everyone understands that families have secrets, which they generally do their best to cover up, but in this play it all gets exploded. So there is something for us all to relate to, and it’s also very funny.
“You get that rather wonderful dangerous mixture of a family at breaking point, alongside this very funny comedy, so it’s extremely compelling.”
With roots in Co. Mayo, Higgins is proud of her Irish heritage and is enjoying sharing rehearsals with fellow Irish actor Sinéad Cusack.
“My grandparents are all Irish,” Higgins, who now lives near Glastonbury, in Somerset, says.
“I don’t have a drop of English blood in my body. I was born in England but I go by blood, and I still break into an Irish jig from time to time, so I might throw one into the curtain call — just to show I can still kick up a leg.”
The actor is in good company with Cusack, an acclaimed member of the theatrical Dublin family, who has been treading the boards in London since the 1970s.
“It’s great having Sinéad in the company,” Higgins claims. “I love her. We have the craic — Irish knows Irish.”
The pair are now gearing up for opening night at the Old Vic, where they will unleash their carefully constructed characters to British theatre-goers for the first time.
“I’m excited to open, of course,” says Higgins. “You do feel a real thrill about every new character, as you get to know them as much as you create them and that is one of the privileges of this profession.
“In some ways being an actor is a little like being possessed,” she adds, “it takes you over every time you get a new character.”
Other Desert Cities runs at the Old Vic in Waterloo until May 24. For tickets or further information visit www.oldvictheatre.com or call the box Office on 0844 8717628.
