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Interviews
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From Fluffy Musical to Chekhov’s Three Sisters Sheila Connor talks to Janie Dee I have long been an admirer of Janie Dee, an actress who can switch from fluffy musical to Chekhov’s Three Sisters and then cabaret and give a terrific performance every time. It was in a fluffy musical, My One and Only, that she was first spotted by the legendary Peter Hall, which led to her working with him in Betrayal and Design for Living before taking a year off when she had her second child.
Now back at work (not that taking care of children isn’t work) Janie is presently in rehearsal for Harold Pinter’s play Old Times, opening in Brighton on 27th February before an eight week tour. Peter Hall, who directed the world premiere in 1971, is again in charge and rehearsals are presently taking place in “a lovely church hall just off Cheney Walk in Chelsea”. Dee, sounding slightly exhausted, took time in her lunch break to talk to me..
The play as I understand it is deeply psychological, but the difficulty, according to Dee, is making it seem perfectly normal on the outside while being totally aware of what is going on underneath. “You know people go through psychological dramas all the time and you never find out… they seem perfectly normal, and that’s the kind of situation we are dealing with here, that it should all seem completely fine”.
Janie’s character is Kate, the quiet shy wife of filmmaker Deeley (played by Neil Pearson), and when her old friend Anna (Susannah Harker) arrives for a visit they happily reminisce about old times when they were flat-mates in London – until the situation frighteningly begins to change.
I asked if Peter Hall is a hard task master.
“He’s the most excellent director – at all times gentle but at all times very thorough - so I can’t say he’s a hard task master except in a very positive way: I don’t want him to leave when the day finishes. I love working with him – I totally trust him, and he doesn’t dictate unless it needs it”.
This is not her first time in Old Times. She played the same character for the Pinter Festival in Dublin, but only had eleven actual performances. “I found it fascinating and thought I’d like to have a bit more of a chance of playing with it.”
She began her theatrical training at the age of eleven, attending the Arts Educational School where she was trained in all the arts, including painting and writing. Dancing is her first love, but she has also spent time in Italy for voice training and, on return to the UK, found work in a musical where she was discovered by Wayne Sleep who gave her “loads of songs to sing in his show”, which led to her playing leads, including Carousel at the National.
Another director (and prolific writer of plays) Alan Ayckbourn has also had a huge influence on Dee’s career, giving her the lead in his play Comic Potential for which she won one of her many awards and which took her to Broadway.
With so many options open to her how can she choose what to do next? “I follow my heart – and also the job offers. I don’t say ‘no’ very often unless I can’t leave my children” As well as two year old Alfie there is Matilda aged ten, and on this tour Janie’s actor husband, Rupert Whickham, is touring in a daytime show so will be home in time to cope.
For holidays Dee loves to go back to Italy, and her parents live in Provence so that’s also a frequent destination but, conscious of global warming, she does try to travel by train. She recently organised a Concert for Peace which is where she first encountered Harold Pinter. “I’d asked all the playwrights in England to produce something for the Concert and he sent me two poems that he had already written against the Iraq war. He was one of only three or four people who said they had time.”
At this point Janie hadn’t managed to get any lunch but the play is very ‘sedate’ so she was about to go to an exercise class. “Then when I’ve had my stretch and done my tummy exercises and things I’ll go and eat something quickly, but I probably won’t eat properly until tonight - when it’s all over I’ll start stuffing my face”.
With such eminent writer and director and superb actors, this is one play I can’t wait to see.
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