Beryl (Kara Wilson) enters and sits in front of an easel-mounted canvas with an outline of figures from her famous Ladies Night. She begins recounting her life, what and how her interest in art began. Mixing her paints, she effortlessly works on and colours the canvas as she speaks, finishes it simultaneously with her last speech at the end of the show; amazing. The whole hour flows seamlessly.
There is the brilliant use of a video camera on a tripod into which Wilson speaks as she is recording a BBC interview, giving her story a natural flow. An extremely shy and private person with an impish sense of humour, she was self-taught. While widely known, she gained an even wider audience from her prints and greetings cards.
Beryl Francis Lansley OBE, born in Surrey, was one of four sisters. Her parents separated early and her mother moved to Reading with her daughters. Beryl left education at fourteen, working in a variety of jobs, moving to London near the end of the Second World War. She married her childhood friend John Cook in 1948. Their son John was born in 1950, and in 1956, moved to Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. They returned to England in the mid-sixties and moved to Plymouth in 1968, buying a guesthouse. Cook shared her time between running the guesthouse and producing ever more paintings. She died in May 2008 at her home in Plymouth, 82, a full life. Her paintings are nationally hung in Glasgow, Bristol and Durham.
This is Kara Wilson’s fifth play on a painter, working with the artist's family to shed light on this intriguing figure. An intriguing, rare glimpse into Beryl's private thoughts written by no less an intriguing woman; Wilson is a veteran TV, film and theatre actor, writer and talented painter in her own right.
A must for any Cook fans and those who wish to spend an entertaining, informative hour. A well-acted and produced, intriguing play.