A Brief Encounter with Hannah Yelland
May 11, 2009
Hannah Yelland plays Laura Brief Encounter which Kneehigh is currently touring, after a hit West End run. We wanted to catch up with Hannah and ask her about acting, the tour and her own love life
Question: What is it like working with your father David Yelland?
Answer: “When Chichester Festival Theatre decided to revive their very successful production of Nicholas Nickleby, with Hannah reprising her role as Kate, the hero’s feisty sister. They asked my father to play my uncle Ralph and before he gave them an answer, he came to me first. ‘Did I mind awfully if he were to accept the offer?’ - I told him to go ahead. We had a completely fantastic time acting together and I think he saw me in a different way. It was a little confusing at first to know what to call him. Was it Ralph? David? Or Dad? Mostly I kept it strictly professional but there was one point during rehearsals when I called him Dad before quickly adding David.”
Question: Before auditioning had you seen the West End version of the show?
Answer: “I absolutely loved it” but without knowing much about Kneehigh’s history or ethos.”I was very green about the company but Emma [Rice} and I chatted very pleasantly and then Emma asked me very directly if I would do ‘a turn’. I had to think on my feet and I suggested singing a folk song that had been composed by a friend of mine. I thought that it had all gone horribly wrong and so I was caught completely off-guard when my agent rang me with the news that they wanted me to play Laura.”
Question: Brief Encounter is a classic British love story, but what about your private life?
Answer: “My other half’s an American lawyer and we met at a mutual friend’s wedding. I saw him across the proverbially crowded room and our eyes met. But he made the first move, coming over to me. Now he’s back in Washington DC so thank heavens for Skype. It’s wonderful, when it works!”
Question: What memories do you have of previous productions you have worked on?
Answer: “I was playing Vivie in Shaw’s Mrs. Warren’s Profession, and got on with 1960s icon Twiggy very well, who was playing my mother. One night before we were due to go up, Twiggy invited me to come to her dressing-room to meet a friend after the show. She particularly wanted me to meet her friend Paul who’d be in the house that night. I didn’t think that much about it and so I walked casually into Twiggy’s dressing-room and there was Paul McCartney.”
Brief Encounter plays the Theatre Royal Newcastle from May 12th to 16th
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