Meera Syal Kills Sister George in ‘Drama at Arts’
Whatsonstage.com Award winner Meera Syal returns to the stage this autumn to take the title role in a revival of Frank Marcus’ 1964 comedy The Killing of Sister George, which will run from 5 to 29 October 2011 as part of the Arts Theatre’s new “Drama at the Arts” autumn season.
Sister George is no nun, but a fictional character in a popular BBC radio soap about English village life. To boost ratings, the character – which has been played for some 2000 performances by June Buckridge (Syal) – is to be axed. Radio executive Mercy confronts June about the impending job loss, wreaking havoc on June’s professional life as well as her domestic relationship with Alice McNaught, who shares her home and her bed.
Syal won this year’s Whatsonstage.com Award for Best Solo Performance for Willy Russell’s Shirley Valentine which transferred to the West End’s Trafalgar Studios last year after its initial run at the Menier Chocolate Factory. The actress and writer is well known for her television performances in the likes of The Kumars at No 42, Goodness Gracious Me, Fat Friends and All About Me. Her other stage credits include The Vagina Monologues and Bombay Dreams.
The part of June Buckridge was played by Beryl Reid in the original West End production in 1964, on Broadway two years later and in the 1968 film version. Syal will be joined in The Killing of Sister George by Belinda Lang as Mercy. The production is directed by Iqbal Khan.
The Killing of Sister George is the second of three productions running under the “Drama at the Arts” banner this autumn. It’s preceded by, as reported last week, the transfer of Out of Joint’s A Dish of Tea with Dr Johnson, starring Trudie Styler (for part of the run), Ian Redford and Russell Barr, which is directed by Max Stafford-Clark and runs from 1 to 24 September 2011.
Following The Killing of Sister George, the third and final play in the upcoming “Drama at the Arts” season will be A British Subject, written by and starring Nichola McAuliffe, which runs from 2 to 26 November 2011. Premiered at the Edinburgh Fringe in August 2009 and in New York later that year, A British Subject recounts a true-life tale of international politics and the media colliding with justice, civil liberties and ultimately, faith.
At the age of 18, Mirza Tahir Hussain, a British Subject, arrived in Pakistan. Twenty-four hours later, a taxi driver was dead and Tahir was tried for his murder. Condemned to hang in the Criminal Court, he spent 18 years on Death Row. Don Mackay of the Daily Mirror was the only journalist to visit him in that time. Hannah Eidonow directs.
