麻豆官网首页入口

"In real life, you only get one take..."

Before Margaret Thatcher became leader of the Conservative Party 50 years ago, she discreetly turned to Laurence Olivier, the greatest actor of his generation, to prepare her for the greatest role of her life.

In When Maggie Met Larry, Tim Walker's funny, but thought-provoking new play, he imagines how Olivier set about transforming Thatcher into the formidable character so many remember today.

The collaboration was kept secret as Thatcher coveted her reputation as a "housewife" who empathised with the problems of ordinary people. However, Lord Tim Bell, one of her image advisers, admitted in a newspaper interview shortly before his death that the two had met. Olivier subsequently put Margaret Thatcher in touch with Catherine Fleming, the National Theatre's respected voice coach who helped him to perfect the deep voice he needed to play Othello. Invoices Fleming submitted to the Conservative Party for work with Thatcher between 1972 and 1976 are still held in the National's archive.

Tim Walker says, "It fascinated me how Olivier, in the twilight years of his career, performed such an important service to Thatcher, at the dawn of hers. The two inhabited totally different worlds, but both came from modest backgrounds and were driven, even obsessive, individuals."

At a time when the use of artifice in politics - even truth itself - is in the news, When Maggie Met Larry may well be seen to have a relevance that goes beyond the clash of two larger-than-life personalities.

Cast:
Laurence Olivier ... Derek Jacobi
Margaret Thatcher ... Frances Barber

Writer ... Tim Walker
Director ... Richard Clifford

A Catherine Bailey production in association with the Michael Grandage Company, for 麻豆官网首页入口 Radio 4.

The character Laurence Olivier (Derek Jacobi) quotes some lines from Archie Rice (one of his most feted roles) in John Osborne's play The Entertainer.
(Copyright The Arvon Foundation, published by Faber and Faber)

Show less