Despite having long since secured her status as one of Britain’s best-loved actresses, Gwen Taylor is nervous about the audience reaction awaiting her in Scotland this week.
The evergreen 80-year-old star of Duty Free, Barbara, Heartbeat and Coronation Street brings her new play, thriller The Croft, to Perth Theatre and it’s causing her a few concerns.
The play, set in the Highlands, features an acting first for Gwen – performing a Scottish accent.
“This is my first time and I’ve been working with a dialect coach,” Gwen said.
“It’s a wee bit of a change for me and, while I’m excited about it, I’m also scared the audience will sniff when they hear my accent and say, have we not got enough actors up here to do it?
“I’m really looking forward to coming to Perth for the first time.
“We have been in Derby, my hometown, this past week, so we’re coming straight up. It’ a bit of an exhausting tour but my husband is an enormous help.
“He does all the driving and I couldn’t do this without him.”
Gwen spent 15 weeks touring her last production, The Lady Vanishes, had a week off, and then started rehearsals for The Croft.
“I can’t say I enjoy being on the road, but I do want to keep working,” continued Gwen, who played Anne Foster in Corrie.
“I know how easy it is at a certain age to let the brain rest a bit, so I want to keep busy. I don’t think I’ll ever say no, unless it’s completely impossible.
“I have to make my day work for me and I’ll need a rest at some point. I’ll tell people that, during rehearsals. I just have to be brave and say I need a half-hour. But once we are performing the day is virtually free apart from the matinee, so all I need to do is work out when to eat.
“It’s quite strange being the oldest person in the company, like being the mother – it’s a nice thing.
“I feel a responsibility to pass on the right things and the correct attitude. And having been in something like Monty Python’s Life Of Brian gives me some kudos and holds me in good stead.”
The Croft tells the story of three women from different eras whose lives are intertwined by the building’s dark history.
In the 1880s, there is Enid, played by Gwen. In 2005, the croft is used as a holiday home by Ruth and her husband, but is also where Ruth has an affair. And, in the present day, Ruth’s daughter, Laura, and partner Suzanne, return to the croft and discover a terrifying truth that lies within.
“It’s apparently based on a true story and I think I would believe it,” Gwen continued.
“There was a time in the 1800s when old ladies were still being made into figures of hate, accused of being witches.
“That’s what happens to my character, being blamed for all the things that happen in the village, like the Clearances and illnesses. She’s the scapegoat.
“Enid was a trailblazer and decides she’s not going to submit, she will fight against these people, with not very positive results.
“In the modern day, two young ladies become aware of the spirit of this woman in the croft.
“It’s exciting and scary, deliciously scary, and I think we quite like to be frightened.”
The Croft, Perth Theatre, Tues-Sat
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