Mrs Pat

Minerva Theatre, Oaklands Park, Chichester, Thursday, October 15, to Saturday, November 7

KRISTIN Scott Thomas’s much-publicised comments earlier this year about a lack of roles for women over the age of 50 is not new.

In Anton Burge’s one-woman show Mrs Pat the formidable Edwardian actress at the centre of the story, played by Penelope Keith, has faced the same problem in her later years.

“She was in a business where she could be extremely successful,” says Burge. “Mrs Patrick Campbell was one of the leading actresses of her age. But an actor could also be thrown over too. It’s quite a poignant piece.”

Set on the eve of the Nazi invasion of Paris in 1940, Mrs Pat sees the ageing titular actress spending the night in a French railway station, being desperate to get away from the capital city, but stranded by her beloved Pekinese who she refuses to put into quarantine to allow safe passage to her native England.

“It’s putting a character in limbo,” says Burge, who has been working on Mrs Pat for the last ten years, having achieved considerable success with Bette and Joan, another two-hander concerning a pair of cinematic grande dames.

“She’s in a situation completely out of her control and at the mercy of circumstance,” he adds, having chosen the location of the story from a real life incident towards the end of Campbell’s life.

“It must have been terrifying for her, an old woman all on her own.”

As she waits for the train Campbell recalls an impressive life, which saw her achieve overnight stardom with her appearance in Pinero’s The Second Mrs Tanquery in 1893, and provide a muse for Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw who penned the part of Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion for her.

But it also takes in the loss of her husband during the Boer War, and a career which went into decline in part because of her difficult nature. Contemporary critic Alexander Woolcott once described her tendency to reject offered roles as “like a sinking ship firing on the rescuers”.

Penelope Keith was a perfect piece of casting for Burge.

“To play a star you have to be a star,” he says. “Alan [Strachan, the director] and I talked about having a leading person who could put bums on seats, and do justice to the sort of personality Mrs Pat was.

“Penny is a remarkable actress – she’s willing to have a go and try things, but also say if it isn’t working and try something else. She’s taking the play to another level.”

It was 30 years ago when he first started working in theatre that Burge came across the story of Mrs Patrick Campbell, who took her husband’s name to confer a sense of respectability.

“I was backstage and somebody told a story about her,” he says.

The tale gave rise to another memory, and another – highlighting her reputation and witty nature.

“Some actors had worked with her, and others had seen her. I started reading about her and researching her. She’s remembered to a degree, but it’s nice to shine a light on somebody and reappraise them as a performer.”

Starts 7.45pm, 2.45pm matinees, tickets from £20. Call 01243 781312 or visit cft.org.uk