We catch up with Downton Abbey star Phyllis Logan as she prepares to take to the stage in a Noel Coward classic
For the past six years Phyllis Logan – the firm but fair housekeeper Mrs Hughes in worldwide mega hit Downton Abbey – has spent her summers amid a gaggle of reporters all desperate to unearth plotlines ahead of the season launch in September.
But following the end of the series last Christmas, Phyllis has headed back to her first love of theatre to play the acerbic, but loyal secretary Monica Reed in Noel Coward’s biting comedy Present Laughter, which arrives in Richmond later this month.
“It’s 20 years or more since I did big theatre,” admits Phyllis. “But luckily I think I am getting to grips with it again.”
First performed in 1942, Present Laughter focuses on a few days in the life of actor Garry Essendine (played by Samuel West, son of Timothy West and Prunella Scales) who is forced to contend not only with the unwanted affections of several women, but also those of an eager young playwright desperate for his approval.
“Noel’s plays are so great to work on and they never seem to lose their appeal,” Phyllis says. “It’s all there for you, so it’s a just a case of fine tuning and buffing up a bit. We’ve got a lovely set and we’re going to some gorgeous theatres so I am really excited to be touring it.”
Phyllis first came to prominence in hit 80s drama Lovejoy as the not-so-prim Lady Jane, and the will they/won’t they plotline with Ian McShane’s dodgy antiques dealer kept audiences gripped for more than seven years.
“Oh that was so much fun,” she says with obvious warmth. “We just laughed and laughed and laughed. We had such a great time. I feel doubly lucky to have been involved with two shows that people have taken to their hearts.”
But it is her role in Downton that has brought her fans the world over.
“No one could have predicted the reaction it got worldwide,” says Phyllis. “I thought it would be mildly popular. I said to myself, ‘Well it’s got Dame Maggie Smith in it and it’s written by an Oscar-winner so it’s bound to catch on a bit,’ but what happened was beyond anyone’s wildest imaginings.”
But after six series and three Christmas specials she says it was definitely time for “Mrs Hughes to hang up her keys and get her corset off” and for the actress that created her to head for pastures new.
“I feel very fortunate to have been involved and it was a lovely part of my working life,” she says. “But it’s good to be back in the theatre and now this is me ready to start shouting at night for the next eight weeks.”
Present Laughter runs at Richmond Theatre from Aug 1–6. For more details, visit: atgtickets.com
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