Alex Kingston stars in new razor-sharp comedy Admissions

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Star of TV and stage Alex Kingston talks to Jane McGowan about her latest role in the hit comedy Admissions, which arrives in Richmond this month...

Anyone taking a moment to avert his or her eyes from all the Brexit coverage recently may have seen several column inches dedicated to the US ‘bribes for college places’ featuring high profile celebs, including Felicity Huffman (Desperate Housewives) and all-American sitcom star Lori Loughlin. These women (along with many others) have been accused of offering bribes to officials at some of the US’s top colleges in order to secure places for their offspring.

Can you imagine ever doing such a thing? Well, before you pass judgement, head down to Richmond Theatre where you will find ER and Doctor Who star Alex Kingston pulling out all the stops to save her son’s education in the school-based, razor-sharp comedy Admissions by Joshua Harmon.

The play, which is set in a top-notch New England school, revolves around Sherri, a woman equally devoted to her talented son and her role as the school admissions officer. Not only does she pride herself on how effortlessly wonderful her son is, but on how hard she has worked to bring some diversity to this WASP institution.

“I don’t want to say too much about Sherri as I want the audience to make up their own minds,” says the 56-year-old mother-of-one. “She loves and cares for her child like any mother would and she is prepared to go to whatever lengths she feels necessary to get her son what she feels he deserves.”

Alex who came to prominence during the 90s thanks to roles in BBC drama Moll Flanders and as frosty British doctor Elizabeth Corday in ER, says the themes in the play don’t just relate to America.

“We may not call them bribes, but it’s going on everywhere – money for new libraries, sports equipment and so on. There are people who know people who can help. Really, it’s all the same thing.

“We were actually on stage when the story broke and it was like, ‘Wow!’ We are actually acting this out. And it feels like it’s time to have this discussion. People think about themselves as liberals and talk about diversity, but at the end of the day, nothing changes.”

The eldest of three daughters, Alex attended Epsom’s Roseberry School before winning a place at RADA. She acknowledges how lucky she was to not only train there but to receive free tuition too.

“Nowadays even going to the auditions is expensive,” she says. “It costs money in a way it didn’t when I went to drama school. You even have to pay a fee to audition – I was quite shocked at that.

“I got a grant too, but that’s all gone and that is what has changed the playing field because of course, it’s only people with money who can try for these institutions and people who don’t have this ease of wealth are going to be shut out. If you are going to say, we need more realistic casting to reflect what our country looks like, then you also have to make sure there’s a way for everyone to train.”

It’s clear Alex is just as passionate as her character. “Throughout the play, you swap allegiances as you see a more controversial side to their personalities,” she says. “But that’s life. That’s how it is – that’s being human.”

Admissions is at Richmond Theatre from May 27-June 1. To find out more, visit: admissionsplay.com