Presented by Fringe San Miguel and Players Workshop
Winner of the Overall Excellence Award at Fringe NYC 2014
PERFORMED BY JANET PRINCE
WRITTEN BY PHILIP MEEKS
DIRECTED BY STELLA DUFFY
Margaret Rutherford became a legend of the screen through her portrayal of the classic Agatha Christie character Miss Marple. But Marple was a role Rutherford was frightened to take on, and Christie believed Miss Marple should not be on screen at all, let alone played by Rutherford – ‘the funniest woman alive’.
We are on set with Margaret Rutherford, about to assay her first outing as Jane Marple. Playing the actress, the author and the spinster, award winning actress Janet Prince pulls us through the story behind the story. Using a simple composite set and a vivid soundscape Margaret (aka Peggy) slowly unpacks personal possessions, her Oscar, a photo of her beloved husband Stringer Davies, her ‘family’ of soft toys…and then takes centre stage to tell us her story.
As played by Prince, Rutherford is formidable and funny. Yet her Rutherford is also curiously childlike and vulnerable, with her stuffed toys and her loving yet eccentric descriptions of life with her husband, Stringer. Janet Prince epitomizes Rutherford’s jolly boisterous personality and embodies the icon we all know and love so well. She dives into the most exciting and intimate moments of Rutherford’s career, taking the audience with her as she investigates the role of Miss Jane Marple, and we witness Rutherford’s growing friendship with the crime writer Agatha Christie, eventually revealing the poignant truths of Rutherford’s past.
A sell out show at the Edinburgh Festival 2012.