An Evening with Prunella Scales and Timothy West
By Heather Sanderson
Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip weren't the only "Royals" attracting attention this side of the pond during the merry old month of May. The Royal Shakespeare Company completed its five year association with the Kennedy Center with a splendid production of William Shakespeare's Coriolanus. The play starred actor Timothy West in the role of Menenius. West of course, is a familiar face to MPT viewers having appeared in numerous series, including Henry VIII (Wolsey), Churchill and the Generals (Churchill), and Bleak House (Sir Leicester Dedlock).
Prunella Scales, Heather Sanderson, Timothy West
|
In real life West is married to actress Prunella Scales, who stars as the shrewish wife Sybil Fawlty on the classic John Cleese comedy Fawlty Towers. The couple were recently guests of the English Speaking Union at a dinner held at Dacor Bacon House in Washington DC. Following dinner, the couple participated in a question and answer session moderated by John Andrews, Head of the ESU's Washington DC chapter.
Scales, who is much prettier in real life than her Sybil character and surprisingly diminutive, with a very soft voice, did a fine job of disguising what must have been a horrible case of jet leg, having just flown in from the U.K. that same afternoon. West looked, and sounded exactly as one would expect - a perfect example of a classically trained British actor.
When asked how audiences in the U.S.are different to those in the U.K., West responded that he felt the American audience seemed to be more appreciative of the language and reacted to the wit of the language.
Both West and Scales commented on the fact that a lot of U.K. actors nowadays tend to feel themselves drawn to film, where "looks are more important than the words you speak" and they both spent some time reminiscing about their days in repertory theatre, when the plays would alternate each night. It was obvious from listening to the couple speak that their true love is theatre, and they both recalled with fondness their time spent traveling the world over performing in live theatre.
Scales' most recent theatrical endeavor has been playing the part of Queen Victoria in her one woman show, An Evening With Queen Victoria. You might also recall that Scales portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in the BBC adaptation of Alan Bennett's play A Question of Attribution. Scales originated the role on stage, and became the first actor to portray a reigning monarch in a theatrical production. On being awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) by the real Queen, Her Majesty said, "I suppose you think you ought to be doing this." (One has to wonder how Scales felt at being overlooked for the role of Her Majesty in the recent film The Queen.)
As well as enjoying a long and successful career as a stage actor, some of West's best experiences have been in film and television. Bleak House being a particular case in point. He felt it was a "great honor" to have been cast in the show and all the actors involved produced an extra 10% above what they believed they were capable of". West also said that the series was a prime example of good filmmaking in that time was spent on preparation, and care was given to the set, the costumes, the make-up, the long shots, etc. All of which made the actual filming so much easier. For West, preparation is key and he always spends time researching the characters he plays.
When it came time to ask Scales about her role in Fawlty Towers, the audience greeted the mention of her role as Sybil with a round of applause. The actress explained that each show was put together at a frenetic pace, in just a week; with taping taking place in front of a live audience on a Sunday. When asked why the series ended after just twelve episodes, Scales explained that it "was based on a rough time John Cleese had at a hotel in Torquay," and was written in a frenzy by him and his wife Connie Booth, as a way of appeasing their anger. After twelve episodes they felt they had purged themselves and wanted to move on. Despite the many lucrative offers Cleese and Booth were made to write more episodes of Fawlty Towers, they never did. Something Scales feels was extremely admirable.
West pointed out that it was no coincidence that a married couple such as Cleese and Booth would create a masterpiece series like Fawlty Towers. Not only are they both "very intelligent," but in West's opinion, the series starring (make that warring) couple, Basil and Sybil Fawlty, are a prime example of the fact that "the best comedy is based on pairs."
Finally, with the time fast approaching 2am in the UK, this wonderful pair had to wrap up the evening, but not before they had made sure that everyone who wanted to chat personally and take photographs had done so. Including, of course, yours truly!
Related links
Back To Top ‹ Previous Article | Next Article ›
