************************* At the turn of the century, Mrs. Patrick Campbell was England’s most celebrated and notorious actress. An acclaimed beauty, loved by many, she is remembered for her wit, for bad behaviour, and her close friendship with George Bernard Shaw. She was a great actress, when she wanted to be. She had a low boredom threshold and frequently behaved dreadfully on stage. She could be a monster to work with, an atrocious snob and possessed a wicked sense of humour. But, on form, she was incomparable, the glory of her age. Her work was daring and unpredictable, enhanced by her great beauty. Shaw worshipped her, wrote Pygmalion for her and begged her to play Eliza. Rather than living to work she always worked to live and died in exile and poverty. Pam Gems’ new play is about the art and graft of acting and the turmoil of being a woman who was meant to please but couldn’t resist using her mind. Mrs Patrick Campbell (February 9 1865 - April 9 1940) was born Beatrice Stella Tanner in London, of English and Italian parents. She made her stage debut in 1888, four years after her marriage to Patrick Campbell, and became successful as a result of starring in Sir Arthur Wing Pinero's play, The Second Mrs Tanqueray, in 1893. The production was performed at York Theatre Royal in 1924. Fourteen years after the death of her first husband in 1900, Campbell became the second wife of George Cornwallis-West, a dashing writer previously married to Jennie Jerome, the mother of Winston Churchill, but continued to use "Mrs Patrick Campbell" as her stage name. In 1914, Bernard Shaw wrote the part of the cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, for her. In return Campbell appeared in the original production of Shaw's Pygmalion; though much too old for the part at 49, she was the obvious choice, being by far the biggest name on the London stage. The play went on to become the hugely successful musical My Fair Lady. In her later years, Campbell made notable appearances in motion pictures, including One More River, Rip Tide, and Crime and Punishment. In 1940 she died in France aged 75. Mrs Pat is directed by Sue Dunderdale (Bottle Universe, Bush Theatre, Killing The Cat, Royal Court Theatre) who said about the production “I first came across the play through my long standing friendship with Pam Gems. I'm a great admirer of her writing and she generally lets me read her new work as she writes it. When I read Mrs. Pat I knew it was a play I wanted to direct because it deals with the life of the actor, strange, glamorous, penny pinching, exhausting, exhilarating. Through the life of Mrs Pat, Pam narrates the emotional journey of the actor, from anonymity to worldwide celebrity and then to failure, poverty and death in a strange land. It’s a comical, tragical roller-coaster of a life that challenged the conventions of the time and carved out a place in history for the extraordinary Mrs. Pat. The play is a wonderful combination of the wit and the passion and I'm incredibly excited about having the opportunity to direct it at York Theatre Royal.” Writer Pam Gems is considered to be part of the Feminist Theatre group, which also includes playwrights Caryl Churchill and Timberlake Wertenbaker. Born in England, she studied psychology at Manchester University but she didn't start to write professionally until well into her 40s. She is perhaps best known for the 1978 musical play Piaf (which was performed at York Theatre Royal in 2002), which originally starred Jane Lapotaire. Other plays include 1996's Stanley (about the painter Stanley Spencer) originally starring Sir Anthony Sher. Many of her plays have feminist themes. She has been nominated for two Tony Awards, firstly in 1997 for Stanley (Best Play), and then in 1999 for Marlene (Best Book of a Musical), and her plays have won numerous other awards. Pam has also adapted other works by dramatists ranging from Henrik Ibsen, Federico García Lorca to Anton Chekhov and Marguerite Duras. Isla Blair plays the role of Mrs Patrick Campbell. Isla’s long and distinguished acting career has included roles at in Stuff Happens (directed by Nicholas Hynter) and A Funny Thing Happened on the way To The Forum, both at the National Theatre. Her other acting credits include appearances in the television series The House of Cards, New Tricks and The Quatermass Experiment, as well as appearing in the films Valmont, and Indianna Jones and The Last Crusade. The impressive cast will also include Philip Joseph (Soldier Soldier) as The Writer; Ifan Meredith (Metroland, The Mill on the Floss and the BBC adaptation of Great Expectations) as The Leading Man; Joseph Raishbrook (The History Boys, Royal National Theatre) as the young man; Rebecca Jenkins (The Penelopiad, Royal National Theatre, As You Like It, Wyndhams Theatre and Sweeney Todd, New Ambassadors Theatre) as The Musician; and finally Karina Fernandez (Bites, Bush Theatre) as the Young Woman. The production is designed by Norman Coates, whose previous theatre credits have included Mr Cinders (Fortune Theatre), The Importance of Being Earnest (Whitehall Theatre) and The Dice House (Art’s Theatre) with lighting by Tina MacHugh (Sweeny Todd, Derby Playhouse and national tour of When Harry Met Sally). The music has been composed by Richard Taylor (Ying Tong, West Yorkshire Playhouse). Tickets for this eagerly awaited production are priced from £8.50 - £18.00 (Matinee tickets are £7.00). Tickets for Under 25s and Students are £3.50 and can be purchased at the York Theatre Royal Box Office or by calling 01904 623568 **************************