MOVERS and shakers in London’s arts and theatre scenes descended on the National Theatre for a glamorous fundraising gala dinner.
It was a bittersweet moment for Lisa Burger, the executive director of the theatre, who is leaving in April and passing the baton to Kate Varah, who has been poached from the Old Vic.
They were there to welcome the Duchess of Cornwall as the theatre’s new patron, after the Duchess of Sussex stepped back when she moved to the US with Prince Harry. The pair said they were “so delighted” to welcome Camilla to her new role.
Ms Burger added that Meghan “was very committed to what we were doing at the time”.
Partygoers were doing double-takes when handsome doppelgängers Dame Harriet Walter, who starred in Succession, and Friday Night Dinner’s Tamsin Greig rubbed shoulders — Walters told us “people are always confusing us for each other”.
Meanwhile, Sir Lenny Henry told us he was oblivious to the furore in the media about his apparent three stone weight loss, which he has reportedly maintained through running and eating just broccoli. “I don’t read that stuff,” he said, before explaining that he doesn’t read stories about himself because “there are so many racist comments so I had to stop reading — people can be very unkind”.
But on a lighter note, he did say he would “love” to have former Labour MP-turned-kitchen sensation Ed Balls cook his dinner, after Balls offered his services to the silent auction to cater for a table of six. There are many ways to cook broccoli, Ed…
London’s literary life in full flow
IRISH author Colm Tóibín won the Rathbone’s folio prize at a ceremony in the British Library last night — but the real party seems to have been at the judges’ last meeting. It was held at the house of Minna Fry, executive director of the prize, where judges were able to smoke indoors.
“It was like the Nineties,” judge Rachel Long laughed to us. “At the point we made our decision,” chair of judges Tessa Hadley said, “Rachel was just busy on her phone and then Deliveroo arrived at Minna’s front door with a bottle of champagne.” Cigarettes and champagne — London’s literary scene is alive and well.
Rylance haunted by Dylan’s death stare
SIR Mark Rylance is no stranger to being watched, but he found being the subject of Bob Dylan’s gaze utterly unnerving. Rylance recalled meeting the musician when filming Hearts of Fire in the Eighties, where Dylan played guitar on set, occasionally looking up to give him a “penetrating, piercing look”. The actor says it was comparable to the “look a baby gives to looking out of a pram”, making you wonder: “What’s he seen?” Haunting.
No end to author’s need to explain
FRANCIS FUKUYAMA ruffled feathers when he published his controversial book The End of History and the Last Man in 1992, and is still dealing with the consequences. He admitted at an Intelligence Squared event last night that he has been asked to explain what he meant by the end of history “once or twice a day for the last 30 years”. It was suggested that this was “the price of success”, but we wonder if this is really the price of everyone having heard of your book, but not actually reading it. Poor Francis.
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ANDY SLAUGHTER MP slammed Transport Secretary Grant Shapps’s pledge of £3 million towards repairing Hammersmith Bridge as a “pathetic contribution”. He told us that “the fact that they are boasting about this is totally cynical” and proves only “that they are more interested in the politics than getting the Bridge working again”. This £3 million is to be put towards stabilising the bridge for pedestrians and cyclists, with projections for full repairs reaching over £100 million. Shapps stated that the government will do “everything in its power to keep this vital, historic structure open”, but it seems Hammersmith Bridge’s Victorian splendour doesn’t come so cheap.
LORD FROST, the former Brexit minister who resigned last year, yesterday declared “my experience of 2021 is that if you want real political accountability, it has to be in the Commons”. Given Frost’s reputed political ambitions, does this mean we can expect him to quit his peerage and stand at the next general election?
