Patsy Ferran is now most celebrated for a theatrical coup. Stepping tremendously into the lead role in A Streetcar Named Desire days before opening at the Almeida in January this year, she became, alongside Paul Mescal, part of a production which broke ticket-sales records – and dismantled the traditional idea of a classic heroine. Her professional debut nine years earlier was equally striking. In March 2014 London’s Gielgud theatre was crammed with fans of 88-year-old Angela Lansbury, appearing in Blithe Spirit as Noël Coward’s gargoyle ghost hunter. Then the maid came on, swivelling in all directions, wildly loopy and alarming. Ferran made the tiny part a focus for the spookiness of the play. It was as if spirits had unwired her. Yet perhaps it was she who was doing the unwiring? She looked as if she was hoovering up the ectoplasm.
Such physical fluency is rare on the British stage, where actors are more likely to be distinguished by vocal elasticity. Ferran’s particular talents – she won the Critics’ Circle award for best actress this year for Streetcar and for best newcomer in 2015 – are also evident off stage. As we talk, her hands are winging away in their own conversation. She could have done this interview wordlessly. With her fingers.
