Rachael Stirling picks her way from the back of the stage, joins her colleagues in the stalls, and then promptly bursts into tears. “I’m tired,” she explains. Stirling is playing Sarah Siddons, the great 18th-century actor, in The Divine Mrs S at the Hampstead theatre in London, and we’re chatting right in the middle of the preview period. It’s a fraught time.
“We still haven’t cracked it,” Stirling says mournfully. “You have!” exclaims director Anna Mackmin. “You’ve so cracked it.” “I love what you do,” adds April De Angelis, the playwright. “I’ve been sending you messages all night,” Mackmin continues. “Breathe. That’s it, baby, you’re worth the ticket price.” “Here I go again,” says Stirling, crying and laughing at once. Mackmin looks over to me and says: “This is what previews are.”
In Siddons’ day, plays lived or died by their first performance. The town’s judgment could kill a production stone dead – as happens in De Angelis’ play. It’s still true in ballet and opera: however technically complex, the first public show is usually also press night.
