Interview: Lucy Briggs-Owen, starring in Communicating Doors at the Menier Chocolate Factory

Lucy Briggs-Owen is currently starring as Jessica in Lindsay Posner’s London revival of Communicating Doors by Alan Ayckbourn at the Menier Chocolate Factory.

The play sees a dominatrix (played by Rachel Tucker) who, in the process of fleeing for her life, stumbles into a cupboard and – thanks to the wonders of time travel – finds herself twenty years in the past. After realising lives are in danger, she teams up with Ruella (played by Imogen Stubbs) and Jessica to change the course of events. 

Lucy recently created the role of Viola in Lee Hall’s stage adaptation of Shakespeare In Love at the West End’s Noel Coward Theatre to tremendous critical acclaim. 

Her theatre credits also include: Times Olga in Fortune's Fool (Old Vic), Brooke in Noises Off (West End), Mrs Fainall in The Way Of The World (Sheffield Crucible), Vivie Warren in Mrs Warren's Profession (West End/UK tour), Cecily in The Importance Of Being Earnest (Open Air), Blanche in Widowers Houses (Royal Exchange), Sybil in Private Lives (Hampstead) and Cressida in Troilus And Cressida (Barbican/international tour).

Lucy’s work for the RSC includes: Helena in Midsummer Night's Dreaming, Maryna in Boris Godunov, Princess in The Orphan Of Zhao, Luscinda in Cardenio, Anne in The City Madam and Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream.

I recently spoke to Lucy about why she has been longing to take on her first Ayckbourn play, having a giggle with her co-stars and her fond memories of Shakespeare In Love…

What jumped out for you when you first looked at Communicating Doors? Jessica is such a fun role!

Well I have been, for a number of years, a huge Ayckbourn fan and have been longing to do some. In fact, I can remember auditioning with speeches from his plays – Absent Friends in particular – for drama school. He’s something I hold dearly. So this meeting came up for Communicating Doors, which was very exciting, and I read the play and thought ‘that is absolutely bananas… but completely brilliant!’ Whilst it is farcical and terribly funny, it is also so very human at points and taps into some really big issues and thoughts about what it is to be human. It seems very absurd and funny on one hand, but I think it’s actually got a lot of meat to it.

Review: Communicating Doors at the Menier Chocolate Factory

Communicating Doors 

Menier Chocolate Factory

Reviewed on Wednesday 13th May 2015

★★★★

Communicating Doors goes beyond a typical Alan Ayckbourn play. The comedy is a little more stylistic whilst the theme sees the comedy borderline with a (fluffy) thriller/sci fi drama. 

Sneak peek at... Communicating Doors at the Menier Chocolate Factory starring Rachel Tucker

Production images have been released for the Menier Chocolate Factory's production of  Communicating Doors starring Rachel Tucker. Directed by Lindsay Posner, Alan Ayckbourn's play opens tomorrow (13th May) and runs until 27th June 2015. Check out images below (click picture to enlarge).

The cast also includes David Bamber, Lucy Briggs Owen, Imogen Stubbs, Matthew Cottle and Robert Portal. Communicating Doors won Ayckbourn the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain Best West End Play Award and the prestigious Molière Award in France. It was also nominated for an Olivier Award for Best Comedy.

Big Interview: Rachel Tucker - Back From Broadway!

Rachel Tucker recently returned from Broadway where she created the role of Meg Dawson in Sting’s new musical The Last Ship.

Directed by Joe Mantello, the show ran in New York at the Neil Simon Theatre for four months following an out-of-town tryout in Chicago. During the run Rachel starred opposite Sting when he joined the cast in an attempt to boost ticket sales. 

Rachel is currently preparing to return to the St James Theatre with her new solo concert show Back From Broadway for two performances only on Sunday 19th April. 

She has also been cast in Lindsay Posner's revival of Communicating Doors by Alan Ayckbourn which begins performances at the Menier Chocolate Factory on 7th May.

Rachel was a semi-finalist on I’d Do Anything, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s television search for an actress to play Nancy in a West End revival of Oliver. After leaving the competition Rachel joined the West End production of We Will Rock You, starring as Meat and understudying Scaramouche. 

Next Rachel joined the West End production of Wicked as Elphaba. She starred in the iconic role for nearly three years and over 1,000 performances, making her the West End’s longest serving Elphaba. In 2012 Rachel won the West End Frame Award for Best Performance of a Song in a Musical for her performance of the show's anthem, ‘Defying Gravity’.

Rachel left Wicked in October 2012 and released her debut album The Reason, playing sell out concerts at the St James Studio and Theatre. Rachel played Meg Giry in the workshop of Love Never Dies and received a TMA Theatre Award Nomination for Best Performance in a Musical for her portrayal of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz (Lyric Theatre, Belfast).

Her other theatre credits include: Ida in Farragut North (Southwark Playhouse), Mary in Tonight's The Night (national tour), Maureen Johnson in Rent (Olympia Theatre, Dublin), Sally Simpson in The Who's Tommy (national tour), Estelle Genovese in The Full Monty (national tour), Grace Power in To Be Sure, Kelly in Merry Christmas Betty Ford and Amy in Have A Nice Life (Lyric Theatre, Belfast). 

Yesterday I caught up with Rachel about her return to London. We discussed her upcoming concerts, what drew her to Communicating Doors, the closure of The Last Ship and how she found New York life plus much, much more…

A lot has happened since the last time we spoke! You’re back from Broadway and about to do some more concerts at the St James Theatre. The last one was incredible – what have you got up your sleeve this time round?

[laughs] Well… you know what… I feel like I set the bar quite high with that last concert! I’ll be honest with you, I am a bit worried about people’s expectations – will it be as good or not? I was worried I wouldn’t be able to come up with enough ideas of different things to sing and people to sing with and so on. But Andrew, it’s just happened again naturally. I stopped worrying about what I did in the past and have tried to concentrate on what else I would love to do. I had to remind myself that it’s a great opportunity to sing and act the stuff that I have never done but always wanted to do! It really is exciting for me! But obviously I’m not going to tell you all my secrets [laughs], I want to keep it all a nice surprise for everyone! I always like to have fun at my gigs, there may be one or two special guests…