Charlotte Wakefield is currently playing Hester Fletcher in the UK tour of The Herbal Bed: The Secret Life Of Shakespeare’s Daughter. Directed by James Dacre, this production marks the first major revival of Peter Whelan’s play.
Charlotte famously created the role of Wendla Bergman in the UK premiere of Spring Awakening at the Lyric Hammersmith. The show transferred to the West End’s Novello Theatre and Charlotte received an Olivier nomination.
Her subsequent theatre credits include: Sophie in Mamma Mia! (International Tour/West End), Maria in The Sound of Music (Open Air Theatre) for which she received her second Olivier nomination, Edith in Noel Coward's Christmas Spirits (St James Studio), Laurey in Oklahoma! (UK Tour) and Emma in Monsieur Popular (Theatre Royal Bath).
On screen Charlotte has appeared in Doctors, Holby City, Waterloo Road, Occupation, The Royal, Leap Of Faith and An Angel For May.
I recently spoke to Charlotte about taking on a straight play, why she’s learning so much from her fellow cast members, missing singing and whether she’s recovered from performing Drew McOnie’s dream ballet eight times a week in Oklahoma!...
What first drew you to The Herbal Bed? When did you know it was something you wanted to be a part of?
Initially the attraction was working with James Dacre and Royal & Derngate again – I previously worked with Royal & Derngate on Oklahoma!. And then when I looked at the script… I mean… it’s beautifully written; Peter Whelan has written an absolutely stunning script. Also it’s a story of emotional turmoil for all the characters involved. There’s no lead role, it’s an ensemble piece which is really nice. It’s an unknown story from a time we know quite a lot about because of Shakespeare and his writing, but Susanna Hall, Shakespeare’s daughter, and her story is kind of lost – we bring it to light. The play is based on truth so it’s really quite interesting to discover what happened.
