We sat down for a quick chat with Jessica Martin about her upcoming project, Look Up At The Stars, on Sep 24 at Hen and Chickens Theatre, London
1) Having first worked together on Doctor Who in the 1980s, what has it been like reconnecting with Stephen Wyatt decades later to bring Look Up at The Stars to life?
Reconnecting with Stephen Wyatt has been and continues to be a great experience. We are good friends and very in tune with what we want to express in a play about a fictional female in the male-dominated film industry in the Forties and Fifties.
2) Patricia Meadows is a woman determined to reclaim her place in history—what drew you most strongly to her story?
Both Stephen and I are fascinated with the great film stars of the golden age. There are the obvious ones like Bette Davis and Elizabeth Taylor but we have a more niche interest in the British stars like Diana Dors, Margaret Lockwood and Anna Neagle who were huge stars in their time but are for the most part forgotten now.
3) How do you approach portraying a larger-than-life film star alone on stage while still revealing her vulnerabilities?
I think of the character almost as a babushka doll. You uncover lots of layers and still don’t find her. But lying behind the performative masks is a real individual who is wounded and there will be memories and questions that trigger or trick her into exposing her vulnerability.
4) The play explores fame, legacy and scandal; why do you think those themes continue to resonate so strongly today?
We still live in a time where people look for aspirational role models. Things have changed in that film stars wish to look normal on social media whereas ordinary people want to become ‘influencers’ looking as if they have an extravagant life. But the pretence and damage is still there so long as there are filters and editing to create the illusion.
Audiences still want to see their ‘heroes’ broken. A price must be paid for fame.
5) As both performer and collaborator on the project, how have you helped shape Patricia’s voice and journey?
The play evolved out of conversations that Stephen and I had, touching on the ‘tropes’ we wanted to thread, the way of star’s private life was controlled by the studio publicity department, the changing trends and need to stay relevant and of course, the famous real life contemporaries we could allude to —giving Patricia a tangible, almost real quality.
6) What do you hope audiences take away from Patricia Meadows’ fight to control her own narrative before the final curtain falls?
I hope audiences will take away the feeling that they witnessed the story of someone who did rise to heights through guts and strategy but also the realisation that life and fashion are fleeting. If you give everything to something as ephemeral as showbusiness, you may have a very lonely existence.