Forthright Candour . I have laboured long and hard, and I’ll thank you not to say my legs are not perfect; as if that matters a jot. Not to them my fame. I play the Iron Lady and the Queen with no thought of such trivia. And Ladies, let me remind you, the only female to have won the role as our Prime Minister. Therefore an excellent role model for your daughters. The Iron Lady and I, who knew the trades, the Baroness in groceries and on Mummy’s side of the family, Grandpa, butcher to Victoria. But, I am no royalist. I believe in fairies and leprechaun, but not God. . I was a girl for Doing Her Own Thing, mainly Shakespeare at the time, for such would stand a girl like me in good stead. . To Africa then, and back to Shakespeare, that period of rest in the eighties and the book, and back to treading the boards, changing faces with each new role. Calendar Girls, Her Majesty the Queen, three queens have I played in my time: Jane Tenison, detective. Oh, flawed humanity. I have laboured long and hard, won the roles and played with all my strength and passion. I speak for my profession; We English are not afraid of the open expression of large emotions.
Benita H. Kape © 27.4.2015
Notes: I have always held Helen Mirren in high regard. As she said of her role as the Iron Lady, she may not have followed her political leaning but ‘she was an excellent role model for your daughters.’
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