Penelope Keith confirms Chichester Festival Theatre return

Chichester Festival Theatre has confirmed Penelope Keith’s return to Chichester in Mrs Pat, a one-woman play about the celebrated 19th and 20th-century actress Mrs Patrick Campbell, written by Anton Burge and directed by Alan Strachan.
Penelope Keith  Picture by Louise Adams C131282-4Penelope Keith  Picture by Louise Adams C131282-4
Penelope Keith Picture by Louise Adams C131282-4

From her ground-breaking performance as Hedda Gabler on the London stage to leading roles on Broadway and in Hollywood, Mrs Patrick Campbell travelled the world playing passionate and rebellious characters. Offstage, her life was equally dramatic. As muse and equal to writer George Bernard Shaw, she inspired and played the very first Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion. In Mrs Pat, the actress waits to escape to rural France as Europe faces the horrors of World War Two, determined not to retreat quietly as she recalls the highs and lows of her defiant life.

Penelope Keith’s numerous appearances at Chichester include The Way of the World, her role as a widowed vicar’s wife in Entertaining Angels, which featured in Jonathan Church and Alan Finch’s inaugural season in 2006, The Rivals and The Importance of Being Earnest (also West End). Other credits include West End productions of Blithe Spirit, Star Quality and The Norman Conquests (Library Theatre Scarborough and West End). On screen, she is best known for roles in the BBC television comedies To the Manor Born and The Good Life.

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Writer Anton Burge has built a reputation for writing plays which feature strong, iconic women. His credits include Bette and Joan and Storm in a Flower Vase (both for the Arts Theatre, London) and G & I: Going into Battle With Gertrude Lawrence (New End Theatre).

Friends’ priority booking opens July 11, Public booking from July 15. The show runs from October 15-November 7.

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