Belinda Lang back on Chichester stage as a “snob” with a heart

“She is firm but fair, and I think actually she has probably had a fairly racy life herself in some ways. She is a snob in the way that that class of person would have been a snob back then but she sees something in Eliza and she doesn't dismiss her. She finds her very appealing. She likes her spirit, and she is a spirited woman herself.”

But it is important to remember that she is the mother of Henry Higgins who is conducting the big experiment at the heart of the play, namely that he can actually transform Eliza, whom he dismisses as a “squashed cabbage leaf”, into a high-society paragon.

“With Henry Higgins, you have to remember that people don't turn into themselves by accident. And I say that with trepidation! I have a daughter! But it has to come from somewhere and I think you have to take responsibility. Henry is outspoken and rather rude. Mrs Higgins is not rude but she is very outspoken.”

As for her attitude towards Eliza, the fact is that Eliza is speaking nicely by the time she meets her. Mrs Higgins’ attitude would probably have been rather different if Eliza had still been pure Cockney at that point.

“I think if she had met the original Eliza, she would have found her quite alienating, and that's the point that Henry Higgins is making. If we all spoke exactly the same, we would find ourselves in a meritocracy but everyone is being judged all the time whenever they open their mouth. Your voice carries information and that can be unfair. A lot of extremely intelligent people don't necessarily sound it because of the way they speak. But you can't help it, and the fact is that if she had heard Eliza in her flower girl mode, she would have made assumptions. “But that's about her upbringing. I'm not damning her. She is a kind person and a decent woman but she just does not have that understanding. You have to remember that we are in 1910 and she would have had very little access to other people outside of her own class apart from her servants. Now we are all connected to each other and live a world of global communication where you hear so many different people but Mrs Higgins would not have done. But when she does hear Eliza speaking well, then she certainly does find that very fascinating.”

Previously at Chichester: Ruth Condomine in Blithe Spirit (Festival Theatre), Lady Fidget in The Country Wife (Minerva Theatre).

Theatre: most recently the UK tour of Little Women. Other theatre credits include Humble Boy (Orange Tree Theatre); Oklahoma! (BBC Proms, Royal Albert Hall); The Constant Wife (Gate, Dublin); The Glass Menagerie (Nuffield Southampton); The Letter of Last Resort (Tricycle/Traverse Edinburgh); Liberty (Globe); The School for Scandal (Park Theatre); Forgotten Voices (Riverside Studios); The Killing of Sister George (Arts Theatre); Lulu (Almeida).

On television her Belinda’s notable series include 2 Point 4 Children, The Sister Boniface Mysteries, Second Thoughts, The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries, The Bretts, Dear John and To Serve Them All My Days.