Birds of a Feather’s original ladies bring show to Coventry

[dutchman]

The three ‘birds’ from an iconic hit television comedy have moved to the stage - and their show is coming to Coventry next week.



Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph, who starred in Birds of a Feather for ten years, are bringing the live theatre version to the Belgrade after a successful tour last year.

The 2012 adaptation - set in the present day - was a brand new show created by the Comedy Theatre Company and written by the TV show’s original scriptwriters Lawrence Marks and Maurice Gran.

Ahead of this year’s tour, which begins at the Belgrade, Lesley Joseph, who took the role of Dorien Green, the Jewish next-door neighbour of Sharon and Tracy, spoke to the Courier.

Despite having had a gap of 14 years, the 67-year-old found it easy to slip back into the ‘maneater’ persona of Dorien, whose chief interest was chasing after much younger men.

She said: “As soon as I put on the shoes and the clothes and too much make-up and too much jewellery and once I started to totter in those heels again, everything fell back into place. It was very easy.

“You don’t feel as if you have ever been away from these three women.”

And performing in last year’s show was a lot of fun for the three ladies, who have remained good friends through the years.

Lesley said: “We had a ball, which is why we are doing it again. It was a shock to us that it was received so well.

“Some people who came to the show had never seen the TV series before and loved it because it’s funny and it works as a piece of theatre.”

But does it work on stage as well as it did on the box?

“I live on stage - it’s my first love. Pauline had not done a play for years, so she was a bit nervous, but you would never have known.

“It was a bit hairy on the first day because we had not had enough rehearsal time.

“There came a moment when we looked at each other and realised that we did not have a clue what came next. We just told the audience and they loved it.”

Lesley also feels there is a thirst for this kind of theatre. She said: “Pauline and Linda have known each other since they were about six and the chemistry between us worked. People loved these iconic characters and they miss this sort of thing.

“Sitcoms have become much more edgy and of the ‘reality show’ type. People are looking for classic sitcoms again.

“You cannot just have Chekov, Shakespeare and the big musicals because that tends to alientate a lot of people. If you bring in TV shows that people know and love, it will get some people into the theatre who have bever been before - and then they will feel like they want to go back.”

And for all those Birds of a Feather fans out there, there is hope for it making a return to their living rooms, as well. Lesley revealed that a script for a new television series has been written and is, she says, “very funny”. It is now in the hands of the BBC.

She said: “I cannot tell you how many people over the years have said, please bring it back.”

Birds of a Feather is on at the Belgrade Theatre from Tuesday until Saturday March 2 at 7.45pm, with matinees on Wednesday and Saturday at 2.30pm. For tickets, which cost from £16.75 to £30.75, call 024 7655 3055 or go online, where cheaper prices are available.

http://www.belgrade.co.uk/event/birds-of-a-feather