What a real privilege to attend the press event for Maurice’s Jubilee, the surprise hit of last year’s Edinburgh Fest. Along with a cluster of other ‘press people’ I settle down in the front row of the tiny Pleasance Theatre in North London, and watch three esteemed actors rehearse a scene from this very funny play. My idea of a good afternoon’s work.
Maurice’s Jubilee is written by Nichola McAuliffe (who also stars in the show) and the final tweaks are under way before the UK tour begins next week.
“What came first?” I ask Nichola, “the part or the play? Does she ever think of a part she’s desperate to play and then write a script round it?”
“Not at all,” she replies, “I never intended to be in ‘Maurice’. I had a wonderful actress lined up but she was offered a role in TV's Mr Selfridge and we said she must go for it. It seemed only fair to the other two actors to have someone they already knew join them, so that was me.”
The ‘other two actors’ are Julian Glover and Sheila Reid, both incredibly experienced and bewitchingly comfortable in their roles. I sit just yards away from them and watch their every move with a beady eye, noticing how still their hands are, how they are interact with one another. Within moments I am in the sitting room in their bungalow in Penge, totally absorbed with their story.
For 60 years retired jeweller Maurice has adored his wife Helena but there is another woman on this mind - Her Majesty the Queen. Having been entrusted with the Crown Jewels 60 years ago, he feels convinced she will visit him on his 90th birthday, which happens to be the day before her diamond jubilee. While his wife fusses around him and says the Queen will never turn up, the new, live-in nurse who has come to help with his ailing health has more faith in his dream coming true.
Nichola’s wonderful script, which paints everyday life with a sensitive but dry wit, is about a love triangle with a twist. She is respectful of old age, or the third age as she refers to it.
“It’s a love story about hopes and dreams, and disappointment. The third age isn’t 'the end' as people sometimes paint it. Old people still have dreams and fall in love. Old age is a bit like thin air at the top of the mountain, still important, still very much present. I hope this play is moving and funny, but in no way depressing, which a lot of plays about old age tend to be.”
And funny it is, the dialogue between Maurice (Julian Glover) and Helena (Sheila Reid) is spot on in its depiction of a couple who are so familiar with each other that they appear both devoted and dismissive in equal measures. Their relationship with their new live-in nurse (Nichola McAuliffe) further reveals Maurice’s dreams and Helena’s jealousy of his love for the Queen.
Nichola was amazed at the positive reaction the play received at Edinburgh. “I thought I’d have more success with a play about grunge, grinding, full-frontal nudity than a tender piece about a couple of octogenarians.”
Transferring Maurice’s Jubilee to nationwide venues six months later has allowed time for parts of the play to be developed. Director Hannah Eidinow says that changing from 90 minutes with no interval to two seperate acts has been liberating.
“There were scenes that were crying out for a bit more,” she says, ‘just some added information or a bit more precious dialogue. We’ve now had the luxury of adding more rather than being in that familiar and frustrating position of cutting back. We’ve been able to give the play some air.”
I watch Hannah during the rehearsal and notice she still laughs out loud at some of the lines, even though she’s seen it many times before - surely a very good sign. And Nichola, even though she’s on stage, has been listening too.
“I wanted to see if you people laughed at the new lines, and you did. You’ve been a very useful audience” she says with a grin.
Think nothing of it Nichola, the pleasure was all ours.
Maurice’s Jubilee will be at the New Victoria Woking from February 12 to February 23. The play is presented by Pleasance and PW productions in association with Wild Thyme Productions and the Ambassador Theatre Group. Full tour dates click here.
Writing a blog about art and the arts is always satisfying, intriguing, exciting and often surprising and I feel incredibly lucky that I get the opportunity to see many art previews/exhibitions etc. But I often leave thinking "I must get out my own pencils/paints/charcoal and another week slips by and I have done nothing about it.
