Rhubarb 2017

8 ST EDWARD’S r h u b a r b

The Creative Arts Pippa Bennett-Warner ( J, 2001-2006)

What has been the most memorable moment of your career so far? Playing Cordelia with Derek Jacobi as King Lear at the National Theatre in 2011. You have worked on the stage, and forTV and radio – how do you prepare for these different media? Is one more enjoyable or challenging than the others? I enjoy all three! Each medium requires a different kind of discipline. Stage is probably the hardest, doing the same thing night after night, adjusting your body clock from the rehearsal period to the performance period. Remembering all your lines can be challenging, but it’s also very enjoyable. If I’m doing a play, I always make sure I’m off book by the beginning of rehearsals. Filming is great as you can always ask to ‘go again’, and have another go at the scene (a luxury one doesn’t have on stage), but normally if you’re on a big show there can be lots of waiting around in trailers etc. Radio is a lot of fun. There is little preparation as you don’t have to learn the lines. It’s similar to working on screen, but the mic becomes your scene partner. What are you working on at the moment? I have just finished a period drama, Harlots , for ITV and HULU in America. It’s about prostitution in the 18th century. And in the future? I’m going to do a second season of the comedy series, Sick Note , due to air on Sky Atlantic this year.

Pippa made her stage debut at the age of 11 in the London cast of The Lion King . She was more interested in singing and music before St Edward’s, but then fell in love with drama, with her roles in school plays including Gwendolen Fairfax in The Importance Of Being Earnest . She graduated from RADA in 2010, has received the Carleton Hobbs Radio Award, performed at the National Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre, and recently played Saibra in Doctor Who . In 2012 she was nominated for Best Actress at The Evening Standard Theatre Awards, and was named one of the 1000 Most Influential Londoners in 2012 in the category ‘Generation Next’. She sits down with her former drama teacher, and former Director of The North Wall, Lucy Maycock, to describe her journey so far. Pippa, I spent a lot of time with you when I was Head of Drama at St Edward’s. How would you describe your time at School (both inside and outside of drama lessons)? I loved my time at Teddies. I look back on my five years really fondly. Teddies does an excellent job of looking after each pupil’s strength, be it drama, or sport or the sciences. You, Lucy, were a huge part of my Teddies life, giving me the prospectus for RADA and encouraging me to audition. Without this, I probably wouldn’t have! Outside of drama lessons I was mostly found doing sports or eyeing up expensive clothes in Vanilla on South Parade. How did your school experiences shape your choices after leaving School? Did you always plan to go into acting? That hadn’t always been my plan, but you gave me the confidence to consider acting as a profession. It became a serious option once I had the prospectus for RADA, and even more serious when I got in! Since leaving drama school and acting professionally, what has been your most challenging role to date? There have been a few challenging roles, but Dorinda in The Beaux’ Stratagem that I did in 2015 at the National Theatre was very challenging. Restoration comedy is so hard.

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