Kate O'Mara

I was very sad to hear about the death of Kate O'Mara. I had the enormous privilege of meeting and interviewing her in October last year when she came to the Misty Moon Gallery in Ladywell.

It was one of her last interviews. She was charming, classy, generous with her time and fabulously funny. She was great fun to be with and she didn't hold back on anything!

RIP Kate

The Merchant of Venice

****

DEBT, racism, love and isolation. These themes are still as relevant today as they were when Shakespeare wrote about them in his play Merchant of Venice.And they are brilliantly brought to life in a fantastic production of the play which is now on at Shakespeare's Globe.

Created especially for young people it has been commissioned by the Bankside theatre's education department for this year's Playing Shakespeare With Deutsche Bank project which aims to support the teaching of the national curriculum for English at KS3 and KS4.

And it was heartening to see so many young people in the audience to see the play brought to life.

Bassanio is in love with the wealthy Portia but needs money to woo her. On the advice of his friend Antonio, he goes to the moneylender Shylock. Shylock agrees to give him the money on condition that if it's not repaid on time, Shylock will take a pound of Antonio's flesh.

Bassanio successfully woos Portia but then tragedy strikes when the money is not repaid in full at the allotted time and Shylock demands his bond.

It is then up to Portia and her maid Nerissa, desguised as a lawyer and his clerk, to save the day.

Stripped back to 100 minutes, it is a fast-paced, energetic and spririted production retaining all of the Bard's language but designed for those aged 11 and over.

The cast is brilliant and full of enthusiasm really playing to the gallery, encouraging the audience to get involved and obviously loving every minute of it.

Among the stand out performances are Shylock played by Ognen Drangovski and Catherine Bailey as Portia.

As an introduction to Shakespeare this is about as good as it gets.

Merchant Of Venice is on at Shakespeare's Globe on Bankside until March 29 with school performances every weekday at 2pm and free public performances on Saturday March 22 and Saturday March 29.

Call the box office on 020 7401 9919

Massacre At Paris

****

IT is fitting that in the 450th anniversary of the birth of Christopher Marlowe, the theatre where many of his plays were originally performed, is showcasing some of his best work as part of its current season.

The Massacre At Paris was the last play that Marlowe wrote and a new adaptation of it is now being staged at the Rose Theatre, Bankside, the theatre where it was first performed in January 1593, just four months before Marlowe's murder in Deptford.

As its name suggests, it is a brutal and bloody piece with death a-plenty. In fact it could almost be renamed People Pie such is the body count when the curtain finally comes down.

The play is a mere 90 minutes in length, yet it romps through 20 years of the French Wars of Religion, beginning with the marriage of the catholic sister of Charles IX of France to the protestant Henry, King of Navarre, a marriage promising religious peace – a peace that is destroyed by the scheming Queen Mother, Catherine de Medici, in league with the villainous Duke of Guise, the ultimate Marlovian over-reacher.

The first murder takes place within the first 10 minutes of the play and it's not long after that that we see the carefully planned mass murder and notorious St Bartholomew’s Eve Massacre in Paris where thousands of protestants met their end on August 23, 1572.

This is a great adaptation of Marlowe's play. Many of the 14-strong cast double up by playing more than one character and they all use the small space well. John Gregor is particularly good as The Duke of Guise who sets about the massacre.

The death scenes are great too and there is an ingenious way of portraying the huge amount of blood that is spilled throughout the piece.

But despite the bloodthirsty nature of the piece, there is also humour within the piece to ensure it's not all doom and gloom.

As such this production by The Dolphin's Back theatre company is brilliantly executed and performed and well worth seeing.

The Massacre At Paris is on at the Rose Theatre, Park Street until Saturday, March 29. Tickets cost £12. Call the box office on 020 7261 9565.

Ovalhouse Theatre

YOUNGSTERS are to take to the stage in a specially commissioned play looking at issues surrounding mental health.

The eight strong group of 13 to 18 year olds from Ovalhouse Theatre's youth programme worked with award-winning playwright Joseph Wilde to develop the story, characters and script for the piece which will be performed at the Kennington theatre on March 28 and 29.

Kaleidoscope finds sister and brother Lisa and Leo with only each other to count on and a small group of friends. They are all struggling to make their way in the world, cope with the often underestimated stresses of teenage life, the possibility of the onset of mental illness and to top it off Leo has started seeing the ghost of his father!

It is a story of ghosts, exams, first dates and what happens when Leo’s dad tells him it’s his mission to ‘save his generation.’

"When we first started talking to our group of young people about mental health, we were amazed to find how much the subject resonated with them as an issue, and so we wanted to take a further step and look at the issues as a play," says the theatre's head of youth arts Naomi Shoba.

"There are many stresses and risk factors that affect the lives of young people which may have a negative impact on emotional well-being, from poor housing to economic disadvantage, serious illness, homophobic bullying, abuse or bereavement.

"They told us about their feelings of extra stress and pressure from home, school and life in general and what struggles they were facing. These also included the influence of media and social pressures of image.

"Also through our research we found Lambeth has nearly three times more people registered with severe mental health illness than the national average.

"It's a taboo subject for many so being able to discuss it openly and honestly has been fantastic for everyone involved."

The group got together in September and since then have been working on the piece, rehearsing regularly and developing the characters and storyline from their own experiences.

"The response so far has been amazing, and we’re really pleased to see so many of the group so passionately engaged, presenting a play that came from their hopes, concerns and ideas," says Naomi.

"But it's not just about some of the negative issues," she adds. "There are a lot of positive influences in the play and we explored what makes young people happy and the positive things they are engaged in.

"It is also part of the nationwide Truth About Youth programme which works to dispel negative perceptions of young people in society and the media as well as empower young people as advocates and role models for others.

"The whole process has been incredibly interesting and rewarding for them and we are really excited to be bringing it to the stage."

Kaleidoscope is on at Ovalhouse Theatre on March 28 and 29.

Tickets cost £5 or £3 concessions. Visit www.ovalhouse.com or call the box office on 020 7582 7680.

Interview with Paul Michael Glaser

pic credit Tristram Kenton

THERE can't be many people who grew up in the 1970s who didn't watch Starskey and Hutch.

The American cop duo played by Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul respectively were the epitome of cool as they cruised around the streets of the fictional Bay City in California in their red Ford Gran Torino bringing the local criminals to book.

Running for 92 episodes over four series, the hugely popular and successful American show propelled both Paul and David to stardom.

However, although for a generation Paul will be forever known as heart-throb David Starskey, he has not been idle since ditching the keys to the car and giving up the famous knitted cardigan.

Far from it. Indeed he is an accomplished director, actor, writer and photographer and has spent the intervening years doing all of the above.

He is now back on the stage and in a musical no less - Fiddler On The Roof - which is enjoying rave reviews as it tours the country.

Despite his superstar status he's genial and down to earth when we chat ahead of the production's arrival at the New Wimbledon Theatre on April 1.

But although I'm supposed to be talking to him about his starring role as Tevye in the production, he throws a curveball by immediately asking if I know Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew.

He then regales me with some of Katherine's lines before urging me to revisit the text to see my namesake's great speeches.

That he knows his Shakespeare shouldn't come as any surprise as his acting career started on the Broadway stage more than 40 years ago.

He has appeared in more than 50 roles in regional, Broadway and off-Broadway productions since then not to mention a stint in panto in Sunderland in 2008.

So when he was offered the part of Tevye in this production he leapt at it saying it was "a no brainer".

"When you get offered these roles it's stupid not to take them," he says in his soft Massachusetts drawl.

"I come from a theatre background and always wanted to do a musical. When it was offered I'd just spent a year raising money for a book I'd written, Chrystallia And The Source Of Light, and it was a question of 'why not?'.

"Besides, how many times in your life do you get offered a role like this? It's a great part and I embraced it."

The 71-year-old is on good form despite a "full on schedule" which began when the tour started in September last year. And he says he's looking forward to coming to Wimbledon, especially as he's never been to this part of London.

"The show's doing great," he says warmly. "We have a brilliant production which has been well received and there are fantastic actors and musicians in it.

"It's a full on show and I'm having a lot of fun.

"And it'll be great to visit Wimbledon as I've never been here before but I've heard good things about it," he adds.

Fiddler On The Roof is a bit of a homecoming for Paul as he played Perchik in the classic film version of 1971 and in which the role of Tevye was made famous by Chaim Topol.

"I was in the original film, or at least I think I was," he jokes. "I've grown up a bit since then....!"

Tevye is the local milkman in his village of Anatevka. He has always stuck by his traditions but is suddenly confronted with his three headstrong daughters who tell him they want to marry for love and not whoever Yente the Matchmaker decides.

The original Broadway production ran for more than 13 years from its premiere in 1964 winning nine Tony Awards and went on to have four Broadway revivals.

"It's a great story and timeless," says Paul. "It has all the key ingredients of a classic - love, loss, family, every day problems, and real emotions, in fact everything that grabs your attention.

"It crosses cultural and geographical boundaries. Plus it has the most amazing, beautiful score," he enthuses.

Love and loss are not unknown for Paul. Tragically he lost his first wife Elizabeth and their daughter Ariel to AIDS thanks to an infected blood transfusion.

However, despite the tragedy he says he's in a "good place" now, thanks in part to having written his book.

"Originally it was written as a screenplay but I realised quite early on in the process I was talking about dealing with fear, helplessness and loss," he says.

"It's humorous, dramatic, exciting and whimsical but the heart of the book asks and answers the question what is the purpose of fear in our lives.

"It's something I wanted to share with people. It was an incredible experience and I had a great time writing it," he adds

"Life is an amazing journey of discovery and I truly believe you should never have any 'what ifs' because you can't change anything. It doesn't help anyone to have regrets," he says.

And this philosophical outlook extends to all aspects of his life, not least this current show.

"When you have an opportunity in your life to do something like this and you put yourself in that position you learn a lot."

So are there any parallels between Tevye, Starsky and his own life I ask.

"Yes absolutely," he says. "They are the classic everyman - they explore and experience all these different feelings and emotions and I'm no different.

"Playing Starsky wasn't nearly as exciting as it sounds though," he laughs. "It was a lot of hard work and very challenging.

"It was like being thrown into a volcano. At the time it happened I wasn't emotionally mature enough to deal with it. But it's lovely that people still have such fond memories of it."

Fiddler On The Roof is on at the New Wimbledon Theatre, The Broadway, from Tuesday, April 1 until Saturday, April 5.

Tickets from £15. Call the box office on 0844 871 7646