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For Belinda Lang, being able to bring a classic novel to the stage has been an absolute joy. Belinda plays Aunt March in Anne-Marie Casey’s adaptation of Little Women which is at The Lowry in Salford from Tuesday. Belinda Lang and Honeysuckle Weeks in Little Women (Image: Nobby Clark Photographer) “For girls growing up when I did you read Heidi and you read Little Women,” said Belinda, probably best known for her TV role as Bill in the classic comedy series 2point4 Children.
“There were a few seminal books that if you were a girl, you just read them. “But what is fascinating is that a whole new audience has become aware of Little Women through the film a few years ago.” The film featured an all-star Hollywood cast including Emma Watson, Meryl Streep, Timothee Chalomet and Laura Dern.
“But then it is a love story and that’s always going to be relevant. There’s also lot of female independence in it which goes down well theses days. There’s an awful lot going on; it’s about a lot of things and ultimately it’s a great tale.
” Set against the background of the American Civil War, Little Women is the story of the four very different March sisters as they move from childhood to adulthood. It’s a universal tale which Belinda believes will appeal to audiences of all ages. “It’s the same with either TV or the stage - there are so few things you can watch nowadays with other generations of your family and that’s a real shame,” she said.
“That was always an important thing to sit down as a family a watch something together that you all enjoyed. “The most I was able to share with my daughter once we got to the age of phone and things was trying to watch Love Island so we could compare notes. Mind you I couldn’t cope with that for more than one season!” In Little Women, Belinda has put her own stamp on the character of Aunt March.
“In the book she’s a slightly anxious, fussy old bat and that’s fine,” she said. “But I’ve been playing a pretty grim old woman on TV for four years (in the Sister Boniface Mysteries on TV) so I didn’t really want to be doing that so I just thought ‘what can I do to liven it up?’ “I gather that in the recent film version, which I haven’t seen yet, Meryl Streep played her very differently from the book too so it’s not as though I’m taking too many liberties if I do something different.” In researching the part and re-reading the book Belinda discovered that the windowed, childless Aunt March was a well-travelled, wealthy woman.
“She’s clearly had a life and that has allowed me to have some fun with her,” said Belinda. “It also means I get to wear some nice clothes; she wouldn’t spend any of her wealth on anyone else but is the sort to treat herself when it comes to her wardrobe.” Little Women comes to The Lowry as part of a full UK tour.
“I’ve always toured,” said Belinda. “With this show what has astonished us is how sweet the audiences have been. You can get a bit irritated with London shows where everything has a standing ovation but there’s something special about that ‘out of London’ enthusiasm.
“That’s why I have always liked going out of London; you get a much more real response to things. You feel you’re getting very real audience and real idea of whether you have entertained people or not.” At 71 Belinda could be forgiven for taking things slightly more easily but that’s not in her nature.
Grace Malony and Belinda Lang in Little Women (Image: Nobby Clark Photographer) “I’m one of the very few actors of my generation I think that if I was in something in town I always did the tour,” she said. “A lot of people wouldn’t. I don’t like that.
When it says ‘direct from the West End’ they want to see direct from the West End and not see somebody else however good they might be – they want to see you. I’ve always made a point of doing that.” Belinda revealed she has a way of deciding on whether to tour in a show.
“I try to make best efforts to go on tour in things that I think are going to be good,” she said. “With this show mine isn’t an enormous part but I asked who had already been cast and when I discovered that Honeysuckle Weeks and Grace Malony were definitely in it I knew it was something I wanted to be part of. “With this show they are all very talented performers and that’s what you want; you want to be working with good people.
“In fact I’d go as far to say that you won’t see a group of young actors as good as this in a production many times. It is pretty impressive. “These four girls who play the March sisters are all superb.
I look at them thinking ‘I wasn’t that good at their age, how are they doing this?’. It’s so nice to see.” Little Women is at The Lowry, Salford from Tuesday, April 8 to Saturday, April 12.
Details from www.thelowry.com.
