Keeping Gertrude’s secret

12:03pm Monday 1st September 2008

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WE all have our secrets, and actress Prunella Scales is certainly keeping tight-lipped about her latest role. But we can easily forgive her giving scant details because the Fawlty Towers star simply doesn't want to spoil the ending to Gertrude's Secret, which arrives in High Wycombe next week.

Written by Benedick West, a relative of her actor husband Timothy, the touring drama features nine poignant monologues from a collection of bizarre, sad and comic characters.

"The delight of delivering good writing to people who have paid to see you that night and then hearing they have enjoyed it, that’s like giving them a present."

Prunella Scales

The cast features a number of well-known names, including former EastEnders actor James Alexandrou and Coronation Street's Jack Ellis.

Prunella tells me: "Ben is an extremely gifted writer and we should see more of him in the future. It's good, dramatic writing that is truthful."

Although perhaps best known for her television roles, which famously include her portrayal of long-suffering wife Sybil in Fawlty Towers, Prunella began her career on the stage.

Following in the footsteps of her actress mother, Catherine Scales, Prunella enrolled at the Old Vic Theatre School aged 17, before further honing her craft at the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York. She then spent a few years performing in repertory theatres around the country.

The Surrey-born actress says: "Not many reps survive now, but they gave marvellous training. One earned just enough money to survive. Reps were tough, but incredibly useful and enjoyable."

Prunella tells me she loves live theatre and describes it as "always thrilling and exciting".

The 76-year-old actress, who currently lives in South London, adds: "The delight of delivering good writing to people who have paid to see you that night and then hearing they have enjoyed it, that's like giving them a present.

"And also, whenever you play the classics, it's very gratifying to hear people laughing at a joke that's 300 years old!"

Away from the stage, Prunella, who was awarded a CBE in 1992, has also enjoyed a varied career spanning more than 40 years on television and radio. Her first career break came with the 1960s' sitcom Marriage Lines, opposite Richard Briers.

This was followed by her critically acclaimed role as the widowed Sarah in Simon Brett's After Henry, and then playing opposite Geraldine McEwan as Elizabeth Mapp in E F Benson's Mapp and Lucinda.

She has also shown a prowess for playing monarchs, first as Queen Elizabeth II in a screen version of Alan Bennett's A Question of Attribution and then as Queen Victoria in her own one-woman show. And of course, who can forget her portrayal of Sybil in Fawlty Towers?

"It wasn't many weeks out of my life, just 14 actually, and 12 episodes, but I have very, very fond memories," Prunella tells me.

"While we were filming it, I never thought about whether it was going to be a hit, but looking back now it was, for me, certainly a case of being in the right place at the right time.

"It's very gratifying to think the series is dateless and so popular even today."

Now in her later years, Prunella still enjoys balancing an ever-vibrant career with a busy family life, thanks to her two sons, Joseph and actor Samuel (Howard's End, Notting Hill and Iris) and step-daughter, Juliet.

So there's probably little chance of her retiring from stage or screen any time soon.

"Actually, my final ambition is to die on the eighth curtain call," Prunella tells me wryly. "The fact there are eight will mean the show is a success. I just hope I'm somewhere near the middle and have been reasonably good in the part!"

Gertrude's Secret plays from Thursday, September 4 to Saturday, September 6 at Wycombe Swan. Details: www.wycombeswan.co.uk