Dorothea Myer-Bennett: Staging Shakespeare in Richmond
Dorothea Myer-Bennett: Staging Shakespeare in Richmond
As a new production of Twelfth Night comes to the Orange Tree Theatre, actress Dorothea Myer-Bennett talks to Tara Robinson about what makes the show special
Image: Dorothea Myer-Bennett (left) and Tyler-Jo Richardson (left) in rehearsals (c) Ellie Kurttz
Shakespeare has once again come to the Orange Tree Theatre. The theatre’s artistic director Tom Littler has curated a new adaptation of the much-loved comedy Twelfth Night, staging the iconic story of secret identities and hidden desires in a distinct 1940s setting.
Dorothea Myer-Bennett, who is playing Olivia – alongside Oliver Ford Davies as Malvolio and Jane Asher as Maria – explains that the post-World War II elements of the setting allow for an interesting exploration of the themes of grief and the passing of time inherent in the text.
“It’s set in a world where everybody has experienced this huge loss,” she explains over a mid-rehearsal Zoom call. “Grief and time are a huge theme in it, and fate, too. We use this framing to take us through the journey of the play.”
“Tom is so good at picking out these moments in plays like this,” she adds. “The play has these beautiful, funny, light, playful scenes that are sort of surprising because they come out of these real gut-wrenching, soul-bearing scenes that Tom has mined really beautifully.”
That juxtaposition between the comic and tragic is what makes the play so endlessly watchable. “One minute you can be in tears for one character and then suddenly you’re on some great big boozy night out with dancing and singing.”
Dorothea has performed at the Orange Tree before, in productions of ‘How He Lied to Her Husband,’ ‘Overruled’ and ‘While the Sun Shines.’ She loves the sense of intimacy created by the theatre’s close quarters, allowing actors to involve the audience in ways they wouldn’t be able to on a larger stage.
“In so much of Shakespeare, the characters talk to one another, and then they tell the audience what they’re actually thinking. In a space like this where you can engage with people, look in their eyes and ask them a question, the intimacy of it is going to be perfect.”
In preparing to embody her character, Dorothea looks inward: “I took my experience with any kind of loss or grief or mourning, and my experience of falling in love and heartbreak. These are such human things that every person who plays the character will have a different approach. It’s about trying to be as honest as possible with the work that you have. And it’s fun to play Olivia – she goes through these extremes of emotion, and she’s rather badly behaved!”
For Dorothea, it’s Shakespeare’s ability to speak to the human condition that makes it easy for her to connect with the text. “Once those words get inside your physical memory, into your body, they do the work for you, and they carry all the emotion, comedy and texture and all the complication of what it is to be human.”
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Dorothea was first drawn to acting from a very young age. She starred in a play at just five years old, a semi-improvised piece by a performance artist that toured to the Oxford Playhouse. She recalls the memory strongly: the “addictive” smell of the theatre backstage, and the feeling of precociousness she felt at being able to perform to an audience.
From there she starred in school plays, before attending the youth theatre school at Bristol Old Vic. She has also starred in film and television shows, but her heart lies with the theatre.
“Creating a piece of theatre is a glorious thing – you have this little temporary family, and you all bare your souls, and you work hard together. You laugh, sometimes you cry, and you go through it all together.”
One of her favourite projects to be a part of was a production of Pericles at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse in 2015. She is also currently starring in another play at the Marylebone theatre – meaning her days are rather full at the moment.
“Normally, after a full day of rehearsals, I would go home, spend time with my son, have a glass of wine and maybe read something to unwind. But at the moment I’m in Twelfth Night rehearsals all day, and then I head to Marylebone for an evening performance! So I’m normally pretty exhausted by the time I get home.”
Dorothea lives in south east London, but she loves spending time in Richmond while rehearsing at the Orange Tree.
“On any lunch breaks when I’m not cramming lines, I just go and walk down by the river. It’s such a beautiful place. It’s like being out in the countryside. Plus, it feels so festive at the moment! It would definitely be a lovely place to spend Christmas.”
As for dream roles, she’d love to star in an Ibsen play. It’s a good moment to be an actor: she mentions how the options are so much wider for actors now, with more productions playing around with gender, casting women in traditionally male roles and vice versa. “We don’t have to be boring anymore!”
Considering how much Shakespeare liked to experiment with gender, especially in plays like Twelfth Night, perhaps the Bard might be rather happy with the way things are going.
Twelfth Night is showing at the Orange Tree Theatre until 25 January 2025.
