Much-loved actress Felicity Kendal tells us about keeping fit, her return to the West End, and the legacy that is The Good Life
WORDS: ALISON JAMES
Watching Felicity Kendal bustling about on the West End stage in the Michael Frayn play Noises Off, it’s hard to believe that she’s 77.
She has the demeanour and posture of a woman many years her junior. She’s on stage for eight gruelling performances a week. Where does she find the energy?
“You have to keep moving at my age or you run out of energy,” she says.
“It’s nothing to do with looks, it’s just if I don’t stay active, I’ll fossilise. I exercise regularly – I like walking outside in the open air, or at the gym which I try to do regularly. I work out at least three times a week because I like the way it makes me feel.
“I’m not talking about building up my six-pack. A mixture of lifting weights, yoga and stretching allows me to zone out. I’ve also mastered press-ups – I’m so pleased.”
She’s also delighted to be back in the West End with this production, a celebrated comedy of catastrophes which features a play within a play and follows the on and off-stage antics of a touring theatre company as they stumble their way through the play within a play, Nothing On.
It runs from the shambolic final rehearsals before opening night in Weston-Super-Mare to a disastrous matinée in Ashton-under-Lyne – seen entirely and hilariously silently from backstage – before their final, terrible performance in Stockton-on-Tees.
“I am so happy to be evisiting Noises Off and specially at the beautiful heatre Royal Haymarket,” she has remarked. “I love the play. It’s a classic, funny, silly, irreverent play and exactly the kind of thing I want to do at the moment.
“The world is taking itself so seriously right now – and our business can take itself very seriously sometimes – so I wanted to be part of a production that is just about having fun. I love it.”
Felicity is ageing stage star Dotty Otley, who is playing a housekeeper called Mrs Clackett in the touring play.
“One of the things I love about Dotty is that you get to play two parts – Dotty, the actress, who then also plays Mrs Clackett. She is just hilarious – she’s not very good at what she’s doing!
“She’s an actress who is desperate to keep working but she can’t remember what she
