Carry On eccentric returns to limelight.Byline: LAURA Laura, subject of the love poems of Petrarch. She is thought to be Laura de Noves (1308?–1348), wife of Hugo de Sade, but this has not been proved. Laura Petrarch’s perpetual, unattainable love. [Ital. Lit. DAVIS Davis, city (1990 pop. 46,209), Yolo co., central Calif.; settled in the 1850s, inc. 1917. It is an education center with light industry; machinery, processed foods, and computer equipment are produced. The extensive Univ. LONG before he made his name in the Carry On films, Charles Hawtrey played a series of women. It therefore made sense to Amanda Lawrence to turn the tables on him in her new show, Jiggery Pokery. The play, which is at the Unity next week as part of the Homotopia not Homophobia homophobia Psychology An irrationally negative attitude toward those with homosexual orientation, or toward becoming homosexual. See Closet, Gay-bashing, Heterosexism. Cf Gay, Homosexual, Phobia. festival, is a journey through his life from his successful years to his drunken and lonely death. For Lawrence, it all started when she was the only woman acting in a stage show and someone pointed out that, in her glasses, she bore a strong resemblance to Hawtrey. Despite their physical similarities, which are less obvious when the actress is out of character, her performance is not aiming at impersonation Impersonation Patroclus wore the armor of Achilles against the Trojans to encourage the disheartened Greeks. [Gk. Lit.: Iliad] Prisoner of Zenda, The . "I am not trying to convince people I am him," she explains. "I'm interested in the idea of a woman playing a man who is quite comfortable being a woman, and of the dynamic between public and private." Born in Middlesex in 1914, Hawtrey started his career as an actor and director, regularly starring in films throughout the 30s and 40s. He went on to become one of Britain's best-loved comedy actors and a mainstay of the Carry On team. But his personal life told a different story. His overt sexuality proved controversial at an age when homosexuality was against the law, and he ended his life as a disillusioned dis·il·lu·sion tr.v. dis·il·lu·sioned, dis·il·lu·sion·ing, dis·il·lu·sions To free or deprive of illusion. n. 1. The act of disenchanting. 2. The condition or fact of being disenchanted. and unpleasant drunk. "You think of him as this great performer and lovely man, but by the end he was troublesome and people in Deal, the town where he lived, had got fed up with him." Lawrence knew of Hawtrey from watching the Carry On series as a child. After deciding to create Jiggery Pokery, she immersed im·merse tr.v. im·mersed, im·mers·ing, im·mers·es 1. To cover completely in a liquid; submerge. 2. To baptize by submerging in water. 3. herself in his films to perfect the role and developed the characterisation through workshops. The show is set away outside the limelight limelight: see calcium oxide. limelight Early form of theatrical lighting. The incandescent calcium light invented by Thomas Drummond in 1816 was first employed in a theatre in 1837 and was widely used by the 1860s. in Deal. "It's based in his flat, where he is very lonely and from there all his past comes out as he sits there remembering," explains Lawrence, who plays around 80 characters in the one-woman show. "It's a very playful environment where props turn into other things, a teapot becomes a telephone." * JIGGERY Pokery is at the Unity Theatre, Hope Place, from November 11-14. CAPTION(S): Amanda Lawrence as Charles Hawtrey |
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