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Stamford actor to launch one-woman Shakespeare show in London




An actor has embraced the DIY approach and is set to go it alone in an ambitious one-woman Shakespeare show in London.

Beckis Cooper will play upwards of 10 roles in Unversed, a show she has written herself, when it hits the stage at Keats’ House museum – the London home of Romantic poet John Keats - on Saturday, December 2.

She is busy putting the finishing touches to her ‘passion project’ which will be around 70 minutes long, complete with a little friendly audience participation.

Beckis will perform upwards of 10 different roles in her one-woman show. Photo: Sheila Burnett
Beckis will perform upwards of 10 different roles in her one-woman show. Photo: Sheila Burnett

The show tells the story of an ‘eager young actress who finds a discarded copy of Shakespeare’s first folio’ – the first collection of William Shakespeare's plays, published in 1623, seven years after his death.

At a time when women were still barred from the stage, the lead character takes matters into her own hands and puts on her own DIY performance, playing all of the roles.

“It’s mainly about a woman who wants to be Macbeth at the core of it,” she said.

Beckis performed with the Stamford Shakespeare Company and has retained her love of the Bard's work. Photo: Trevor Lee Photography
Beckis performed with the Stamford Shakespeare Company and has retained her love of the Bard's work. Photo: Trevor Lee Photography

“It was a chance to create what you want to create and to pen something that really matters to you as well.

“I would never want to be a woman in 1623, but it’s the most exciting time for the birth of theatre.

“Why would Shakespeare write all of these amazing parts for women and then legally they can’t step on the stage?”

Beckis Cooper formed the all-woman theatre group Players while the theatres were shut during lockdown
Beckis Cooper formed the all-woman theatre group Players while the theatres were shut during lockdown

It was inspired by the 400th anniversary celebrations of Shakespeare’s first folio, but also has its roots in the covid pandemic.

Freshly graduated from drama school, Beckis lived out the lockdowns back home in Stamford when she formed a women-only theatre group, Players.

Navigating around the closed theatres, she summoned the spirit of Shakespearean era actors by performing productions of Twelfth Night and Macbeth away from formal venues.

“I’ve been working on and off on this all year, research and writing, but it’s been brewing for the last two years since the pandemic and being forced to get people together, go out and make shows, just like Shakespeare’s guys did,” she explained.

“It’s autobiographical in some ways because the pandemic made me approach making work in this way. When the industry doesn’t come to us, you have to get out there.”

Beckis grew up in Nassington and was inspired to start acting by a trip to see Stamford Shakespeare Company’s production of Macbeth.

She went on to tread the boards at Tolethorpe, appearing in Romeo and Juliet, and despite playing more contemporary roles, Beckis is inescapably drawn back to the Bard.

“Shakespeare and Tolethorpe were the first things I saw,” she recalled.

“Macbeth was the first play I saw and was the last thing I was in, so it’s just marrying up all of those things.

“I love modern gritty drama. I played a murderous pianist in my last show and I do like modern stuff, but Shakespeare is something I keep coming back to.

“Whenever I do something that isn’t Shakespeare I feel a bit disappointed by the language and a get a craving to be speaking that verse.”

Having toyed with the idea of becoming a criminal barrister, Beckis currently lives in London as she seeks to further her acting ambitions.

She will be performing the show at the Etcetera Theatre, in Camden, from February 5 to 11, and the play will be presented as part of MOAT festival at the Barbican in June.

Beckis also hopes to put on her new show on a Stamford stage next year.

“A solo show is a scary thing to do” she admits.

“But it forces you to work on your craft and you have to make that connection with the audience. There is nowhere to hide.

“It’s terrifying, but also so exhilarating – there’s nothing like it.”



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