Interviews
This page contains a selection of topical interviews with Maureen from the last few years.
Scotland on Sunday
January 2004
How to have your pie and eat it
COME on. Own up. Who was the journalist who said that Johnny, Maureen and Louise Beattie were Scotlands answer to the Redgraves? Whoevers to blame, it caused ructions back home. "Louise and I used to have stand-up fights about who was going to be Vanessa," laughs Maureen. "We both wanted to be Vanessa because she was glamorous and gorgeous."
I tell her that round at the Redgraves house, Vanessa, Lynn and Corin are always
arguing over which of the Beatties they should be. "Well, Ive heard thats true," she deadpans back with the speed of her showbiz father.
Yes, perhaps its overstating the case to call them a theatrical dynasty, but they have certainly made their mark. At 76, River City star Johnny, one of the few variety acts ever to be seen at the Edinburgh International Festival, is still doing his one-man show; Louise, having achieved notoriety as a scheming lawyer in Emmerdale, was recently
seen in The Planman with Robbie Coltrane; and Maureen... well, lets talk about Maureen.
The 50-year-old actress, once watched by audiences of more than 17 million in Casualty, has not long finished a six-month season with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Now
she is in rehearsals for Thornton Wilders comedy The Skin of Our Teeth at London's Young Vic, starring alongside David Troughton. But what shes really excited about is her plan to branch out into directing. Next month she is staging a low-key rehearsed reading for Edinburghs Stellar Quines at the Traverse Theatre and she wants it to be the start of something serious.
"The actors performances are in your hands, so youve got to give it everything youve got," she says. "So I take it very seriously, yes, and its something Ive been thinking about for a very long time."
The play, Perfect Pie, by Canadian Judith Thompson, is about two women looking back on their childhood
and unearthing an old secret about a rape. Described by one critic as "Canadian Gothic", it is typical of the writers dark, emotionally taxing work. Being about women of her age, Beattie had an instinctive feel for it and an immediate sense of the actors shed like to cast.
Directing is uncharted territory, however, so she will be drawing on her 30-odd years in the profession to guide her. She has worked with all manner of directors and has learned from the bad as well as the good.
"If you cast somebody, presumably its because you think they can do it," she says. "But Ive worked with people who give the actor the feeling that its a shame theyve got the part because there are 10 people much better outside the door. Thats hideous. You think: Why did you cast me in the first place?
"But also I loathe directors who just sit there and let the actors get on with it. Ive been in a lot of productions where the actors have saved the show. I would like to think I would be very proactive and be there for the actors."
I loathe directors who just sit there and let the actors get on with it
Whether or not Maureens latest venture leads to a full-scale production as she hopes, she is only being true to the family spirit. Resourcefulness is their trait and she says the example her father has set is a constant influence.
"He's got more energy than me, which is staggering," says Maureen. "His one-man show changes every time he does it. Its that thing of being able to fly by the seat of your pants. As he always said: Youre in the Gaiety Theatre in Ayr, doing the second house on a wet Tuesday, and mum and dad and the four kids are down for their fortnights holiday. Its been pouring with rain for 10 days and theyre going: OK then, entertain me!
"If you go down one route and its not working, you have to switch horses midstream and go down another route. Thats terrifying: you really are working the whole time."
She feels her fathers influence when shes acting as well. It might come as a surprise that the work of a man who epitomises Scottish music hall should have any bearing on his daughters powerful roles in the classics, but she says the connection is direct. Take her performance in Medea, the stunning Liz Lochhead adaptation that Glasgows Theatre Babel toured to Canada, India and Cyprus in 2000 and 2001, reaping awards as it went. Maureens performance was phenomenal - a bold, driven, feminist interpretation of a woman refusing to be beaten in the battle of the sexes. It was ferocious, sexy and intelligent, but it wouldnt have made sense, she points out, without her feel for music hall.
"I was very aware of the influence of what my father does for a living," says Maureen, whose first professional job was as a comedy feed in a variety show in Perth. "Medeas ability to turn round and talk to the audience is straight out of a one-man show: making them laugh, the timing of gags, the direct contact. Liz Lochhead used to talk about the vaudevillian aspects of it and they were absolutely there. Its very much part of Scotlands theatre heritage."
Most people know Maureen as staff nurse Sandra Nicholl in Casualty or, more recently, as
Chief Superintendent Jane Fitzwilliam in The Bill - and everyone who has ever met her talks about her mesmerising blue eyes - but its on the stage that she comes into her own. Most recently, her role as Tamora, queen of the Goths, in Titus Andronicus at the RSC was described as "glitteringly charismatic", and delivered "some voluptuous Shakespeare".
The acclaim was richly deserved, but things were less glamorous from her point of view. In Shakespeares play - his most gory - she was supposed to eat a pie made from her murdered sons, but as a card-carrying member of Animal Aid she wasnt willing to eat meat. Solution: a convincing alternative cooked to order. "It was salmon, potato and spinach pie every night," she laughs. "I didnt need any tea, but I was wearing the tightest costume in the known universe and I died slumped over the table, which meant if I did want to burp - or pass wind in any other direction - it was an absolute nightmare. I was lying there thinking: Please make the act be over!"
Tight dresses are becoming a thing with her. In Medea, she wore a blood-red number that cascaded from her arms and danced to the floor in shocking contrast to the drab world around her. Its vibrancy and daring encapsulated the elemental power of the whole production. She now regards Medea as the highlight of her career. "I cannot believe that I will never play it again," she says. "In fact, Im absolutely determined that I will."
I cannot believe I will never play Medea again. In fact, Im determined that I will
This, she hopes, is the kind of project the nascent National Theatre of Scotland will get behind: an example
of Scottish theatre at its world-conquering best that could have been seen by even more people had resources allowed.
"If you count up the number of performances we did, its tiny. We went to India with it and it was interesting to see the amount of respect that a great production like that gets. Graham and I were on the equivalent of our 10 OClock News. They reckoned it went out to 20 million people. So we went out there showing a little
bit of what Scotland can do and we were cut off in our prime because theres no money or infrastructure. Maybe thats something we could approach the Scottish National Theatre about."
National Theatre or not, Maureen is returning to Scotland for the love of a play. She has been aware of the work of Judith Thompson for a decade or so, and when a friend returned from Canada enthusing about the production of Perfect Pie he had seen, she had an instinct that this was the play for her. When Medea toured to Toronto, Maureen took the opportunity to meet Thompson and to get some rather unorthodox shopping done. "Being in Canada, I was able to pick up all the props," she says. "I went to all the K-Mart stores and blagged carrier bags from places. I got ice wine and coca-pop lollies. Its all ready to go. Ive got 19 props in search of a play."
Fans of Medea will agree that we ought to see more of Maureen in Scotland. She is keen to work here and if she got the right offer she would jump at the chance. So what would be the right offer? Well, as a performer she would like to try Cleopatra in Shakespeares tragedy and, as a director, apart from a full production of Perfect Pie, she would love to get her hands on The Taming of the Shrew. Theatre producers take note.
In the meantime, her ambitions are more prosaic. "My great plan is that I have to tidy my flat," she says. "I was at the RSC for six months and just kept coming back at weekends to dump stuff. Then about a year ago my dad and I bought a place together on the Isle of Bute and I took all my furniture there. So I dont have any furniture. Everythings in piles. So my avowed intent is to clear my space. A friend of mine said: Creating space makes room for miracles. So thats my plan - as long as you dont vomit while youre saying it."
Monday, 13th March 2000
The Scotsman
The Taransay Collection
If you were cast away on a remote Hebriddean island . . .
Maureen Beattie, Actress
Which architectural style would you choose for your island residence?
I would have Mount Stuart, on the island of Bute, moved stone by stone to Taransay. It is a fantastic big, red sandstone building I suppose you would call it a baronial hall. In the basement there is a swimming pool lined with jade-green tiles, the bedrooms have four-poster beds and there is an observatory room with old astrological charts and telescopes for watching the stars. Everything you could desire, in fact.
Which artworks would you take with you?
I would definitely take Dame Elizabeth Frinks Amnesty Heads because they are wonderful .I would also have a life-sized replica of Michelangelos David, unless I could persuade the Florentines to lend me the original. On my walls I would hang landscapes by James Hawkins, an artist who lives near Ullapool and, in contrast, this painting by Andy Warhol that I first saw in the Serpentine Gallery years ago. I dont know the title, but it is of a man picking his nose: so simple and yet it made me laugh and laugh. In my bedroom I would like something allegorical, Botticellis Primavera.
Which books?
The complete works of Shakespeare, obviously . I dont think I would take any other plays with me though Shakespeare would be enough. As far as novels go; The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies and The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy. I would also take my teach-yourself-French book, which I have carried around in my handbag for several months now but failed to learn a single word. Hopefully, on Taransay, I would have time to learn a new language. An edition of Robbie Burnss poetry would be nice as well as a copy of A Poem A Day for the variety.
What music would accompany your splendid isolation?
Everything and anything by Mozart as he is my favourite classical composer. The soundtrack to the movie Schindlers List which I thought was beautiful. I would
take one of those Discmans and two little speakers so that I could listen to music everywhere in the house and when I wander around the island. Apart from that, I would love to have some Scottish music Aly Bains stuff and also the folk singer Dick Gaughan.
Which films would you request from the fantasy mobile cinema?
I only have two films that I would want to take with me because I would sooner be out and about or doing things, rather than sitting in a cinema. I havent seen Les Enfants du Paradis yet, which everyone has told me is wonderful, but I would want to see it on the big screen the first time, so this would be the perfect opportunity. The other film Id take is the latest version of The Thomas Crown Affair, largely because its a nice film to watch and Rene Russo is just great shes my age and she looks so fantastic. Watching her would inspire me, it would ensure that I didnt let myself go on the island and end up looking like a terrible old hag!
You are allowed one hour of television a week what
would you watch?
ER, without a doubt. Its well acted, the script is brilliant,
in general it is of a very high standard. Also I love those three doctors they are great fun and very attractive and I'll need a bit of fantasy if I am alone on a desert island.
Which radio station would you tune to?
Radio 4 is the only radio station I ever tune in to and I think has more variety than any other. Unfortunately, because of my job, I only listen to it when I can, rather than regularly, but I like the news programmes, the drama and the Archers.
If you could rig up some sort of internet access, which url would you tap into?
I know nothing about this internet business, but if I learned how to use it, I would go straight to the Encyclopedia Britannica site, because I have the books at home and you can learn so much. My plan is to leave the island a total polymath! Actually, I can see myself becoming a complete web junkie, given the chance. They would have to drag me away screaming once I got into it.
Which embarrassing possession would you admit to if it meant you could avoid being cast away in the first place?
To be absolutely honest I can't think of any possession that I am ashamed of. However, I couldnt go to Taransay without a big tube of sunscreen (SPF25) and a big, hairy dog to take out walking with me.
Scotland on Sunday
January 2004
How to have your pie and eat it
COME on. Own up. Who was the journalist who said that Johnny, Maureen and Louise Beattie were Scotlands answer to the Redgraves? Whoevers to blame, it caused ructions back home. "Louise and I used to have stand-up fights about who was going to be Vanessa," laughs Maureen. "We both wanted to be Vanessa because she was glamorous and gorgeous."
I tell her that round at the Redgraves house, Vanessa, Lynn and Corin are always
arguing over which of the Beatties they should be. "Well, Ive heard thats true," she deadpans back with the speed of her showbiz father.
Yes, perhaps its overstating the case to call them a theatrical dynasty, but they have certainly made their mark. At 76, River City star Johnny, one of the few variety acts ever to be seen at the Edinburgh International Festival, is still doing his one-man show; Louise, having achieved notoriety as a scheming lawyer in Emmerdale, was recently
seen in The Planman with Robbie Coltrane; and Maureen... well, lets talk about Maureen.
The 50-year-old actress, once watched by audiences of more than 17 million in Casualty, has not long finished a six-month season with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Now
she is in rehearsals for Thornton Wilders comedy The Skin of Our Teeth at London's Young Vic, starring alongside David Troughton. But what shes really excited about is her plan to branch out into directing. Next month she is staging a low-key rehearsed reading for Edinburghs Stellar Quines at the Traverse Theatre and she wants it to be the start of something serious.
"The actors performances are in your hands, so youve got to give it everything youve got," she says. "So I take it very seriously, yes, and its something Ive been thinking about for a very long time."
The play, Perfect Pie, by Canadian Judith Thompson, is about two women looking back on their childhood
and unearthing an old secret about a rape. Described by one critic as "Canadian Gothic", it is typical of the writers dark, emotionally taxing work. Being about women of her age, Beattie had an instinctive feel for it and an immediate sense of the actors shed like to cast.
Directing is uncharted territory, however, so she will be drawing on her 30-odd years in the profession to guide her. She has worked with all manner of directors and has learned from the bad as well as the good.
"If you cast somebody, presumably its because you think they can do it," she says. "But Ive worked with people who give the actor the feeling that its a shame theyve got the part because there are 10 people much better outside the door. Thats hideous. You think: Why did you cast me in the first place?
"But also I loathe directors who just sit there and let the actors get on with it. Ive been in a lot of productions where the actors have saved the show. I would like to think I would be very proactive and be there for the actors."
I loathe directors who just sit there and let the actors get on with it
Whether or not Maureens latest venture leads to a full-scale production as she hopes, she is only being true to the family spirit. Resourcefulness is their trait and she says the example her father has set is a constant influence.
"He's got more energy than me, which is staggering," says Maureen. "His one-man show changes every time he does it. Its that thing of being able to fly by the seat of your pants. As he always said: Youre in the Gaiety Theatre in Ayr, doing the second house on a wet Tuesday, and mum and dad and the four kids are down for their fortnights holiday. Its been pouring with rain for 10 days and theyre going: OK then, entertain me!
"If you go down one route and its not working, you have to switch horses midstream and go down another route. Thats terrifying: you really are working the whole time."
She feels her fathers influence when shes acting as well. It might come as a surprise that the work of a man who epitomises Scottish music hall should have any bearing on his daughters powerful roles in the classics, but she says the connection is direct. Take her performance in Medea, the stunning Liz Lochhead adaptation that Glasgows Theatre Babel toured to Canada, India and Cyprus in 2000 and 2001, reaping awards as it went. Maureens performance was phenomenal - a bold, driven, feminist interpretation of a woman refusing to be beaten in the battle of the sexes. It was ferocious, sexy and intelligent, but it wouldnt have made sense, she points out, without her feel for music hall.
"I was very aware of the influence of what my father does for a living," says Maureen, whose first professional job was as a comedy feed in a variety show in Perth. "Medeas ability to turn round and talk to the audience is straight out of a one-man show: making them laugh, the timing of gags, the direct contact. Liz Lochhead used to talk about the vaudevillian aspects of it and they were absolutely there. Its very much part of Scotlands theatre heritage."
Most people know Maureen as staff nurse Sandra Nicholl in Casualty or, more recently, as
Chief Superintendent Jane Fitzwilliam in The Bill - and everyone who has ever met her talks about her mesmerising blue eyes - but its on the stage that she comes into her own. Most recently, her role as Tamora, queen of the Goths, in Titus Andronicus at the RSC was described as "glitteringly charismatic", and delivered "some voluptuous Shakespeare".
The acclaim was richly deserved, but things were less glamorous from her point of view. In Shakespeares play - his most gory - she was supposed to eat a pie made from her murdered sons, but as a card-carrying member of Animal Aid she wasnt willing to eat meat. Solution: a convincing alternative cooked to order. "It was salmon, potato and spinach pie every night," she laughs. "I didnt need any tea, but I was wearing the tightest costume in the known universe and I died slumped over the table, which meant if I did want to burp - or pass wind in any other direction - it was an absolute nightmare. I was lying there thinking: Please make the act be over!"
Tight dresses are becoming a thing with her. In Medea, she wore a blood-red number that cascaded from her arms and danced to the floor in shocking contrast to the drab world around her. Its vibrancy and daring encapsulated the elemental power of the whole production. She now regards Medea as the highlight of her career. "I cannot believe that I will never play it again," she says. "In fact, Im absolutely determined that I will."
I cannot believe I will never play Medea again. In fact, Im determined that I will
This, she hopes, is the kind of project the nascent National Theatre of Scotland will get behind: an example
of Scottish theatre at its world-conquering best that could have been seen by even more people had resources allowed.
"If you count up the number of performances we did, its tiny. We went to India with it and it was interesting to see the amount of respect that a great production like that gets. Graham and I were on the equivalent of our 10 OClock News. They reckoned it went out to 20 million people. So we went out there showing a little
bit of what Scotland can do and we were cut off in our prime because theres no money or infrastructure. Maybe thats something we could approach the Scottish National Theatre about."
National Theatre or not, Maureen is returning to Scotland for the love of a play. She has been aware of the work of Judith Thompson for a decade or so, and when a friend returned from Canada enthusing about the production of Perfect Pie he had seen, she had an instinct that this was the play for her. When Medea toured to Toronto, Maureen took the opportunity to meet Thompson and to get some rather unorthodox shopping done. "Being in Canada, I was able to pick up all the props," she says. "I went to all the K-Mart stores and blagged carrier bags from places. I got ice wine and coca-pop lollies. Its all ready to go. Ive got 19 props in search of a play."
Fans of Medea will agree that we ought to see more of Maureen in Scotland. She is keen to work here and if she got the right offer she would jump at the chance. So what would be the right offer? Well, as a performer she would like to try Cleopatra in Shakespeares tragedy and, as a director, apart from a full production of Perfect Pie, she would love to get her hands on The Taming of the Shrew. Theatre producers take note.
In the meantime, her ambitions are more prosaic. "My great plan is that I have to tidy my flat," she says. "I was at the RSC for six months and just kept coming back at weekends to dump stuff. Then about a year ago my dad and I bought a place together on the Isle of Bute and I took all my furniture there. So I dont have any furniture. Everythings in piles. So my avowed intent is to clear my space. A friend of mine said: Creating space makes room for miracles. So thats my plan - as long as you dont vomit while youre saying it."
Monday, 13th March 2000
The Scotsman
The Taransay Collection
If you were cast away on a remote Hebriddean island . . .
Maureen Beattie, Actress
Which architectural style would you choose for your island residence?
I would have Mount Stuart, on the island of Bute, moved stone by stone to Taransay. It is a fantastic big, red sandstone building I suppose you would call it a baronial hall. In the basement there is a swimming pool lined with jade-green tiles, the bedrooms have four-poster beds and there is an observatory room with old astrological charts and telescopes for watching the stars. Everything you could desire, in fact.
Which artworks would you take with you?
I would definitely take Dame Elizabeth Frinks Amnesty Heads because they are wonderful .I would also have a life-sized replica of Michelangelos David, unless I could persuade the Florentines to lend me the original. On my walls I would hang landscapes by James Hawkins, an artist who lives near Ullapool and, in contrast, this painting by Andy Warhol that I first saw in the Serpentine Gallery years ago. I dont know the title, but it is of a man picking his nose: so simple and yet it made me laugh and laugh. In my bedroom I would like something allegorical, Botticellis Primavera.
Which books?
The complete works of Shakespeare, obviously . I dont think I would take any other plays with me though Shakespeare would be enough. As far as novels go; The Deptford Trilogy by Robertson Davies and The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy. I would also take my teach-yourself-French book, which I have carried around in my handbag for several months now but failed to learn a single word. Hopefully, on Taransay, I would have time to learn a new language. An edition of Robbie Burnss poetry would be nice as well as a copy of A Poem A Day for the variety.
What music would accompany your splendid isolation?
Everything and anything by Mozart as he is my favourite classical composer. The soundtrack to the movie Schindlers List which I thought was beautiful. I would
take one of those Discmans and two little speakers so that I could listen to music everywhere in the house and when I wander around the island. Apart from that, I would love to have some Scottish music Aly Bains stuff and also the folk singer Dick Gaughan.
Which films would you request from the fantasy mobile cinema?
I only have two films that I would want to take with me because I would sooner be out and about or doing things, rather than sitting in a cinema. I havent seen Les Enfants du Paradis yet, which everyone has told me is wonderful, but I would want to see it on the big screen the first time, so this would be the perfect opportunity. The other film Id take is the latest version of The Thomas Crown Affair, largely because its a nice film to watch and Rene Russo is just great shes my age and she looks so fantastic. Watching her would inspire me, it would ensure that I didnt let myself go on the island and end up looking like a terrible old hag!
You are allowed one hour of television a week what
would you watch?
ER, without a doubt. Its well acted, the script is brilliant,
in general it is of a very high standard. Also I love those three doctors they are great fun and very attractive and I'll need a bit of fantasy if I am alone on a desert island.
Which radio station would you tune to?
Radio 4 is the only radio station I ever tune in to and I think has more variety than any other. Unfortunately, because of my job, I only listen to it when I can, rather than regularly, but I like the news programmes, the drama and the Archers.
If you could rig up some sort of internet access, which url would you tap into?
I know nothing about this internet business, but if I learned how to use it, I would go straight to the Encyclopedia Britannica site, because I have the books at home and you can learn so much. My plan is to leave the island a total polymath! Actually, I can see myself becoming a complete web junkie, given the chance. They would have to drag me away screaming once I got into it.
Which embarrassing possession would you admit to if it meant you could avoid being cast away in the first place?
To be absolutely honest I can't think of any possession that I am ashamed of. However, I couldnt go to Taransay without a big tube of sunscreen (SPF25) and a big, hairy dog to take out walking with me.
