Tamzin Outhwaite returns to stage after baby

 
Rex

Actor Tom Ellis spoke of his “immense pride” for his wife Tamzin Outhwaite as she returned to star on stage after the birth of their second child.

The actor who plays the chef Gary in Miranda hailed the play Di and Viv and Rose in which Outhwaite plays one of three female university friends a “stunning piece of work”.

Speaking after the opening night at the Hampstead Theatre, Ellis said: “The play might be more special for women watching than men, but anyone who has had a long-standing friendship at important times in their lives will draw something from it.

“The performances were marvellous, touching and funny. Tamzin was great. It’s so far removed from the last time I saw her on stage, in Sweet Charity, which speaks volumes about what a brilliant actress she is.”

In a night where men played second fiddle, Notting Hill director Roger Michell also praised the bitter-sweet comedy in which his own partner, Anna Maxwell Martin, was another of the uni pals with Gina McKee completing the trio.

“I thought it was totally delightful. It was very funny and moving. I can’t imagine it being anything other than a massive hit,” Michell said.

The play is directed by Anna Mackmin and written by Twenty Twelve actress Amelia Bullmore, 48, who said: “I just wanted to try to catch what it is to have friends for a long time.”

Outhwaite, 42, who gave birth last summer to Marnie Mae, her second daughter, said it was rare to be in a play of such substance with other women.

But she said the humour – “crass, harsh, quick” - was what she experienced when she was joking with her own girlfriends.

“It’s a lovely celebration of women. That’s what the play does for me. It highlights female relationships. Women are brilliant and very under-rated – I’m not saying men aren’t.”

Mackmin said she wanted to do it because it was a “grown-up” work by a “thoughtful mature” female playwright. “It reflects life as women experience it.”

The audience, which included Mariella Frostrup, Anne Reid, Sarah Kestelman and Nickolas Grace, agreed.

Former Bond girl Honor Blackman said: “It was fascinating following these women through life. You got very fond of them and you understood them. The whole thing was great fun too.”

The play, which was previously a sell-out hit in the Hampstead’s studio theatre downstairs, runs until February 23.

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