The Londoner: Support parent actors, says Cate Blanchett

Cate Blanchett backs a “call to arms” over conditions for parents who act/ Ink play makes Broadway changes/ Grayson Perry takes inspiraton from Brexit/ Tim Waterstone recalls bookshop's inception
Pioneering parent: Cate Blanchett
Ian Gavan/Getty Images
10 April 2019

Cate Blanchett, Oscar winner and mother of four, is leading the charge to ensure fair working conditions for parents who happen to be actors. “Working in theatre or any creative profession can be very rewarding but comes with its own unique challenges,” Blanchett says, “such as regular late nights, last-minute engagements and long periods of time away from home, all of which are amplified when you have family commitments.”

Her comments come as a new report, named Balancing Act and produced by Parents and Carers in Performing Arts (PiPA) in partnership with Birkbeck, the University of London, states that 43 per cent of actors who have left the industry did so because of pressures associated with being a parent.

It also found that six out of 10 subjects relied on the help of others, such as partners or parents.

“Those who lack the social capital to support and subsidise their careers, for example by not having a partner in well-paid employment, or not having family nearby to offer childcare, are particularly disadvantaged,” it says.

Blanchett, who recently starred in When We Have Sufficently Tortured Each Other at The National Theatre, calls the Balancing Act report a “call to arms” and a “welcome and necessary step towards addressing these barriers, which for many prove insurmountable.

“This... is an opportunity for us all to step up and find the creative solutions needed to giving people the support they need to look after their family while continuing to do the work they love.” Blanchett, who was born in Australia but now divides her time between a Southwark penthouse and an historic manor house in Sussex, is the latest high-profile figure to speak out on the matter.

Actor Romola Garai worked with the PiPA initiative in 2016, calling the treatment of parents in the performing arts as “discrimination. “It’s seen as completely normal to essentially employ discriminatory working practices towards parents,” she said.

Pipped by the Post

James Graham’s play Ink, about the early days of The Sun, is previewing on Broadway — with one significant change since it appeared in the West End.

During its run in London, a catchy headline “Headless body in topless bar” was quoted.

It has now been changed to “Man kills himself and runs away”.

Why? “The Manhattan media crowd would have been up in arms about the iconic 1983 New York Post headline being attributed to The Sun,” a source in the Big Apple tells The Londoner.

“Director Rupert Goold took it out to avoid any hassle.”

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"Not running": Legendary U.S. Vogue editor Anna Wintour
NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images

Yesterday Penny Mordaunt gave a speech that caused Newsnight’s Nicholas Watt to suggest that she “has clearly been having a lot of leadership media training: sounds a tad North American, hint of Anna Wintour”. Patrick Wintour of the Guardian, Dame Anna’s brother, stepped in before things got out of hand: “Anna is not running.”

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Tim Waterstone had a mixed day when he opened the first ever Waterstones in 1982. “Good news is we took over a thousand pounds,” he tells the Meet the Writers podcast. “Bad news is I left it on the train. I can’t bear it even now. Can you imagine leaving a bag with a thousand pounds on the train?”

Grayson brings Brexit to a head

Brexit inspiration: Grayson Perry, in Paris last year
Chesnot/Getty Images

Grayson Perry has unveiled his latest work, Restituted British Head. “Brexit has been something of a muse for me. A big, messy source of inspiration,” he says. “I’ve always been fascinated by national identity and why it’s so important to some and so unimportant to others. Brexit... has made us all think more deeply about ‘Britishness’, and [the work] is an exploration of that — the good, the bad and the ugly.” Perry has donated the head to the Terrence Higgins Trust charity auction.

SW1A

TORY MP Tom Tugendhat, below, struck a doleful note yesterday at the launch of a think-tank report. Politicos had gathered to discuss Onward’s research into young voters, but one journalist went off-topic and asked panellists for their stance on capital punishment. “I’m against the death penalty,” Tugendhat said. “I have every intention of remaining so until, of course, the gallows come outside, when I might think it’s a blessed relief.”

Gallows humour: Tom Tugendhat
AFP/Getty Images

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The Labour Representation Committee, whose president is shadow chancellor John McDonnell, has been criticised for publishing an article accusing the Jewish Labour Movement of “stabbing us in the back”. Joe Goldberg, JLM’s vice chair, told Jewish News “the language of ‘betray’ and ‘backstabbing’ are dog whistles to anti-Semitism”. The JLM passed a motion of no confidence in Labour last week. A spokesperson for McDonnell said “John is not responsible” for the LRC’s site.

Westwood in frame at photographer’s show

Art attack: Andreas Kronthaler, Dovile Drizyte, Dame Vivienne Westwood and Juergen Teller
Dave Benett/Getty Images

Dame Vivienne Westwood was treated to a private view in Bonhams Auction House, New Bond Street last night, where she was joined by her husband, creative director Andreas Kronthaler, and Texas singer Sharleen Spiteri for a showcase of photographer Juergen Teller’s latest work.

Last week the fashion designer took to Twitter to voice her support for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, urging her followers to “stop this misrule of law... conducted by the English Government... in collaboration with America. The issue is freedom of speech.” Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy since 2012 after skipping bail over an arrest warrant in Sweden .

Also last night, beloved Mayfair Indian Gymkhana launched its new cocktail menu co-created with Penhaligon’s, with tailor Patrick Grant among the guests. And out west, Neil Jones and Katya Jones, Strictly Come Dancing professionals, were at the press night of The Richmond Theatre’s The House on Cold Hill.

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