Maxine Peake: 'Shakespeare was a marathon ... but now I get to the bar for a drink'

Maxine Peake said her new play is a breeze after starring in Hamlet
Taking a breather: Maxine Peake at the after-party with co-star Christine Bottomley (Picture: Dave Benett)
Louise Jury11 February 2015
The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Her new play is a darkly comic take on European financial collapse and the true cost of principles - but Maxine Peake said it's “a breeze” after the challenge of playing Hamlet.

Speaking after the premiere of Zinnie Harris’s How To Hold Your Breath at the Royal Court, the star of the Silk TV series said it felt like an important drama on big political issues which was exactly what theatre should be doing.

And despite being on stage for nearly two hours without a break, she said: “Oddly, after playing Hamlet only about three months ago, it’s not draining at all. I would be having a cup of tea in the interval and ready to go back on for another hour. This feels a bit of a breeze in a way.”

Hamlet, Shakespeare’s three-hour epic in which she took the title role, was “amazing training,” she added. “It’s like running a marathon and then doing a 10-mile run. You go, ‘This is all right, I can have a drink in the bar and socialise with the rest of the cast,’ which didn’t happen with Hamlet. I just sort of crawled home.”

Her new play sees two European sisters plunged into despair as the economy collapses and they face a desperate scramble to get to hoped-for employment in Africa, in a reversal of the typical migrant experience.

Latest theatre reviews

1/50

“Until people put themselves in that position I don’t think they really understand … it feels really important to me,” Peake said. But she stresses the play is not all dark - “it’s still very witty and very magical.”

She said she was loving doing theatre back in London where she last appeared four years ago. But she also had good memories of filming The Theory Of Everything, as star Eddie Redmayne “is one of the nicest human beings I’ve ever met”.

Peake’s performance in Hamlet earned her five-star reviews during its record-breaking 39-date run at the Royal Exchange in Manchester last September. A film version will be shown in cinemas across the country next month.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in