I had lunch this week with Janet Suzman. I like to name-drop. We had M&S sandwiches – there were all my favourites – and I had a spot of the house white. The house in question was LAMDA of which she is a Vice President.
We’d turned up for a lunchtime talk by Harriet Walter. As it happens I’d not clocked either of these actresses but knowing it was going to be Dame Harriet speaking I did some research. She was, I think, charmed when I told her of a recent accolade: she’d been one of the clues in the FT Weekend Magazine quiz The Picture Round. (The answer is Walter Scott.)
Unfortunately, I had not prepped Janet Suzman and she did not offer any information. I can share two things with you. She looks fantastic for her 76 years. All those nights playing for the RSC and not out on the razzle like the rest of us does pay dividends in the Looks dept. Secondly, we discussed the merits of fringe theatre over West End; me saying I’d rather spend £20 to see a lousy play than £120 and the wine is equally lousy. I particularly mourn the (temporary) passing of the Riverside Studios. It will re-open in 2019.
It was in the 1980s spectacularly good with three stages and an excellent cinema. Michael Winner and I were often seen there. Sorry about the NDing, it’s compulsive. Janet Suzman said that she’d never been: “it’s the wrong side of London, darling”. OK I made up the “darling”, there are no “darlings” if you don’t recognise her. She reminded me of Bubbles Rothermere saying of Regine’s nightclub on Kensington High Street (in the 1930s Derry & Toms building) that it was too far out of London.