My Festival – Miriam Margolyes

There is no one quite like me who is combining delight in both classics and filth, so I am offering the audience a unique experience.

What will we learn from your show that we didn’t know before?

You will learn how much you will enjoy Charles Dickens characters and also what it’s like being in an auditorium of people that know as little about Dickens as you do! And also, they would learn that comedy is infinite and that you can laugh, be excited, and be charmed by things you never expected.

Who or what was the biggest inspiration for your show?

The writer himself is a joy and I’m surprised in learning about Dickens and the way his life was reflected in his work. This was something that inspired me many years ago to share with an audience, and then I realised that there was no limit to the pleasure that I could give an audience because of the multiplicity of the characters. Also, the fact that people wanted to know about me and my life and how I live my life was additionally exciting.

What’s the best review you’ve ever had, and the worst?

Best review: I very much relished the one that Clive James wrote about me when he was the TV critic of the Observer, about ‘The Girls of Slender Means’, a Muriel Spark novel that was adapted for TV in 1976. I don’t remember it word for word but it was astute and full of a kind of surprise praise, which is the best sort. You just want people to like what you do and I deeply admired him and knew him at Cambridge University. He was a very important critic, so for him to praise my acting was equally pleasing.

Worst review: I have no idea. If I have ever had a bad review, I’ve forgotten.

Who or what have you been most excited about seeing this year?

Ned Van Zandt’s show, Del Valle: A Tale of Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll... and Redemption, which is at the Underbelly Dairy Room. I saw him do it in London at the Leicester Square Theatre and I just think it's utterly brilliant – he’s just brilliant! Also, Bloomsbury Bell performed by Kara Wilson at the Pleasance Courtyard Cellar.

Who do you most like spending time with in Edinburgh?

I actually would have liked to have hung out with Janey Godley, I just adored her. But now, my director Annabel Leventon, who is also my cousin; I love talking to her when I am not working. I am happy in my own company too, being quiet sitting in the garden of the house I rent and just reading and relaxing.

Tell us something about you that would surprise people.

My most absorbing hobby is doing my family tree because my grandparents were married in Edinburgh and we have Jewish relatives and strong connections there. I will be going to the archives to try to find out as much as I can about the family Turianski, who came to Edinburgh in the 1870s and then many went to New Zealand.

Annabel also has relatives in Edinburgh, one of whom I remember was a marvellous lady called Pearl Levit and gave the most wonderful parties. I shall probably visit some of the cemeteries where they were buried, as you get a lot of information from gravestones.

What are the best and worst things that have happened to you at a festival?

The best last year was giving out the Fringe Firsts. It was such a delight to meet the new young talent, I love that. The worst thing is not being able to get into a show that I want to see, as it might clash with my show - that’s the irritating part.

What’s the first thing you do in the morning and the last thing you do at night?

First thing and last – have a pee! I also like to watch tennis. Somewhere in the world, there is always a tennis match and I watch it on my phone.

Thanks for the interview! We’d like to buy you a drink. Where are we going and what are we drinking?

I am not really interested in drinking, but the Fringe Club at the Pleasance Dome would be fun, as you will meet people there. It’s who you are with that makes it, not what you drink. It’s not what you swallow, it's who you are looking at!

Margolyes & Dickens: More Best Bits, Pleasance @ The EICC, 6pm, until 24 August. Miriam Margolyes is also guest presenter at the Scotsman Fringe First Awards, Pleasance Grand, 22 August, 10am.

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