My Darling Clemmie at The Edinburgh Fringe Festival 2009
Following the success of The Gathering Storm starring Albert Finney and Vanessa Redgrave, Hugh Whitemore has written a new play about Clementine Churchill – My Darling Clemmie. Born Clementine Hozier, this is the remarkable story of the woman who married one of the greatest figures of the 20th century, Sir Winston Churchill.
Previews at the Assembly Rooms, George Street began on 6 August 2009 and the show sold out until the end of it's run on 31 August 2009.
The production has the full support of Churchill’s daughter, Lady Soames who famously published her parents’ letters in Speaking for Themselves: The Personal Letters of Winston and Clementine Churchill.
Clementine Churchill is played by Rohan McCullough described by The Scotsman on a previous visit to Edinburgh as, “a fantastically talented and moving actress.” She began her career in the legendary musical, Hair and has since worked in theatre, film and television, most notably for Manchester Royal Exchange playing Antigone, in Les Liaisons Dangereuses for the RSC, in Derek Jarman’s War Requiem and David Hare’s Strapless.
She has achieved award-winning success for her one-woman productions, extensively touring The Testament of Youth (based on Vera Brittain’s celebrated book) appearing at The Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon and winning the Scotsman Drama Award before transferring to The Fortune Theatre, London. Her solo performance of Rose Macaulay’s The Towers of Trebizond at the Edinburgh Festival received Critics’ Choice ‘Pick of the Performances’ in the Sunday Times. Her other one-woman show about her second cousin, Beatrix Potter has toured the UK, America and Japan.
She often performs poetry and prose recitals with Sir Derek Jacobi, Robert Powell, Edward Fox and John Julius Norwich. For many years she made regular appearances with the late Sir John Mortimer in Mortimer’s Miscellany.
My Darling Clemmie has been directed by Gareth Armstrong, an Edinburgh Fringe Festival veteran, who received five star rave reviews for his one-man show, Shylock, before touring the globe. Gareth is probably best known for various roles played in The Archers on Radio 4, including Sean Myerson, the publican at The Cat and Fiddle.
Hugh Whitemore has written extensively for stage, film and television. His most recent film is due to be released in the UK this Autumn. Into The Storm, starring Brendan Gleeson and Janet McTeer tells the next part of the Churchill story – the war years.
Comments on My Darling Clemmie from theatre professionals:
"Compelling, engaging, intimately and beautifully realised – unforgettable."
Roger Graef, Complicite Theatre Company
"What a captivating performance! I can’t imagine the piece being more convincingly or beautifully performed."
Bill Hughes, Chester Literature Festival
You can also follow this link to read some new reviews of My Darling Clemmie from this years festival.