Pauline Daniels at the Actors Studio _320
THE life of comedy heroine Hylda Baker is the subject of a new play premiering this week at The Actors Studio.
Pauline Daniels takes the title role in The Hylda Baker Show, which spans events behind and in front of the camera during the filming of a fictional final episode of Nearest and Dearest, the 1960s sitcom that made her name.
Alongside the laughs of the programme, the play studies her fears of life after the show and her famously sour relationship with co-star Jimmy Jewel.
The play began as a five-minute radio sketch last year, a collaboration between Pauline and writer Dhanil Ali that worked so well he created a full theatre piece.
She said: “As a child, I used to do impressions of Hylda Baker, and then being a comedienne she was one of our early role models.
“She was just such a funny woman.
“I thought she was hysterically funny, but quite tragic – she had never had a stable family life and was treading the boards from the age of 12.
“When Nearest and Dearest came along, she was an overnight star after 40 years.”
She describes Baker as one of comedy’s “monsters” – a talented comic actress, but with a tumultuous life behind the scenes.
Dhanil Ali, who is also directing the show, said Baker’s life followed the tragic comic pattern, but he had always found her iconic.
It’s a theme, and a period of time, that resonates with the Dingle-based writer, whose other plays include An Evening with Tony Hanock and Alan (with its main character of Alan Bennett).
He said: “There was total hatred between Hylda and Jimmy Jewel, and they would lock horns but then they knew they had to go out and make people laugh.
“She was so funny on stage, but the curse of comedy was just waiting to happen.
“The Actors Studio is the perfect place to do this, especially to break it, as it has got the right feel for this sort of piece.”
The three-man play also stars Richard Helm as Jimmy Jewel and Albert Hastings.
The Hylda Baker Show starts on Thursday, with performances on October 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20 and 21, including Sunday afternoon matinees.
FOR tickets and information, contact 0151 709 9034.
