An Interview with Emma Cunniffe and Romola Garai
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Following a sold out run at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, **Helen Edmundson**'s fascinating play about one of Britain's lesser known rulers transferred to the [Theatre Royal Haymarket](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/venue/24/theatre-royal-haymarket.aspx) this June. **Emma Cunniffe** (Great Expectations, The Crucible), is the titular [Queen Anne](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/play/2642/queen-anne-tickets.aspx), a monarch torn between her duty and the plans of her persuasive and manipulative best friend Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, played by **Romola Garai** (Atonement, The Hour). We grabbed five minutes with the ladies to talk about the production.
**Emma and Romola, it's wonderful these days to have a play centred around two fascinating female leads, did that help draw you to the role?**
EC: Yes. It was great to read a play about female friendship and power.
RG: Yes, the role of Sarah Churchill is a really fantastic one and I am delighted to be sharing the stage with another woman to perform a play so much about women and power.
**The play focuses on an arguably lesser known monarch from Britain's past, Queen Anne. Did you know much about her before taking on the production?**
RG: Nothing at all.
EC: No, I didn’t know much about her so it was fascinating to learn about Queen Anne and Sarah Churchill and get to know more about a really interesting period of history.
**Emma, the show has transferred from its well-received initial run in Stratford-upon-Avon which you were involved in, are you happy it has made the leap to a wider audience?**
Yes, it’s good that more people get to see the show and it’s fun being in the West End for the summer!
**The Haymarket itself is such a sumptuous, regal venue - do you think it lends itself to the piece?**
EC: It’s a joy to do this play in such a beautiful theatre.
RG: I think the play would benefit from performance in a studio space or a car park! But the Haymarket is also wonderful.
**Although not forced there are clearly parallels between events and themes explored in the play and the modern day political climate. Do you see the play more as a political piece or a personal one?**
RG: A personal one with political disagreements creating the trigger
EC: It’s both. The politics and the personal interwoven. It’s about power and ambition also.
**Romola, you were fairly recently in a very modernised take on Shakespeare's Measure For Measure at The Young Vic. Could you imagine an overtly modernised version of this story?**
I can imagine any play being done in any way.
**Over the course of the play we see both characters evolve and their relationship with each other changes, would you say that's the pay-off the audience gets in the second half?**
EC: Yes. They see how the shifts in status impact on their friendship. Anne grows in strength as the play develops.
RG: Sarah changes in that circumstances change but, the potential to be a flaming bitch was always there.
**Queen Anne** is playing at the Theatre Royal Haymarket until 30 September. [Book your tickets now!](https://www.londontheatredirect.com/play/2642/queen-anne-tickets.aspx)
Photo credit: Marc Brenner