80 Not Out
Country Life UK|September 18, 2019
Three new octogenarians and their unmatched contributions to the theatrical world
80 Not Out
IN a dream,’ wrote American poet Anne Sexton, ‘you are never eighty’. The reality is different and it so happens that three eminent theatrical figures are all 80 this year. They are the actor Sir Ian McKellen and the director-playwrights Sir Alan Ayckbourn and Peter Gill.

These are very different people with rich and diverse careers, but they have, apart from their age, one thing in common: a lifelong devotion to theatre that, I suspect, few of their juniors will ever match.

The paradox of Sir Ian is that his global fame rests largely on his performance as Gandalf in the films of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, but I would argue that few people are more dedicated to theatre and especially to the idea of its regional vitality.

Sir Ian learned his craft as an actor in rep theatres in Coventry and Ipswich; I first spotted him at Nottingham Playhouse in 1963, when he was a sensational Aufidius to John Neville’s Coriolanus. I’ve never forgotten his howl of pain over the dead body of his military rival.

Over the years, Sir Ian has constantly repaid his debt to the regions. In 1978 , he directed a nationwide RSC tour of Twelfth Night and Three Sisters and did a season at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, where he played Prospero and Noël Coward’s vain actor-manager, Garry Essendine, in Present Laughter.

Actually, I can’t imagine anyone less like Coward’s metropolitan narcissist than Sir Ian. The conclusive proof came from his decision to tour his one-man show to 80 theatres across the UK in his birthday year. Although it’s about to do a season at London’s Harold Pinter Theatre, its prime purpose has been to raise funds for appropriate charities at each of the venues to which it has toured.

This story is from the September 18, 2019 edition of Country Life UK.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the September 18, 2019 edition of Country Life UK.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM COUNTRY LIFE UKView All
Love and logic
Country Life UK

Love and logic

Two lovers who endured adversity and separation in life would become united in Paris after death, discovers Eileen Reid

time-read
3 mins  |
March 27, 2024
Don't mock them
Country Life UK

Don't mock them

Plant a philadelphus, or mock orange, now for improbably lovely scent and cascades of sparkling blossom this summer, says John Hoyland

time-read
3 mins  |
March 27, 2024
Home is where the art is
Country Life UK

Home is where the art is

No trouble is too much for the Marquess of Cholmondeley to display to best effect Sir Antony Gormley's sculptures against the magnificent backdrop of Houghton Hall, even if it means cutting a hole in the floor, as Charlotte Mullins discovers

time-read
6 mins  |
March 27, 2024
Bold and beautiful
Country Life UK

Bold and beautiful

The gardens at Broughton Grange, Oxfordshire The home of Sir Stephen and Lady Hester An arboretum, woodland garden, stumpery and heather garden all planted for artistic effect are among the many features that mark out this exciting garden, says Charles Quest-Ritson

time-read
6 mins  |
March 27, 2024
Land of liquid gold
Country Life UK

Land of liquid gold

Greek cuisine-from delicious mezes to shellfish-might be 'tightly bound to the sparse soil and the blue sea', but it is sorely underrated, laments Tom Parker Bowles

time-read
4 mins  |
March 27, 2024
An old way of life in rural France
Country Life UK

An old way of life in rural France

Arcadian tranquillity, a wealth of cultural richness and a slow pace of life enchant John Lewis-Stempel as he reflects on his existence in France profonde

time-read
5 mins  |
March 27, 2024
Deep in Hardy country
Country Life UK

Deep in Hardy country

Hardy's beguilingly pretty Wessex is the setting for three houses with links to people and places that fuelled the writer's imagination

time-read
5 mins  |
March 27, 2024
The benefit of foresight
Country Life UK

The benefit of foresight

The ability to anticipate the future is the secret of a successful building project

time-read
1 min  |
March 27, 2024
Nature's rarest gems
Country Life UK

Nature's rarest gems

G. Collins & Sons specialises in the sourcing and setting of the finest natural fancy coloured diamonds the world has to offer

time-read
2 mins  |
March 27, 2024
A prickly subject
Country Life UK

A prickly subject

Resembling a jumbo jacket potato on surprisingly long, scurrying legs, the hedgehog is Britain’s favourite mammal. Marianne Taylor takes a closer look beneath its spines

time-read
5 mins  |
March 27, 2024