News round-up: Cheltenham Festival interview, rare photo and Ruby Wax praises Zoë's 'magnificent' performance

29 December 2015 23:06

Zoë is among the special guests interviewed for Best of the Cheltenham Literature Festival, a BBC Radio Gloucestershire programme that was broadcast early this morning.

As you may remember, Zoë attended the event, held in October, in order to recreate Stevie Smith's memorable poetry reading from the 1965 Festival. During her interview with presenter Jo Durrant, Zoë explains why Smith's work appeals to her. She remarks, 'I really connected with the way she writes, and her voice is very strong.'

Smith's witty, engaging poetry lends itself to being read aloud or sung; and 'once you hear the way she reads, it all makes sense,' Zoë points out. 'I think she's a forgotten woman writer, very strong and very quirky and very individual, and I think she should be celebrated.'

Best of the Cheltenham Literature Festival will be repeated by BBC Radio Gloucestershire on New Year's Day at 1pm. Alternatively, you can listen to the programme online now, for a limited period. (The interview with Zoë begins after about ten minutes.)

The interview's broadcast is timely, given the news, recently reported on this website, that Zoë will bring Stevie Smith's poetry to life once again, this time at Poet in the City and Faber & Faber's Stevie Smith event. It'll be held in London on 15 February; tickets are available.

Edinburgh's Royal Lyceum Theatre has included a lovely, rare photo of Zoë on stage there, playing orphan Teresa in a 1971 production of The Hostage, in its Advent calendar. The show, directed by Richard Eyre, was one of Zoë's earliest professional stage appearances.

On the subject of theatre, Ruby Wax has chosen Zoë's 'magnificent' performance in All On Her Own/Harlequinade, currently at London's Garrick Theatre, as one of her cultural highlights in the Guardian. Zoë's performance 'tears your heart apart,' Wax emphasises.

If you'd like to see the double bill for yourself, you'll be pleased to know that tickets are available. The show will run until 13 January.

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