Zoë discusses playing 'phenomenal' Joan Littlewood and is praised by her co-stars in the BBC's Babs

7 May 2017 18:57

Ahead of the TV broadcast of Babs tonight, the Sunday Telegraph has published a fascinating interview with Zoë in which she discusses pioneering director Joan Littlewood, the 'phenomenal creature' she portrays in the BBC's Barbara Windsor biopic. 'She had energy, a strength of passion and a social commitment which, I don't think, exists much in theatre anymore,' Zoë emphasises.

Littlewood's commitment to showcasing the talents of performers from working-class backgrounds 'gave people like Barbara Windsor a voice,' she adds, 'and of course that changed film and television forever', as Babs will demonstrate.

Zoë points out that her father, Sam Wanamaker, was a great admirer of Littlewood's work. She calls Shakespeare's Globe 'a people's palace' in the spirit of the arts venue Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop revitalised, Theatre Royal Stratford East.

Zoë's enthusiasm for Littlewood is clear, and she's received plenty of praise herself from her co-stars in Babs. Jaime Winstone, who plays Windsor as a young woman on the cusp of stardom, told the BBC how much she enjoyed working with her. 'Zoë is just the real deal. You know when you're working with a great, and she was so lovely and just stepped into the shoes of Joan Littlewood, who she was playing. As a lot of it was shot in a theatre on stage, we sort of slipped into this method acting. It was brilliant. She is really powerful, Zoë. She has a real presence and you just end up staring at her and, really interestingly, I do believe that she just became Joan.'

In addition, Daniel Ben Zenou, who appears in Babs as composer Lionel Bart, posted these kind words on Twitter with a great photo taken during filming.

Babs will be shown on BBC One tonight at 8pm. And excitingly, Zoë has more new projects for us to look forward to, as the Telegraph interview reveals. One is a drama for ITV and the other is, in Zoë's words, a 'dangerous and challenging' play.

Many thanks to Janet for her help

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New clip and photos of Zoë as Barbara Windsor's director in Babs

1 May 2017 18:43

With the broadcast of Babs now just days away, the BBC has released a great clip of a young Barbara Windsor (played by Jaime Winstone) impressing Zoë's Joan Littlewood as the starlet auditions for the influential director in East London.

As if that wasn’t exciting enough, you can also see a series of fantastic photos from this eagerly anticipated biopic on the I Talk Telly and Daily Mail websites.

Look out for Babs on 7 May, from 8-9:30pm on BBC One.

Huge thanks to Karoline and Janet for their help

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News round-up: Babs on BBC One, more Much Ado insights and catch up with Such Rotten Luck

30 April 2017 21:00

Babs coming to TV and DVD in May!

The broadcast date for Babs, the Barbara Windsor biopic featuring Zoë as director Joan Littlewood, has now been revealed. Tune into BBC One on 7 May at 8pm for this 90-minute special.

What's more, Babs is due to be released on DVD (Region 2) just over a week after it's shown on TV and is currently available to pre-order.

Hooray!

More of Zoë's insights about Much Ado

Another fascinating extract from Zoë's interview in new book Shakespeare on Stage: Volume 2 has been published, this time by Whatsonstage.com. In the extract, she talks about being able to relate to Beatrice's independent spirit when she played the character in the National Theatre's 2007 revival of Much Ado About Nothing.

Zoë points out that Beatrice seems to have felt, initially, as if she'd never meet 'the right person' to settle down with and so decided 'it's better simply to be on [her] own'.

The book is available to buy now.

Such Rotten Luck on BBC iPlayer

You can catch up with the first two episodes of brilliant comedy-drama Such Rotten Luck (1989), starring Zoë alongside the late Tim Pigott-Smith, on the BBC iPlayer.

Listen out for episode three on Radio 4 Extra on 4 May at 9:30am (repeated 4:30pm and – for very early risers! – 4:30am the next morning).

With thanks to Karoline, Janet and Victoria for their help

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Zoë among the 'cast of vivid characters' in Nicholas Hytner's National Theatre memoir

26 April 2017 20:08

If you've ever wondered what it's like to lead a major cultural institution, Balancing Acts: Behind the Scenes at the National Theatre by one of Zoë's directors, Nicholas Hytner, will be essential reading. As the Radio Times points out, there's a 'cast of vivid characters in the book: generations of actors (Simon Russell Beale, Rory Kinnear, Zoë Wanamaker) and writers whom Hytner has nurtured'.

During his hugely successful tenure as the National's Artistic Director (2003-2015), Hytner oversaw or was directly involved with a number of shows featuring Zoë. He was at the theatre's helm when the first Travelex £10 season, which included His Girl Friday (2003), was introduced, helping to make theatre accessible to wider audiences. He directed the celebrated 2007 revival of Much Ado About Nothing. He pioneered NT Live cinema screenings of plays including The Cherry Orchard (2011). His insights are bound to be fascinating.

Balancing Acts will be published on 27 April. You can also hear Hytner himself read from it on Radio 4's Book of the Week, from 1-5 May at 9:45am (repeated 12:30am).

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First glimpse of Zoë as Joan Littlewood in BBC's Babs trailer

24 April 2017 15:13

The BBC has just released the first trailer for Babs, its forthcoming biopic of bubbly actress and national treasure Barbara Windsor. The clips give us our first glimpse of Zoë as radical theatre director Joan Littlewood, one of Windsor's early mentors.

'If you're not careful, you'll end up playing this sexy little blonde for the rest of your life,' Littlewood warns the starlet (played by Jaime Winstone).

The trailer doesn't specify a broadcast date, but hopefully we won't have long to wait now for what promises to be a fascinating BBC One drama.

Updated 26 April: It looks as if the next issue of both the Radio Times and TV Times will feature Babs. That suggests we can expect to see the programme on our screens sometime between 6 and 12 May.

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