Robyn Addison Revels in Her Star-Making Turn in London's The Rivals

Four years out of Cambridge University, Robyn Addison is making her professional stage debut opposite Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles in Sir Peter Hall’s production of The Rivals, the 18th-century comedy classic now playing at London’s Haymarket Theatre. Having previously worked exclusively on TV, Addison has turned heads—and stolen the reviews—as the moneyed and stylish Lydia Languish, the lovesick young woman for whom corsets and curtsys are as natural as breathing. Broadway.com caught up with the 26-year-old actress as the show was entering its final month for a lively chat about the manners and mores of Restoration Comedy—and how hard it can be, in the theater, to say goodbye.

The Rivals is a period classic dating to 1775. Did you ever worry that the audience might look at it as an academic exercise—like homework?
No! It’s hilarious. It’s about words, so I suppose it could appear daunting, but it really is fun, with Mrs. Malaprop [played by Penelope Keith] using the wrong words or Faulkland being so ridiculous and using everything Julia says as a reason to argue with her further. We’ve had foreign audiences come and they still get it because the play is about common themes of love and silliness and what it is like, in Lydia’s case, to be young and in love and idealistic and ridiculous. And to have that pulled from under you.

You’re in pretty heady company—not to mention appearing on the stage of what is arguably London’s most beautiful playhouse.
It’s still a little bit surreal—even at this point, and we began rehearsals last July. [The production played the Theatre Royal in Bath, where the play is set, and then toured before coming to the West End.] There are moments when I look around at who I’m with and I still can’t quite believe that I’m doing it. Or I’ll read something about Peter [Hall] doing Waiting for Godot in 1955 or ‘56 and I think, “My mom wasn’t even born then.” [Laughs.] So I’m a bit awestruck, I think.

Was this the kind of play in which you thought you’d make your professional debut?
I always thought I’d start off in something much more contemporary, or maybe Shakespeare on a small scale. I didn’t anticipate that it would be this! In my TV work, I’ve always played lower status, not necessarily in their position within the hierarchy of the story but poorer people, single mums, girls who—because I’m from the Midlands [north of London]—don’t have an RP [Received Pronunciation] accent. In [TV series] Dalziel and Pascoe, I was murdered by Nancy Carroll and had Richard E. Grant's head stuck on my body! This has opened up a whole new world of opportunity, as well; I’m seen as somebody who can play upper class.

It must be fun to wear those costumes eight times a week.
I know! There I am in life wearing leather jackets, and in this play I’m wearing duck egg blue with gold trim and a gold underskirt and a big corset-y dress kind of like Keira Knightley in The Duchess, which was the exact same period. And I’ve got a long train with show pearls on it. The idea is that Lydia is very, very wealthy. She’s meant to be the richest character in the play, so wherever I can have bling, I do—but not in an ostentatious manner.

Has this made you more poised or elegant offstage?
I’d like to think so, but my friends would probably disagree with that. Maybe I’ve become even worse when it comes to slouching. I’m quite tall, anyway [5’9”], so I have a tendency in my real life to compensate when I am talking to shorter people. What’s probably happened is that I’m more aware particularly of how I hold myself when standing. I’m playing Lydia proud and statuesque, which she is.

Your parents must be thrilled.
Yes, I think they’re very proud; they sent me a Christmas tree for my dressing room [laughs]. They have nothing to do with the theater, but they always said, “Whatever makes you happy, you should do.” When I got to Cambridge, I started off doing a science degree and thought maybe I’d write for scientific publications or work in TV behind the scenes. But in the first term of my first year, I did three plays, and I knew then that I wanted to do more and more. We did a showcase in London in our third year, and I got an agent very quickly from that.

Will you be sad when The Rivals closes?
I’ve never done a long job like this, but it feels now as if I can’t imagine saying the words for the last time because they are my words now, and she has lived with me, this character. I’ve changed because of it, in terms of my career and my life, and having Peter [Hall] to work with has made it so that other people might want to work with me. I know also that I’ve made some friends for life doing this job. It’s provided me with so many opportunities that it’s a bit scary, but I think it will be OK!