Linda Bassett, best known for her role as Nurse Phyllis in the BBC's Call the Midwife, is currently starring in Alexander Zeldin's new play Care at the Young Vic. In an interview, she reflects on her career, her collaborations with playwright Caryl Churchill, and the challenges of portraying dementia on stage.
A Career of Unconventional Choices
Bassett describes acting as an education in human feelings, frailty, and rottenness. She sees herself as a writer's actor, never showy but deeply committed to the text. Her understated magic has enhanced plays by Timberlake Wertenbaker, Wallace Shawn, and Ayub Khan Din, but she is particularly renowned as a peerless interpreter of Caryl Churchill.
Auditioning for Churchill was a pivotal moment in Bassett's career, setting her on a trajectory of working with demanding playwrights. From Fen in 1983 to What If If Only in 2021, her disconcerting clarity has suited Churchill's plays, which some audiences find forbidding. Bassett insists they are not hard to watch, emphasizing that the words feed the feeling, and it is the audience who experiences the emotion.
Rehearsing with Churchill
In rehearsal, Churchill is wonderful, non-invasive, and generous. Her plays are famously short on stage directions, offering a multiverse of choices. Bassett notes that there is only one way to play them, and the actor must find that way.
Early Influences and Theatre Roots
Theatre wasn't an obvious path for Bassett, but the seed was planted at an Easter play in Sunday school. At age four, she knew all the lines and went down a storm, feeling bliss. As a teenager, she ushered at the Old Vic during Laurence Olivier's glory days, watching landmark productions repeatedly. She recalls Peter Brook's production of Seneca's Oedipus, where Ronald Pickup's messenger speech made people faint every night due to the power of his voice alone.
After a year studying English at Leeds University, Bassett spent her time doing plays, including Beckett's Play and Edward Bond's Lear. She eventually left university, getting a first in her drama paper but nothing else, and went on to create devised work in Leeds and Coventry.
From Stage to Screen
Bassett's CV is remarkably free of crap, as she has turned down many roles. Despite notable film roles in East Is East and Calendar Girls, she is best known for playing stern nurse Phyllis in Call the Midwife. Complete strangers approach her, expressing love for her character. She stayed with Phyllis for over a decade, finding new aspects to the role even after 12 years.
The New Play: Care
Care involves both a pressing social concern and a common personal experience. Bassett plays Joan, a woman who shows signs of dementia and needs care herself. Joan is convinced she is just in for respite and never loses the idea that she is going home. Zeldin's plays are quietly devastating, and Bassett insists Joan's story is Shakespearean in scale, as she rages against the world.
Playing dementia is difficult because the lines are disconnected, reflecting the character's mental state. Bassett had a foretaste of Joan's distress after a heart attack, when she spent two weeks in a care home. That experience gave her insight into helplessness and being uprooted.
Zeldin directs his own play, demanding absolute truthfulness, which suits Bassett perfectly. She acknowledges that every new part means starting again, but she is confident they will be all right. Care is at the Young Vic theatre, London, until 11 July.
