RULA LENSKA Interview
Pygmalion
Monday 7 – Saturday 12 April at Guildford’s Yvonne Arnaud Theatre
It is surely very appropriate that the cast of Pygmalion, a play that deals so cogently with issues arising
from the class system, should include a genuine aristocrat in the shape of Rula Lenska, an authentic
Polish countess. Surprisingly Rula, always a welcome presence on stage and screens both large and small,
is appearing for the first time in a play by Bernard Shaw. She’s tackling the role of Mrs. Higgins, mother
of Professor Higgins, and perhaps the only character in Pygmalion who wields some kind of authority
over her wayward son.
“I don’t know Shaw’s work terribly well but I absolutely love Pygmalion,” says Rula enthusiastically.
“There’s no mention in the play of a Mr. Higgins so I think that Mrs. Higgins has probably brought
Henry up, single-handed. She’s a woman who knows her own mind and I’d guess that she’s a supporter
of the rights of women. To an extent, she is her son’s conscience. It’s all very well for you to play games
with Eliza, she tells him, but who’s going to look after her? What’s to become of her?”
At the time of writing, in the second week of rehearsal, Rula had been enjoying the process of exploring
Pygmalion.
“With this play, it’s important to work out what is not on the page,“ Rula explains. “We’ve talked about
the times in which the play is set and about the relationships between the characters. How tactile were
people a hundred years ago? I’m a very touchy-feely person myself and I’ve had to stop myself at time
as Mrs. Higgins, from reaching out a hand. After all, she has impeccable manners and is something of a
grande dame. She certainly expects to be listened to. Yet for all her courtesy, her son has no sense of
social graces.”
Rula believes that Shaw’s critique still holds good for our own day.
“Whatever one’s background, however you’ve been brought up, whatever your trappings and your
accent, you cannot change your core. You may take the man or the woman out of the district where
they were born- but you cannot do the opposite.”
How did Rula’s aristocratic background influence her personality, the finished person?
“I think that Shaw is saying in Pygmalion that you should stay in your class. When I was writing my
autobiography My Colourful LIfe, I did wonder what would have happened, had my parents not left
Poland to come to this country. I think that my upbringing left me with a certain poise which people
often remark on. “
In view of her origins amid the Polish nobility, how did her aspirations to go on the stage go down with
her parents?
“They weren’t very happy about it,” Rula recalls. “My father wanted me to get a job at the United
Nations but neither of them thought that acting was a suitable career choice for me. In fact they
believed that it was akin to being a prostitute and they knew that it was a very precarious business. I
did as they wanted. I finished school, I sat my A-Levels, I did a secretarial course. But then I still applied
for drama school and slowly my parents became accustomed to how I earned my living.”
Happily, both Rula’s parents lived long enough to see her make a success of her chosen profession and
given the honour of being the subject of This Is Your Life. In such upper crust circles, theatrical ambitions
are rare as hens’ teeth. So where did Rula contract the acting bug?
“I loved the element of showing off and as teenagers my sisters and I would learn the lyrics of the hits
of the day and then perform them. I adored being the centre of attention and I’d stand in front of the
mirror miming songs. Whenever there was an opportunity to perform, I’d seize it and I loved- and still
do- being different people.”
Rula’s names are something of a contraction of the monikers she was given at birth. Has it proved a
hindrance or a help in her career to rejoice in something so Slavic and un-British?
“The Principal at my drama school advised me to anglicise my name but I stuck to my guns and said
that I didn’t want to lose it. I think my name has led to me being cast as spies and femmes fatales,
ladies of a certain class.”
Rula achieved the all-important breakthrough back in 1976 with ITV’s Rock Follies, a witty series about
three young women forming an all-female band and finding a way through the treacherous waters of the
pop industry. In the intervening years she has worked very steadily but now she senses that change is in
the air.
“In playing Mrs. Higgins, I’m jumping over the garden fence and into a new category – I’m going from
glamorous leading lady to character actress.”
According to Rula, Rock Follies made such an impact “because there hadn’t been a TV show like it with
superb scripts, superb fantasy sequences with techniques that were never used again. We knew that
we were working on something special.”
Rula’s packed CV indicates that she has kept going with determination in an unforgiving profession
where sudden falls from grace are hard to predict and can be devastating. However, there are some
surprising gaps, in view of her Slavonic background.
“I love Chekhov and his style of writing. I’ve played Ranyevskaya in his Cherry Orchard and I’d love to
do The Seagull. I’d like to have done more Shakespeare but I’ve never really been seen for the Classical
theatre. However, I have been very lucky. I’ve bounced from one medium to another while doing a very
broad sweep of plays. The older you get, the tougher the business becomes and there are simply not
that many parts around. Now that I’m moving into the interesting character roles such as Mrs. Higgins
or Mrs. Birling in Priestley’s An Inspector Calls, I’m looking forward to doing other parts that
completely take me out of the norm. But you sometimes wonder if the business will have the
imagination to accept me playing those different parts.”
Happily, Rula is not completely leaving the glamour-pusses behind.
“I can still pull it out of the hat when required,” she says. “But as you get older, you become much less
concerned with what people think and as a result, I’m much more at peace.”
The process of writing her memoirs was both “an exercise in memory” and “intended to be a history for
my grandson. I’ve always known I was a romantic but one pattern in my life which I hadn’t fully
recognised previously was my habit of running straight towards the Danger Sign. I’d charge towards it
with open arms. My life’s been a series of extreme highs and extreme lows and people who live their
lives on an even keel may not have experienced the lows but they have missed out on the highs as
well.”
The lows have consisted of seven months in a Sardinian jail and a period when her private life became
public property.
“That was down to the British Press more than anything,” says Rula. “They tend to shower you with
rose petals when you’re on the way up and then make surmises of what you have said. Of course, you
have a duty to do publicity and to speak to the Press but you can only pray that they’ll treat you fairly.”
One of the reasons for Rula’s current contentment is the presence in her life of Ethan, her two-year-old
grandson. Clearly Granny dotes on the little chap.
“I adore being a grandmother and I’m enjoying reliving my daughter’s childhood. What is so moving is
the unbelievable joy with which he greets new discoveries; he is open to everything and it’s wonderful
to see.”
Tickets for Pygmalion are on sale now! You can book yours by calling the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre Box
Office on (01483) 44 00 00 or by visiting the website at www.yvonne-arnaud.co.uk