Katherine MacAlister talks to Susie Blake about Handbagged

I interrupt Susie Blake on a rare day off, busy doing the tiling in her bathroom, preparing for a new carpet.

“It’s so unglamorous, but I’ve just moved into a new flat and at the moment I’m never home. My poor allotment.”

Music to the ears of most actors, Susie included, especially as she’s currently playing the Queen in Handbagged, getting great reviews and going down a storm.

Based around the real-life weekly meetings of Margaret Thatcher and her Majesty, it imagines what might have happened behind closed doors during the former PM’s 11 years in power, in this hilarious and insightful play.

“They were the same age and spent an hour a week with each other in private, which is quite amazing really.

“So Moira Buffini did a lot of research about what they really thought of each other and discovered they had little in common. So what did they talk about?” Susie asks.

Looking forward to coming to Oxford because her son lives there, she said her grandson spotted a promotional poster for Handbagged and shouted out “Look there’s granny,” she laughs.

“My son went to Oxford University and never came home.

“He has never been interested in acting though. Not enough of a show-off, unlike me,” she laughs.

Usually associated with comedy roles, Susie has recently starred in Mrs Brown’s Boys and Grumpy Old Women, while straight parts have included a stint in Coronation Street and police drama New Tricks, enjoying both immensely.

So while most actresses CVs begin to wane once they reach a certain age, Susie Blake is enjoying a renaissance, playing The Queen until Christmas and then heading out back on the road with the cast of Grumpy Old Women, to have another go at stand-up.

Not something for the faint-hearted then? “No, but I always remember my mother striding into the sea saying – I’m going to learn how to float – other people can do it, so it can be done.

“I’m just going to lie there until I get the hang of it. And stand-up is like that. Sink or swim.”

There must be more to it than that? “If you are going to be good at comedy you have to have an objective eye.

“You can’t go too far, or just say things in a funny way.

“It’s not about being funny, it’s about playing the truth of the situation which people then recognise in themselves.

“That’s what they find funny. Even the extreme comedy in Mrs Brown’s Boys is just situations you can imagine yourself in. But if you are going to do it, you have to get it right.”

All good preparation for Handbagged then? “Yes, because you lose your fear of the audience. But more than that – stand-up turns out to be huge fun and means you lose any inhibitions you’ve ever had,” Susie laughs.

No rest for the wicked then?

“It’s funny isn’t it. You get to a certain age, I’m 65 now, and yet I’m fighting fit and more ready to try anything than ever before,” she laughs in delight.

“But if I had to sum myself up in one word I would say I was an entertainer.”

Where and when
Handbagged
Oxford Playhouse
Mon September 28 to Saturday October 3
oxfordplayhouse.com or 01865 305305