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Falling for a
princess FAYE Brookes is no stranger to Birmingham
having collected rave reviews from Behind The Arras as Elle Woods in her
visits in Legally Blonde at The New Alexandra Theatre in both 2011 and
2012. And now the blonde law student has become a
redhead Princess as Fiona, the feisty love interest in Shrek, and she is
a character that Brookes just loves. She said: “She is pretty dynamic. She is complex
as a character, simply because she has been in that tower for 20 years.
She is slightly bipolar and she kno
“So when I was physically looking at it I thought
‘well I probably don’t have to do much, just step into the beautiful
green dress’ but when she does get to escape and she is with her Price
Charming you realise she is just a bit psychotic and she throws herself
into everything whether it is a song or a tap dance (watcht the rats
tapping). Faye Brookes as Princess Fiona trapped in
her tower “It wasn’t so much a transformation as for other
characters, Gerard Carey is on his knees for Lord Farquaar
and Dean Chisnall has to be in make-up for two hours and has to go
through prosthetics but I do get to transform into the ogre at the end
of the show and it is a 90 second change, which is so quick, but it is
also a part of her character that no one gest t see until the end. “Emotionally its more of a transformation for
myself. I go through a whirlwind of who am I? What am I? Is it OK to be
this ogre? Finally we understand at the end that there is beauty is on
the inside - there is that lovely old saying of don’t judge a book by
its cover - and also, different is good and it is OK to be a freak. “And I think she discovers she can be the ogre
and be happy with the skin that she is in and not think of it as a
curse, which is what we portray in the story. We have to tell everyone
in the audience, children and adults, that this is what the story is –
but we are going to change it.” It might seem a family musical with a storyline
that would hardly tax a toddler but there is much more to the role than
that for Brookes. She said: “I love it. I am challenged every day.
Mentally I am challenged as well. The script and the score is just there
for you. I just have to say what is there. “It is very natural, from the heart and if I just
came on stage on autopilot I would not be doing it justice whereas I get
to come on stage every day and discover something new every night. “On the first might in Birmingham I was
discovering something new again and again in every scene because the
audience were discovering something. There were laughing at certain
things and I too that away for myself and I love that about Birmingham
as I am already being tested by the audience, never mind the script.” Arriving in Birmingham again Brookes is finding
the Hippodrome big and modern. “I think we have found our niche, I think
we have found our favourite and I think we will relish the four weeks we
are here and we are not going to let you down. You just enjoy the show.” Roger Clarke |
