JOAN COLLINS:
ONE NIGHT WITH JOAN

“Britain’s bad girl” proclaimed Fleet Street somewhat prophetically early on in Joan’s career. This was, of course, long before her five marriages, flirtation with Hollywood and career defining role in Dynasty as Alexis Morell Carrington Colby Dexter Rowan (yes, it appears her TV character was as fond of the aisle as Joan).

Collins returns with her one woman show, and where one would expect her to be regaling the audience with a rose-tinted view of a colourful and glitzy career, she surprises with a rather humble and self-effacing account of a career that, Dynasty aside, perhaps didn’t quite reach the zenith it should have done. Joan attributes part of the reason for this down to the casting couch culture that dominated the studio system of Hollywood in its early decades. She recalls how Darryl F. Zanuck was perhaps one of the more notorious womanisers of the period, and that the success of her screen testing for the role of Cleopatra relied not so much on the quality of her acting, but whether she would “be nice” to certain executives. Collins asserts that she didn’t.

She glosses over the more intimate details behind the breakdown of her marriages – it’s a two hour show, not a biopic, after all – but even so, every memory captivates, delivering an insight into what it means to be a woman in the celebrity/Hollywood system… and indeed the resulting sexism and ageism that comes with it.

Collins raises laughs when she gives us a montage of television and film highlights and low points, from guest appearances in Star Trek as Captain Kirk’s love interest to her roles in The Stud and The Bitch, via the cringe-inducing horror flicks of the 70s.

There are memories of Elizabeth Taylor and Marilyn Monroe, the latter of which advises a young Collins that Hollywood is full of wolves. Of course, Dynasty is the centrepiece here with a wonderful collection of clips from her finest on-screen moments, from the bitch-fights with Linda Evans to a hilarious montage of bloopers that mostly feature falling earrings and Joan tripping over her swaying gowns.

Her recollection of her famous court case in which Random House attempted to sue her for failing to deliver a publishable manuscript is priceless.

Joan is a survivor in so many ways. From experiencing the ‘Golden Age’ of the Hollywood monster through to queuing in line at the unemployment office – “The thing is with celebrity is you only ever get recognized when you don’t want to!” – Joan defies expectations and shows she is more than just an iconic character from a popular 80s TV drama. The phrase ‘national treasure’ gets bandied around all too easily these days, but in relation to Joan Collins, it couldn’t be more fitting.

 

• Leicester Square Theatre, 6 Leicester Street, WC2H 7BX
• 
26th, 27th, 28th April. Tickets: 08448 733 433 and www.leicestersquaretheatre.com

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