Backstairs Billy
About the work
England, 1979. Under the incumbent Labour government, the country is struggling through the so-called ‘Winter of Discontent’, when a combination of severe weather and widespread trade union strikes, involving refuse collectors, gravediggers and the NHS, leads the population to unrest. Rubbish piles in the streets, bodies lie in morgues and disgruntled workers form picket lines.
But inside Clarence House in London, life remains essentially unchanged, as it has ever since the Queen Mother first took up residence there a quarter of a century before. Maintaining the continuity and order is the newly promoted Page of the Backstairs, William Tallon, affectionately known as ‘Backstairs Billy’. He has been Her Majesty’s loyal servant service since her arrival at Clarence House in 1952, following the late king’s death, when Billy was just 15-years-old.
Charming, witty and daring, Billy has become not only the Queen Mother’s most-devoted employee, but also her most-trusted confidant. The affection is mutual and while other members of staff come and go, Billy remains by Her Majesty’s side. This fact is not lost on Mr Kerr, the Queen Mother’s Private Secretary – a relative newcomer with only seven years’ service. He believes Billy takes advantage of Her Majesty’s goodwill and encourages her extravagant lifestyle, which he thinks should be ‘contained’ given the current political climate.
Conscious of Buckingham Palace’s concerns, Mr Kerr begins a covert campaign to undermine Billy’s privileged position and ultimately oust him from Clarence House. He challenges his appointment of new footman Gwydion, investigates the cause of the teetotal Mr and Mrs Harrington-Bahr’s inebriation at a recent reception and pursues his suspicions about Billy’s private life.
Mr Kerr’s opportunity for a decisive strike finally arrives when an emissary from the royal delegation from Lesotho is confused with Billy’s ‘cousin’ Ian – in reality, his date from the night before – who’s returned to Clarence House to reclaim something he left there. An artist and republican, Ian rejects the royal family plus their household and staff. His provocative sculpture ‘Black Dawn II’ is a challenge to everything they represent… Is this Mr Kerr’s moment of victory? Or can Billy persuade the Queen Mother to forgive and forget one indiscretion after so many years’ loyal service?
Marcelo Dos Santos
Marcelo is an award-winning Latinx British-Brazilian-Australian writer. Backstairs Billy marks his West End debut.
Theatre includes: Feeling Afraid As If Something Terrible is Going to Happen (Francesca Moody Productions at the Summerhall Edinburgh & Bush Theatre, winner of the Scotsman Fringe First Award for Excellence in New Writing); Lionboy (adaptation for Complicité – UK tour & Broadway); Trigger Warning (Camden People’s Theatre); Lovers Walk (co-writer, Southwark Playhouse); The End of History (Soho Theatre/High Hearted Theatre at St Giles in the Fields); Cheer up this is only the beginning (co-writer, Liverpool & Everyman Playhouse); Play Without a Title (after Lorca – Oxford School of Drama at New Diorama); Open Plan (Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama) and New Labour (RADA, directed by Richard Wilson).
He has been a writer on attachment at the National Theatre, the Bush Theatre, HighTide Festival Theatre and the Royal Court Theatre.
For screen, Marcelo is developing projects with major companies including Avalon TV, Mam Tor and Drama Republic.
(In order of speaking)
William ‘Billy’ Tallon (Luke Evans)
’44, tall, a sweep of dyed black hair, immaculate morning suit.’
Charming and amusing, Billy has been the Queen Mother’s loyal servant since he was 15-years-old, rising through the ranks over nearly thirty years to become Page of the Backstairs – hence his nickname and legendary status as ‘Backstairs Billy’. Despite his humble beginnings as the son of ironmongers in Coventry, Billy has aspired to a life of refinement, tradition and order. By contrast, the world beyond the royal household and service appears an unsettling place, which Billy is keen to avoid, except for his nighttime excursions…
Gwydion (Iwan Davies)
‘Mid 20s’
Originally from ‘the valleys’ in Wales, Gwydion has just joined the staff at Clarence House and reminds Billy of his younger self. Educated to ‘O Levels’, Gwydion presses for better pay and conditions for both himself and his colleagues. He is torn, though, between using his knowledge of Billy’s nocturnal activities to his advantage, while also trying to defend him against the malicious Mr Kerr.
Mr Kerr (Ian Drysdale)
The Queen Mother’s Private Secretary of seven years’ service. Traditionally schooled and educated, Mr Kerr is an establishment figure mindful of the fast-changing political landscape beyond Clarence House and the need for sensitivity in these financially-straitened times. Conscious of Buckingham Palace’s concern about the Queen Mother’s extravagant lifestyle, Mr Kerr seeks to contain it and, in particular, its arch-proponent – and his nemesis – Billy.
Annabel Maude (Emily Barber)
‘Actress, late 20s’
The star of one of the Queen Mother’s favourite TV ‘sit-coms’, Annabel is on friendly terms with Billy but finds herself overawed and nervous, swearing involuntarily, when invited to a reception at Clarence House to meet Her Majesty.
Mrs Harrington-Bahr (Nicola Sloane)
‘Mid 60s, formidable’
Resident of the Royal County of Hertfordshire, member of the St Ippolytus Women’s Institute, keen botanist and confirmed tee-totaller. She is in awe of the Queen Mother and all things relating to the royal family.
Mr Harrington-Bahr (Michael Simkins)
‘Formal, mid 60s, deaf’
Member of the St Ippolytus Rotary Club and, like his wife, a tee-totaller. Equally in awe of all things royal.
The Queen Mother (Penelope Wilton)
Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, formerly Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, from 1936 to 1952, as the wife of the late King George VI. At the start of the play, the Queen Mother is 78-years-old. We also see her aged 51, recently widowed and installed in Clarence House. Often alone, she longs for the company of her children and grandchildren, who are frequently too busy to visit her. Increasingly isolated, the Queen Mother feels abandoned and redundant, taking comfort in the camaraderie of Billy.
Young Billy (Ilan Galkoff)
Billy in 1952, aged 15, having recently started in service at Clarence House. He claims to have written to the Queen Mother and the late King since he was 12-years-old, seeking employment in the royal household.
Ian (Eloka Ivo)
‘Late 20s/30, Black. He wears jeans and a tight t-shirt and boots.’
An artist specialising in sculpture, well-educated and politically engaged, Ian meets Billy on one of his nighttime excursions – in a urinal in Piccadilly. Brought back to Clarence House in the middle of the night, it and the royal family represent everything the young man is against. Later, at a reception at Clarence House, when he’s mistaken for an emissary from the royal delegation from Lesotho, Ian takes the opportunity to tell the Queen Mother and all those present what he really thinks of them…
Lady Miffie Astlebury (Emily Barber)
‘20s, socialite’
Works for a gallery in Mayfair and is immediately attracted to Ian, whom she believes is an African prince working as an artist.
Hugo McCoyd (Michael Simkins)
‘70s, old friend of The Queen Mother.’
Spritely, enjoys a drink – whatever the hour – it’s rumoured that Hugo and the Queen Mother were once lovers but, he claims coyly, he ‘couldn’t possibly talk about that’…
Lady Adeline (Nicola Sloane)
‘An older lady’
A contemporary of the Queen Mother’s, who now appears to have dementia and is clearly confused by her surroundings and the apparent absence at the royal reception of (the late) King George.
Palace Staff – Footmen and Maids (David Buttle, Keanu Adolphus Johnson, Amy Newton, Georgie Rhys and Jacob Ethan Tanner)
Penelope Wilton
The Queen Mother
Luke Evans
William ‘Billy’ Tallon
Emily Barber
Annabel Maude / Lady Miffie Astlebury
Iwan Davies
Gwydion
Ian Drysdale
Mr Kerr
Ilan Galkoff
Young Billy
Eloka Ivo
Ian
Michael Simkins
Mr Harrington-Bahr / Hugo McCoyd
Nicola Sloane
Mrs Harrington-Bahr / Lady Adeline
David Buttle
Palace Staff & Understudy William ‘Billy’ Tallon and Mr Harrington-Bahr / Hugo McCoyd
Keanu Adolphus Johnson
Palace Staff & Understudy Ian
Amy Newton
Palace Staff & Understudy Mr Kerr
and Annabel Maude / Lady Miffie Astlebury
Georgie Rhys
Palace Staff & Understudy The Queen Mother
and Mrs Harrington-Bahr / Lady Adeline
Jacob Ethan Tanner
Palace Staff & Understudy Gwydion and Young Billy
Designing Costumes for Backstage Billy: Christopher Oram in conversation with Tom Rand
Whilst rehearsing the play, designers Christopher and Tom took some time out to discuss how they arrived at costuming the show and in particular The Queen Mother.
CHRISTOPHER ORAM: Why did you want to dress Penelope Wilton
for this play?
TOM RAND: Penelope and I had lunch in early April and she told me
she was going to be playing Queen Elizabeth,The Queen Mother, in a
new play and of course my brain went into overdrive! She mentioned
the name Michael Grandage, whom I’ve known and admired for a long
time, but never had the chance to work with, and I started to hope
that I might get asked to be involved.
CO: Penelope is an old friend and colleague of yours isn’t she?
TR: Yes, I think we first worked together over 40 years ago when she
played a role in the film of The French Lieutenant’s Woman, and then on
stage with both Harold Pinter and Karel Reisz a number of times.
CO: So it seems only right and appropriate that you would be
her couturier for the show.
TR: [Laughing] yes it’s like saying Christian Dior designs Vivien Leigh’s costumes.
CO: Yes, I think “Gowns by…” is what we’d really want.
TR: Oh yes, perfect, Christopher.
CO: Proper old school.
TR: I’ve always loved collaborating with designers but I’ve never
before collaborated with another costume designer but this is
different in that the character Queen Elizabeth is sort of separate
from everybody else in the play. I love the ping-pong of the process of
working with set designers and I think it’s enervating for both of us.
CO: I agree. I don’t think you can come into this business without
wanting to work with other people because it’s a constant collaboration
with other creatives or artisans and it’s part of a much bigger process.
When it comes to designing costumes you’re already working with
costume makers and buyers and shoppers so it’s already a much
bigger department that I think most people give it credit for.
TR: Like you, I love working with the artists and artisans, the costume
makers, the milliners, the lady that restrung the pearls that Penelope
is wearing; those people are the unsung heroes of what we do.
CO: It’s interesting though, I’ve never done this version before with
a singular other costume designer but your point is well made, that
The Queen Mother does exist in this rather brilliant bubble and it
seemed a very logical and obvious thing to do. I think it gives her a
different energy and a different role and function within the play
which is wonderful.
CO: The makers we’re working with on Backstairs Billy have
been brilliant.
TR: Yes, John Bright and the team at Cosprop are amazing. John is
known as a designer in his own right for doing all the Merchant Ivory
films and that is the sort of work they do, mostly nineteenth century.
But the moment I said to him: Penelope Wilton, Queen Elizabeth, 1979,
he said he’d love to do it. One of the things about Queen Elizabeth was
that her clothes and hairstyle didn’t really change, they were the same
through the war and she never really moved into the 1960s and 1970s.
CO: I think that’s true of a lot of Royals isn’t it? They have a uniform
without realising it because they always need to be instantly
recognisable. It’s fascinating, there is a timelessness about those
silhouettes and those looks, and it’s something that’s readily
identifiable; it’s very easy to look at a photograph of The Queen Mother
and know exactly who she is because of the shape of her hats and
dresses and what she clearly favoured and was practical. It’s fascinating
that she favoured a flat shoe so there was never any danger of tripping
over; what a brilliant and useful thing to do.
TR: They’re work clothes: they’re practical and they have to, as you
say, draw the eye the moment they enter a room. One of the lovely
things about this play is that there was never any discussion of brown
cardigans and grey skirts! One of the first things I did was to look at
fabrics because that’s what those dresses are: the scale of the prints,
the pop of the colour, the pattern; and that gives you a clue as to
what to do.
CO: Where have you sourced these fabrics from?
TR: They’ve come from Italy, from a fabric shop that actually holds
a Royal Warrant. They supplied, nearly always, the fabrics that Queen
Elizabeth wore, and those of Her Majesty the Queen.
Not cheap, but I think worth it!
CO: Definitely worth it.
TR: And then you have to consider how the clothes are going to
look on the actress. Penelope is a relatively tall, slim woman and
Queen Elizabeth was rounder and much shorter so John Bright has
engineered undergarments to reflect this; then we were able to start
looking at real clothes on Penelope and find out what worked and what
didn’t. We are of course helped by the fact that Luke Evans is a very tall
actor and she’s wearing low-heeled shoes but it’s also about that sleight
of hand, making sure fabrics are draped and cut in the right places.
I really think we’ve managed to achieve costumes that are signature
Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother.
TR: Christopher, tell me about how you’ve approached dressing
the other characters.
CO: Well, I think it’s worth noting that it is a period play. It’s set in
the late seventies, just as Margaret Thatcher was coming into power,
in a world that was more racist and homophobic than, mercifully, the
one we live in now, and I think, although it’s in a lot of people’s living
memories, there’s an assumption that it’s closer to today’s world
than it is. It was a bleaker time; well, perhaps not bleaker because
we live in a pretty bleak time now, but certainly in terms of mass
communication and things like that, it was a whole different world.
So, to help tell the story, it’s vital to try to define the characters through
their looks, their hair and costumes. Take simple things like the shape
of men’s haircuts, they were so radically different from what you would
see these days. That’s what is fascinating about The Queen Mother as
a totemic figure in the middle of it; she’s timeless but the world around
her is very specific to the time in which this play is set.
TR: Yes it’s interesting because The Queen Mother and all the staff
around her don’t really say 1970s at all, except for their hair, because
the staff are in almost Edwardian dress so you have this marvellous
opportunity with the guests to really go to 1979 because it certainly
was a different world. When I look at photographs of myself at that
time, I think who the hell is that you know, what weird things we wore;
I mean, you know I wasn’t a stranger to brown and orange!
CO: It was the seventies, that’s cool! It’s cool today! There’s a lot
of fun to be had, sculpting and creating this world with the actors,
with the costumiers, but it also has to be allowed to exist as 1979 with
the attitudes and morals of that time. I think that’s key to how Marcelo
Dos Santos has written the play: that it exists in a rather brilliant world
where it’s both very funny and very modern and yet it’s quite shocking
about what it has to say about that time, even within the context of
a Royal household, and possibly because of the context of the Royal
household. That’s why I find it so exciting that we have Penelope so
central and focused in her very dynamic, specific looks with this
slightly chaotic world around her; the guests and staff all having these
difficult moments of political and royal faux pas all over the place
and I think that’s kind of the fun of it, isn’t it?
