Eileen Atkins - Stage

Stage

She joined the Guild Players Repertory Company in Bangor, Northern Ireland as a professional actress in 1952. She appeared as the nurse in Harvey at the Repertory Theatre, Bangor, in 1952.

Eileen Atkins' London stage debut was in 1953 as Jaquenetta in Robert Atkins's staging of Love's Labour's Lost at the Open Air Theatre in Regent's Park.

Atkins has regularly returned to the life and work of Virginia Woolf for professional inspiration. She has played the writer on stage (A Room of One's Own and Vita and Virginia, winning the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show for the former) and screen (the 1990 television version of Room); she also provided the screenplay for the 1997 film adaptation of Woolf's novel Mrs. Dalloway — starring Vanessa Redgrave (her stage costar in Vita and Virginia) — and made a cameo appearance in the 2002 film version of Michael Cunningham's Woolf-themed novel The Hours.

She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1957 and stayed for two seasons. She was with the Old Vic in its 1961-62 season (she appeared in the Old Vic's Repertoire Leaflets of February–April 1962 and April–May 1962). Her stage performances from 1957 include:

• Cymbeline (unnamed parts) at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 2 July 1957 press night
• The Tempest (unnamed parts) at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 13 August 1957 press night
• The Vigil (Magdalen) at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 21 October 1957 press night
• The Tempest (unnamed parts) at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, 5 December 1957 press night
• Romeo and Juliet (unnamed parts) at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 8 April 1958 press night
• Hamlet (Lady) at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 3 June 1958 press night
• Pericles (Diana) at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 8 July 1958 press night
• Much Ado About Nothing (unnamed parts) at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, (Stratford-upon-Avon, 26 August 1958 press night
• Romeo and Juliet (unnamed parts) and Hamlet (Lady) on Tour, 12 December 1958 – 5 January 1959
• Roots (Beattie), Bristol Old Vic, February 1961 (for the Bristol Old Vic Company, with Stephanie Cole)
• The Square (girl), Bromley Little Theatre, Kent, April 1961 (by Merguerite, for a professional company run by David Korda, with Prunella Scales, June Brown, Jeremy Brett and Windsor Davies)
• Twelfth Night (Viola), Old Vic, 2 October 1961 press night (scenes from this performance were featured in the March 1962 issue of Theatre World magazine)
• Richard III (Queen), Old Vic, 6 March 1962 press night (with Paul Daneman, she was on the cover page of the April 1962 issue of Plays and Players magazine for her performance here)
• The Tempest (Miranda), Old Vic, 29 May 1962 press night
• Semi-Detached (Eileen Midway), Saville Theatre, London, 5 December 1962 press night (with Laurence Olivier)
• The Provok'd Wife (wife), Georgian Theatre (Richmond, Yorkshire) and Vaudeville Theatre (London), July 1963 (a play by Vanbrugh, for the Prospect Theatre Company)
• Exit The King (Juliette), Edinburgh Festival and Royal Court Theatre, 1963 (with Alec Guinness, scenes from this performance were featured in the November 1963 issue of Plays and Players magazine with Alec Guinness on the cover page)
• The Sleepers' Den (Mrs. Shannon), Royal Court Theatre, 28 February 1965 opening night (directed by Peter Gill)
• The Killing of Sister George (Alice "Childie" McNaught), Bristol Old Vic, 1964–66; Duke of York's, 1965 (she was on the cover page of the September 1965 issue of Theatre World magazine for this performance); St. Martin's, 1966 (by Frank Marcus)
• The Killing of Sister George (Alice "Childie" McNaught), Belasco Theatre, New York, 5 October 1966 – 1 April 1967 (with Beryl Reid)
• The Restoration of Arnold Middleton (Joan Middleton, the wife), Royal Court, 1966–67
• The Promise (Lika), Henry Miller's Theatre, New York, 14 November – 2 December 1967 (with Ian McKellen and Ian McShane; on opening night the audience was picketed by local Equity members chanting that only American actors should be allowed on Broadway. Their wish was soon granted as this play closed after 23 performances.
• The Cocktail Party (Celia Coplestone), Chichester Festival Theatre, 1968 (with Alec Guinness as co-performer and director)
• Vivat!Vivat Regina! (Elizabeth I), Piccadilly, 8 October 1970 (opening night) – 1971 (by Robert Bolt, with Sarah Miles)
• Vivat!Vivat Regina! (Elizabeth I), Broadhurst Theatre, New York, 20 January – 29 April 1972 (with Claire Bloom as Mary, Queen of Scots)
• Suzanna Andler (Suzanna Andler), Aldwych Theatre, London, 7 March 1973 press night
• As You Like It (Rosalind), Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 12 June 1973 press night
• Heartbreak House (Hesione Husbaye), Old Vic, 20 February 1975 opening night
• The Night of the Tribades (Marie Caroline David), Helen Hayes Theatre, New York, 13–22 October 1977 (with Max von Sydow)
• St. Joan (St. Joan), Old Vic, tour and Liverpool Playhouse, 1977–78 (for the Prospect Theatre Company)
• The Lady's Not For Burning (Jennet Jourdemayne), 1978 (for the Prospect Theatre Company with Derek Jacobi)
• Twelfth Night (Viola), Old Vic, 1978 (for the Prospect Theatre Company)
• Passion Play (Nell), Aldwych Theatre, London, 13 January 1981 press night
• Serjeant Musgrave's Dance (Mrs. Hitchcock), Old Vic, 1983-84 (with Albert Finney as Sgt Musgrave, there was a performance on 23 May 1984 at the Old Vic)
• Medea (Medea), Young Vic Theatre, 1985–86
• The Winter's Tale (Paulina, wife to Antigonus), Cottesloe Theatre, 5 February 1988 opening night
• Cymbeline(Queen, wife to Cymbeline), Cottesloe Theatre, 5 October 1988 opening night
• Mountain Language (Elderly Woman), Lyttelton Theatre, 17 October 1988 opening night
• Exclusive (Sally Kershaw), Theatre Royal in Bath, 1988–89
• A Room of One's Own (Virginia Woolf), Theatre Royal in Bath, 1990–91
• The Night of the Iguana (Hannah Jelkes), Lyttelton Theatre, 31 January 1992 opening night
• Vita and Virginia (Virginia Woolf), Minerva Theatre, August – September 1992 (original production for the Chichester Festival Theatre, with Penelope Wilton as Vita Sackville-West), Ambassador's Theatre, London, 1993–94, and Union Square Theatre (Off-Broadway), 1994 (with Vanessa Redgrave as Vita) — this play was written by Atkins based on the letters and diaries of Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West
• Indiscretions (Leonie), Ethel Barrymore Theatre, 27 April – 4 November 1995 ( by Jean Cocteau, directed by Sean Mathias, with Kathleen Turner and Broadway debutant Jude Law)
• John Gabriel Borkman (Mrs. Gunhild Borkman), Lyttelton Theatre, 15 July 1996 opening night
• Hermione Lee on Virginia Woolf (Reader), Cottesloe Theatre, 18 October 1996 opening night
• A Delicate Balance (Agnes), Haymarket Theatre, 21 October 1997 – 4 April 1998 (with Maggie Smith, written by Edward Albee and directed by Anthony Page)
• The Unexpected Man (Woman), The Pit, London, 15 April 1998 press night (by Yasmina Reza, with Michael Gambon)
• The Unexpected Man (Woman), Duchess Theatre, London, 15 June 1998 press night
• The Unexpected Man (Woman), Promenade (Off-Broadway), New York, 24 October 2000 opening night (with Alan Bates)
• Honour (Honor), Cottesloe Theatre, 21 February 2003 opening night
• The Retreat From Moscow (Alice), Booth Theatre, New York, 23 October 2003 – 29 February 2004 (by William Nicholson, with John Lithgow and Ben Chaplin)
• The Birthday Party (Meg), Duchess Theatre, London, 20 April – 25 June 2005 (by Harold Pinter)
• Doubt (Sister Aloysius), Walter Kerr Theatre, New York, 17 January – 2 July 2006 (by John Patrick Shanley, with Ron Eldard and Jena Malone; Atkins, who replaced Cherry Jones, was supposed to debut on 10 January but was down with flu and so the performance was delayed for a week)
• The Sea (Mrs Rafi), Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 21 January – 19 April 2008 (by Edward Bond, directed by Jonathan Kent)
• The Female of the Species (Margot), Vaudeville Theatre, 16 July - 4 October 2008 (by Joanna Murray-Smith; this play outraged the feminist Germaine Greer because of its connection with an incident in her life. It was, however, generally very well received, with The Sunday Telegraph reviewer Tim Walker giving it five stars and describing it as "great theatre.")
• Harold Pinter: A Celebration, Olivier Theatre, 7 June 2009 (for the National Theatre)
• All That Fall by Samuel Beckett, Jermyn Street Theatre, 11 October - 3 November 2012, transfer to the Arts Theatre, 6 - 24 November 2012