Anne Odeke taught drama in a secondary school near Southend for many years before training to be an actor in Peckham. Now she’s playing the lead at Shakespeare’s Globe in her own play about a local hero she had heard about just a few years ago, writes Michael Holland.
Southend is up there with other iconic seaside destinations in the South East for many Londoners, but to Anne Odeke it is home: ‘I was born and lived in a town about 4 miles away. But I went to school in Southend, hung out there, my friends and family are all from the area. It ain’t perfect, but it’s home – and it’s beautiful; the seaside, the arcades, the Essex girls and boys – it is a world unto itself.’ Anne had admirably marked out her territory early on in the interview.
After Anne’s schooldays ended she qualified as a teacher and taught drama in a Shoeburyness school for more than four years. She enjoyed the job but felt something was missing in her life so applied to Peckham’s Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts where she graduated with an MA in Acting.
Anne declares that Mountview was instrumental in changing her life and credits two teachers there that she emphasises ‘greatly shaped me into the actor I am today’. One was her acting teacher, Matt Smith, and the other her Voice Teacher, Vicky Woodward. ‘Ten years on, I still use much, if not all, of what they taught me,’ she adds.
Coming to acting relatively late in life, Anne Odeke still uses her work as education: ‘On every job I do, I ask myself, “What is it I am meant to learn from this experience?”. Asking that question has held me in good stead. Often those things apply to my craft but on occasions they can be about me as a person, and my own personal development.’
Anne was working with the Royal Shakespeare Company when a chance invite from the artistic director of the Queen’s Theatre in Hornchurch, Douglas Rintoul, arrived asking her to contribute to a programme of monologues he had planned that would explode the mythical stereotype of Essex people. She didn’t see herself as a writer but allowed herself to be talked into it. The short monologue she created was Princess Essex, which she took around various venues in Essex as a one-woman show.
The short play was the story of Princess Dinubolu of Senegal who in 1908 entered a beauty pageant in Southend-on-Sea’s Kursaal – the first woman of colour to enter a British beauty competition. Anne takes up the tale: ’I found out that ‘Princess Dinubolu of Senegal’ was never a real royal so knew I had tripped into the most incredible story about the most incredible woman.’
That ‘incredible story’ became a big success when Anne toured the county with it and Princess Essex took on a life of its own, right up until she developed her one-woman monologue into a full-blown play for Shakespeare’s Globe with a cast of twelve. A luxury Anne enjoyed: ’It meant I could really go to town!’ she laughs.
Anne claims this opportunity is ‘without a doubt, the most magical moment in my career… My own play at the Globe and I play the lead! Utterly surreal.’
Anne Odeke doesn’t let herself get carried away and keeps a nice balance to her life: ‘I surround myself with good people; my partner, my family, my friends, and – I’d be lying if I didn’t say – Prosecco.’
What do you think Shakespeare would make of Princess Essex? ‘I think he’d absolutely, blooming love it! It’s an epic tale, a female-lead tale, a historical narrative, it’s complex, the characters are complex, there’s music, song, and dance. And I also think he’d be impressed that the writer is in the play, as we know Shakespeare himself was in his own plays at the Globe. I feel honoured to be following in his footsteps, and be the first woman of colour to do so on the main stage of the Globe.’
It is easy to tell that this Essex Woman is very grounded and would never take life too seriously. I asked what plans she had after Princess Essex. ‘A holiday. A long one. And Prosecco.
Anne Odeke will play Princess Dinubolu, along with an excellent cast, at Shakespeare’s Globe, Bankside, SE1 from 13th September – 26th October. Admission: £5 – £75.
Booking: https://www.shakespearesglobe.com/
