Dame Sian Phillips and Charlotte Emmerson star in Footfalls and Rockaby

“There is no sleep so deep I would not hear you there.” – Footfalls, Samuel Beckett

An unmissable double bill of short plays by Samuel Beckett starring Siân Phillips and Charlotte Emmerson, featuring the 45th anniversary staging of Footfalls and the 40th anniversary production of Rockaby, transfers exclusively to Bath’s Ustinov Studio appearing from Wednesday 24th November to Saturday 4th December, direct from London’s Jermyn Street Theatre. 

“Siân Phillips and Charlotte Emmerson’s performances make this evening deeply affecting... Perfectly cast - this is an autumnal double bill, as crisp and dark as the night above.” - The Guardian ★★★★

A rocking chair creaks. Footsteps echo down a corridor, tracing and retracing the same path. An old woman hears a voice from beyond – a voice that sounds eerily like her own. In this pair of miniature masterpieces directed by Richard Beecham, Samuel Beckett dazzlingly explores his obsessions with age, memory and the passing of time.  

“This is theatre built from anguish, longing and bleached bones: exquisite” – The Times ★★★★★

Footfalls and Rockaby sees star of stage and screen Siân Phillips reunited with the work of the great Irish playwright whom she first met in 1966 when Samuel Beckett directed her in his first work for television, Eh Joe.

In a career spanning eight decades, Siân Phillips’ many memorable screen credits include her BAFTA-winning role in the BBC’s adaptation of I, Claudius in 1976; Becket in 1964; the musical film Goodbye, Mr Chips in 1969; Murphy’s War in 1971; the mini-series Shoulder to Shoulder in 1974; Winston Churchill: the Wilderness Years in 1981; Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy in 1979; Clash of the Titans in 1981; David Lynch’s Dune in 1984; The Borrowers in 1992; The Return of The Borrowers in 1993; and many appearances in the original run of Call My Bluff. More recently, she has played guest roles in New Tricks, Under Milk Wood, Casualty, Inspector Lewis, and the TV adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s detective novels Strike. Siân’s prestigious stage career has seen her nominated for Olivier Awards for Pal Joey in 1980/1981, A Little Night Music in 1996, Cabaret in 2013, and the title role in Marlene in 1999, a production which toured to the Theatre Royal in 1997. She performed the title roles in Hedda Gabler and Saint Joan; provided spoken-word backing for a track on Rufus Wainwright's 2007 album Release the Stars, also appearing live with him at London’s Old Vic Theatre; and recently starred in Under Milk Wood at the National Theatre. Her many stage credits include playing Juliet opposite Michael Byrne in Juliet and her Romeo at Bristol Old Vic. Footfalls and Rockaby is her 10th production at Bath’s Theatre Royal since 1990 when she starred in Vanilla, with productions since including Calendar Girls in 2008 and The Importance of Being Earnest in 2014, both of which transferred to the West End. Siân Phillips was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to drama. 

Charlotte Emmerson’s television credits include the BBC series Love, Lies and Records, Casualty 1909, Doctors, Holby City and Silent Witness; ITV’s See No Evil: The Moors Murders, DCI Banks, Law & Order, Midsomer Murders, Foyle’s War and Peak Practice, and Channel 4’s Underworld. Her theatre credits include The Postman Always Rings Twice at West Yorkshire Playhouse and in the West End; the title role in Lucy Bailey’s acclaimed staging of Baby Doll and The Cherry Orchard, both at the National Theatre, and most recently Alone in Berlin at Northampton’s Royal & Derngate. She has previously performed at the Theatre Royal Bath in The Good Hope in 2002, Our Song in 2003 and Gaslight in 2019. 

Jermyn Street Theatre in London has a history of staging highly acclaimed productions of Beckett’s work, having previously presented All That Fall and the Beckett Triple Bill before producing these two rarely performed gems this autumn. Footfalls and Rockaby visits Bath direct from the Jermyn Street Theatre where the double bill runs from 3rd to 20th November.

Artistic Director of Jermyn Street Theatre, Tom Littler said: "We are delighted to welcome Dame Siân Phillips and Charlotte Emmerson to perform these two extraordinary plays by the master miniaturist, Samuel Beckett. The running time is short, but they will live long in the memory. It is a pleasure to share the work with the audiences of Theatre Royal Bath."

Richard Beecham has previously directed Siân Phillips in Playing for Time at Sheffield Crucible, which received a host of five star reviews, and in a new production of Driving Miss Daisy alongside Derek Griffiths which opened at the Theatre Royal Bath before touring the UK in 2017. His previous work at Bath’s Ustinov Studio includes the acclaimed productions of In A Garden and Red Light Winter. At Salisbury Playhouse, he directed The School for Scandal and The Invention of Love, and he was Associate Director for The Peter Hall Company’s production of Henry IV Part 1 at the Theatre Royal Bath in 2011. Set and costume designs for Footfalls and Rockaby are by Simon Kenny, lighting is by Ben Ormerod and sound design is by Adrienne Quartley.

Footfalls and Rockaby appears at the Ustinov Studio at the Theatre Royal Bath from Wednesday 24th November to Saturday 4th December. Tickets are on sale at the Theatre Royal Bath Box Office on 01225 448844 and online at www.theatreroyal.org.uk