The actress and the profession: training in England in the twentieth century

The odd woman

“…By now she was 43 years old and several female performers significantly younger than her were already succeeding in the classical repertoirewomen such as Peggy Ashcroft (1907-91), Flora Robson (1902 and Celia Johnson . Formal training had become much more available with the setting up of the Central School of Speech and Drama and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Sutherland, 2007): Johnson and Robson trained at RADA; Ashcroft was a product of Central. In 1932-33 alone Ashcroft played six Shakespearean roles together with major parts in She Stoops to Conquer and The School for Scandal.…”