Here’s a short article taken from News & Star and sent to me by Sue W.

Loyal local following: Richard E Grant is known for his role in the film Withnail and I, which was partly set in Penrith Richard E Grant – Wah Wah, Words by the Water, Theatre by the Lake, Keswick, Saturday, March 18.

OVER the course of his film career (67 to date) Richard E Grant has made a bit of a name playing the arrogant, selfish weirdos. How To Get Ahead In Advertising and – of course – Withnail and I being the most famous.

So it’s refreshing to attend Words by the Water and realise from the off that he’s really a lovely, self-effacing, generous bloke. All apologies that the near-capacity audience should have been “fleeced” by paying £10 when his new book, Wah Wah, is as yet “a myth” (the publication has been held back until April 21 because it’s been serialised in a daily newspaper) he proceeded to regale us with tales of “sphincter-winking embarrassment”, a superb Kenneth Williams impression, silly voices and anecdotes of the difficulties and huge excitement of being a first-time director.

Even just the mention of that glorious name of Withnail brought a cheer from the audience, of which quite a large part had clearly come to pay homage. Described as looking like “a fat Dirk Bogarde” by director Bruce Robinson when he was cast, the poor out-of-work-for-11-months actor had to lose the stone in weight he had spent a fortune in weight-gain powder to put on.

Taking its name from his mother’s phrase for the conversations of the colonial English in Swaziland (where Grant was partly brought up), Wah Wah will be the book of the film of his (slightly fictionalised) life.

The film has already received rave reviews at the Edinburgh Film Festival and, if it and the book are only a fraction as funny they will both be well worth checking out.

KATE REES

Thanks Sue.