David Behrens hears from actress Imogen Stubbs that her past returned to haunt her for her latest role.

The 37 years of Imogen Stubbs' life to date weighed heavily upon her as she read the script of Ben Elton's new play .... suddenly her youth seemed very distant indeed.

It had been a time, the early Eighties, of feminist activism, of marches and protests. Of bonding spiritually if not physically with the peace women at Greenham Common air base.

In Ben Elton's character of Polly Slade, it was all returning to haunt her.

His wildly successful play, Blast From The Past (currently running at the West Yorkshire Playhouse), had cast her as a refugee from Greenham Common who never got over the love she knew there with an American airman. Sixteen years on, the American has returned to taunt her.

"The realisation that it all happened so many years ago made me feel very old," says Imogen, who today is one of Britain's leading stage and screen actresses, familiar from films such as Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility and from the acclaimed BBC drama, Mothertime.

"Do you know, one of the actors at the Playhouse last week had never even heard of Greenham Common," she says.

Imogen never went there but she empathised. "I was at university. I remember it as a time of great strides for feminism; Reclaim the Night marches and so on. You didn't dare wear make-up."

However, she acknowledges that there is more to feeling one's age than being reminded of events past in the pages of a script.

Every actress of her years, she says, must run the gauntlet of television casting directors - an ordeal which itself can put years on you.

"I get various television offers but they tend to be quite stereotypical. When you get to a certain age, you're usually asked to play abandoned wives; sad, depressed woman nearing their forties. TV thinks all women are like that.

"Perhaps it's because the camera's quite cruel. If you've got jowls, your close-ups are going to be harsh, no matter how much polystyrene they stick in your face. The theatre's more forgiving."

Television perpetrates the myth, she believes, that we are living in a youth-orientated world. "People only want to see women in their twenties on TV. That's what producers think, anyway.

"When I was young I thought that people of 30 were old. There was nothing good about Princess Diana's death, but at least everyone thought of her as young - and she was 36. It's maybe an indication that people haven't got such a phobia about women's age any more.

"Life goes on and you can reinvent yourself."

The opportunity to premiere Blast From The Past in Yorkshire has prompted her to reinvent at least one aspect of herself. She has discovered, she says, that she likes shopping.

"Leeds is brilliant. I've always hated shopping but I love it here.

"Not at Harvey Nicks, mind you; at the covered market. I love all that stuff. It's really inspirational."

Blast From The Past continues its run at the West Yorkshire Playhouse until May 16. Tickets are bookable on (0113) 2137700.

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