A multi-award-winning star of stage and screen inspired future actors during her visit to a theatre in East Cambridgeshire.
Dame Imelda Staunton joined members of Viva Arts & Community Group in Soham on November 21 to officially open the Viva Theatre's newly refurbished annex.
Among the guests invited to the private event were dignitaries and representatives from local businesses, all of whom enjoyed several performances by Viva members.
Dame Imelda was particularly interested in meeting Viva’s Youth members and spoke to them about their involvement in Viva’s Community Theatre and their aspirations for the future.
Viva’s president, Michael Fenton Stevens, led a Q&A session with Dame Imelda, where the audience was also invited to ask questions.
When asked what advice she would give to youngsters interested in theatre, Dame Imelda replied: “This job is about, hopefully, honing your craft.
“Getting to be a better actor all the time, wanting to change and to be as truthful as you can be with this group of people - to tell a story.
"The idea of being rich and famous is just rubbish and, if that comes later in your life, then that’s a bi-product of the real product, which is doing something for its own worth.
"If three people see it or 33,000 people see it, the fact that you’re doing it is the most important thing.”
She added: “ The harder you work, the better it will be. The harder you work, the better you will feel. That’s the great thing about this job – the more you put in, the more you will get out.”
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Dame Imelda was the first celebrity to be invited to sign Viva’s new wall of fame and wrote: “what a joy to be here. Thank you! Dan [Schunmann] – you are an inspiration”.
Daniel Schunmann MBE launched the Viva Arts and Community Group 27 years ago when he was 16 to bring the arts to the Fens.
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