Page "Toyah Willcox" Paragraph 13

In 1979, on London's Royal Court Theatre stage Willcox played Sharon in Nigel Williams ' Sugar and Spice, the play about " hate, despair and sexual derision ", climaxing with an unsettling jab of physical violence ( the main character Steve having his genitals twisted out by the broken whisky bottle ).

" I was offered the part of Carol, who is the bird that ends up naked, and I instantly refused it.

I just couldn't handle a part like that.

I sent the script back, and was offered the part of Sharon, which I was quite happy to take.

The nudity would freak me out.

Completely ", she explained in the 1980 NME interview.

The part took six weeks to learn and still proved demanding, lots of words Willcox muffled on stage.

" You get to the point where if you're not concentrating I find I'm talking a load of gibberish because I'm missing certain words out.

I'm not thinking about what I'm saying, and the cast are looking at me in horror.

You do things like that ' cos there's so many lines, you forget you are talking sense ", she explained.

Still she insisted on having at least one stage play a year, merely as a mental stimulant.

"' Cos it's training, really good training.

Film can be so related and you don't have to concentrate so much.

I just find it a good refresher course.

It just makes you think ", she told ZigZag in 1980.