‘To hell with RP’ … how surprise Olivier nominee Rosie Sheehy is following in Richard Burton’s footsteps

Arifa Akbar - TheGuardian - 16/04
To survive in acting, she thought she had to nail received pronunciation. Then she remembered Port Talbot’s extraordinary lineage, reverted to her native accent – and everything changed
‘People like me can do this’ … Sheehy, left, with Hannah Morrish in The Brightening Air. Photograph: Manuel Harlan
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‘People like me can do this’ … Sheehy, left, with Hannah Morrish in The Brightening Air. Photograph: Manuel Harlan
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‘To hell with RP’ … how surprise Olivier nominee Rosie Sheehy is following in Richard Burton’s footsteps

Arifa Akbar

To survive in acting, she thought she had to nail received pronunciation. Then she remembered Port Talbot’s extraordinary lineage, reverted to her native accent – and everything changed

Rosie Sheehy was in rehearsals for Conor McPherson’s new play, The Brightening Air, when the stage manager burst in with “something to say”. There was a pause and Sheehy expected a calamity to be announced. Her co-stars Brian Gleeson and Chris O’Dowd, who play her siblings, were present but not Derbhle Crotty. “For a second I thought, ‘What’s happened to Derbhle – has she been knocked down?’”

In fact, the Olivier awards nominations had just been announced – with Sheehy shortlisted for best actress (alongside eventual winner Lesley Ma...
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