Need to know: The evidence The actor's dressing room

Aoife O'Riordain
Saturday 28 November 1998 00:02 GMT
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Toby Stephens is starring with Diana Rigg in the Almeida Company productions of Britannicus and Phedre, running in rep at the Albery Theatre until 12 December

"The goldfish (1) were a present from the director, Jonathan Kent. There are two tanks of tropical fish on the set of Britannicus. I have two fish because one of the other actor's bowl broke. Mine is called Nero Jnr after my character in the play. The cards (2) and the paperweight (3) were given to me on the first night. The red file (4) is the script. The bracelet (5) is a good-luck gift from my mother's [Maggie Smith] old dresser. It's made out of elephant pubic hair, lucky for me, unlucky for the elephant. The graffiti (6) was scrawled by Jo Roth, who is also in the play. The glasses and wine (7) are for people who come to see me after the performance. The cigarette case (8) is a prop for Britannicus, although I've usually smoked all the cigarettes in it before I go on stage."

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