British stage and screen actress Jean Marsh joins the cast of hit comedy Boeing Boeing at the Comedy on 1 October, replacing Rhea Perlman in the role of housekeeper Bertha. Marsh joins the other previously announced new cast members Tracy-Ann Oberman and Jennifer Ellison.
Marsh’s extensive screen credits include the popular 70s television drama series Upstairs Downstairs, which she starred in and co-created with Eileen Atkins (the pair went on to create the series House Of Elliot), plus Bremner, Bird And Fortune, Doctor Who, Ghosthunter and the forthcoming mini-series Sense And Sensibility. On stage, Marsh was last in London alongside Timothy West in the English Touring Theatre production of The Old Country at Trafalgar Studios. She has frequently worked on Broadway, in productions including Much Ado About Nothing, Habeas Corpus and Whose Life Is It Anyway?
In Boeing Boeing, Marsh will play Bertha, the long-suffering housekeeper of Parisian architect Bernard, who is reluctantly drawn into helping juggle her boss’s complicated love life. With Bertha’s help and a handy guide to the airline schedules, Bernard thinks he can keep his three air hostess girlfriends apart, and friend Robert looks on in envy. But when schedules change, Bernard’s love life takes a farcical turn.
Matthew Warchus’s production of Marc Camoletti’s farce, translated by Beverley Cross, has been running at the Comedy since February 2007. Marsh will join a cast that includes Neil Stuke, Elena Roger and Kevin McNally as Bernard (from 3 September).
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