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From corsets to condoms: Katie McGuinness returns to the Orange Tree in Susan Glaspell's Chains of Dew

The last time we saw Katie McGuinness at the Orange Tree, she was corsetted up and baring her soul as the eponymous heroine of John Masefield's rural tragedy, Nan.

Nine months later and she is playing a stay-at-home wife in Chains of Dew by the Pulitzer award-winning playwright Susan Glaspell.

It's about as far away from 19th century Gloucestershire as you can get. But, says McGuinness, it feels good to be back.

"It's like coming home," she smiles, at the end of a long day of rehearsals with director Kate Saxon. "The people here are so lovely and everyone cares about what they are doing. The recent funding crisis just goes to show how much of an impact the theatre does have and how important it is to people."

In keeping with the Orange Tree's mission to revive neglected plays, Chains of Dew has been performed just once before by Glaspell's own theatre group, the Provincetown Players, who also premiered the work of Eugene O'Neill.

This play is a tale of poetry, birth control and bobbed hair, centering around the figure of Seymore Standish, a writer torn between his native Mid-Western town of Bluff City and the bright lights of New York City.

One houses his young wife Dottie, the other his older love interest Nora, and when the two women collide so too do their world views on love, life and prophylatics.

"It's crazy," says McGuinness, who plays Dottie. This was written in 1921 but birth control is still a massive issue in America. People are so empassioned about it and that gives the play a very contemporary feel.

"But it's also about more than birth control. It's about Seymour trying to find what he really wants in life. And for my character, who has grown up in this very protected environment, it's about whether I can adapt to different things and rediscover myself through these New York influences. "

Not only have the cast worked hard researching the not-so Roaring Twenties, they have also had to perfect the authentic etiquette and accent of the time - important given that there will be some genuine Yanks in the crowd.

"It's really exciting to be doing the first British performance," says McGuinness. "The Glaspell Society, who have been really instrumental in getting this on, are coming over from America especially to see the show."

Judging by her faultess Gloucestershire accent in Nan, McGuiness will not disappoint. And standing centre stage at the Orange Tree won't be so nervewracking second time round.

"I was petrified," she recalls of Nan's first night. "It felt like such a responsibilty and yes, it was hard work. But surprisingly, it was quite energising, too, and by the end of each performance, I felt great."

Her stellar performance caught the eye of several casting agents and she has since starred in the premiere of Brian Friel's new play, Living Quarters, in Edinburgh, as well as an episode of Hotel Babylon.

Several more roles await her later this year. "But I can't say what yet," stresses McGuinness, not wanting to jinx herself. "I just feel so lucky to have got this far."

Chains of Dew, Orange Tree Theatre, 1 Clarence Street, Richmond, Wednesday, March 12 to Saturday, April 5, plus April 12, 19, and 21-26, £8-£18, call 020 8940 3633, visit orangetreetheatre.co.uk.

12:57pm Thursday 6th March 2008

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