Tanya Reynolds x Imagine Interview Joining us between perfor

Tanya Reynolds x Imagine Interview

Joining us between performances of fifteen thirty-six, Tanya Reynolds reflects on the grounding power of stage work, finding confidence through Mariella, and the themes that make the play feel strikingly relevant today.

Zain Ké: How have you been?

Tanya Reynolds: I've been good - tired, but having a gorgeous time on the play. I'm excited to go into work every day and see Sienna and Liv, who are in the play with me. We've become like sisters; we spend so much time together, and they're still the first people I text when I wake up in the morning.

ZK: You've made a return to the stage in recent years after working in television and film. What inspired that move back into theatre?

TR: I'd wanted to get back into theatre for a long time. At the start of my career, I didn't get many theatre auditions. Then they suddenly started coming in.

A Mirror was the beginning of a domino effect. I read the script and thought it was a really unusual, unique play. I auditioned, got the role, and things just snowballed from there. It was coincidental, but I also think you sometimes attract the things you need at the right time. I love being on stage, and this period of theatre arrived when I really needed it.

ZK: Do you think that need was mainly creative, or was there something deeper behind it? TR: I felt like I was losing myself a bit. Stage work grounds you again as an actor. It reminds you why you're doing this and what the art form is. You spend weeks interrogating the writing, working closely with a director and cast, peeling back every layer and examining every word, movement and gesture. It felt like I needed to re-train - to get back to understanding what acting was. With television, everything moves quickly. You don't get that rehearsal time. You do something once on camera and that's the version the world sees. I struggle with that because I want more time. I want to rehearse more. Theatre gives me that.

ZK: Has returning to theatre changed your relationship with acting?

TR: Doing a play every night definitely does something to your self-confidence. I've always struggled with self-esteem, but playing Mariella every night has made me walk through the world a little taller. I feel more confident in what I'm doing, and I think I'm carrying some of her with me.

ZK: What drew you to fifteen thirty-six, and specifically to the character of Mariella?

TR: Well, the play itself is undeniably fantastic. Within the first page of the script I was hooked. It's funny, ferocious, charming and can become devastating in a nanosecond. The story is actually very simple, even though the subject matter isn't. It's told with elegance, humour, wit, heartbreak and devastation. I first read it during a table read in twenty twenty-four, where I read Jane. I remember messaging my agents afterwards and saying, 'If this play ever happens, I have to be in it.'

A year later I was asked to audition for Mariella. She arrived at a time when I was growing up a bit and becoming more grounded in myself. She helped me get there.

ZK: Was there anything challenging about getting to know and play a character like her? TR: At first I was scared of her because I'd never played anyone like her. She's grounded, measured, wise, rational and carrying a huge amount of pain while simply getting on with life. That was daunting, but exciting. Ava, the writer, said she felt the play came to all of us when we needed it, and I think she was right.

Mariella is resigned to her situation. She's not trying to be anything. The other two women are fiery and sparkly, whereas Mariella is more grounded. She's experienced enormous pain and heartbreak, but she's accepted her circumstances and decided to make the most of life anyway. That gives her a comfort with herself.

I often play characters who are uncomfortable in themselves, who have a lot of internal awkwardness. Mariella has a sturdiness that I didn't feel I had. That was the challenge. But I feel sturdier now because of her.

ZK: Female friendship sits at the heart of the play. What interested you most about exploring those relationships and dynamics through Mariella?

TR: The friendships are written so truthfully. These women love each other, rely on each other and lean on each other, but they can also be vicious with each other. It's been fascinating to explore what a genuinely unfiltered friendship looks like-one that's protective, messy and deeply loving. The best part has been developing that friendship with Liv and Sienna. In many ways we've merged into our characters. The dynamic onstage and offstage is quite similar.

ZK: The play explores how major political events shape people's personal lives. Do you think that's part of what makes it feel so relevant today?

TR: We're living through a moment where we're seeing the trickle-down effects of people in power and how their actions shape culture. Henry the eighth changed laws to marry Anne

Boleyn and then changed them again to get rid of her. Ordinary men saw that and thought, 'If the king can do it, why can't I?'

You don't have to look very hard to see parallels today. One person with a platform can influence millions of people and shape an entire culture. That's why people are shaken by the play - it shows how little has changed.

ZK: What else do you think is making audiences connect with the play?

TR: We've had very young people come with their parents, and we've had people in their eighties love it too. The theatre is intimate, and it feels as though we're all in that field together. The audience becomes part of this secret world and these relationships. We take them on a journey every night, and I think people are really responding to that. ZK: What do you hope audiences leave with?

TR: I'd love people to leave feeling inspired in some way. I met a woman at the stage door who told me she was going through a divorce and that the play had made her feel galvanised. If people leave having found something they needed - a line, a scene, a feeling - and feel more capable of dealing with whatever they're facing in their own lives, then that's wonderful.

ZK: Do you have any pre-show rituals?

TR: The girls and I usually have a little boogie in the dressing-room corridor. Before the show starts, the whole company gathers and dedicates the performance to someone. If none of us have guests in, we'll pick a random seat and dedicate the show to whoever's sitting there.

ZK: Does your dance ritual help you connect before a performance?

TR: It really does, especially on two-show days when we're tired. We have dinner together between shows, then we put on music, dance, and Sienna has a bubble machine. It's a proper little party.

The first scene is the three of us simply having fun together, and those rituals put us in exactly the right playful, giggly space for that.

ZK: Would four-year-old Tanya believe she'd be starring in the West End?

TR: Oh, she'd be thrilled! I was talking about this with Liv recently. Sometimes it's helpful to ask what your younger self would think of where you are now. Four-year-old me would be over the moon.

ZK: As you look ahead, what kinds of creative challenges are you hoping to take on next? TR: The older I get, the more I want to play things less safe. I'm hoping to direct a film I've written, and that's where a lot of my focus is at the moment. It'll be a real challenge, but I'm up for it.