Derry actress winning rave reviews for West End debut

by Marianne Flood

A Derry actress is winning rave reviews after making her West End debut in a hard hitting play.

Former St Cecilia’s pupil Judith Roddy has been generating column inches across the broadsheets for her lead role in ‘Knifes in Hens’.

And the critics have been unanimously positive about her performance at London’s Dunmar Warehouse, which has played host to top Hollywood stars like Nicole Kidman, Jude Law and Judi Dench.

Paul Taylor at the Independent said Judith gives a “splendid, emotionally daring performance”, while Michael Billington at The Guardian said she “is superb, bringing out the character’s mix of defiance and curiosity”.

And Sarah Hemming at The Financial Times said she is “is excellent as the woman: sturdy, graceful and precise, she holds the stage”.

Judith said the glowing praise lifted a weight off her shoulders as she is playing the lead.

“It’s a relief more than anything.

“I’m fronting the production so it’s a lot of pressure.

“Shows can fold in the West End if they aren’t making money so good reviews are really important.”

A graduate of Samuel Beckett Theatre in Trinity College Judith’s work has taken her all over the world.

But despite her travels she says she has never lost her Derry accent.

“Agents and casting directors have suggested that I should have a mid-Atlantic accent but I think ‘well, no. I’m an actor’.

“I’m very proud of where I come from.

“If you’re good at what you do you can be yourself.

“My friend Pauline Hutton is an actor in London too and she’s the same.

“It’s a beautiful accent. I don’t know why anyone would want to lose it.”

Judith, who has also worked on ‘Dr Who’ and ‘The Fall’, credits St Cecilia’s with getting her career off to a strong start.

“I was always involved in pantomimes and things growing up and I loved it.

“When it came to secondary school I knew I wanted somewhere that did music and drama.

“St Cecilia’s was a great school and I was really nourished there.

“Obviously, I have nothing else to compare it to but music and drama weren’t just treated as fluffy extracurricular things.

“They were the backbone of the school.”