Morwenna Banks interview
Cornish-born actress, writer and comedian Morwenna Banks (star of comedies including Absolutely and Saxondale) was keen to get her teeth into the character of Venus because the real-life character on which she's based has strong connections with her birthplace. She explains: "Venus Traduces is based on a real life character called Violet Trefusis, a writer who in real life did actually elope with Vita-Sackville West. She is an absolutely fascinating character and was particularly alive to me because she had many Cornish connections, particularly in the area in which I grew up."
"So I'd always been aware of her and she'd always held a big fascination for me. She was an incredibly exciting character in real life and in the script Venus is this crazy bohemian desperate to try any experience she can so it's a great part for me to play."
Like John Sessions, Morwenna has written sketches about the Bloomsbury Set before, and the group has long held a fascination for her, she explains: "I've always been interested in the Bloomsbury Set and Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Stephen. I've visited Sissinghurst Castle and Charleston Farmhouse and was fascinated by Vita Sackville-West and her marriage to Harold Nicholson, so I've always loved all that and have written sketches about it in the past. So seeing this script was fantastic and I loved the way that Sue Limb has melded the real world and the imaginary."
Aside from the subject matter and the script did anything else attract Morwenna to the project? "Well Jamie Rix is such an incredibly sure and deft director and the cast was just so, so brilliant that it was an absolute no-brainer," she laughs. "I had a bit of a clash with work actually but I'm so glad it's worked out because they've been absolutely amazing to work with. I've worked with everyone before except Jonathan so it's lovely to reconnect with them all. And I work most of the time as a writer on my own so it's really nice to come and be in a room with others and talk to humans for a change!"