Every now and then I get to work with a legend. 12 years ago I got to do just that when I cast Miriam Margolyes in a Doctor Who audio I had written and was directing: The Beast of Orlok. We instantly clicked. Since then I’ve worked with Miriam on numerous audio productions and, a few months ago, was asked by her to direct the audiobook version of her autobiography, This Much Is True. Having known Miriam as a colleague and friend for over a decade, I was thoroughly looking forward to reading her autobiography. She has always valued and championed honesty, so I was expecting some fruity truths to emerge in the story of her life — but the heartbreaking emotional honesty of the book quite took my breath away. Amongst the hilarious anecdotage of her long life and staggeringly diverse career, she talks frankly about love and loss and cruelty and kindness in a way that cannot fail to connect with the reader.
The printed book is obviously wonderful, but for my money the audiobook has the edge. Miriam is a vocal wizard and she brings to vivid life all the many characters she’s met and worked with over the decades (her Barbra Streisand impression is to die for). But more than that - and perhaps this is my sole contribution to the proceedings - she allows herself to open up emotionally and to let that carry into her voice. When she talks of the death of her mother, for example, you can hear the pain of the loss in her voice. It’s really special. You feel like she is telling this story to you and you alone. Because she is.
I cannot recommend this audiobook highly enough. The world needs more Miriam!
