Berkshire


<p>She&#8217;s played Eva Perón in <em>Evita</em>, Sandy in&nbsp;<em>Grease</em>, and now Martha Kirby takes on the role of Cathy in Reading Rep&#8217;s latest musical production of <a href="https://www.readingrep.com/whats-on/the-last-five-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>The Last Five Years</em></a>, running from <strong>19 Sep to 12 Oct</strong>. Written by the fabulous Tony award-winning Jason Robert Brown, expect to take an emotional rollercoaster of a journey through the lives of two New Yorkers as they navigate their five-year marriage, featuring an acclaimed score and a big dose of romantic drama.</p>



<p>Muddy caught up with Martha between rehearsals to talk about her upcoming role, on stage disasters, and her take on Rachel Zegler&#8217;s controversial outdoor performance in the West End&#8217;s current production of <em>Evita</em>.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="2250" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/Martha-Kirby-HS-copy.jpg" alt="martha kirby theatre the last five years reading rep" class="wp-image-81758" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/Martha-Kirby-HS-copy.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/Martha-Kirby-HS-copy-533x800.jpg 533w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/Martha-Kirby-HS-copy-667x1000.jpg 667w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/Martha-Kirby-HS-copy-267x400.jpg 267w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/Martha-Kirby-HS-copy-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/Martha-Kirby-HS-copy-1024x1536.jpg 1024w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/Martha-Kirby-HS-copy-1365x2048.jpg 1365w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-give-us-the-pitch-what-s-the-last-five-years-all-about">Give us the pitch &#8211; what&#8217;s <em>The Last Five Years</em> all about?</h3>



<p>It&#8217;s a very human storytelling of a relationship and how relationships are conceived and then can fall apart simultaneously. What&#8217;s interesting about <em>The Last Five Years</em> is you see two perceptions of the two characters travelling in different timelines. So, you follow Cathy&#8217;s journey from the end of their relationship to the very beginning. You see her at her lowest point then go to the highest. Jamie&#8217;s is going the opposite direction, so you see him starting at the happiest point and then entering the demise of the relationship with a little crossover in the middle. </p>



<p>It&#8217;s really interesting for an audience member because you know what&#8217;s going to happen. You feel quite comfortable in being like, okay, I know the end results, but how did we get here? Why are they at such different extremes? And how did they get together? It&#8217;s a really cool way of depicting such a human relationship. There are themes of jealousy, hope, longing, the female experience, and ego. It really exposes the human nature.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-it-s-also-a-musical-are-there-any-big-numbers">It&#8217;s also a musical! Are there any big numbers?</h3>



<p>I think what&#8217;s so beautiful about Jason Robert Brown&#8217;s music is it&#8217;s such descriptive words and you can really hear the storytelling, not only through the lyric, but the actual music itself. It&#8217;s so clearly written that it feels quite conversational in parts. There&#8217;s just two of us and an incredible band who are going to be present on stage, so it&#8217;s not going to be massive kick line dancing numbers, but there&#8217;s some beautiful, massive heart-wrenching songs. The music&#8217;s just incredible.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-how-are-rehearsals-treating-you">How are rehearsals treating you?</h3>



<p>It&#8217;s going really well! Guy Woolf, who I play opposite, is Jamie and he&#8217;s wicked. We&#8217;ve got Hal, our director and Ellie our musical director, and everyone&#8217;s just so lovely and it&#8217;s such a nurturing environment. I&#8217;m feeling very comfortable to explore, play and be quite vulnerable which is nice.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1125" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC03010.jpg" alt="martha kirby theatre the last five years reading rep" class="wp-image-81889" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC03010.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC03010-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC03010-1000x750.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC03010-400x300.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC03010-768x576.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-are-you-most-excited-for-audiences-to-see-with-this-show">What are you most excited for audiences to see with this show?</h3>



<p>I&#8217;m most excited for the audience to see themselves in the story. I think because it&#8217;s so real and tangible, there&#8217;s lots of themes many people may have experienced in their lives. So, it&#8217;s quite nice to let people observe it from a different take and leave thinking about how the show affected them. I&#8217;m also so excited for them to hear the music because the music is just so beautifully orchestrated.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-reading-rep-is-such-a-gorgeous-intimate-theatre-do-you-find-the-smaller-or-bigger-stages-more-intimidating-when-performing">Reading Rep is such a gorgeous, intimate theatre. Do you find the smaller or bigger stages more intimidating when performing?</h3>



<p>Bigger stages, in thought, feel more intimidating, but when you&#8217;re on the bigger stages, you very much distance it, because it&#8217;s such a grand space, you kind of forget and can&#8217;t really see people. Whereas I think it&#8217;s flipped for smaller spaces. You feel like, oh lovely, that would be really intimate. Then you get there and suddenly you can see everyone, you&#8217;re like, oh God, I can really see everyone&#8217;s face and how they&#8217;re reacting to this. But I also think it works so well for this show. Having that intimate connection with people and them being in such close proximity allows them to get a deeper perspective of their characters and their relationships. </p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-do-you-get-nervous-before-performing">Do you get nervous before performing?</h3>



<p>Yes and no. I think at different times for different reasons. But I think it&#8217;s great learning how to harness those feelings, use them and make them helpful. It&#8217;s also about realising the story you&#8217;re about to tell isn&#8217;t Martha experiencing these things. But my body is going to go through the feelings this character feels, so it&#8217;s about stepping into that and using the energies to help rather than try and suppress them.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="1125" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC02299.jpg" alt="martha kirby theatre the last five years reading rep" class="wp-image-81892" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC02299.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC02299-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC02299-1000x750.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC02299-400x300.jpg 400w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC02299-768x576.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-s-your-pre-show-ritual-anything-you-can-t-do-without">What&#8217;s your pre-show ritual? Anything you can&#8217;t do without?</h3>



<p>I mean, way before the show, I warm up and make sure my voice is feeling good and my body&#8217;s feeling good and just take the time to actually sit and breathe and prepare myself for what I&#8217;m going to do. I love a peppermint tea though. It feels cosy and calm. Then just focussing and being kind of present in the space you&#8217;re in. If I ever feel stressed or anxious, I look around and note five things I can see. Those little techniques bring you back into your body and into the now.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-have-you-ever-had-any-performance-disasters">Have you ever had any performance disasters?</h3>



<p>In the press night of <em>Evita</em>, some of the sound of the band completely cut out during <em>Don&#8217;t Cry for Me Argentina</em>. I was staring at my beautiful MD Ben, who was so calmly still keeping me in time with the music, and we were just doing it in silence with just him on the keys. Thankfully the sound went back up at the chorus, but the whole intro was just me and Ben. I didn&#8217;t actually realise what was happening until I saw someone in my peripherals running down into the pit &#8211; I just thought my ears had gone funny. </p>



<p>Then during <em>Bat Out of Hell</em>, there&#8217;s a rock face which you can climb, and I think I just gave it a bit too much beans one night and I just slid down this rock face.  But again, bounced back up and styled it out. No one would have known. My fingers were all cut up and I ran off stage for two seconds and they bandaged me up. It&#8217;s so funny these things just happen so quick but there&#8217;s no time to consider it. You just have to carry on.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-you-ve-played-some-iconic-roles-in-the-past-what-s-your-absolute-dream-role">You&#8217;ve played some iconic roles in the past. What&#8217;s your absolute dream role?</h3>



<p>Do you know, whenever anyone asks that question, I find it really hard to answer because I think a lot of the roles that I&#8217;ve done are never what I thought I&#8217;d do which is amazing. I like to keep things open-ended and to feel the possibility. But there&#8217;s a lot of dream venues, dream teams or people that I would like to work with. I saw <em>Next to Normal</em> and thought it would be such a gorgeous production to be involved with. Just the quality of work and music was just beautiful.</p>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1500" height="2000" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC02572.jpg" alt="martha kirby theatre the last five years reading rep" class="wp-image-81888" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC02572.jpg 1500w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC02572-600x800.jpg 600w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC02572-750x1000.jpg 750w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC02572-300x400.jpg 300w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC02572-768x1024.jpg 768w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/berkshire/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2025/08/last-five-years-martha-DSC02572-1152x1536.jpg 1152w" sizes="(max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px" /></figure>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-evita-is-the-show-everyone-s-talking-about-now-what-s-your-take-on-rachel-zegler-performing-don-t-cry-for-me-argentina-outside-on-the-balcony-in-london"><em>Evita</em> is the show everyone&#8217;s talking about now, what&#8217;s your take on Rachel Zegler performing <em>Don&#8217;t Cry for Me Argentina</em> outside on the balcony in London?</h3>



<p>I think it&#8217;s wicked. It&#8217;s so clever, but I feel that&#8217;s the intention of that song and that piece. When you think about it, you&#8217;re like, why has no one done that before? Eva Perón is all about going out to the people on the streets and speaking to those who couldn&#8217;t afford to come and see her. So actually, it&#8217;s the most truthful way of depicting it. It&#8217;s really nice they&#8217;ve played on that classist idea, and it must be so cool to stand out there and watch. I think it&#8217;s wicked.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-who-would-you-absolutely-love-to-share-the-stage-with">Who would you absolutely love to share the stage with?</h3>



<p>I would love to do a show with all of my pals. I&#8217;m so lucky to be blessed with such incredible friends, but also incredibly bloody talented friends at the same time. But if I had to say a celebrity, I&#8217;d say Florence Pugh.</p>



<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-when-you-have-a-weekend-off-how-do-you-like-to-kick-back-and-have-fun">When you have a weekend off, how do you like to kick back and have fun?</h3>



<p>Okay, so big sleep. Go for a walk. Go to Hampstead Heath &#8211; it&#8217;s one of my favourite places &#8211; and just to go and chill. Coffee, pastry, walk, more food. Go to a little pub, have a pint of coke, and play some card games. Go for another walk and sleep again. All of that good, wholesome stuff. So, yeah, basically eat, drink, sleep.</p>



<p><strong><em>See Martha Kirby in <strong><em><a href="https://www.readingrep.com/whats-on/the-last-five-years/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Last Five Years</a> </em></strong>at Reading Rep Theatre 19 Sep &#8211; 12 Oct. Get your <a href="https://www.readingrep.com/whats-on/the-last-five-years/#performances" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tickets</a> now.</em></strong></p>


Muddy meets soon-to-be star of the Reading stage Martha Kirby

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