She first appeared on British TV in 1986, when she took on the now familiar role of Eve Montgomery in “Casualty”. Since then she has appeared in many TV dramas, receiving much acclaim for her work in dramas such as “Bob & Rose”, “Fat Friends” and “Between Two Women”.
Barbara will be appearing at the York Theatre Royal as Lady Macbeth from 28 February – 19 March at 7.30pm (2005) (See Links)

For a detailed Filmography see the Internet Movie Database http://www.imdb.com/

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Stainforthonline Interview

Adge Covell - Barbara Marten (Doreen / Faith)

Adge: Hello Barbara. Could you please tell me a little about the character you play in Faith?

Barbara: Yes. My character's Doreen. Doreen is married to Gordon, who is the area branch secretary for the NUM. Doreen works at a potato factory, with Bev and Michelle. Doreen also is a member of the Labour Party, and at the beginning of the strike she hears about a group that's been formed in Barnsley, which is probably based on Ann Scargill's group, the first group which was "women Against Pit Closures". She decides to set one up locally, in Newby. So, she becomes a kind of…, the person around whom the Newby Women's Support Group revolves. Throughout the piece she's involved in all the action with the women. So, Doreen sa t the centre of the Women's Support group, and she's also a friend of Bev and Michelle. When she's asked to speak at one of the rallies, Doreen's too frightened to get up in front of hundreds of people, s o she pushes Michelle forward, and Michelle of course is a naturally gifted speaker and becomes a kind of mascot for the miners, and speaks all over the country.

Adge: Have you any personal connections with miners or mining?

Barbara: Not in my real life, not really, no. My dad's family were from Sunderland, so it was kind of a mining area, and I think some distant relative might have been in the mines, but my father's family were all farm workers. Professionally I've done…, I do quite a lot of radio plays, and when I started doing them, there were a lot of plays about mining communities; I did quite a lot of those plays about mining communities. I also did a piece in 1990, I think, called Love And Reason, which was about the end of the miners' strike and about two women, one who was a local councillor, and one was her friend who went on to be a local MP, and it was, kind of, about corruption in local party politics. It was set with a background of the miners' strike. I think that's all I've done really……. I feel as if…., somewhere there must be more, but I can't recall it just now; so certainly nothing recently.

Adge: What was it that drew you to be an actress?

Barbara: It's hard to put your finger on it really. We got a drama teacher at school, when I was about fourteen, it was an all-girls school, and this was a male drama teacher, which we all found terribly exciting. I seemed to find out that I could do it, and I can't quite remember how that was, but I just remember realising that I could do it, and that I got a lot of good feedback about it. My drama teacher particularly encouraged me. I joined the local amateur repertory theatre. Then, when I left school I went to tech, to do English art and drama, but drama was the actual thing that I did most of. I skipped quite a lot of lectures and did an awful lot of drama. It was like finding my place; that's what it felt like. It was like finding the place I felt most comfortable with.

Adge: What was the first job that you did?

Barbara: Professionally…, well I went to drama school, and when I left drama school I didn't want to be an actress. I didn't like drama school; it kind of put me off. Then I trained as a teacher and taught for two years. I found my way back into acting by working with a theatre and education company in Coventry…, which meant I had to combine the dual skills of being a teacher, and of being an actor. So that would be my first professional job. I did that for two years, and at the end of that time, I loved the work. It was really and fantastically exciting, and felt really creative…, and we went around in a van and did all the schools in Coventry. We put up environmental sets and the kids were enrolled. One that we did…, we did a show about mining actually, and the kids were enrolled as miners, and we went underground. We had an underground set, and it was about a strike, a particular strike, at the turn of the century.
So that was my first professional job, and at the end of that I thought, I want to do this, but I want to do this with grown-ups. I joined a theatre company that was starting up in Doncaster called DA Theatre Company, started by Ron Rose, and I worked there for a year and we did various projects, and toured again in a van around South Yorkshire. We did a play about the St Leger; we did a play about battered wives; we did a pant…, an awful pantomime.
So that was when I was working theatre companies. After that, I started doing radio and mainstream theatre, and then TV.

Adge: Faith is a drama that's being made for TV. Are you happy doing the TV work, or do you prefer the live atmosphere of the theatre?

Barbara: I think I prefer.., live theatre, really. I love seeing a piece, especially if I think it's a good piece, on TV. You do have the time to concentrate on different shots, and the detailed work that you get on TV. But, I do love theatre; I do love live theatre, and I haven't done live theatre for six years., until recently, because I didn't want to be away from helping one of my children.. I did a theatre piece, earlier this year, which was a one person show at York Theatre Royal, and it was just fantastic! I just loved it! I thought.., I'm just so glad that I'm doing theatre again. Having spent six years just doing television and radio, it was such a buzz, it's just such fun.

Adge: Do you have any plans for after Faith?

Barbara: Well…, after this has finished I plan to spend Christmas at home with my family, and then I'll be working on Macbeth at York Theatre Royal

Adge: Well, I wish you all the best for the future, and thank you for talking with me.

Barbara: Not at all, it's been a pleasure.

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