Siân Phillips she was the first since Sarah Bernhardt to play the role. In 1957 (some sources say 1959) Phillips performed the title role in Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler". Many sources consider this her London stage debut but she actually did "Magda" before "Hedda Gabler". In September 1958 she was performing as Margaret Muir in John Hall's "The Holiday" at Oxford New Theatre. In May 1958 Phillips performed as Joan in G. B. Shaw's "Saint Joan", at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry, which had opened just six weeks before, produced by Bryan Bailey. An observer described her performance: "Sian Phillips' portrayal of Joan
The Play What I Wrote Branagh. The play proved a prolonged success and earned positive reviews. Michael Billington, reviewing for "The Guardian", wrote: "The real joy of the evening, however, is that the gags come thick and fast, producing a kind of comic delirium. Matt Wolf, reviewing for "Variety", wrote "...it’s the innocence of “The Play What I Wrote” (the grammatical inaccuracy of the title is part of its point) that represents the evening’s best calling card...the evening trades in old-fashioned verbal jokes...and visual ones." It won Foley and McColl a joint Best Actor nomination at the 2002 Laurence Olivier Awards and, although they did