Beginning in November 1975, Mirren played in West End repertory with the Lyric Theatre Company as Nina in "The Seagull" and Ella in Ben Travers's new farce "The Bed Before Yesterday" ("Mirren is stirringly voluptuous as the Harlowesque good-time girl": Michael Billington, "The Guardian"). At the RSC in Stratford in 1977, and at the Aldwych the following year, she played a steely Queen Margaret in Terry Hands' production of the three parts of "Henry VI", while 1979 saw her 'bursting with grace', and winning acclaim for her performance as Isabella in Peter Gill's production of "Measure for Measure" at Riverside Studios.