East End to West End – TV GP on stage

EASTENDERS star Leonard Fenton is returning to his stage roots at the age of 83 to star in a play about Palestinians fleeing the Israeli army in 1948. 

The actor, who lives in Stroud Green, is best known for playing the role of affable Walford GP Dr Harold Legg. 

He will star in a   West End production of Plan D, a new play by Palestinian-Irish playwright Hannah Khalil, which opens at the Tristan Bates Theatre later this month.  

Mr Fenton, who was given his acting break by Orson Welles and has worked with Samuel Beckett and Jonathan Miller, is in rehearsals for Plan D at Islington Arts Factory in Holloway.  He plays a widower, known simply as “Old Man”, who shelters a Palestinian family in his home.  

“The play is supposed to apply to any group fleeing armies,” he said. “I think of Russia, which my grandparents fled. Different groups have these problems throughout history.” 

Mr Fenton described Plan D, based on first-hand accounts of Palestinians forced from their land during the creation of the Jewish state, as “an anti-war play”. 

The character he plays has similarities with Dr Phil Caplin, a renowned doctor in the East End before the Second World War.  

He said: “I remember Caplin was a wonderful man. You used to pay him half a crown a week, but if you had no money, he wouldn’t charge you. 

“I like to think there are similarities between Dr Caplin in the East End and the kind man in this play, who takes in a family.” 

Plan D runs from January 25 to February 13 at the theatre in Covent Garden. For tickets call 020 7240 6283 or email boxoffice@tristanbatestheatre.co.uk
JOSH LOEB