Joely and Vanessa on stage

by NADIA COHEN, Daily Mail

Working alongside

Vanessa Redgrave would

be a dream come true for

most actresses.

But for many years, one

screen star has firmly resisted

the temptation...her daughter.

The reason? Joely Richardson

admits their relationship is a

volatile mixture of closeness and

furious clashes. And a

collaboration seemed a little risky.

But last night, she put such

fears behind her as they opened

together on the West End stage...playing mother and daughter.

In the evergreen Oscar Wilde

comedy Lady Windermere's Fan,

36-year-old Miss Richardson is

Lady Windermere, while 65-yearold Miss Redgrave plays her

friend Mrs Erlynne - who turns

out to be her mother.

Miss Richardson, Miss

Redgrave's daughter by Tony

Richardson, said yesterday:

'Mum loves working with the

family and has proposed it many

times in the past, but I've always

held off because it didn¿t seem

right. When you come to the

table, you want to be sitting

there in your own right. I

also worried that we

might argue.

'We have always

been incredibly

close ¿ mixed with

times when we've

clashed.

'There is no

doubt that if your

mother is the

greatest actress

in the world, that

sets you a pretty high

benchmark, but we all want to

be judged on our own merits. I

realise people will make

comparisons with my mother, but that's

not my concern.'

The play, at the Theatre Royal,

Haymarket, is directed by Sir

Peter Hall.

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