Barbara began her career at the age of 12, broadcasting for the BBC. She studied drama at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School before joining London Old Vic to tour the USA and Canada in A Midsumers Night’s Dream.
She rejoined the Old Vic several years later and played Helena in The Dream and Portia in The Merchant of Venice, again touring Europe and USA several times. Repertory at Lowestoft, Colwyn Bay, Guildford, Nottingham, Bristol and Birmingham. Parts played include Saint Joan, Hedda Gabler, Lady Macbeth and Ann Whitefield in Man and Superman. Two major European and US tours of Love’s Labours Lost, Hamlet and Gutherie’s production of Measure of Measure. For Prospect Venice Preserv’d. West End productions includes A Woman of No Importance, Pack of Lies, A Severed Head, Mrs Mouse, Are you within? and The Formation of Dancers.
RSC includes A Woman of No Importance, Sherlock Holmes (and on Broadway), Merry Wives of Windsor, The Winter’s Tale, King Lear, Hamlet, Richard III, Travesties, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, That Good Between Us, The Forest, La Ronde, The Hollow Crown, Pleasure and Repentance.
Other theatre includes tours of Getting Married, Canaries Sometimes Sing, Christopher Fry’s One Thing More or Caedmon Construed, Barnaby and the Old Boys’ at Theatre Clwyd. Royal National Theatre appearances includes Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Bartholomew Fair, The Voysey Inheritance, An Inspector Calls (Lyttleton tour and Olivier – Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress). The David Hare Trilogy and Racing Demon in Los Angeles, The Importance of Being Earnest at Birmingham Rep and The Old Vic. Television Includes George Eliot – A Scandalous Life, Bertie and Elizabeth, Midsummer Murders, The Seigfried Idyll, Search for the Nile, Macbeth, Love Lies Bleeding, Cold Feet, All for Love, Paying Guests, Tumblesown, A Perfect Hero, The Best Man To Die, Anna Lee, Absence of War, Pride and Prejudice, The Echo, Sunburn, Wives and Daughters and the final Kavanagh QC. Film includes Hitchcock’s Frenzy, Henry VIII and his Six Wives, Bequest to the Nation, Oh Heavenly Dog, Wagner, Paper Mask, Keep the Aphidistra Flying, Tosspot and Mira Nair’s Vanity Fair. A frequent broadcaster, she has made numerous recordings.
Concert work includes performances at the Proms and many recitals at major UK arts festivals. Barbara is also a Governor of the RSC and an associate actor. Radio includes Sister of Death BBC Radio, Separate Tables BBC Radio, The Russian Diary of Lady Londonderry BBC Radio, The Dacha BBC Radio, Love BBC Radio.