Rachael Stirling has revealed in her memoir, All About My Mother, that she consumed some of her late mother Dame Diana Rigg's ashes before a stage performance. The actress, 49, who has appeared in productions including The Detectorists, The Bletchley Circle and The Game, shared the detail about the opening night of Scandaltown in 2022.
Daughter of Dame Diana Rigg
Rachael is the daughter of On Her Majesty's Secret Service star Dame Diana Rigg and theatre producer Archibald Stirling. Diana died of cancer in 2020, aged 82, reports the Daily Star.
In her memoir, Rachael writes about her Tony and BAFTA award-winning mother and confesses to eating some of her ashes before taking to the stage. She wrote: "I eat her ashes before going on stage. It shocks people when I tell them. It feels absolutely natural to me. I am cloaked in her, shielded and shrouded by her. My mother is my superpower."
Opening night revelation
The revelation astonished many readers, prompting Rachael to revisit the topic and explain what happened on the opening night of Scandaltown. She revealed that she had brought the tube containing her mother's ashes into the dressing room, where it remained because she could find no way to take it on stage.
On the opening night, the first since her mother's death, she wrote in the Guardian that she opened the tube incorrectly, causing some of the ashes to spill across the table. As she attempted to return the remains to the tube, she was startled by the announcement summoning her to the stage.
She said: "In a panic...I licked my finger, picked up the few spilt cinders, and popped her on my tongue. Grainy, in case you were wondering, but it didn't feel wrong, it felt completely right. I laughed out loud at myself and the ludicrous situation. And then, just like that, my nerves disappeared."
Ritual before press nights
Rachael later revealed that she confided in a widow at a gathering about what she had done, bracing herself for shock and revulsion, only to be told in hushed tones that the woman had done precisely the same thing but had never breathed a word about it to anyone. Since the incident in 2022, consuming some of her mother's ashes has become a ritual she observes before every press night, when the public address system sounds the five-minute warning.
