Don't bother, they're here
Stephen Beresford’s Three Kings with Andrew Scott, Brian Friel’s Faith Healer with Michael Sheen, David Threlfall and Indira Varma and Duncan Macmillan’s LUNGS with Claire Foy and Matt Smith are back by popular demand with the recorded versions of the live shows available to watch across nine new streaming dates to see us out of 2020 and into 2021.
One of the joys of seeing so much theatre in London is that sense of seeing any number of actors at the beginning of their careers and Tristram Kenton has been doing that for years now. Here’s just some of those big names as whippersnappers on the British stage:
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/gallery/2020/nov/11/before-they-were-famous-stars-tristram-kenton-at-the-guardian-in-pictures
Tackling the constraints of the pandemic in its own way, Simon Annand’s fantastic new book of photos Time To Act has launched a virtual exhibition of some of the photographs which has now been extended to until Christmas. It’s an ingenious way of sharing some of the hundreds of images from the book and should surely whet the appetite for either just buying it now or putting on your list for Santa to collect soon.
Publicly voted awards often end up rewarding celebrity and/or social media pull rather than any sense of theatrical merit, so it is nice to see a more balanced set of results emerging from this year’s What’s On Stage Awards. & Juliet and Come From Away could both claim to have ‘won big’ with Dear Evan Hansen also nicking a couple of prize acting awards. This did sadly mean Waitress went home empty handed and I thought Mary Poppins might have scored at least another one award to go with Best Musical Revival.
On the plays side of things, the lack of a clear front-runner in terms of nominations resulted in a nice spread of recognition, topped off with Life of Pi nabbing the best new play and representing well for the regions, ahead of its West End debut in June. The only bum note comes with the continued lack of engagement with the concerns raised around Jewish representation in the recent production of Falsettos. Rewarding the show without recognising any of these issues (I don’t think WoS has published anything about it at all) feels like a thoughtless compounding of something which shouldn’t be swept under the carpet. We can all do better.
Tom Hiddleston – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre
WINNER – Andrew Scott – Present Laughter – The Old Vic
Matt Smith – Lungs – The Old Vic
Wendell Pierce – Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre
Laurie Kynaston – The Son – Kiln Theatre / Duke of York’s Theatre
WINNER – Claire Foy – Lungs – The Old Vic
Zawe Ashton – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre
Hayley Atwell – Rosmersholm – Duke of York’s Theatre
Sharon D Clarke – Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre
Juliet Stevenson – The Doctor – Almeida Theatre Continue reading “Winners of the 20th What’s On Stage Awards”
| Winner | Runner-up | Other nominees | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Actress in a Play | Sarah Niles/Natalie Simpson/Racheal Ofori, Three Sisters | Marieke Heebink, Medea | Adjoa Andoh, Richard II Sharon D Clarke, Death of a Salesman Claire Foy, Lungs Leah Harvey, Small Island Chris Nietvelt, De Kersentuin |
| Best Actor in a Play | Lucian Msamati, ‘Master Harold’…and the boys | Cary Crankson, Country Music | Tobias Menzies, The Hunt Daniel Monks, Teenage Dick Wendell Pierce, Death of a Salesman Matt Smith, Lungs Zubin Varla, Equus |
| Best Supporting Actress in a Play | Monica Dolan, All About Eve | Jackie Pulford, Karaoke Play | Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo, Three Sisters Janni Goslinga, De Kersentuin Pippa Nixon, The Ocean at the End of the Lane Cecilia Noble, Faith Hope and Charity Gemma Whelan, Pinter Seven |
| Best Supporting Actor in a Play | Nick Holder, Faith Hope and Charity | Hugo Koolschijn, De Kersentuin | Rupert Graves, Pinter Five John Heffernan, Pinter Seven Martins Imhangbe/Natey Jones, Death of a Salesman Arinzé Kene/Sope Dirisu, Death of a Salesman Ken Nwosu, Three Sisters |
| Best Actress in a Musical | Audrey Brisson, Amélie the Musical | Kirsty Findlay/Bethany Tennick, Islander | Lucie Jones/Katherine McPhee, Waitress Miriam-Teak Lee, & Juliet Samantha Pauly, Evita Joanna Riding, Follies Zizi Strallen, Mary Poppins |
| Best Actor in a Musical | Jamie Muscato, West Side Story (Curve Leicester) | Keith Ramsay, Preludes | Andy Coxon, West Side Story (Royal Exchange) Jordan Fox/Michael Vinsen, [title of show] David Hunter, Waitress, Charlie Stemp, Mary Poppins Oliver Tompsett, & Juliet, |
| Best Supporting Actress in a Musical | Cassidy Janson/Melanie La Barrie, & Juliet | Jocasta Almgill/Emily Langham, West Side Story (Royal Exchange) | Laura Baldwin/Marisha Wallace, Waitress Tiffany Graves/Gabrielle Lewis-Dodson, The Boy Friend Claire Machin/Claire Moore, Mary Poppins Rebecca McKinnis/Lauren Ward, Dear Evan Hansen Carly Mercedes Dyer/Victoria Hamilton-Barritt, The View UpStairs, |
| Best Supporting Actor in a Musical | David Bedella, & Juliet | Jack Butterworth, The Boy Friend | Ricardo Afonso, Jesus Christ Superstar Rob Houchen, The Light in the Piazza Samuel Holmes, Curtains Cedric Neal, The View UpStairs Jez Unwin, Amélie the Musical |
Best Actress in a Play
Sarah Niles/Natalie Simpson/Racheal Ofori, Three Sisters
It’s practically a tradition now to split this award three years (2018, 2017) but it feels like a no-brainer once again, this trio of performances utterly reinvigorating the Chekhovian archetypes to make their characters speak compellingly anew.
Honourable mention: Marieke Heebink, Medea
Second time’s the charm, Heebink’s ferocious performance has deepened over the years and remained just as heartbreaking as before, if not more so.
Adjoa Andoh, Richard II
Sharon D Clarke, Death of a Salesman
Claire Foy, Lungs
Leah Harvey, Small Island
Chris Nietvelt, De Kersentuin
8-10
Gillian Anderson, All About Eve; Nancy Carroll, The Deep Blue Sea; Gwendoline Christie, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bridge)
Best Actress in a Musical
Audrey Brisson, Amélie the Musical
I’ve seen Brisson leading this gorgeous musical three times now and her performance has lost none of its magic, literally so in the case of how she flies into her bedroom and figuratively so, in the otherworldly charm she brings to the role. Don’t miss your chance to catch the show as it continues to tour in 2020.
Honourable mention: Kirsty Findlay/Bethany Tennick, Islander
One of the most inventive musicals of the year was born out of the collaboration between these two fine performers. Stupidly I left it until the last show to visit cos I’d love to see it again!
Lucie Jones/Katherine McPhee, Waitress
Miriam-Teak Lee, & Juliet
Samantha Pauly, Evita
Joanna Riding, Follies
Zizi Strallen, Mary Poppins
8-10
Janie Dee, The Boy Friend; Gabriela Garcia, West Side Story (Royal Exchange); Adriana Ivelisse, West Side Story (Curve Leicester)
The establishment of the Public Acts programme at the National Theatre offered up something sensational in Pericles, an initiative designed to connect grassroot community organisations with major theatres, resulting in a production that swept over 200 non-professional performers onto the stage of the Olivier to create something that moved me more than 99% of professional productions. A truly joyous and momentous occasion.
Honourable mention: this year’s musical take on As You Like It proved just as heart-swellingly beautiful over at the Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch. Continue reading “10 of my top moments of the decade”
“Sometimes duty requires one to put personal feelings…
‘And frivolity”
…aside”
Doing little to dispel rumours that she isn’t a Time Lord, The Crown takes its cues from Doctor Who as Series 3 sees the Queen regenerate from Claire Foy to Olivia Colman. And not just that, the whole cast of main players has been replaced as this new company will take us through the next couple of series. It’s a clever move, considering the spain of history that the show takes but it is also a little sad to lose such excellent performances as Vanessa Kirby’s Princess Margaret, Victoria Hamilton’s Queen Mum, Alex Jennings and Lia Williams as Edward and Wallis and of course, Foy’s exceptional work.
Series 3 then, takes us from 1964 to 1977, featuring such notable events as the Aberfan tragedy, the moon landing and the arrival of Camilla in Charles’ life. And with its many millions and pick of the white acting talent in this country, it remains eminently watchable. That said, something has shifted for me and it just doesn’t feel as effective as the first two seasons. A large element of this is the way series creator and main writer Peter Morgan has structured the show, choosing to maintain a massive ensemble of recurring characters but keeping the focus, and turnover, of episodes relentlessly tight. Continue reading “TV Review: The Crown Series 3”
As a publicly nominated affair, the What’s On Stage Awards always throw up an interesting set of nominations, as fanbases engage alongside theatregoers to produce an idiosyncratic reflection on the year. This year though, the nominees for the nine creative categories (Choreography, Costume Design, Direction, Graphic Design, Lighting Design, Musical Direction, Set Design, Sound Design and Video Design) have been decided by an independent panel of industry experts appointed, which has resulted in some pleasing inclusions for the likes of Equus and Small Island.
Acting-wise, the focus does land a little heavily on the more famous names (plus ça change) and that Supporting Actress in a Musical category is super-crowded (the Dear Evan Hansen mothers would have been a shoo-in for me there). My only real point of issue comes with the categorisation for the & Juliet players – are you really going to nominate Oliver Tompsett as a lead and then put Cassidy Janson in the supporting category? Did you not see the show, or get any of its message at all?!
Voting for the winners is open now and closes on 27th January 2020, with the winners being revealed at a ceremony on 1st March 2020.
Tom Hiddleston – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre
Andrew Scott – Present Laughter – The Old Vic
Matt Smith – Lungs – The Old Vic
Wendell Pierce – Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre
Laurie Kynaston – The Son – Kiln Theatre / Duke of York’s Theatre
Claire Foy – Lungs – The Old Vic
Zawe Ashton – Betrayal – Harold Pinter Theatre
Hayley Atwell – Rosmersholm – Duke of York’s Theatre
Sharon D Clarke – Death of a Salesman – Young Vic / Piccadilly Theatre
Juliet Stevenson – The Doctor – Almeida Theatre Continue reading “2020 What’s On Stage Award nominations”
“Let’s get home and drink some gin and pretend I never said anything'”
Well, who’d’ve thought it? A chance to see the second best play of 2012 once again with some real luxury casting this time around. Duncan Macmillan’s Lungs toured the UK as part of one of Paines Plough’s Roundabout seasons (and marked the moment Kate O’Flynn properly burst into my consciousness) and now it has resurfaced at the Old Vic, starring Claire Foy and Matt Smith, who are obviously at a loose end now that The Crown has forced them to regenerate into Olivia Colman and Tobias Menzies. Have a read of my 5 star review for Offical Theatre here.
