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News: Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s Romeo and Juliet returns to cinemas

 Trafalgar Releasing, in collaboration with Fiery Angel, are pleased to announce the return of the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s modern and passionate production of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to cinemas across the UK and internationally from July 7, 2021.

Staged in the West End in 2016 as part of the inaugural Plays at the Garrick season, this inventive and atmospheric reimagining of one of Shakespeare’s best-known tragedies was co-directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh and Rob Ashford with a stellar cast featuring Richard Madden as Romeo, Lily James as Juliet, Sir Derek Jacobi as Mercutio and Meera Syal as The Nurse. Continue reading “News: Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s Romeo and Juliet returns to cinemas”

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The 30th Ian Charleson Awards

Winner

Heledd Gwynn for Hedda in Hedda Gabler at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff and Hastings and Ratcliffe in Richard III for Headlong

Second Place

Hammed Animashaun for Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Bridge Theatre

Third Place

Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo for Abosede in Three Sisters at the National Theatre

Commendations

Kitty Archer for Mariane in Tartuffe at the National Theatre
Eben Figueiredo for Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac at Jamie Lloyd Company at the Playhouse
Isis Hainsworth for Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Bridge Theatre
Ebony Jonelle for Rosalind in As You Like It for the National Theatre Public Acts/Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch
Ioanna Kimbook for Cariola in The Duchess of Malfi at the Almeida
Racheal Ofori for Udo in Three Sisters at the National Theatre
Billy Postlethwaite for Macbeth in Macbeth at the Watermill Theatre
Ekow Quartey for Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe
Kit Young for Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Bridge Theatre

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News: NT launches new streaming service National Theatre at Home

The National Theatre, in partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies, has today launched  National Theatre at Home, a brand-new streaming platform making their much-loved productions available online to watch anytime, anywhere worldwide.

Launching today with productions including the first ever National Theatre Live, Phèdre with Helen Mirren,  Othello  with Adrian Lester and the Young Vic’s Yerma with Billie Piper, new titles from the NT’s unrivalled catalogue of filmed theatre will be added to the platform every month.

In addition to productions previously broadcast to cinemas by National Theatre Live, a selection of plays filmed for the NT’s Archive will be released online for the first time through National Theatre at Home, including Lucy Kirkwood’s Mosquitoes with Olivia Colman and Inua Ellams’ new version of Chekhov’s Three Sisters (a co-production with Fuel).   Continue reading “News: NT launches new streaming service National Theatre at Home”

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The 2019 Ian Charleson Award nominees announced

The Ian Charleson Award celebrates performances by actors under 30 in a classical role and is dedicated to Scottish actor Ian Charleson, who died in 1990 aged just 40. Whilst I remain unconvinced that this is a category that merits special consideration, especially if it isn’t going to reach out to the fringes, it is still good to see a pleasing range of actors being recognised here.

Ronkẹ Adékoluẹjo for Abosede in Three Sisters at the National Theatre

Hammed Animashaun for Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Bridge Theatre

Kitty Archer for Mariane in Tartuffe at the National Theatre

Eben Figueiredo for Christian in Cyrano de Bergerac at Jamie Lloyd Company at the Playhouse

Heledd Gwynn for Hedda in Hedda Gabler at the Sherman Theatre, Cardiff and Hastings and Ratcliffe in Richard III for Headlong

Isis Hainsworth for Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Bridge Theatre

Ebony Jonelle for Rosalind in As You Like It for the National Theatre Public Acts/Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch

Ioanna Kimbook for Cariola in The Duchess of Malfi at the Almeida

Racheal Ofori for Udo in Three Sisters at the National Theatre

Billy Postlethwaite for Macbeth in Macbeth at the Watermill Theatre

Ekow Quartey for Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe

Kit Young for Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Bridge Theatre

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Not-a-review: Rare Earth Mettle, Royal Court

The opportunity to see Arthur Darvill and Genevieve O’Reilly onstage again would surely have made Rare Earth Mettle a must-see at the Royal Court

“You only have an attachment to ideas. But I am attached to this place. I know the history. This land is a part of who I am”

There’s not a lot of info around about Al Smith’s play Rare Earth Mettle which should have opened at the Royal Court this week. But an attractive looking cast had me intrigued and given the uniqueness of Hamish Pirie’s last two productions for the Royal Court (Instructions for Correct Assembly; Goats), I’m sure it would have been a good’un. Let’s hope it comes back.

For the Royal Court
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The 2019 fosterIAN award winners

Best Actress in a Play
Sarah Niles/Natalie Simpson/Racheal Ofori, Three Sisters

Best Actress in a Musical
Audrey Brisson, Amélie the Musical

Best Actor in a Play
Lucian Msamati, ‘Master Harold’…and the boys

Best Actor in a Musical
Jamie Muscato, West Side Story (Curve Leicester)

Best Supporting Actress in a Play
Monica Dolan, All About Eve

Best Supporting Actress in a Musical
Cassidy Janson/Melanie La Barrie, & Juliet 

Best Supporting Actor in a Play
Nick Holder, Faith Hope and Charity

Best Supporting Actor in a Musical
David Bedella, & Juliet

And my top 10 plays of the year:
1. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Southwark Playhouse
2. Call Me Fury, Hope Theatre
3. West Side Story, Curve Leicester
4. As You Like It, Queen’s Theatre Hornchurch
5. Islander, Southwark Playhouse
6. Amélie the Musical, Watermill Theatre/UK Tour/The Other Palace
7. & Juliet, Shaftesbury Theatre
8. Sexy Lamp, VAULT
9. Karaoke Play, Bunker Theatre
10. The Ocean at the End of the Lane, National Theatre

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fosterIAN awards 2019

 WinnerRunner-upOther nominees
Best Actress in a PlaySarah 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 boysCary 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 PlayMonica 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 PlayNick 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 MusicalAudrey 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 MusicalJamie 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 MusicalDavid 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
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2019 Best Actress in a Play + in a 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)

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Review: Three Sisters, National Theatre

Inua Ellams’ relocation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters to the Biafran Civil War proves devastatingly effective at the National Theatre

“I don’t understand all this suffering…when we die we will find out but I wish we knew now”

A cracking cast heralds the return of Uncle Vanya to the West End early next year but even with Conor McPherson and Ian Rickson on adaptation and directorial duties respectively, it’s hard to get too excited about what – on the face of it – looks to be a fairly conventional interpretation (I could well be proven wrong, and hope I am…). For me, there’s something much more appealing, and thrilling, about people willing to grab Chekhov by the scruff of the neck and yank him way out of the familiar. Robert Icke and Simon McBurney replanting The Cherry Orchard in the Netherlands, or Inua Ellams and Nadia Fall relocating Three Sisters to 1960s Nigeria.

In the latter case, the result is a challenging but exhilarating reworking, set against the backdrop of the Biafran Civil War but retaining much of the Chekhovian structure, so that we feel the weight of all the tragedy that has to come. The skill of Ellams’ writing – this is dubbed a new play, after Chekhov – is knowing when to dovetail with his source material and when to allow his own choices to flourish, bringing with them a raft of glinting surprises that break through the familiarity (that some of us have). Continue reading “Review: Three Sisters, National Theatre”