About

My blog has quite a lot of posts about Samuel West (Julius Caesar, On Chesil Beach and Darkest Hour) and Charles Edwards (My Fair Lady Australian tour and Henry IX).

Friday 25 August 2006

Charles Edwards - Theatre - 2004

Portugal by Zoltán Egressy
National Theatre, 25 June 2004 (rehearsed reading of the play)

Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare
Bristol Old Vic, 22 October - 22 November 2004

Epigram Online
"...themes include the pain of unrequited love, which is beautifully demonstrated by Charles Edwards' Orsino..."

Tags: , , , , , ,

Charles Edwards - Theatre - The 39 Steps (Criterion) - press

* updated 19 December 2006

Rachel Pickup will replace Catherine McCormack from 15 January.
http://www.theatre.com/story/id/3005009
http://arts.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1232272.php/Rachel_Pickup_joins_The_39_Steps

Booking has been extended to 21 April 2007.
http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/display?contentId=91565
http://www.whatsonstage.com/dl/page.php?page=greenroom&story=E8821162212933
http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/14703/april-extension-for-the-39-steps

Article by Charles for theatre.com includes a new picture and some new info (note to self: find out about Mourning Becomes Electra, The Merchant of Venice and The Heidi Chronicles).
http://www.theatre.com/story/id/3004210

The 39 Steps will transfer from the Tricycle Theatre to the Criterion Theatre (West End) in September. Previews from 14 September; press night is 20 September.
Articles: http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/news/display?contentId=90729
http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/14025/the-39-steps-to-transfer-to-criterion
Thanks to Gigi for the heads up.

Another article http://baltimore.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=11834
It will book till 13 January.


Thursday 24 August 2006

Charles Edwards - Theatre - 2003

John Bull's Other Island by George Bernard Shaw
Tricycle Theatre, 11 September - 24 October 2003

Daily Telegraph 20/9/03 by Charles Spencer
"...though Broadbent comes across as an almost Wodehousian silly ass in Charles Edwards's deliciously comic performance, one also catches strong echoes of Tony Blair in his pious platitudes, self- advertising sanctimony and eagle eye for the main chance..."

Independent by Paul Taylor
"...Charles Edwards brings just the mix of the dashing and the obtuse to his deliciously funny Broadbent..."

Independent on Sunday 28/9/03 by Kate Bassett
"...Charles Edwards is particularly fine as the pukka, unstoppable Broadbent..."

Telegraph 28/9/03 by John Gross
"...a very funny performance by Charles Edwards as Broadbent..."

The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster
National Theatre (Lyttleton), 28 January - 27 May 2003

Edinburgh Guide
"...The strong cast ensures that this promise is brought to fruition throughout most of the play, and it is in the compelling interplay between individual cast members that the appeal of this production lies. In particular, Janet McTeer's passionate portrayal of tragic Duchess. McTeer's stage presence is captivating, and her Duchess is a nail-biting mixture of authority and vulnerability without every losing its feminine allure. She is well met by Charles Edwards' gentle Antonio..."

New Statesman 10/2/03 by Amy Rosenthal
"...Charles Edwards makes an appealing, romantic Antonio, the Duchess's low-born love, unable to resist her advances and absolutely true in his response, but ultimately ill-equipped to deal with the resulting horrors..."

National Theatre website [link]

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Monday 21 August 2006

Charles Edwards - Theatre - Making Noise Quietly

[updated 29 December 2009]

Making Noise Quietly by Robert Holman
January-April 2000
Oxford Stage Co.
Tour: Bury St Edmunds; Surrey; Westcliff; Poole; Guildford; Liverpool; Brighton; Greenwich
Director: Deborah Bruce

Interview with Maggie Steed [link]
Article from whatsonstage.com [link]


Tags: , , , , ,

Thursday 17 August 2006

Charles Edwards - Theatre - Our Betters

[updated 29 December 2009]

Our Betters by W Somerset Maugham
Chichester Festival Theatre, 6 August - 27 September 1997
Director: Michael Rudman

Evening Standard
"...There are nicely judged performances here from Caunter as the twerpish Breane, William Hootkins as an expatriate wit who has denied his Yankee past, and Charles Edwards..."

Tuesday 15 August 2006

Charles Edwards - Theatre - The 39 Steps (Tricycle) - reviews

[updated 17 March 2011]

Press

Independent
"Charles Edwards offers an expert and endearingly affectionate spoof of a stiff-upper-lipped clubman as Richard Hannay, the toff who finds himself circumstantially framed for murder and then pitched into a plot to foil the plans of a German spy-ring, and save vital Air Force secrets."

Evening Standard
"Charles Edwards is dream casting as the suave, dashing, hint-of-the-cad Hannay, who soon finds himself the prime suspect in a murder investigation."

Whatsonstage.com
"Charles Edwards' Hannay - certain that to be white, male and English confers natural superiority - exudes sincerity, charming manners and perfectly groomed good looks (complete with pencil moustache) mixed with public school gaucheness. One eyebrow arches periodically to introduce a smidgen of irony into the proceedings as he runs along the roof of a train, coat tails flapping, adlibs an address at a political meeting or fights through the Highland fog with never a hair out of place."

Theatre.com
"Maria Aitken's sprightly, enjoyable, not to say slightly camp, production is all gung-ho, chocks away and stiff upper lips, personified by Charles Edwards' wonderfully chisel-jawed, pencil-moustached hero as Hannay makes his escape having witnessed the murder of a German spy."

Variety
"In a perfectly judged performance that encapsulates the witty spirit of the entire evening, Charles Edwards is both terribly serious and terribly funny as Hannay, the veritable patron saint of stiff upper lips. Suitably dashing with lashings of derring-do, he's also a pompous, naive, imperiously coiffed, tweed-wearing, vowel-clenching, upper-class snob. Some actors lead with, say, a raised chest or a defiant chin: Edwards leads hilariously with his eyebrows. They seem almost to have a life of their own, arching in skepticism, shooting to his hairline in bafflement or hunkering down suggestively as he anticipates getting to know his less-than-compliant female companion. (He's handcuffed to her at the time.) His relaxed perf is balanced by a dizzying number of characterizations from the other three actors."

Times
"Four actors play the entire cast of broadly drawn characters. Charles Edwards is the unflappable smoothie Hannay, with Catherine McCormack supplying romance as three contrasting women, including feisty Pamela, a prototype Hitchcockian ice-cool blonde. Rupert Degas and Simon Gregor fill in as everyone else from Cockney coppers to cheery charladies and murderous villains, slipping with comic ease from one costume and cod accent to the next."

The Stage
"Charles Edwards plays things very straight as the unflappable hero. But as Hannay gets in and out of a succession of scrapes, there's always a hint of humour - an eyebrow archly raised on a deadpan face."

Telegraph
"...the ingenuity, underscored by slick physical timing, is undeniable...Charles Edwards is a splendidly deadpan Hannay, a raised eyebrow his most demonstrative expression...this affords a pleasant, if far from profound, diversion."

Financial Times
"Charles Edwards is spot on as Hannay: dapper, ironic and manly even in the most unpromising of situations...Edwards has mastered the Bond-like art of looking quizzically intelligent even when his character clearly has no idea what to do."

Daily Mail
"As Richard Hannay, the tweed-suited Charles Edwards is spot on. With his pencil moustache and the upper lip well starched, he's perfect as the brogue male outmanoeuvring the Hunnish swine after him."

Sunday Times
"Charles Edwards - looking, appropriately enough, like a young Anthony Eden - vitally keeps a straight face throughout... All in all, thoroughly ripping."

British Theatre Guide
"illustrious cast led by Charles Edwards as the suavely inscrutable, lantern-jawed Hannay in a tweed three-piece suit...the square jawed savoir faire of Edwards as Hannay..."

Time Out
"Charles Edwards’ beautifully played Richard Hannay, his absurdly stiff upper lip matched by a slightly fazed expression that invites a titter at every turn."

Camden New Journal
"On stage for most of the evening, Edwards has the requisite 1930s tash, tweeds, a raffish tone and that essential hitched eyebrow."

Rogues and Vagabonds
"The anchoring performance comes from Charles Edwards as Richard Hannay, totally the British Hero and totally his own creation."

Morning Star Online
"Edwards's Hannay is a suave, lantern-jawed, pencil-moustached, stiff upper-lipped Brit. He captures the period style well and his timing and understatement are perfect."
[shame on Morning Star for getting Charles's name wrong. They called him Christopher! Terrible. Nice review though]

Hampstead and Highgate Express
"Charles Edwards is marvellously upright - making great hay with the cocked eyebrow and clipped RP accent of bored, caddish Richard Hannay, who becomes ensnared in an obliquely sinister plot to smuggle military secrets out of the country."

Culture Wars
"Stereotyped, derivative characterisation is in full force here, but to hilarious effect...Edwards, rigidly British in tweeds, wears an raised eyebrow and a quizzical expression through every spot of bothah."

New Zealand Times
"The bluff Hannay is played brilliantly by Charles Edwards whose wry humour, fearlessness and public school aplomb not only does for the villains but (naturally) wins the blonde as well. He manages (hilariously) to leave no lip unquivered, no eyebrow unraised, no brow unfurrowed and no quizzical glance unshot."

Blogs

cityslicker1/etrioni @ blogspot
"The protagonist, Richard Hannay, is brilliantly acted by Charles Edwards who expertly maintains a stiff upper lip but who is endearingly likeable."


Gigi/efeelola"Charles was extremely 'dead-pan', and I love the overly-exaggerated lift of an eyebrow."

Harry Airborne
"this was one of the funniest, liveliest vital productions I have ever enjoyed...The audience loved it and so you could see did the cast.

thefurtheradventuresofboz
"the stunning four-man (well, three-man and one-woman) cast play it completely for laughs - it's hysteriical. You cannot help but leave the theatre talking in the clipped, received pronunciation tones of 1930's BBC newsreaders. Fabulous."

Dominic Self
"Incredibly fast paced and entertaining and just... so so enjoyable, it sent itself up brilliantly."

Wednesday 9 August 2006

Charles Edwards - Theatre - The 39 Steps (Tricycle) - press

Indielondon
http://www.indielondon.co.uk/Theatre-Review/the-39-steps-tricycle-theatre

Hampstead and Highgate Express
http://tinyurl.com/kyvy8 or
http://www.hamhigh.co.uk/content/camden/hamhigh/whatson/story.aspx?brand=NorthLondon24&category=whatsontheatre&tBrand=northlondon24&tCategory=whatson&itemid=WeED07%20Aug%202006%2010%3A13%3A21%3A250

Charles stuff from the H&H Express article:
"I've been hanging off the Forth Bridge all morning and it's pretty tiring," laughs Edwards, who plays the actor playing Richard Hannay, an innocent man caught up in a sinister conspiracy when a young woman is murdered in his home.

"In many ways I have the easiest job because I only play one person. I am the straight man who has to stick to the script and drive the story forward while all these events spiral out of control around me. Although it is very funny, there is genuine suspense and a sense of Hannay's classic hero's journey. He is someone rather depressed and tired of life who is woken up as a man by these events and ends up a better person for it."

The 36-year-old, who appeared at the Kilburn venue last year in John Bull's Other Island, says although the cast have familiarised themselves with Hitchcock's classic movie, they have avoided impersonating the performances of its stars, Peggy Ashcroft and Robert Donat.

"We are trying to achieve certain nuances from a film that is a classic of that genre, such as the RP accents and the noirish atmosphere, but we have tried to bring our own stuff to it. I think Hitchcock fans will love it."

Edwards rehearsed 39 Steps by day while performing Noel Coward's "silly, nonsense, brilliantly constructed" play Hayfever by night.

"It has been wonderful fun. Judi Dench is everything you would want her to be, fantastically generous and very mischievous. She always has a glint in her eye on stage and is the first to find it hilarious if something goes wrong."
Theatre.com
An article by Patrick Barlow, who adapted the play
http://www.theatre.com/story/id/3003219

An interview with Catherine McCormack
http://www.theatre.com/story/id/3003317



Sunday 6 August 2006

Samuel West - Theatre - Sheffield

The 2006/2007 season includes:

  • A Number, Caryl Churchill
    Sam and his dad Timothy West will be in this
    Tours to the Chichester Festival Theatre - article here

  • The Caretaker, Harold Pinter
    October
    Cast includes: David Bradley, Nigel Harman
    Director: Jamie Lloyd
    Crucible; 17 October to 11 November 2006, previews from 11 October

  • As You Like It, William Shakespeare
    (Sam will direct this production; it is part of the RSC's complete works festival)

  • Fiddler on the Roof
    Production by Lindsay Posner - Christmas.
    Cast includes: Henry Goodman, Beverley Klein.
    Crucible; 5 December 2006 - 20 January 2007, previews from 30 November

  • How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found, Fin Kennedy
    premiere March 2007

  • Handful of Henna, Rani Moorthy

  • Leopard, Neil Duffield

  • The Cherry Orchard, Anton Chekhov
    Director: Jonathan Miller.
    Crucible from 20 March to 7 April 2007; previews from 14 March

  • Don't Look Now, Daphne Du Maurier
    Writer: Nell Lyshon. director: Lucy Bailey.
    Lyceum Theatre from 27 February to 10 March 2007; previews from 27 February

The Stage
Whatsonstage


Interview from The Times

Whatsonstage (different article)

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Samuel West - Theatre - A Love Letter to Dan

From whatsonstage:
In addition to all the fundraising galas being held at the King’s Head itself (See News, 29 Mar 2006), a star-studded gala will be held in the West End next week in memory of the Islington pub theatre’s late founder, Dan Crawford, who died in July last year (See News, 14 Jul 2005). A Love Letter to Dan takes place at the Novello Theatre on Sunday 16 July 2006, with proceeds donated to the King’s Head’s Raise the Roof Campaign. More than 50 top artists who appeared in productions at the King’s Head early in their careers will grace the stage for the special event, including:
Don Black, Lionel Blair, Steven Berkoff, Peter Bowles, Clare Burt, Sharon D Clarke, Tom Conti, Janie Dee, Anita Dobson, Simon Green, Susannah Fellows, Anna Francolini, Louise Gold, Richard E Grant, Jan Hartley, Patricia Hodge, Michael Howe, Celia Imrie, Lesley Joseph, David Kernan, Bonnie Langford, Denis Lawson, Gavin Lee, Maureen Lipman, Joanna Lumley, Ewan McGregor, Susie McKenna, Julia McKenzie, Linda Marlowe, Jessica Martin, Robert Meadmore, Kim Medcalf, Sheridan Morley, Paul O’Grady, Michael Praed, Frances Ruffelle, Angela Richards, Sally Ann Triplett, Samuel West and other surprise guests. Ticket prices range from £25 to £100, with the top-price seats including access to the after-show party with the cast.

Apart from a page at the King's Head official site I've been unable to find pictures or any additional press coverage of the event.

Samuel West - Radio - John Betjeman

According to this article in the Guardian, Sam will be contributing to a radio program called Poetry Please in August on BBC Radio 4.

Samuel West - Theatre - The Exonerated

[updated 26 April 2009]

Snippet about Sam being in some performances of The Exonerated [link]

Saturday 5 August 2006

Samuel West - Theatre - The Clean House

Sarah Ruhl's play, The Clean House, was directed by Sam. It began 16 March and ended 8 April.
Reviews

Guardian
"...Samuel West as director has certainly attracted an ace cast... You can't fault the acting..."

The Stage
"Sam West’s production of this delightful comedy drama about love, laughter, sisterly feelings and housework sparkles..."

The Times
"...a play that sparkles with perceptions as well as delightful absurdities, and the superior cast in Samuel West’s production are a pleasure from start to finish..."

[another review] "...Samuel West directs the play with elegance, humour, irony and delicacy..."

Reviews Gate
"...Samuel West’s immaculate production..."


Links
Sheffield Theatres official site 1|2


Samuel West - Theatre - The Romans in Britain

Sam directed a revival of Howard Brenton's play The Romans in Britain, which had a limited run at Sheffield's the Crucible February 8-25 this year.

Reviews:

Guardian
'Brenton's play is impeccably revived by West. Veteran designer Ralph Koltai has created a stunning image of a warped, gnarled, knotted tree-trunk above a standing pool and a rolling greensward... West brings out both the play's imagistic power and dark humour.'

Observer
'West's production is clear, vigorous, strongly acted and superbly designed.'

Independent
'...committed, well-judged production...West stages it [the infamous scene] very shrewdly.'

[a different review] 'what West brings out strongly is this writer's sense of black humour and his punchy yet poetic powers of description, conjuring up vivid glimpses of landscapes in the mind's eye.'

musicomh
'Any theatregoer within reach of Sheffield shouldn't miss the opportunity to see this production, for in trying to follow The Romans in Britain, Sam West has set himself the challenge of his career.'

Articles:

Telegraph [link]
Independent 1|2|3
Guardian 1|2
Varsity (interview is on page 8) [link]

Samuel West - Theatre - Much Ado About Nothing

[updated 26 April 2009]

Much Ado About Nothing
Directed by Josie Rourke
Crucible Theatre, Sheffield
21 September - 5 November 2005

Reviews

The Times
"...Take West's own earnest, rather wistful Benedick, add Claire Price's enchanting Beatrice, and you've a pairing which, if not radiating the fun and character that the crusty Donald Sinden and feisty Dame Judi Dench once did, would have given their creator quiet satisfaction..."

Observer
"...it is he [Sam] more than anyone who quickens the stage..."

Telegraph
"...West memorably captures a man whose jokes and military bearing are constantly used to keep intimacy at bay..."

Oooh, new blog. I really hope blogger will be much less troublesome and volatile than my old blog. I'll be transferring some entries here so randomness will ensue. But randomness is good.