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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 21 September 2007

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

* updated 14 October

Brown Daily Herald
"...Edwards is perfect as Hannay... His every facial gesture is a flawless exaggeration of the reactions we expect of a classic Hollywood protagonist - even as police and airplanes chase him he is charming..."

Weymouth News
"...Charles Edwards, the only cast member to transfer from London, is a dashing, devilish delight as Hannay..."

South Coast Today
"...Charles Edwards creates a very dashing Hannay... Mr. Edwards is excellent as the driving force of the show and holding the story together..."

OnStage Boston
"...Terribly proper and terribly civilized even as murders and shootings and dangerous damsels swirl about, the show faithfully captures the look and feel of the original film while remaining completely self-aware of what it's doing. The combination is delightful..."

Gratuitous Violins
"...Charles Edwards, who plays the protagonist, Richard Hannay, is the only holdover from the British cast, and he's superb...He's very suave, dashing, self-assured, not a hair out of place even as he flees for his life across the Scottish Highlands. The perfect 1930s hero..."

Broadway World
"...His Hannay is dry, slightly befuddled, and prone to a bit of manly exasperation when challenged by the headstrong women who cross his path. He is also master of the subtle double-take when deliberately telegraphing danger in the exaggerated vaudeville style..."

Somerville Journal
"...He’s got the heightened delivery and sharp-eyed squint that’s a dead-on mock-up of all those black-and-white noir mysteries of the 1930s, filled with hard-boiled men and dangerous women...the likeable Edwards..."

BostonNOW
"...The cast of four deftly executes costume and character changes with a remarkable smoothness. Each actor nails the nuances of physical comedy with such incredible timing you can hardly believe it's actually live..."

Christian Science Monitor
"...The suave British actor Charles Edwards plays Richard Hannay...The most delightful aspect of this outrageous undertaking [...] is the imagination of its staging while recalling the specifics of the film..."

The Tufts Daily
"...Edwards as the laughably debonair Hannay is the perfect leading man. All in all, the cast makes this play well worth seeing. The comedic timing is perfect and the energy never fades..."

Theatre Mirror
"...Charles Edwards, the handsome, tweedy [sic] Critereon lead..."

Variety
"...[Edwards] has the sweet daftness and understated dash of a '30s leading man who knows too much. His droll élan — not a hair out of place on his perfectly coiffed head during these cross-country runs — is the comic calm amidst the madness that surrounds him..."

Boston Herald
"...Maria Aitken's entire production plays with tongue firmly planted in cheek. The actors move with the melodramatic swagger associated with old movies... see it for the sheer pleasure of theatrical artifice in full tilt..."

Cape Cod Times
"...From his Act 1-opening raised eyebrow, Edwards establishes himself as the embodiment of the dashing Richard Hannay, Our Hero..."

Boston Globe
"...Charles Edwards, as the hunted but ever debonair protagonist, Richard Hannay, is the only import from the London cast, and he delivers a gently satiric version of the film’s debonair Robert Donat with effortless charm..."

3 comments:

Todd Williams said...

There is no D in Huntington Theatre Company... Thanks! :-)

Jennifer said...

oops, sorry. shall change it!

Esther said...

Thanks so much for the link. I"m thrilled to be included in your review roundup! I wish I could go back and see the show again.