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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 23 November 2007

Hayley Atwell - Theatre - The Man of Mode

* updated 2 December

Production: The Man of Mode
Theatre: Olivier - National Theatre

Sunday Telegraph
"...Hayley Atwell, as Belinda, captures both the cool assurance and fragile ego of the glittering schoolgirl who is used to getting her own way..."

The Mail on Sunday
"...As the gorgeous girls variously raked over by the rakish Dorimant, Nancy Carroll is a hilarious neurotic drunk, Hayley Atwell a touching besotted Belinda and Amber Agar an impressively self possessed Harriet. Highly recommended."

Observer
"... [Tom] Hardy is one of an exceptional young cast which includes Hayley Atwell, Nancy Carroll and Bertie Carvel..."

What's On Stage
"...The world of the play is sustained architecturally, too, in the bleak monumentalism of the hotel foyer where Bellair and Harriet pretend to be in love in order to protract the plot, and in Dorimant’s lascivious lair, where he beds and deludes the vacillating Belinda (her dilemmas are beautifully wrought by Ms Atwell)..."

Culture Wars
"...Hayley Atwell convinces as the next brittle, posh floosie in his [Dorimant's] sights..."

John Morrison
"...Nancy Carroll (a favourite of mine) shines as Mrs Loveit, and so does Hayley Atwell as her rival Belinda..."

Chicago Critic
"...Hayley Atwell’s Belinda and Amber Agar, as Harriet, were especially entertaining..."

Pictures
Telegraph [link]
National Theatre 1|2|3
Lebrecht. search for "00086160", "00086158" and "00086157"
Rex features. search for "639471a" and "639471e"
Polfoto 1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13|14|15|16|17|18|19|20|21|22|23|24

Links
E-trailer [link]

Samuel West - Theatre - Evening Standard Theatre Awards

* updated 27 November

Excerpts from articles:

"...Actor/director Samuel West, whose Menier Chocolate Factory production of Dealer's Choice is about to transfer to the West End, will announce best actress. Nominees are Anne-Marie Duff, Billie Piper, Penelope Wilton and the actress known only as Portia from the Young Vic's The Member Of The Wedding..."


...The awards will be presented at a lunchtime ceremony compered by Richard Wilson at the Savoy Hotel on Tuesday [27 November].

Guests will include Mackenzie Crook, Charles Dance, Anne-Marie Duff, Iain Glen, Patrick Stewart, Tom Stoppard, Samuel West and Olivia Williams.



Dealer's Choice has been nominated for one award - Stephen Wight has been nominated for the Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer for both Dealer's Choice and Don Juan in Soho.

Links:
An earlier blog entry about the Awards longlist [link]
Stephen Wight 1|2|3
Dealer's Choice official site [link]


Friday 16 November 2007

Hayley Atwell - Theatre - Women Beware Women

* updated 2 December

Production: Women Beware Women
Theatre: The Swan, Stratford
23 February - 1 April 2006

RSC press release [link]

Birmingham Post
"...There are excellent ones [performances] too from Emma Cunniffe, a familiar TV face making her RSC debut, and Hayley Atwell, who seems to have done almost nothing before but is clearly a talent to watch..."

The Stage
"...the beautiful Bianca played with grace and unaffected innocence by Hayley Atwell..."

Guardian
"...Hayley Atwell's Bianca also has the right seductive beauty and Tim Pigott-Smith's Duke, thrusting his beringed finger into her mouth, reminds us this a play about male power as well as female guile... In [sic] a short, a high-grade revival."

Reviews Gate
"...Hayley Atwell is a sparky Bianca..."

Pictures
Rex Features [link]

Hayley Atwell - Theatre - Prometheus Bound

[updated 18 March 2011]

Production: Prometheus Bound
Theatre: Sound Theatre, London
19 August - 9 September 2005

Cast
David Oyelowo
Hayley Atwell
Michael Dixon
Ciaran McIntyre

Time Out
"...It is with Hayley Atwell's appearance as Io that the terrible tyranny of Zeus really hits home. The gods have turned the maiden into a cow and sent her a tormenting gadfly that has driven her to madness; Atwell, her hands bandaged into hoof-stumps and lowing in distress, creates a heart-rending picture of vulnerability to complement the superhuman suffering of Prometheus..."

The Times
"...Hayley Atwell impresses in her professional stage debut as Io, bringing an almost unbearable pathos to this cursed cow-woman creature, stung constantly by flies and driven from one side of the earth to the other by vengeful deities..."

Online Review London
"...Hayley Atwell as Force and later as the terrified Io brought to the latter a moving hysteria and a sense of being controlled by forces greater and more mysterious than she could control..."

Reviews Gate
"...Hayley Atwell’s quietly impressive Io..."

British Theatre Guide
"...Fourth principal is Hayley Atwell who plays the half-crazed Io, a mortal maiden fancied by Zeus, but now packed off into the wilderness by Zeus’s jealous wife Hera. Transmogrified into a heifer and pursued by the unrelenting stings of a gadfly, the actress makes us respond to the anguish without for a moment inviting a chuckle at her bandaged hands turned into useless cloven hoofs..."

The Stage
"...There are also fine supporting performances from Brian Poyser as Oceanus, urging Prometheus to temper his rage, Michael Dixon as the gods’ messenger Hermes threatening more severe punishment, and a parallel scene of anguish from Hayley Atwell as the crazed Io, half heifer, half woman, pursued by a gadfly..."

Pictures
Getty
Camden New Journal
ArenaPal

Hayley Atwell - Radio - Blood of the Daleks

[updated 13 September 2009]



BBC7
Broadcast 31 December 2006 and 7 January 2007 (2 episodes)

Behind the Sofa
"...Anita Dobson's Klint and Hayley Atwell's Asha spend most of the episode in their own two handed story naively misunderstanding the Dalek's intentions; both are very good with Atwell (who played Rosa in the BBC's recent adaptation of The Ruby [sic] and the Smoke) in particular showing an authority that'll become really important across the story..."

msimpson1964 @ Timelord
"...Hayley Atwell plays scientist-with-a-secret Asha Gryvern with an easy assurance that belies her relative youth..."

The History of the Doctor
"...The cast is stellar. With the greatest respect to Big Finish’s regular troupe of performers, after ninety monthly releases it is nice to hear some different voices coming at you – especially those of talents like Anita Dobson; Kenneth Cranham; Gerry O’Toole; and Hayley Atwell. The latter, despite lacking the ‘big-name’ status of some of the others, really stole the show for me with an absolutely superb performance..."

Links
Wikipedia [link]
Big Finish productions 1|2
Doctor Who Guide [link]


Hayley Atwell - Radio - Felix Holt, The Radical

Felix Holt, The Radical

Character: Esther Lyon

BBC Radio 4
3 episodes
Broadcast 24 June 2007, 1 July 2007, 8 July 2007 (3 episodes)

BBC Press Office [link]

Thursday 15 November 2007

Hayley Atwell - Film - Cassandra's Dream, BIFA


  • Hayley is a member of the 2007 BIFA awards jury [link]

  • A nice mention in Variety from an article about up-coming talent [link]

  • Profile from afterellen.com [link]

  • The US trailer for Cassandra's Dream is available:


Hayley Atwell - Film - How About You

[updated 8 March 2014]

According to IFTN and irishmovies, the film will be released in Ireland 16 November.

Synopsis from Bankside films:
HOW ABOUT YOU tells the story of Ellie (Hayley Atwell), a footloose and fearless young woman who is left in charge of a residential home owned and run by her older sister Kate (Orla Brady), over the Christmas period. Her youth and inexperience bring her into bitter conflict with the four grumpy old residents known as the “hardcore”: retired screen beauty Georgia (Vanessa Redgrave), spinster sisters Hazel (Imelda Staunton) and Heather (Brenda Fricker), and a reformed alcoholic judge, Donald (Joss Ackland). The film deals with the at times hilarious antics of these uncivilized seniors, the gradual solidarity that develops between the residents and Ellie and an unlikely romance.

Review
The Irish Times, 16 November 2007
"...Atwell (from TV's The Line of Beauty) and [Orla] Brady (who was unforgettable in A Love Divided) respond engagingly to the sisters they play..."

Interviews
The Irish Times, 17 November 2007, by Donald Clarke
"...She [Hayley] is not quite famous yet, but, unless an anvil falls on her head, her face will be turning up on magazine covers very soon...Atwell, who was raised in west London, appears to have had a ball shooting the film in Co Wicklow. 'I was staying in this hotel and spent every free moment walking up the Sugar Loaf,' she says. 'I bought myself a tin whistle and taught myself The Wild Rover. It was great to get back to nature.' So she wasn't in the pub with the gang every night? 'Not really. Though Joss Ackland and I did start up a film club for the cast. He was absolutely appalled that I had seen so few films by Robert Mitchum.'..."

IFTN [excerpt from an interview with director Anthony Byrne]
"...Hayley Atwell, at just 25 years old, was a spring chicken amongst her older acting peers, but the acting veterans were quick to take the young actress under their wing, and the chemistry between her character Ellie and the older residents bounces of the screen.

'It was all very good natured,' says Byrne. 'I think for Hayley as an actor, they were all very supportive and very generous as well because it’s tough for her, she’s only 25 so it’s difficult for a young actor who doesn’t have the experience to step into a room with Joss Ackland, Imelda Staunton and Brenda Fricker and do what she does and they were very cool with her'..."


Pictures

Bankside Films

Trailer screencaps (video source: Ferndale Films)




Saturday 10 November 2007

Evening Standard Theatre Awards longlist

Rosamund Pike, Samuel West and Toby Stephens have been included in this year's Evening Standard Theatre Awards longlist. Rosamund has been nominated for Best Actress, and Sam and Toby have been nominated for Best Actor.

The longlist can be found here.

I found out about the awards at the brit_actors livejournal community, which is maintained by hellblazer06.


Tuesday 6 November 2007

TV randomness - October

Life season 1 episodes 2-6
Secret Diary of a Call Girl episode 2 (of 8)
Under the Greenwood Tree
Spooks series 6 episodes 1-4 (of 10)

Repeat viewings

Pride and Prejudice episodes 3-6 (of 6)
Entourage season 1

Samuel West - Theatre

There is a nice mention of Sam in an article from the Guardian about actors being artistic directors of theatre companies.

"...Sam West, in his all-too-brief reign at Sheffield Crucible, put down a valuable marker..."


Friday 2 November 2007

Theatre - Cloud Nine

[updated 8 March 2014]

This review round-up focuses on James Fleet, Tobias Menzies and Nicola Walker.

Variety
"...Tobias Menzies is remarkably subtle as Harry Bagley, the gung-ho, intrepid explorer whose public persona is at war with his hush-hush homosexuality. Bagley is not the richest role in the play, but Menzies brings out gravitas beneath the comedy by showing the pain and strain of Harry's position.

Nicola Walker's Edward also allows auds to see the confusion underpinning the behavior of a boy who cannot live up to his father's (double) standards..."


Reviews Gate
"...The cast are resoundingly excellent. Tobias Menzies is utterly convincing as British explorer Harry Bagley (desired by men, women and children alike) and the downtrodden husband of the second act..."

Observer
"...It is the acting, in Sharrock's production, that redeems all deficiencies...James Fleet is wonderful..."

Independent
"...beautifully modulated and cannily cast production..."

Guardian
"...there is still a wicked pleasure in watching James Fleet's patriarch, Clive, banging on about the way women are "dark like this continent, mysterious". Fleet's revulsion at discovering his best friend, the romantic explorer Harry Bagley, is homosexual is also a joy to behold...Nicola Walker moves perfectly from white-suited colonial boy to independent granny championing masturbation in plummy, upper-class tones... Tobias Menzies also brings exactly the right air of insouciant arrogance to both an imperial adventurer and a manipulative modern husband..."

What's On Stage
"...The play resounds with such witty echoes and carefully finessed acting..."

Bloomberg
"...Nicola Walker is superb as the neurotic child Edward, and she transforms into a wonderfully clipped, domineering Betty for Act II. James Fleet (Clive) is a bluff, gruff paterfamilias and then a sweet five-year-old girl in a pink frock..."

Telegraph
"...James Fleet, as the furtively unfaithful Clive, excels in the ramrod hauteur of the stereotypical empire-builder while signalling in sly sideways glances the guilty look of the arch hypocrite...

Nicola Walker shines as the subjugated young Edward, carrying the weight of patriarchal expectation on his far from manly shoulders, before gloriously emerging in the second half as an imperious, neurotic matriarch, back from Africa and adrift in the permissive society.

Tobias Menzies is also a tense-faced delight as Harry, adventurer and closet homosexual in Act One, reappearing later as an abject, wheedling but slyly manipulative modern husband..."


Evening Standard
"...the superlative, versatile ensemble of actors..."

London Theatre Guide
"... [Thea] Sharrock’s production is a fast-paced orgy of intentional confusion, in which the cast’s finely tuned character-swapping and cross-dressing link the two eras as well as providing much humour. Fleet in Act Two playing toddler Cathy – with pink dress, hair bow and moustache – is certainly bizarre, but strangely believable..."

The Stage
"...this play is an absolute joy for both actors and audience..."

Pictures
Broadway World
Press night party (wooller.com)
Almeida Theatre website

Screencaps from the trailer