Charles Edwards - current and upcoming TV projects

Henry IX

Charles plays a fictional, contemporary king in this three part series from UKTV Gold. The final episode will be broadcast next Wednesday.

In an interview with the Radio Times, he praised writers Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais:

"They’re very clever guys and lovely people to work with. And there’s no bulls**t. They know exactly what they want and when you get the sense you’re giving it to them, it’s very pleasing."

Likewise, in an Clement and La Frenais had very positive things to say about Charles in this interview from the British Comedy Guide:

What was the most crucial element in the pre-production of Henry IX?
Dick: Casting was key. The moment we saw Charles Edwards audition, we were all knocked out by him. We stuck in our heels and said, "Look no further. This guy is absolutely perfect." He persuaded everyone with that audition. At the read-through, he didn't miss a trick, and actually added a lot of stuff of his own. Suddenly, it had life.

What are Charles's strongest characteristics as an actor?
Dick: He is exactly the right age to play Henry. He is handsome and has great charm and likeability. Also, you feel sympathy for him. The poor guy is trapped, and Charles conveys that brilliantly.
Ian: He's such a gifted actor. We were still a bit insecure about this project. When we sat down for the read through. But as soon as Charles started reading the part, suddenly it just came alive. Dick and I said to each other, "That really worked." Charles is so superb. He brings an enormous amount of subtlety to the role. He does so much with so little. We came away from the read through, feeling elated and thinking, "It works!"

The following videos are the teaser trailer and two clips:


Media round up

• The Spectator "In the role of Henry, Charles Edwards does a fine job of making the king’s predicament a sympathetic one... Clement and La Frenais keep the jokes coming at a good rate"
• The Guardian "With an elegant cast – including Charles Edwards, Colin Salmon and Sally Phillips – exchanging dry lines in echoey state rooms, it feels like an eccentric UK cousin to The Young Pope."
• The RTS (Royal Television Society) selected the show as a top pick for the week commencing 3rd April
• The Arts Desk "Charles Edwards is excellent as Henry, and there's an equally starry cast around him – among them Annette Crosbie's dotty ancient mother and his equerries (Colin Salmon and Gina Bellman)"
• hellyescharlesedwards has a scans of a promo image of Henry looking like he can't be bothered to be on the throne and various articles from TV magazines such as Total TV Guide, TV & Satellite Week, TV Times and Inside Soap

The Terror

This is an AMC series adapted from Dan Simmons' novel - a fictional account of Captain Sir John Franklin's lost expedition to the Arctic (The Chronicle). Charles plays Alexander McDonald, assistant surgeon on HMS Terror. According to IMDB he will feature in one episode. Other cast members include Jared Harris, Ciaran Hinds and Tobias Menzies.

Charles Edwards - My Fair Lady Australian tour and upcoming TV projects

Charles will play Henry Higgins in the 60th anniversary production of My Fair Lady, which tours to Melbourne from 12 May 2017. Tickets go on sale 10 October (thanks to @j0lande). Limited dates are on presale (thanks to @teamdenbigh).
Prior to Melbourne, he will play the role in Brisbane from 12 March 2017. In an interview with Limelight, he said that he has had an interest in playing Higgins:
"“From the moment I knew it was Julie directing, I thought this is too good not to do. And I’ve also hankered for a long time to play the role. I like acting in Shaw very much: the intellectual demands and the speed of thought, I find challenging."

My Fair Lady is playing at the Sydney Opera House until 5 November with Alex Jennings as Higgins. Click here for tickets. It's a fun production that is worth seeing (I saw it last Friday).

[slight tangent: Naomi from hellyescharlesedwards has told me that my birthday message to Charles was prescient in a way because I asked him to come to Sydney. My message is the first image in this post. According to the Limelight article he is currently in Sydney meeting the cast and production team.]

**********

Other upcoming roles for Charles are the title role in the sitcom Henry IX (British Comedy Guide), Lucian in the drama series The Halcyon (Sue Terry Voices and ITV) and David Wellsborough in series 4 of Sherlock (@Ruther2 and Spotlight).

Charles Edwards - Blithe Spirit, Florence Foster Jenkins and radio repeats

Next Monday (18 April), Charles and director Michael Blakemore will introduce a screening of Blithe Spirit at the V&A. Charles starred as Charles Condimine in the production, which played at the Gielgud Theatre in 2014.

Florence Foster Jenkins will close the Belfast Film Festival on 23 April (via cineuropa). It will be released in the UK on 6 May and Australia on 5 May. Click here for the film's teaser trailer.

Silk: The Clerks Room "Bethany" will be repeated on BBC Radio 4 next Tuesday (12 April). Charles plays Mr Lewis in this episode.
Series 2 of Welcome To Our Village, Please Invade Carefully will be repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra from next Wednesday (13 April). Charles stars as Field Commander Uljabaan.

Charles Edwards - Richard II and Waste

Richard II is in this year's Globe on Screen season (Shakespeare's Globe press release, p. 3). It will be shown in the UK from 24 June (Arts Alliance) and Australia in July (Village Cinemas).

Olive Williams (Amy O’Connell in Waste) mentioned Charles in a Q&A on the National Theatre's tumblr (via the @nationaltheatre).

"Do you have any pre-performance rituals?
I like to run my scenes with Charlie playing Trebell. We choose a different accent for every performance which sounds like a silly actor’s game but has really revealed some new nuances in the text and myriad different ways to play the scene...
Who’s your backstage hero?
... Charles Edwards who is invincible. Whatever crazy performance I throw at him he catches the ball and lobs it back."

Waste closes 19 March.

Convergence of blog people, February edition

From my Youtube home page. These videos are worth a rewatch, by the way.


[my previous convergence of blog people post is here]

Charles Edwards - Waste

Charles has been quoted in a Guardian article about how a play changes throughout its run:

"'It’s not license to starting imposing your own original ideas,' says Charles Edwards, playing Henry Trebell in Waste, 'but once a director goes, you find that running the thing with a crowd, allowing the language to strike you in ways it hasn’t already, you make realisations of your own.'"

Here are some screencaps from the trailer for the play.



Waste is playing at the National Theatre until 19 March.

Charles Edwards - Words and Music

Charles and Olivia Williams are the readers for Words and Music "Northern Lights: The North Pole". It is available on iPlayer for two more days.

Charles and Olivia are currently starring in Waste at the National Theatre, which closes 19 March. Click here for my review round up and Storify about the production.

Charles Edwards - Matchbox Theatre and Waste interviews

Charles, Alex Jennings and Roger Allam are in episode 1 of Michael Frayn's Matchbox Theatre, which premieres on BBC Radio 4 tomorrow (27 November).

He has been interviewed in Official London Theatre and The Stage. In the former, he discusses working at the National Theatre:

"When I started being an actor, being here at the National Theatre was always the goal. Doing All My Sons here in 2000 with Howard Davies directing was one of the biggest thrills. Getting a job at the National. The feeling never abates when you come to work here."

In the latter, he discusses Henry Trebell, the character he plays in Waste:

"He’s used to having to compartmentalise. He’ll have an intensely emotional scene that has to be kept quiet so as not to be heard outside, and then suddenly, the door will be flung open and in comes a big political figure and immediately he’s putting up a front. It’s the switch back and forth, that’s what I love."

Charles Edwards - Waste review round up

(source: Johan Persson/National Theatre on Facebook)
Guardian
"Charles Edwards’s superb performance as Trebell...In Edwards’s hands, the play becomes the tragedy of a man who reserves his passion for principles rather than people."

Evening Standard
"Edwards’s detailed performance conveys the complexity of a man who manages to be both a cold fish and deeply sensitive — and his crucial scenes with Williams are genuinely affecting."

South London Press
"a stylish and absorbing production... with a strong cast led by Charles Edwards as Trebell and Olivia Williams as Amy."

Official London Theatre
"Charles Edwards is captivating as the suave, seductive and ambitious Henry."

Woddis Reviews
"Charles Edwards turns in a blinder of a performance: subtle, then again incandescent with fervour and belief, and not wholly sympathetic as a character."

britishtheatre.com
"As the driving force of the play, Henry Trebell, the man with the vision for education for all, Charles Edwards is compelling throughout. He has the introspection and off-handedness of the character absolutely right, and makes you clearly understand that Trebell is a man who is passionate only about his principles and ideas – he is incapable of being passionate about the people who form his circle."

Charles Edwards - screencaps from Trying Again

Episode 1



Episode 2



Episode 4


Episode 5



Episode 6



Episode 7



Episode 8

Charles Edwards - Double Acts on Radio 4

Charles and Celia Imrie star in "A Flock of Tigers", the first episode in John Finnemore's Double Acts. It will be broadcast on BBC Radio 4, Friday 16 October at 11.30am.

Convergence of blog people, September edition

[my previous/first convergence of blog people post is here]

Charles Edwards - Double Acts, #15secondshakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing

Charles and Celia Imrie will star in the first episode of John Finnemore's Double Acts on BBC Radio 4. The series begins in October (Finnemore's Twitter, @JohnFinnemore 1|2|3)

This is Charles' take on #15secondshakespeare*

Thanks @IanGelderacta. Onwards to @DreyfusJames, @GregHaiste & @emmagafielding. #15secondshakespeare pic.twitter.com/gijZBChihI

— Charles Edwards (@CEdwardsActor) September 22, 2015

Playwright Ken Ludwig mentioned Charles in an interview about his "Favorite Things" (Playbill).

"As for Much Ado, this funniest of all Shakespeare plays has received two other productions that I love: one that I’ve only seen on tape, with Sam Waterston in the Public Theater production; and one that I saw at the Globe in London with Charles Edwards and Eve Best. Together, they gave two of the best Shakespeare performances I’ve ever seen – and you can get it on DVD!"

Ludwig is referring to a 2011 production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Globe; click here to find out more.

* reciting lyrics, Shakespeare style (Nerd Reactor)

The Mono Box

The Mono Box is a resource for actors, directors and playwrights. It was set up by actor Joan Iyiola and movement director/choreographer Polly Bennett in 2012. The organisation runs workshops and events. It also has a collection of plays that was entirely donated by industry professionals. Several donors are people I have featured on my blog over the years* - actors Hugh Bonneville, Olivia Colman, Charles Edwards, Andrew Scott, Michael Sheen, Juliet Stevenson and David Tennant; and playwrights Caryl Churchill, Lucy Prebble and Laura Wade.

* belated realisation that I've had this blog for nine years!

Charles Edwards - Florence Foster Jenkins

[updated 17 August]

The film Florence Foster Jenkins is one of Charles' upcoming projects (ambitionmakesmetired via hellyescharlesedwards). It stars Meryl Streep as Jenkins and Hugh Grant as St Clair Bayfield. Jenkins was a socialite who dreamt of becoming a great opera singer and Bayfield was her manager. When Florence decided to give a public concert at Carnegie Hall in 1944, St. Clair knew he faced his greatest challenge - protecting her from the fact that her singing was actually awful (BBC Films).
Director Stephen Frears previously worked with Charles on Philomena.

A convergence of blog people

Also known as Waste by Harley Granville Barker. Was pleasing to see that it wasn't just me who noticed that Charlie will star in and Sam has directed this play. Charlie will play Henry Trebell in a production directed by Roger Michell at the National Theatre; Sam directed the play at the Almeida in 2008.


In addition, they have various characters in common:

• Both have played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (Sam at Sheffield and Charlie at the Globe) and Richard II (Sam for the RSC and Charlie at the Globe). I also tweeted about this here.
• Sam played Robert in Betrayal (Donmar, directed by Roger Michell!) and Charlie also played him in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the play
• They have played Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest (Sam at the Royal Exchange Theatre and Charlie for the English Touring Theatre)
• Sam played George VI in the film Hyde Park on Hudson and Charlie also played the king in the stage adaptation of The King's Speech
• Charlie played Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice for Birmingham Rep and Sam played him on BBC Radio 4

and this is probably getting tangential - they have featured in Midsomer Murders (separately) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (playing different characters); they were also in Longitude and Mr Cinders.

Charles Edwards - Waste at the NT and the short film Yellow Fever

Charles will play Henry Trebell in Waste at the National Theatre (via The Stage). Previews begin 3 November and press night is 10 November. It is booking until 16 January with additional performances to be announced (National Theatre press release). This will be directed by Roger Michell. His theatre credits include Rope (Almeida) and Betrayal (Donmar Warehouse).

hellyescharlesedwards posted a clip from the short film Yellow Fever (1998). Raymond Yeung directed the film, which was screened at the 1999 BFI London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and won the Audience Award in Madrid Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (BFI player and SIFF). The film can be viewed on Frameline.

Charles Edwards - Richard II

Charles plays the title role in Richard II at The Globe until 18 October.

The production is also in the 2016 Globe on Screen season, which will be screened in selected cinemas internationally (The Globe press office).

This media round up contains review excerpts, links to interviews with Charles and an updated Storify.

Reviews

John Morrison
"The test of any actor in this role is how he handles the transformation from powerful inhuman monarch to terrified human prisoner at the end of the play, and Edwards meets this challenge magnificently."

The Guardian
"a highly accomplished performance and movingly graduates into tragedy in the final act."

Evening Standard
"he sensitively conveys Richard’s descent from arrogant mockery — when he banishes his cousin Bolingbroke and the obstinate Duke of Norfolk — into an inept vulnerability that contrasts with Bolingbroke’s shrewdness and populism."

Official London Theatre
"The wonderful Charles Edwards, who deserves to be a household name he’s so regularly brilliant, again delivers a sterling performance. He creates a childish Richard with a jaunty arrogance and the absolute confidence of entitlement that is briefly disturbed in ripples to reveal non-regal frailty."

The Times (24 July)
"as the gilded monarch presiding over an England hurtling towards bankruptcy and insurrection,
Charles Edwards is wholly absorbing, dangerously convinced that he was born to rule and besotted with his own glittering, hollow majesty."

The Independent
"Charles Edwards’s excellent Richard ... the actor portrays the king as effete but not effeminate and brings a lovely light touch to the black comedy of Richard’s blithe self-centredness."

The Stage
"His is a compelling performance. He is confident of his status, ermined and purpled as he is, yet also deeply consciousness of the way the world views him; when he crouches on the ground to talk about the death of kings, he makes himself small, vulnerable, revealing something of the man beneath."

whatsonstage
"Edwards, a really fine actor, now proves himself a great one: his Richard describes, more acidly and more exactly than any Richard since the great Ian Richardson/Richard Pascoe alternating pairing of the king and Bolingbroke, his journey into self-knowledge without self-pity or weepiness."

Time Out
"Edwards’s performance as Shakespeare’s doomed monarch is about as close to down to earth as it gets.it’s a heartbreaking moment when Richard is overcome when a wooden toy held by the little king at the start of his life is reintroduced to the grown man toward the end. A human and entertaining night of tragedy."

Pictures
From rehearsals (Official London Theatre)

Interviews
Radio 2 Arts Show with Claudia Winkleman - this is available on iPlayer for 3 more weeks
"His Royal Ascent", The Sunday Times, 26 July
The Globe - audio interviews from rehearsals

Charles Edwards - Richard II

This Storify contains tweets about preparation for Richard II at the Globe: Charles researching at the Folger Library and being photographed at Westminster Abbey.

Charles Edwards - Richard II, Arthur & George, Blithe Spirit, voiceovers

Charles will play Richard II in a production directed by Simon Godwin at the Globe, 11 July – 18 October. Press night is Wednesday 22 July 2015 (Shakespeare's Globe press office).
Charles has performed at the Globe - he played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing in 2011. Godwin previously directed Charles in Strange Interlude (National Theatre, 2013) and Wanderlust (Royal Court, 2010).


screencap source: ITV
Arthur & George will be released on DVD 13 April (Amazon). Recent press about the series includes an article from the Birmingham Mail and a review from the Guardian:

"It has been translated sympathetically and successfully to the screen, with fine performances... Charles Edwards as Woodie, Sir Arthur’s manservant/secretary/friend/sidekick, something between Jeeves and … Dr Watson."

Charles has done voiceovers for a book trailer (Dance with Fireflies) and the short film Winds of Change (via hellyescharlesedwards).


screencap sources: SHN and CityTV
The Blithe Spirit North American tour ends in Washington DC at the National Theatre 29 March. The play's official website has further details about tickets.

The following press round up has been categorised by city/theatre.

Washington DC (National Theatre)
Interviews

• Washington Post
• Washington Times

Reviews

• DC Metro Theater Arts, "Charles Edwards proves a comical delight as Charles, who starts out so suavely composed and sure of himself until these two very different-seeming wives team up to accuse him of having a “weak will.” Edwards shows us the funny side of male vanity, flayed and dissected through the genius of Noel Coward."
• Baltimore Sun, "Edwards does impeccably timed work that recalls the lighter side of Cary Grant. And he gives Lansbury a run for her money in the department of prismatic facial expressions as things heat up between Wife No. 1 and Wife No. 2..."

San Francisco (Golden Gate Theatre)
Interviews
SHN video interview

Simon Jones (Dr Bradman) mentions Charles' approach to Noel Coward's dialogue in an interview with Groucho Reviews:

"his approach to Coward dialogue is the most refreshing I’ve ever encountered... the way Charlie delivers his lines has made them entirely conversational. Sometimes he doesn’t even finish a line, like conversations would be. But you know what the word would have been. Or he splits them up in the middle."

Reviews

• Bay Area Plays, "some absolutely magical moments, most notably by Charles Edwards, who plays author and socialite fella Charles Condomine with a euphoric and conflicted flair... a dapper and debonair gent, a superb leading man"
• Edge San Francisco, "As Condomine, Charles Edwards manages to inject his character with a charming (if rather spoiled) boyishness. And, as he veers between feeling tortured by his vying wives and basking in their jealous attention, we can't help but feel sympathy for his plight."
• The Bay Area Reporter, "As Charles Condomine, Charles Edwards does solid and increasingly interesting work, as the reality of having two wives on the premises turns the character from amiable husband into an increasingly waspish budding misogynist."

Toronto (Princess of Wales Theatre)
Interviews

• CityTV video interview
• National Post

Reviews

• Stage Door, "His use of pauses or coughs to emphasize a significant word brings out the wit in lines that often are passed over.  His timing is perfect, and he is masterful in detailing Charles’s ever increasing frustration..."
• Torontoist, "Edwards is superb as the self-satisfied Charles"

Los Angeles (Ahmanson Theatre)
Interviews

• The Los Angeles Daily News - with Charles and director Michael Blakemore
• Grigware Interviews

Pictures from press night (Society News LA)

Reviews

• Hollywood Reporter, "Edwards conjures equal doses of charm, wit and buffoonery, effortlessly walking the line between suave and silly, and never losing the audience’s sympathy, no matter how self-absorbed his behavior becomes."
• Neon Tommy, "a nuanced, three dimensional performance from Edwards"
• Gardena Valley News, "Charles Edwards is perfect as the dashing writer, Charles Condomine... as the Brits would say, “Spot on.”"