Samuel West - The Iliad, Suffragette, An Oak Tree

On Friday, Sam and several other actors such as Bertie Carvel, Rory Kinnear, Tobias Menzies, Hattie Morahan, Simon Russell Beale, John Simm and Ben Whishaw, performed in a reading of The Iliad at the British Museum and at the Almeida. The performance was live streamed. A series of podcasts and a making-of film are forthcoming.

Suffragette will open this year's London Film Festival (Prolific North). Sam has described his role in the film as "small and cross" (his Twitter, @exitthelemming). Click below for screencaps of him in the trailer.

He will feature in series 3 of Great Canal Journeys (his Twitter, @exitthelemming). Meanwhile, series 1 is being repeated on Channel 4 from 15 August (Radio Times).

Sam narrates a series of videos on The Road to Agincourt website. He plays the chronicler who wrote Gesta Henrici Quinti, a work about the deeds of Henry V (via the Daily Echo).

In July, he played the Father in An Oak Tree at the National Theatre. The play is a two-hander by Tim Crouch, who plays the Hypnotist. The Father is played by a different guest actor at each performance; at the National, guest actors included John Heffernan, Samuel Barnett and Trystan Gravelle.
Sam tweeted that the play was "Beautiful, useful and never to be forgotten" and Tim tweeted that the performance was "a very special evening." Here is a selection of tweets about the performance:

@exitthelemming Saw you perform in An Oak Tree tonight, absolutely amazing! Undoubtedly one of the best shows I've seen in London congrats!

— Lydia-Rachel (@Lydia_Actor) July 15, 2015

Great work tonight @exitthelemming & @timcrouch1964 with #AnOakTree Imagine it & you are it. Even we as the audience. Nod if you understand.

— Jack Tarlton (@jacktarlton) July 15, 2015

Congrats to @timcrouch1964 & @exitthelemming for a glorious #AnOakTree.....Friar Lawrence was v v proud of his Romeo #howtimeflies xx

— Hugh Sachs (@HughSachs) July 15, 2015

In May, Sam narrated Morning Heroes by Bliss with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Here is a review round up of the performance.

Music OMH
"Samuel West brought just the right level of philosophical pathos to the words..."

The Guardian

"The speaker (here, the excellent Samuel West) delivers the long opening passage from Homer over quietly unfolding orchestral themes, and Owen’s Spring Offensive, accompanied only by timpani and drums, to begin the finale."

Seen and Heard
"Samuel West struck just the right balance of eloquence and dignity of delivery..."

The Arts Desk
"Most personal and affecting were the work’s prologue and epilogue, calling upon Sam West with subtly scored orations of Hector’s Farewell to Andromache and Owen’s Spring Offensive."

**********

A few days ago, We Love Hackney tweeted a picture of Sam at a campaign launch - the local council is planning to restrict opening hours of clubs and music venues.

In July, Sam received an honorary degree from the University of East Anglia (BBC). The audio from his speech is here. He also tweeted a picture of himself from the ceremony.
Voices for the Library shared a piece by Sam about why he values his local library (via their Twitter @VftL_UK).
The Southbank Centre tweeted a picture of Sam reading at a Make Apartheid History event. Excerpts from the readings have been posted on Youtube (via Artists for Palestine).


Sam participated in a march against austerity in London 20 June (@fugueur). Participants opposed public sector cuts in areas such as welfare, health and education (ABC).

Samuel West - The Crimson Field, Ode to Napoleon, Hamlet

Screencaps of Sam as Elliot Vincent in episode 4 of The Crimson Field. Click them for full size.


The episode is available on iPlayer for the next 14 days.

Booking for the Hatfield House Chamber Music Festival opens 12 May. On 27 September, Sam will narrate "Ode to Napoleon" by Schoenberg.
In September 2005, he mentioned that he'd narrated it "three times now -it's the hardest thing I've ever done" ("The finest recording of the year? Trust me, I'm a celebrity", The Times, 2 September 2005). Presumably one of those times was in early 1994, when he collaborated with the Hebrides Ensemble to perform an "eloquent and animated" interpretation of the work (Herald Scotland).

The Guardian's "45 Hamlets for Shakespeare's 450th birthday" features a selection of actors who have played Hamlet, including Sam, Ralph Fiennes, Simon Russell Beale, David Tennant, Ben Whishaw, Michael Sheen, Rory Kinnear, Toby Stephens, John Simm and Alex Jennings.
Sam starred in a production directed by Steven Pimlott - click here to find out more.

Yesterday, Sam tweeted some personal (and squeeworthy) news tweet 1|tweet 2

Ruth Wilson, Rosamund Pike, Hayley Atwell. Guardian BAFTA television portfolio.

Ruth Wilson interviews from the Guardian (via the Ruth Wilson Placeholder Blog) and BA High Life to publicise Luther (series 2 premieres in June on BBC1) and Anna Christie (Donmar, August-October).
A glimpse of her from the Luther series 2 episode 1 teaser (click the thumbnail for full size):

She will star in a BBC Radio 3 production of Flare Path by Terence Rattigan with Rory Kinnear and Rupert Penry-Jones. It will be broadcast 5 June.
On 12 May, Ruth attended the Butterfly Ball.

The voice cast for Warp Film's The Organ Grinder’s Monkey includes Daniel Craig, Rhys Ifans and Rosamund Pike.
Earlier this month, Rosamund was a guest at the closure of El Bulli in Spain, and she attended the Women for Women Gala.

A tweet from make up artist Lisa Eldridge about Hayley Atwell doing publicity for Captain America:

"With gorgeous Hayley Atwell again shooting publicity & gearing up for the release of Captain America http://youtu.be/jX-dpQAginE"

(tangent: Lisa also does informative and interesting make up tutorials - her website is here)

John Simm, Hugh Bonneville, Claire Foy and Maxine Peake feature in the Guardian's BAFTA television portfolio.

Television - In Love with Shakespeare, BBC Radio

Stephen Campbell Moore, John Simm and Sam West will perform speeches from Julius Caesar, Hamlet and Richard II in In Love With Shakespeare, a 30 minute program which will be broadcast on Sky Arts 28 May (via The Stage).

BBC Radio

• John Simm will be interviewed on Loose Ends
• David Morrissey will be interviewed on Front Row
• Toby Jones and Dina Lorzun star in the series 10 premiere of From Fact to Fiction
• Tamsin Greig and Alex Jennings star in the Afternoon Play That's Mine, This is Yours
• Hattie Morahan reads "The Happy Valley" by Daphne du Maurier
• Fenella Woolgar reads the Book of the Week Millions Like Us: Women's Lives in War and Peace 1939-1949
• Anna Maxwell Martin and Matthew Macfadyen are the readers for Words and Music "Self-Improvement"

Charles Edwards - Theatre - A Midsummer Night's Dream

[updated 17 March 2011]

Reviews

Financial Times
"...Dench is well matched by Charles Edwards' proud, suave Oberon, who brings a touch of smugness to his plans to fool his estranged queen, then suffers a crisis of conscience..."

The Guardian
"...Charles Edwards is a particularly fine Oberon who brings out the sadistic delight with which the fractious immortal torments the fairy queen... Edwards conveys a proper sense of guilt at the effectiveness of his ruse..."

The Independent
"...Charles Edwards doing a nice send up of a square-jawed matinee idol with supernatural touches as Oberon..."

Daily Express
"...Charles Edwards is a wonderfully scheming Oberon..."

Pictures

Production (Nobby Clark)
Press night (guests included John Simm, Timothy West and Prunella Scales)

Theatre - Enron

[updated 31 January]



Reviews

Telegraph
"...There is superb clarity in Prebble's story-telling as well as high drama, and terrific bravura about Rupert Goold's often dazzling production that brings the mysterious world of high finance to vivid, comprehensible life...
The production is is also blessed with some terrific performances. Samuel West grippingly charts the transformation of Enron's chief executive Jeffrey Skilling from gauche nerd to ruthless financial master of the universe..."

The Times
"...It's now as much a phenomenon as a play... Good for Lucy Prebble. Good for her Enron.
...a potentially dry subject is actually packed with juice is also due to the actors: Tim Pigott-Smith's Kenneth Lay, Enron's founder and a man whose folksy bonhomie conceals ruthlessness; Tom Goodman-Hill as the obsequious nerd who devises and then disowns the fiscal trickery; and, above all, Samuel West as the CEO..."

Bloomberg
"...Lucy Prebble's razor-sharp play...
Samuel West is superb as the aggressive and devious character depicting Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling, and his physical and mental disintegration now strikes an even deeper note of horror..."

Londonist
"...Samuel West is wonderful as Skilling, managing to bring a touch of humanity to a brainy, unrepentantly greedy bastard. Tim Pigott-Smith is utterly convincing as Enron chairman Ken Lay, creepily concealing his greed behind touchy-feely company jargon and religion. And Amanda Drew is great as what seems to be the one woman in the room, losing out to the macho of markets..."

whatsonstage.com
"...The great Samuel West leads the same cast as that which first appeared at the Chichester Minerva Theatre in July last year, then at the Royal Court in the autumn, and the company crackle with energy and wit now just as they did in each of the previous incarnations of the show..."

Guardian
"...company president Jeffrey Skilling (played by Sam West, who is remarkable in what is a remarkable cast)... The audience doesn't have to do the maths because Prebble has done it for us, bringing clarity to a complex story, and cleverly blurring the line between fact and fiction to considerable dramatic effect..."
[another review] "...Enron has arrived in the West End. Lucy Prebble's play is one of the most grown-up political dramas of the last decade. The raptor puppets, the fluorescent dazzle, the great Mammon danse macabre of Rupert Goold's production put flesh on the ideas, make the virtual look real, give life to the illusions of finance. Last year saw a string of unmissable plays. This is one of them."

Music OMH
"...West's superb performance gives the production its pulse. In his hands Skilling is an enigmatic and intriguing figure, highly intelligent, ruthless and manipulative when needs be, and utterly convinced of his own brilliance, but also undoubtedly passionate about what he does... Physically, West transforms himself repeatedly as the play progresses. From a portly outsider with unfortunate hair at the start he morphs into the epitome of the slick executive and then, as the full reality of the situation comes to light, he subtly conveys Skilling’s unravelling... Goodman-Hill is also impressive as the smart but socially awkward and rather repellent Fastow..."

The Sunday Times
"...Sam West is superb in the role [Jeffrey Skilling]. Initially, he is a boffin with a weird, slicked-down hairstyle, thick specs and trousers too short... He possesses a quite breathtaking arrogance. Gradually, his image gets slicker, his suits sharper; he even has his eyes lasered...
Prebble’s play is a magnificently ambitious and original piece"

The Financial Times
"...The acting was compelling and believable, especially from Sam West, who as Jeff Skilling managed to make a seamless transition from maths nerd to master of the universe..."

Articles

Sky News - Lucy Prebble and Samuel West are interviewed [link]
Telegraph - Rupert Goold interview [link]
ITN - Tom Goodman-Hill is interviewed [link]
Critics' Circle Theatre Awards - Rupert Goold won best director [link]
Official London Theatre Guide [link]
CNBC - producer Matthew Byam Shaw interview (via Enron- West End Run) [link]
The Times - Lucy Prebble interview [link]

Pictures

Press night:
wooller.com - after party (guests included Imelda Staunton, Lindsay Duncan, John Simm, Guy Henry, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dominic West, Rebecca Hall, Laura Wade, Maxine Peake and Andrew Scott) and curtain call [link]
Getty - after party [link]

Production:
Photo by Elliott Franks [link]
Photos by Helen Maybanks 1|2
Corbis (photo: Robbie Jack) [link]

Video

Press night - video by elizabethtoni (via FilmographySam) [link]

Entertainment news

• Mark Strong, Gemma Arterton, Sophie Okonedo, Michael Adams and Matthew Weiner interviews mark|gemma|sophie|michael|matthew
• A nice article about Party Animals [link]
• Some stills from Jackboots on Whitehall (via firstshowing) [link]
• DGA Award nominations in television [link]
  
• The Pride photocall [link]
• The Times has included the John Simm and Rory Kinnear Hamlets, Posh and Three Sisters as theatre highlights for this year [link]
• Scans of Matthew Goode, Tom Sturridge and Eddie Redmayne from Glamour [link]
  
• Ruth Wilson is eighth on Broadcast's list of top TV entertainers for 2010 [link]
• Lucy Prebble has chosen the playwright DC Moore as one to watch for 2010 [link]

Film. Theatre. Television. Radio.

Upcoming productions mentioned by the Times and the Independent:

• The Times
  Film. A Single Man, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps, Never Let Me Go, Brothers, Brighton Rock, Dagenham Girls.
  Theatre. The Little Dog Laughed, The Real Thing, Measure for Measure, Posh, Alice, Hamlet (starring John Simm, Sheffield Crucible), Hamlet (starring Rory Kinnear, the National).
• The Independent
  Film. Tamara Drewe, Shutter Island, Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps.
  Theatre. Hamlet (starring John Simm, Sheffield Crucible), Hamlet (starring Rory Kinnear, the National).
  Television. Downton Abbey, Sherlock Holmes.
  Radio. Chekhov 150th anniversary.

Entertainment news

• Extract from the book Showgirls, Teen Wolves and Astro Zombies by Michael Adams [link]
  
• Articles about Christmas Cranford 1|2
• London Film Critics' Circle awards
• Nominations [link]
  
• Films which have received nominations include:
  In the Loop. British film of the year, British director of the year (Armando Iannucci), British actor of the year (Peter Capaldi), Screenwriter of the year (Armando Iannucci et al.), Breakthrough British filmmaker (Armando Iannucci).
  An Education. British film of the year, Actress of the year (Carey Mulligan), British actress of the year (Carey Mulligan), British actor in a supporting role (Alfred Molina), British actress in a supporting role (Rosamund Pike), British actress in a supporting role (Olivia Williams), Screenwriter of the year (Nick Hornby).
  A Single Man. British actor of the year (Colin Firth).
  Good. British actor in a supporting role (Jason Isaacs).
  
• John Simm; Kristin Scott Thomas; Gemma Arterton and Carey Mulligan, Vera Farmiga, Mo'Nique, Patricia Clarkson, Robin Wright and Emily Blunt interviews john|kristin|gemma|carey, vera, mo'nique, patricia, robin, emily
  
• A Single Man
• Article about the film from the Independent [link]
• Matthew Goode interview (via ONTD) [link]
  
• Screen Actors Guild award nominees include Colin Firth (A Single Man, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role), Carey Mulligan (An Education, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role), the cast of An Education (Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture), Jon Hamm (Mad Men, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series), Toni Collette (United States of Tara, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series) and the cast of Mad Men (Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series) [link]
• Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender and Christoph Waltz will star in The Talking Cure directed by David Cronenberg [link]

Theatre - Enron, The Misanthrope and Rope. Dan Stevens - Wolf Hall.

[updated 2 August 2015]

Enron

• Tom Goodman-Hill interview from Angel magazine [link]
• Jeremy Paxman's "Discovery of the year" from the Telegraph:
  

  "I loved Lucy Prebble's Enron, which began at Chichester and then transferred to the Royal Court in London. This was a production buzzing with energy and ideas, a weird mixture of satire and vaudeville, which somehow managed to illuminate a prevailing madness. The most telling thing about the whole production, of course, was that by the time it was staged, we were all suffering the consequences of another episode of greed and stupidity, which made the Enron scandal look like a vicarage tea party."

Wolf Hall review from the Daily Express:

"Thomas Cromwell, Henry VIII’s chief adviser, was a man so skilled at manipulation and survival he’d make Peter Mandelson blush. His story is told in the Man Booker-winning novel Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel and superbly read by Dan Stevens..."

The Misanthrope

• Damian-Lewis.com has scans from a Sunday Times theatre feature featuring some of The Misanthrope cast (Tara Fitzgerald, Damian Lewis, Keira Knightley), Jessica Hynes, John Simm, Rupert Penry-Jones, Marc Warren and Dominic West (registration is required) [link]
• Stephen Mangan attended The Misanthrope press night [link]

Rope

• Guests at the after party included Hattie Morahan, Ben Miles and Lisa Dillon [link]
• A tweet from Sam West:
  

  "To the Almeida for Rope last night - a properly thrilling thriller. Bertie Carvel and Blake Ritson both remarkable; go! http://bit.ly/YC1wr"

Entertainment news

• An Education
• Carey Mulligan interviews 1|2
  
• Article about the film's production design [link]
• Carey Mulligan will receive the Chopin Virtuosos award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival [link]
• John Simm will star in Hamlet at the Sheffield Crucible (via SimmSpotting) [link]
  
• Martin Freeman, Colin Firth, Jodie Whittaker, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Matthew Goode, Damian Lewis and Kelly Reilly interviews martin|colin|jodie|julian|matthew|damian|kelly
• Golden Globe nominations include Colin Firth (A Single Man) for Best actor in a motion picture (drama) and Carey Mulligan (An Education) for Best actress in a motion picture (drama) [link]
• In the Loop
• Won Best Comedy Film at the British Comedy awards [link]
• Peter Capaldi Late Late Show interview 1|2
  
• Shutter Island will be shown at the Berlinale [link]
• Carey Mulligan and Samantha Morton are on Screen Daily's list of new talent of 2009 [link]
• Samantha Morton has become an honorary associate of the London Film School [link]
  
• Julian Fellowes will write the pilot script for The Vanderbilts (via Televisionary) [link]
• Julianne Moore will receive the Montecito Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival [link]
• A review of Stanley Kubrick: The Film that Never Was [link]
• A Single Man and Mad Men are in the AFI's top ten productions in film and television [link]
• Romola Garai will play Masha in Three Sisters at the Lyric Hammersmith from 25 January to 20 February 2010. Previews are from 15 January. [link]

Theatre - Sunday Times theatre feature. Lucy Prebble - Theatre. Dan Stevens. Radio - Guilty Until Proved Innocent. Radio - The Coral Thief. BBC Radio.

• Momentary Bursts of Enthusiasm has some scans from the Sunday Times, featuring people such as Ben Whishaw, John Simm, Ruth Wilson, Hayley Atwell, Sam West and Anna Maxwell Martin; and the Official London Theatre Guide has an article about the photoshoot.
• A discussion on Broadcasting House about female playwrights included contributions from Lucy Prebble and Alia Bano [link]
• BBC Radio
• The Afternoon Play Guilty Until Proved Innocent will be broadcast 16 December [link]
  
• Dan will narrate the Book at Bedtime The Coral Thief next month (via The Richard Armitage Board) [link]
• Rupert Penry-Jones was on Loose Ends [link]
  
• Kevin Eldon, Burn Gorman and Emma Fielding star in the Saturday Play The Wonderful Wizard of Oz [link]
• Lenny Henry, Lauren Mote and Lizzy Watts star in the Classic Serial Matilda [link]
• Peter Capaldi narrates the Afternoon Reading Sputnik "The First King of Mars" [link]
• Hugh Bonneville narrates A Short History of Gothic "Markheim" [link]

Entertainment news

• Clips:
  
• New Moon, featuring Michael Sheen as Aro [link]
• Bright Star, featuring Ben Whishaw, Paul Schneider and Abbie Cornish [link]
  
• Colin Firth will receive the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s Outstanding Performance Of The Year Award for A Single Man [link]
• Article by Samantha Morton from the Guardian [link]
  
• Noah Taylor and Sally Hawkins have been cast in Submarine, starring Michael Sheen and Paddy Considine [link]
• Steven Soderbergh, John Simm, Jane Campion, Matt Damon and Colin Firth interviews steven|john|jane|matt|colin
  
• Ricky Gervais will host the Golden Globes [link]
• Woody Allen's latest film has a title, You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger. The film stars Naomi Watts, Anthony Hopkins and Fenella Woolgar. [link]
• Video of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant promoting the Hollywood Disabilities Forum [link]
  
• Upcoming plays by Laura Wade include Alice (Sheffield) and Posh (Royal Court) 1|2

Entertainment news

• Daniel Evans will be artistic director of Sheffield Theatres, which will be reopening later this year [link]
• In the Loop
• Peter Capaldi interview from The Daily Mayo podcast (9 April) [link]
• Webisodes from Empire [link]
  
• Article from the Guardian [link]
• Clips from the Independent 1|2|3|4
  
• The film will be reviewed on Front Row 14 April [link]
• Leighton Meester, Dylan Moran, Emily Mortimer, Jason Isaacs and Amy Adams interviews leighton|dylan|emily|jason|amy
• Ralph Fiennes has joined the cast of Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's new comedy The Men At The Pru [link]
  
• BFI Southbank's James Bond season is featured on this week's Film Weekly podcast [link]
• Skellig
• John Simm interviews 1|2
• Kelly Macdonald interviews 1|2
  
• Tim Roth interviews 1|2
  
• Public Enemies, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince and Cherrybomb trailers public enemies|hbp|cherrybomb
• The Australian film Beneath Hill 60 will receive funding from Screen Australia (via transmission) [link]
• Article from the Guardian about the brilliantly underrated Buster Keaton [link]
  

Entertainment news

• Scan of Christina Hendricks from TV Guide [link]
• Christopher Eccleston, Toby Stephens, Gillian Anderson, Anton Lesser and Tara Fitzgerald will star in A Doll's House at the Donmar [link]
• The Boat That Rocked
• UK premiere - Bill Nighy, Rhys Ifans, Talulah Riley, Nick Frost, Kenneth Branagh, Jack Davenport, Gemma Arterton, David Morrissey, Simon Pegg and Paul McCartney attended 1|2|3|4
  
• Rhys Ifans interview (includes a clip from the film) [link]
• Bill Nighy interviews Daily Mayo (Monday 23 March)|Telegraph
  
• Trailer for Taking Woodstock (via ONTD) [link]
• Orlando Bloom, Andrew McCarthy, Ellen Burstyn, Patricia Clarkson and Colin Firth will star in Main Street, a film directed by John Doyle [link]
• John Simm and Kelly Macdonald attended a screening for Skellig [link]
• Emilia Fox, Mathieu Amalric and Robert Vaughn interviews emilia|mathieu|robert
  
• David Mamet will make his Broadway directing debut with the world premiere of his new play Race [link]
• Network Ten will launch One, Australia's first stand-alone digital terrestrial channel next Thursday [link]
• Parlour Song
• Andrew Lincoln interview [link]
• Toby Jones interview (via brit_actors) [link]
  
• New posters for In the Loop [link]
  
• Michael Sheen will play Tony Blair in The Special Relationship, a film written by Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon) focusing on the relationship between Tony Blair and Bill Clinton. Clinton will by portrayed by Dennis Quaid. [link]
• Joel and Ethan Coen are going to adapt True Grit by Charles Portis [link]
• A Q&A with some of the Doctor Who production team will be broadcast on BBC7 on Sunday [link]
  
• Patricia Clarkson will be honoured with a ShoWest Independent Award for acting excellence [link]
  

Entertainment news

• Dominick Dunne interview from the Times [link]
• Post about An Education from ONTD [link]
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment will release the Universal Backlot Series, which includes a 75th anniversary edition of Cecil B. DeMille's Cleopatra and some pre-Production Code films [link]
• Ang Lee is going to direct an adaptation of Life of Pi [link]
• Clive Owen interview from the Guardian [link]
• Review of the STC's The War of the Roses [link]
  
• Benicio del Toro interview from Radio 1 [link]
• Trailer for Skellig, starring Tim Roth, John Simm and Kelly Macdonald (via john_simm) [link]
  

re: Anne-Marie Duff's profile - ...She went on to study acting at the Drama Centre alongside John Simm and Paul Bettany... [That random fact is probably from here]

I think my brain would explode with squee if Anne-Marie Duff, John Simm and Paul Bettany were all in something together. They're so wonderful.