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!

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

Samuel West - TV, culture campaigns, Scene & Heard

Sam plays Eliot Vincent in The Crimson Field, a six part series for BBC One which premiered last Sunday (United Agents). Presumably he will appear between episodes 3 and 6; cast listings have yet to be released.
He plays Norman Skinner in D Day: Last Letters Home, a drama documentary written and directed by Marion Milne. Produced for ITV1, it will be broadcast later this year (United Agents and Marion's ShowFolio).

Screencaps of Sam and his parents Timothy West and Prunella Scales from episode 2 of Great Canal Journeys (they are thumbnails - click them for full size). The episode is available on 4oD for 7 more days.

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The NCA has launched a campaign called 50p for Culture. It suggests that local councils should budget at least 50p per person every week on arts, museums and heritage (The Stage). In mid March, Carl Woodward tweeted some pictures of Sam (chair of the NCA) speaking about the campaign at UK Theatre headquarters 1|2
Sam gave a speech about My Theatre Matters at Hull Truck Theatre last Wednesday. The theatre, @sarahbrigham and @derbytheatre posted some pictures of him on Twitter 1|2|3

On 28 March, Sam read a poem by Mark Hurst, "50 Shades of Grayling" at Pentonville Prison (All That's Left). His reading was part of a protest which opposed new rules preventing prisoners from being sent items such as books. Prisoners' access to books would be limited to gaol libraries or earning money to buy books (BBC, Islington Gazette, Islington Tribune, Evening Standard).

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Sam presented the DVD award (the Royal Opera House's production of Tosca) at the BBC Music Magazine Awards yesterday (@PrestoClassical). The magazine tweeted a picture of Sam at the ceremony.

"...you're not a police officer; you're the emu who killed my sister": some dialogue from a Scene & Heard performance in late March (Sam's Twitter, @exitthelemming). Scene & Heard produces plays written by children in Somers Town. A registered charity, its patrons include Sam, Hugh Bonneville, Anna Chancellor, Tom Goodman-Hill, Damian Lewis, Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen.

Guests at the Royal Court pub quiz fundraiser (18 March) included Benedict Cumberbatch and Romola Garai. Sam's team won the quiz (Tatler).

Some radio picks for this week

• Julian Rhind-Tutt and Hugh Laurie are the readers for With Great Pleasure at Christmas
• The Sunday Feature "Anything but Banal - The Fascination of the Villain" features interviews with Rory Kinnear and Timothy West
• Michael Sheen's Eighties begins this Saturday on Radio 2
• Repeats: Rory Kinnear plays Young Alf in Ed Harris' drama The Moment You Feel It; An Inspector Calls stars Toby Jones as Inspector Goole; the cast of Neverwhere includes James McAvoy, Benedict Cumberbatch and Romola Garai; and James Purefoy and Hattie Morahan star in Otherwise Engaged.

Samuel West. Andrei Sannikov fairy tales. Theatre - Close the Coalhouse Door. Radio - With Great Pleasure.

Screencap of Sam and Aleh Sidorchyk (video source: IndexOnCensorshipTV)

Index on Censorship has uploaded a video of the Andrei Sannikov fairy tales performed by Sam, Michael Sheen, Joanna Lumley, Aleh Sidorchyk and Pavel Arakelyan (Charter 97).

Tour dates for Close the Coalhouse Door are as follows: Northern Stage (13 April-5 May), Yvonne Arnaud (29 May-2 June), Gala Durham (12-16 June), York Theatre Royal (26-30 June).

Sam is one of the readers for an upcoming episode of With Great Pleasure (United Agents).

Samuel West. Television - Eternal Law. Theatre - Close the Coalhouse Door.

"Playing an angel - even one in human form – I’m really tapping into something which is quite alien."
- Sam on how he approached playing Zak Gist in Eternal Law (source: Eternal Law press pack p. 6)

Eternal Law will premiere 5 January on ITV1. The show's press pack has interviews with the executive producers and cast, and some stills (via @TheRailwayArms). Synopses are also available for episodes 1, 2 and 3.
Current and upcoming press coverage includes a behind-the-scenes feature in SFX #217 and interview with Sam in TV & Satellite Week and TV Choice.

He's currently doing pre-production for Close the Coalhouse Door:

"Fabulous two days in Newcastle auditioning for #coalhouse. What a lot of good talented musical actors there are up here."

When the play tours to Newcastle, he will give a pre-performance talk at Newcastle University on 26 April.

Sam and Michael Sheen read fairy tales by Andrei Sannikov at an event organised by the Belarus Free Theatre (via Sam's Twitter, @exitthelemming).

Earlier this month, Sam was interviewed for the Guardian's "Family Values" column.

In November, he attended the Shakespeare Institute's 60th anniversary (via @exitthelemming).

Shadow Dancer, Johnny English Reborn, The Crimson Petal and the White, BBC Radio

Andrea Riseborough and Clive Owen will star in Shadow Dancer, an IRA thriller directed by James Marsh.

Screencaps of Rosamund Pike, Dominic West, Rowan Atkinson, Gillian Anderson and Stephen Campbell Moore from the Johnny English Reborn trailer (click thumbnails for full size):



Richard E Grant interview from the Telegraph, in which he discusses The Crimson Petal and the White and his directing projects in development.

BBC Radio

• Sony Radio Awards: Murder in Samarkand (starring David Tennant) and The Recordist (starring Sharon Horgan) have been nominated for Best Drama
• Stuart McLoughlin and Lizzy Watts star in the New Mystery Play The Flood
• Michael Sheen will be interviewed on Night Waves

Samuel West - anti-cuts march and Observer letter

Sam took part in yesterday's anti-cuts march in London with Equity and UK Uncut (the Guardian, Sam's Twitter @exitthelemming). In Hyde Park, he made a speech about the detrimental consequences of cuts to the arts (@exitthelemming 1|2, the Guardian, Tom Roper, video by Claire Wyatt). He also performed an excerpt from The Voysey Inheritance by Harley Granville Barker with his father Timothy West, on Oxford Street (@exitthelemming, a picture of Sam and Timothy by Michael Dennis).
The Guardian has a quote from Sam about the social effects of theatre:

"Theatre is not just for the rich and subsidy keeps tickets cheap. Quite aside from the huge financial return the country gets for any money invested, the arts are what make us civilised.  Sitting alongside people in a theatre who may be poor or may be rich is a great democratic institution."

Two weeks ago, Peter Capaldi, Michael Sheen, David Tennant and Sam, among many others, signed a letter to the Observer about cuts to arts funding (via the Guardian). A press release from Equity has statements from several of the letter's signatories, and details about cuts to national and local funding.

Ruth Wilson. Television - Luther. Andrea Riseborough. Television - Downton Abbey. Rosamund Pike. BBC Radio.

• Interview with Ruth Wilson about her great-grandfather Alexander Wilson, who had been a spy and polygamist (via Momentary Bursts of Enthusiasm) [link]
• Ruth interview about Luther from Hit Fix [link]
  
  
• Andrea Riseborough interview from Variety [link]
  
  
• A second series of Downton Abbey has been commissioned [link]
  
  
• Rosamund Pike interview from the Herald Sun [link] 
• Rosamund signed a letter to the Observer regarding the proposal to close the DH Lawrence heritage centre in his home town of Eastwood 1|2
  
  
• BBC Radio
• Michael Sheen presents the Archive on 4 "Playing the Dane" (via his Twitter, @michaelsheen) [link]
• Stephen Fry reads from his book The Fry Chronicles for the Book of the Week [link]
• Damian Lewis stars in series 3 of Number 10 (via damian-lewis.com) [link]
• Toby Jones, Eleanor Bron and Peter Marinker contribute to episode 1 of Beautiful Dreamers [link]
• Rupert Simonian, Adrian Scarborough and Lizzy Watts star in The Wire People Snogging in Public Places [link]

Film - Resistance. Carey Mulligan, Rosamund Pike, Hayley Atwell, Simon Russell Beale. Film - My Week with Marilyn. BBC Radio.

• Andrea Riseborough and Michael Sheen have been cast in Resistance [link]
  
  
• Carey Mulligan, Rosamund Pike, and Hayley Atwell interviews carey|rosamund|hayley
  
  
• Simon Russell Beale's "Perfect Weekend" from the Telegraph [link]
  
  
• The cast of My Week with Marilyn includes Dominic Cooper, Toby Jones, and Simon Russell Beale [link]
  
  
• BBC Radio
• Hugh Bonneville was interviewed on Loose Ends [link]
• Simon Pegg will be interviewed on Front Row [link]

Toronto International Film Festival. BBC Radio.

• Guests attending the Toronto International Film Festival include Andrea Riseborough, Carey Mulligan, Clive Owen, Colin Firth, Dominic Cooper, Gemma Arterton, Kristin Scott Thomas, Michael Sheen, Rebecca Hall, Rosamund Pike, Sally Hawkins; Mark Romanek, Mike Leigh, Nigel Cole, Stephen Frears, and Tom Hooper [link]
  
  
• BBC Radio
• Simon Woods, Kevin Eldon and Chris Larkin star in the Saturday Play Boscobel [link]
• Claire Skinner will be interviewed on Woman's Hour [link]
• Evanna Lynch narrates the Afternoon Reading Foster [link]

Rosamund Pike. Laura Wade - Theatre - Posh. Ruth Wilson. Lucy Prebble - Theatre - Enron. BBC Radio.

• Rosamund Pike visited the Redland Children's Centre in Chippenham this week on behalf of Barnardo's - she is an ambassador for the charity [link]
• The cast for Posh has been announced [link]
• A short Ruth Wilson interview from Broadway World [link]
• Lucy Prebble video interview about Enron from Frost over the World [link]
• BBC Radio
• Jonathan Pryce, Kenneth Cranham and Romola Garai star in the Drama on 3 These Are the Times: A Life of Thomas Paine, which was originally a Saturday Play [link]
• Gareth David-Lloyd narrates the Afternoon Reading "Getting Up" [link]
• Jude Akuwudike, Liam Brennan and David Tennant star in the Classic Serial Of Mice and Men [link]
• Milton Jones and Tom Goodman-Hill star in series 4 of Another Case of Milton Jones [link]
• Michael Sheen is a reader for Kenneth Tynan's Theatre Writings [link]

Television - Pinter celebration

Harold Pinter: A Celebration has been recorded, and will be broadcast on BBC4 this Sunday. The cast includes Colin Firth, Michael Sheen, Samuel West, Janie Dee, David Bradley, Douglas Hodge, Stephen Rea and Gina McKee. [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

• Mao's Last Dancer took AUS$4.3 million in its opening week to become the highest-grossing Australian film so far this year [link]
  
• Christina Hendricks and Michael Sheen interviews christina|michael
• Colin Firth will receive the BAFTA/LA humanitarian award [link]
• Damian Lewis, Tara Fitzgerald, Keira Knightley and Dominic Rowan will star in a modern day version of The Misanthrope at the Comedy Theatre 7 December - 13 March 1|2
  
• Pictures from the Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus UK premiere 1|2|3
• The Thick of It
• A picture (via AIannucci) [link]
• Screencaps of Peter Capaldi and Rory Kinnear from the teaser (click thumbnails for full size):
  

Theatre - 24 Hour Plays. Sunday Times London theatre feature. BBC Radio.

• Anna Maxwell Martin and Ruth Wilson will take part in the 24-Hour Plays Celebrity Gala at the Old Vic, 1 November [link]
• There will be a Sunday Times London theatre feature about people such as Samuel West, Samantha Bond, Harry Treadaway, Luke Treadaway, Ben Whishaw, Peter Hall, Ian McKellen, Juliet Stevenson and Derek Jacobi. Sam posted a picture from the photoshoot, which took place at the Royal Court. [link]
• BBC Radio:
• Romola Garai will be on Loose Ends promoting Emma [link]
• Tom Hollander and Sheila Hancock will be the readers on Words and Music "Illusions of Power" [link]
• Peter Firth will narrate the Book of the Week The Defence of the Realm [link]
• Stephen Mangan and Peter Serafinowicz will narrate the Book at Bedtime And Another Thing... [link]
• Stephen Campbell Moore and Diana Quick star in the Afternoon Play A Dose of Fame [link]
• Judi Dench and Michael Sheen star in The Importance of Being Earnest [link]
• Jason Isaacs will narrate The Prince and the Pauper for Big Toe Books [link]

Entertainment news

• Toronto International Film Festival
• Interviews featuring Ben Whishaw and Jane Campion for Bright Star 1|2|3|4
  
• A Single Man
• Colin Firth video interview from Entertainment Weekly [link]
  
• The Weinstein Company will distribute the film in Germany and the U.S. [link]
• Julianne Moore interview from Baz Bamigboye's Daily Mail column [link]
  
• Rupert Friend The Young Victoria interview and premiere pictures 1|2
  
• Harry Brown
• Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer interviews 1|2|3
• Premiere and after party pictures 1|2
• Some premiere pictures and portraits from mata090680 [link]
• Glorious 39
• Pictures of Bill Nighy, Romola Garai, Stephen Poliakoff and Julie Christie 1|2|3|4|5
• Bill Nighy, Romola Garai, Stephen Poliakoff and Julie Christie interviews 1|2|3
  
• Andrew Garfield attended the The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus premiere 1|2
  
• The Damned United
• Michael Sheen interviews 1|2|3|4|5
• Premiere pictures [link]
• Clive Owen interviews about The Boys are Back 1|2|3|4|5
  
• An Education
• Carey Mulligan, Dominic Cooper, Peter Sarsgaard, Alfred Molina and Nick Hornby interviews 1|2|3
• Premiere pictures 1|2|3
• James McAvoy and Robin Wright Penn will star in The Conspirator, a drama about events following the assassination of President Lincoln directed by Robert Redford [link]
• Helena Bonham Carter, Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush will star in the film The King's Speech, which will be directed by Tom Hooper [link]
• Casting for Tomorrow, When the War Began [link]

Entertainment news

• Marvellous Antichrist poster by Jeremy Saunders (via The Wrap and Transmission) [link]
  
• Toronto International Film Festival
• Ben Whishaw attended the Bright Star premiere and had some portraits done 1|2
• Emily Mortimer attended the Harry Brown premiere [link]
• Michael Sheen and Carey Mulligan were at the Sony Pictures Classics Party [link]
• Io Sono L'Amore - I Am Love: portraits, an interview with Tilda Swinton and director Luca Guadagnino, and pictures from the premiere 1|2|3
  
• A portrait of Michael Sheen [link]
• Nineteen Australian films will be shown at the festival [link]
  
• Tom Sturridge and Juno Temple are included in Teen Vogue's Young Hollywood feature [link]
• Guillermo del Toro has an animation deal with Disney [link]
  
• A Single Man
• Trailer (via ONTD) [link]
  
• Venice Film Festival photocall [link]
  
• Colin Firth won the best actor prize at the Venice Film Festival [link]
  
• Article about the film from Variety [link]
  
• Tilda Swinton & Luca Guadagnino and Judi Dench interviews tilda & luca|judi
• Bruce Beresford will direct the film Zebras [link]
• Eva Green and Ewan McGregor will star in Last Word, a film that will be directed by David McKenzie [link]
• Mary and Max won best feature at the Australian Directors Guild awards. The film's director is Adam Elliot. [link]
• Rupert Friend and Tamsin Greig will star in The Little Dog Laughed at the Garrick Theatre (via The Medium is Not Enough) [link]
• David Tennant will star in a BBC Radio 4 adaptation of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men [link]
• Blog post from The Life of Wylie about series 2 of Merlin [link]
  
• Richard Curtis will write an episode of Doctor Who [link]

Entertainment news

• Mad Men has been renewed for a fourth season [link]
  
• Daniel Craig will star in the film Dream House which will be directed by Jim Sheridan [link]
  
• Andrew Buchan, Jon Hamm, Zooey Deschanel, Ricky Gervais & Stephen Merchant and Joseph Gordon-Levitt interviews andrew|jon|zooey|ricky & stephen|joseph
  
• Boardwalk Empire, starring Steve Buscemi and Kelly Macdonald, has been picked up for 11 episodes. The pilot was directed by Martin Scorsese. [link]
  
• Stephen Frears will direct Tamara Drewe, starring Gemma Arterton, Dominic Cooper and Tamsin Greig [link]
• Scans from Nylon about Mad Men, Entourage and The Prisoner 1|2
• Quentin Tarantino will receive the Santa Barbara International Film Festival's Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film [link]
• A picture of Michael Sheen as Aro from New Moon [link]
• Coriolanus, directed by and starring Ralph Fiennes, has been selected for International Financing Forum (IFF) which will take place during the Toronto International Film Festival [link]
• Article about the Australian International Movie Convention from the Australian [link]

Entertainment news

• Article from the Guardian about film noir [link]
• Samantha Morton, Dominic West and Polly Walker have joined the film John Carter of Mars [link]
• Inception teaser trailer (via empireonline) [link]
• Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant introduce The Office retrospective [link]
• Matthew Weiner and Quentin Tarantino interviews matthew|quentin
• In the Loop:
• A deleted scene [link]
• Montage of Malcolm Tucker sweariness [link]
• Mike Nichols will direct and Joe Penhall will write Deep Water, an adaptation of the 1957 Patricia Highsmith novel [link]
• Shutter Island's release has been delayed until February 2010. A trailer for the film is here. [link]
• People who will be attending the Toronto Film Festival include Ben Whishaw, Bill Nighy, Carey Mulligan, Clive Owen, Dominic Cooper, Emily Mortimer, Michael Sheen, Romola Garai, Rupert Friend, Samantha Morton and Tilda Swinton. [link]