Samuel West - current radio, On Chesil Beach, projects and media October-December

Words and Music "Greeneland", with readings by Sam and Romola Garai, was repeated on Wednesday. It is available on iPlayer for 28 more days.

Sam plays Albert Tiermann in Doctor Who Demon Quest: A Shard of Ice, which is available on iPlayer for approximately three more weeks (part 1|part 2).

Sam plays Geoffrey Ponting in the film adaptation of On Chesil Beach. He started filming in early November. The cast includes Saoirse Ronan, Anne-Marie Duff and Emily Watson. The director is Dominic Cooke, who previously directed Sam in The Hollow Crown: Henry VI (his Twitter @exitthelemming and IMDB).


December

He is featured in a Guardian article about the Moomin exhibition Adventures in Moominland (until 23 April) at Royal Festival Hall:

The Moomins have many fans, including the actor Samuel West, who said he had felt at home in Jansson’s Moominvalley since he was seven.
“The sensuous melancholy, the odd cast and the wisdom of the worldview fascinates me,” he said. “This new exhibition captures both the textures and the emotions of Moominland, and the way ordinary things are transformed into magical strangeness by Jansson’s joyful sideways look.”

On 14 December, Jane Asher, Jenni Falconer, Guy Henry, Sir Richard Stilgoe, Claire Harman and Sam read at the Home-Start Wandsworth carol service in St Anne's church. A picture of them is here.
The organisation is a charity that supports families with young children under the age of five.

Sam and his partner Laura Wade went to the Evening Standard Film Awards (tweets from @exitthelemming 1|2 and pictures from Getty 1|2|3|4). Winners included Hugh Grant and Kate Beckinsale.

In early December, Sam wrote a tribute about the late Andrew Sachs for the Telegraph. Sachs worked with Sam's mother Prunella Scales on Fawlty Towers.


November

Kate Duchêne, Hattie Morahan, Giles Terera and Sam were the readers for A Poem For Every Night of the Year, a performance at the National Theatre. An audio recording of the event is available on the NT's website.

He narrated Babar (Poulenc) and Peter and the Wolf (Prokofiev) at the Bath Mozartfest, with Tim Horton on piano (@exitthelemming).



October

The BBC Radio 3 website has a clip of Sam reading the text of "Alleluia! A new work is come on hand", the text for the 2016 Radio 3 Carol Competition. The competition was for amateur composers to create music for this text. Jessie Reeves was the winner and her composition was broadcast throughout the Christmas weekend.
The third and final series of Blood, Sex and Money was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in October. Sam played Aristide Rougon in the episodes "Crash", "Massacre" and "Fate".
Sam reads lyrics from Bob Dylan's "Blowin' in the wind" in this clip (from 0:58). The reading was featured in a BBC Radio 4 PM story about Dylan receiving the Nobel prize for literature.

The National Campaign for the Arts has relaunched with two campaigns: Local Heroes and Hearts for the Arts (The Stage). Sam is the chair of the organisation. Local Heroes highlights the role of cultural institutions in shaping the careers of people before they became famous - refer to the Campaign's website for details on how to submit nominations. Hearts for the Arts is an annual award for "councils and individual officers and Councillors who are overcoming financial challenges to ensure the arts are at the centre of community life."

Good Chance Theatre staged "Last Chance", a reading of the Dublin III Regulation at the Young Vic on 20 October (via the Evening Standard).The reading was a plea for the unaccompanied children of the Calais jungle camp. Readers included Carey Mulligan, Juliet Stevenson, Sam and Good Chance co founders Joe Robertson and Joe Murphy.

Inclusion, Tipping the Velvet, Measure for Measure

A selection of things I have read and listened to recently.

In the Guardian, Lyn Gardner has suggested that inclusion in theatre is an objective in relation to diversity initiatives. She has quoted Brigid Larmour, artistic director at Watford Palace, "unless we stop talking about changing theatre and start actively doing something, every single day, about bringing about change, we will never move on" and referenced John Dyer, director of Credibility, "diversity is asking people to the party but inclusion is inviting them to dance" (via @actforchangehq).

Sarah Waters and Laura Wade discussed the stage production of Tipping the Velvet on Front Row. and in the Independent. Wade adapted Waters' novel. It is playing at the Lyric Hammersmith until 24 October then will transfer to the Lyceum in Edinburgh, 28 October-14 November.

Romola Garai participated in a webchat on the Guardian website, partly to publicise Measure for Measure, which closes 14 November at the Young Vic. She commented on tokenism:

"I think there should be quotas. I think if you're fielding primetime television with 70% and 80% of the parts being white men, you should probably rethink that. There's a lot of tokenism in film and television, with a poster with three white guys, one black guy, and a woman, and that's equality, and it's not equality."

and how she approaches auditions:

"Remember you're auditioning them. Acting is a collaboration with the director, and it's only a worthwhile job if the director respects you completely as an equal. Go into every audition knowing that you're an equal and expect to be treated as such. And have fun collaborating."

Samuel West - The Book of Disquiet, Frank Auerbach, Peace Brigades International

The Book of Disquiet has been featured in the New York Times' "Fall and beyond" music listings. It will be performed 21-24 January at Montclair State University. Click here for tickets.

Sam, Juliet Stevenson and Ian Mckellen will perform in "Shakespeare and the Law" (16 November, Middle Temple Hall). The event has been organised by Peace Brigades International (PBI) and the Alliance for Lawyers at Risk.
Juliet and Sam have previously worked with PBI. In May 2013, they performed in a gala honouring defenders of the rule of law.

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Sam went to the Photograph 51 press night on Monday. Rather appropriately, he wore a tie with a periodic table on it (wooller.com and his Twitter, @exitthelemming). Andrew Scott and Harriet Walter also attended the event.

Earlier this month, Sam discussed artist Frank Auerbach in Art Quarterly (via @artfund).

Parents in Performing Arts will have a campaign launch at the Young Vic on 16 October. Romola Garai and Poppy Burton-Morgan are confirmed to speak. Sam and John Simm are listed as supporters on the Eventbrite listing.

Sam endorsed the arts policy proposed by Christian Wolmar (via @wolmarforlondon). Wolmar was a candidate seeking nominations to be Labour's candidate for Mayor of London.

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).

Samuel West - concerts, Suffragette, Edvard

[updated 21 February]

Sam, Frances de la Tour, Susan Wooldridge, Charlotte Cornwell, Adjoa Andoh and Jonathan Pryce will perform in Voices for Cuba: an Evening of Music and Spoken Word at the Barbican on 7 March (via @voices4the5).
Tonight's concert at The Hexagon was featured as a "Live Choice" in the BBC Music Magazine (February 2014 issue). Sam is the narrator for Carnival of the Animals.

Armstrong and Miller is being repeated on BBC Radio 4 Extra on Mondays. Episode 1 will be available on iPlayer for 6 more days.

Sam finished filming Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell this week (his Twitter, @exitthelemming).
He will play Benedict in Suffragette. The film's cast includes Carey Mulligan, Romola Garai, Ben Whishaw and Helena Bonham Carter (Screen Daily and @exitthelemming).

Last week, Sam gave a masterclass at the Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts (@exitthelemming and @SophCotts).

In 2013, Sam played Edvard Munch in a rehearsed reading of Edvard by Jack Shepherd. The reading took place at RADA; it was directed by Michael Kingsbury and Christie Banks played Eva (Spellbound Productions).

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.

Dan Stevens

A trailer for Babysitting, a short film starring Dan and Romola Garai, is available online.

Anchor Bay Entertainment has distribution rights to Vamps in North America.

A clip from The Making of Planet Earth can be viewed on Youtube.

Also on Youtube is a video from an Aspen Shortsfest Q&A in which Dan's casting in The North London Book of the Dead is discussed.

Dan mentioned the Josephine Hart poetry app in his April "My Week" for the Telegraph.

Samuel West. Narration - The Soldier's Tale. Guardian letter.

Sam will be a guest on In Tune today (via @suzyklein). Presumably he will be discussing the upcoming performance of The Soldier's Tale at the Wigmore Hall, which he will be narrating this Friday. [Update, 25 February: a picture of Sam in the studio is here]
Later in the week, he will be a guest on Saturday Kitchen Live, facing his food heaven or food hell. [Update, 4 February: it clashed with a morning performance of The Soldier's Tale (see the comment from Anonymous on this post, and tweets from @cmoody and @debbie2711; cancellation confirmed by Sam here)]

Sam wrote a letter to the Guardian outlining disagreement with the appointment of actor György Dörner as the director of the Új Színház (the New Theatre). Early last week, he tweeted that he was in the process of putting the letter together:

"Putting together letter about theatre situation in Hungary (http://bit.ly/yOizOb). As ever, moved & delighted by response of fellow actors."

The letter's signatories include Daniel Evans, Romola Garai, Toby Jones, Dan Stevens, Harriet Walter, Caryl Churchill and Laura Wade.

Dan Stevens

Downton Abbey

• Dan has been interviewed for the Telegraph and Weekend Magazine
• Downton Abbey: Behind the Drama is available on ITV catch up

The Front Row Boxing Day quiz will be broadcast tomorrow. Dan's other team members were historian Antonia Fraser and crime-writer Mark Billingham.
Words and Music "Money" is available on iPlayer for 5 more days - it was repeated earlier this week.

Stills from Babysitting, an upcoming short film starring Dan and Romola Garai, have been uploaded to the Holland Park Facebook page.

Romola Garai, Ruth Wilson, BBC Radio

Romola Garai and Nicholas Burns will star in The Village Bike at the Royal Court from 24 June to 30 July.

A quote from Ruth in the Telegraph about Michael Grandage, outgoing artistic director of the Donmar Warehouse:

"'He is an agent’s worst nightmare!’ Ruth Wilson laughs. Not only does he cut them entirely out of the process by contacting their clients directly, but he also expects his actors, however famous they are, to work for a company wage."

Ruth previously performed at the Donmar in A Streetcar Named Desire, and will star in the theatre's upcoming production of Anna Christie.

BBC Radio

• Hattie Morahan, Bertie Carvel and Tobias Menzies star in the Drama on 3 Serious Money by Caryl Churchill (available on iPlayer for 4 more days)
• Alex Jennings reads Twenty Minutes "A Warning to the Curious" (available on iPlayer for 5 more days)
• Andrew Scott voices James Joyce in the Book of the Week James Joyce - A Biography. Jim Norton narrates.   
• Jason Isaacs was interviewed on Loose Ends 

Ruth Wilson, glamour.com's "Hot, Young and British", BBC Radio

Ruth Wilson has been interviewed in the Telegraph for her upcoming role in Anna Christie, and featured in the Times' Theatre Issue.

Andrea Riseborough, Andrew Garfield, Romola Garai and Hayley Atwell have been profiled in glamour.com's slideshow "Hot, Young and British".

BBC Radio

• Rory Kinnear and Anna Maxwell Martin are the readers for Words and Music "Labyrinth"
• Claire Foy and Blake Ritson star in the Saturday Play Leverage
• Ian McDiarmid, Ben Miles and Stephen Dillane read for the Afternoon Reading I Expected the Worst 
• Hattie Morahan narrates the Book at Bedtime The Tiger's Wife

Golden Globe nominations, Shooting Stars, Black Book's 2011 New Regime

Golden Globe nominees include Hayley Atwell (Pillars Of The Earth/Best Performance By An Actress In A Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television), Romola Garai (Emma/Best Performance By An Actress In A Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television), Kelly Macdonald (Boardwalk Empire/Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role In A Series, Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television), Colin Firth (The King's Speech/Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture – Drama), Andrew Garfield (The Social Network/Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture), Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom/Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture), and Toni Collette (United States Of Tara/Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical).
USA Today has a short article about Hayley Atwell's reaction to her nomination.

Andrea Riseborough is one of next year's Shooting Stars, a networking event for selected actors at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Rosamund Pike features in Black Book's "2011 New Regime" as the New Leading Lady.

British Independent Film Awards

Carey Mulligan, Ralph Fiennes, Colin Firth, Andrea Riseborough, Rosamund Pike, Ruth Wilson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Matthew Goode, Romola Garai, and Jason Isaacs attended the British Independent Film Awards. Carey won the award for Best Performance by an Actress in a British Independent Film (Never Let Me Go) and Colin won the award for Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film (The King's Speech).
Pictures: Rex Features, WireImage (inside, arrivals), and Getty (champagne reception, arrivals, after party).

Theatre - The Children's Monologues. GQ Men of the Year Awards. Toronto International Film Festival. BBC Radio.

• On Sunday 14 November at the Old Vic, Gemma Arterton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Romola Garai and Hattie Morahan will perform in The Children's Monologues directed by Danny Boyle. The event is a fundraiser - proceeds will go to the Pete Patsa Arts Centre. (via sherlockbbc) [link]
  
  
• Guests at the GQ Men of the Year Awards (7 September) included Hayley Atwell (presented the award for the Smirnoff Black Most Stylish to Aaron Johnson), Gemma Arterton (winner, Woman), Martin Scorsese, Emily Mortimer and Matt Smith (winner, TV personality).
• Pictures from Rex Features 1|2|3
• Articles:
  Vogue [link]
  GQ [link]
• Videos by elizabethtoni 1|2
  
  
• Portraits of Rebecca Hall, Clive Owen, Sally Hawkins and Andrew Garfield by Carlo Allegri at the Toronto International Film Festival [link]
  
  
• BBC Radio
• Georgia King and Lee Williams star in the Classic Serial The Ladies' Delight [link] 
• Hattie Morahan reads the Book at Bedtime Sister [link]
• Stephen Mangan and Adjoa Andoh are the readers for Words and Music "In Search of the Sublime" [link]

Rebecca Hall, Ruth Wilson, Laura Wade. British Academy Television Awards. BBC Radio.

• Interviews with Rebecca Hall (via Momentary Bursts of Enthusiasm) and Ruth Wilson from the Guardian rebecca|ruth
  
  
• Laura Wade interview from the Sheffield Telegraph about Alice [link]
  
  
• British Academy Television Awards
• Selected winners: Julie Walters (leading actress, Mo), Matthew Macfadyen (leading actor, Criminal Justice), and Rebecca Hall (supporting actress, Red Riding 1974). The Thick of It received three awards - female performance in a comedy role (Rebecca Front), male performance in a comedy role (Peter Capaldi), and situation comedy.
• Pictures 1|2|3|4|5|6
• Article from Instyle [link]
• Videos from BAFTA, including a red carpet interview with Ruth Wilson, and an interview with the cast and crew of The Thick of It [link]
• Press release from MAC. Their artists did make up for Romola Garai, Ashley Jensen, and Ruth Wilson. [link]
  
  
• BBC Radio
• Roger Allam and Alex Jennings star in The Idiot (via the AJ Diaries) [link]
• Stephen Mangan reads The Dream Travellers for Big Toe Books [link]
• Juliet Stevenson was interviewed on Loose Ends [link]
  

Concerns about the BBC published in the Observer

People such as Hugh Bonneville, Peter Capaldi, Romola Garai, Stephen Mangan, Stephen Merchant, David Tennant, Harriet Walter and Sam West have signed a letter to the Observer regarding their concerns about Tory attitudes towards the BBC (via the Guardian) [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]

The Stage New Year party. Valentine Voices. Ruth Wilson - Theatre - Through A Glass Darkly. Hattie Morahan - Television - Lark Rise. Samuel West.

• Amanda Drew and Sam West attended The Stage’s New Year party last Friday. A picture of Sam from the party is here.
• Keira Knightley, Romola Garai and Rosamund Pike have read poems for Valentine Voices, a partnership between the Times and the Poetry Archive (via the Independent) [link]
• Ruth will star in Through A Glass Darkly at the Almeida, opening in June (via Baz Bamigboye's Daily Mail column) [link]
• Hattie plays Enid in episode 8 of series 3 of Lark Rise to Candleford which will be broadcast 28 February [link]
• A short Sam interview from Completely London magazine about New River Walk in Islington [link]

Glamour Women of the Year. Samuel West. Narration - Lines of Flight. Judgement day.

• Romola Garai, Carey Mulligan, Gemma Arterton, Hayley Atwell and Rebecca Hall have been nominated for Glamour's Women of the Year awards [link]
  
  
• Lines of Flight will be screened as part of the programme Adventure Medley 1 at the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival [link]
• Video of Sam from Tony Blair's Judgement Day (via FilmographySam) [link]
  

Entertainment news

• Two promos for The Ricky Gervais Show [link]
  
• The AFI awards will take place in Sydney from 2011 [link]
• SAG awards winners [link]
• Billie Piper, Alexandra Silber, Colin Firth, Edgar Wright, Saoirse Ronan, Romola Garai interviews billie|alexandra|colin|edgar|saoirse|romola
• Alfred Hitchcock is mentioned in the Independent's feature "100 years of movies" [link]
• Romola Garai and Matthew Goode announced (via Capturing Romola) the BAFTA film awards nominations, which include:
  An Education. Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Director (Lone Scherfig), Adapted Screenplay (Nick Hornby), Leading Actress (Carey Mulligan), Supporting Actor (Alfred Molina), Costume Design (Odile Dicks-Mireaux), Make Up and Hair (Lizzie Yianni Georgiou).
  In the Loop. Outstanding British Film, Adapted Screenplay (Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche).
  A Single Man. Leading Actor (Colin Firth).
• The Australian film Animal Kingdom has won the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize at Sundance [link]
• Ralph Myers will be the next artistic director of Company B Belvoir in Sydney [link]