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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).

Monday 17 March 2008

Samuel West - Theatre - Drunk Enough to Say I Love You

* updated 29 March

Drunk Enough to Say I Love You?


Reviews

New York Times
"... Will Guy leave Sam? Will Sam break down if he is left alone? Against the odds, Mr. West and Mr. Cohen make us care about such soap-opera-ish questions, even as we recoil from what is obviously an unsavory case of codependency.

They give human flesh to characters who could easily be papier-mâché figureheads. They invite you to think about politics as a personal equation and personal affairs as a political one, so the play’s metaphor, which could be too blunt by half, cuts on two sides..."


New York Daily News
"...the production is slickly staged by James Macdonald. Scott Cohen gives Sam a pushiness and irresistible charm. Samuel West, as Guy, has the right trace of submission..."

The Star-Ledger
"...In league with his first-rate actors and designers, Macdonald offers a brisk and assured presentation of this polemic comedy."

Variety
"...West and Cohen are mesmerizing, their uneasy to-and-fro echoing the playwright's incomparable skill at making language, as much as actions, a dangerous monster..."

backstage.com
"...Under James MacDonald's authoritative direction, both Cohen and West couldn't be better..."

theaterscene.net
"...Under the direction of James Macdonald (who also staged the London production in 2006), both actors are accomplished at the artificially staccato dialogue and the very pregnant pauses. They are also very consistent in establishing the British/American dichotomy..."

gaycitynews
"...the fine performances by Scott Cohen as Sam and Samuel West as Guy are sterling examples of actors in complete control of their craft, committed to a concept and making it work..."

Pictures

Production
by Joan Marcus [link]
by Sara Krulwich [link]
by Ari Mintz [link]

Opening night
WireImage [link]
Getty 1|2|3|4
broadwayworld.com [link]

Articles
broadway.com - Scott Cohen [link]
nymag.com - Scott Cohen [link]

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Friday 7 March 2008

Thursday 6 March 2008

Charles Edwards - Theatre - The 39 Steps - Broadway

*updated 17 April

  • broadwayworld.com has a video with some clips from the play [link]

  • A slideshow about the play [link]

  • Bloomberg interview with Charles (6 March) [link]


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Wednesday 5 March 2008

Hayley Atwell - Theatre - Major Barbara

* updated 9 March

Reviews

Sunday Herald
"...the cast is uniformly excellent, with Hayley Atwell playing Barbara with the fabulous breeziness of a self-confident heiress..."

Bloomberg
"...Hayley Atwell is good as Barbara, and her pragmatism, courage and exuberant faith feel very real in Act 1. In Act 2, her father becomes the central focus of the play; Shaw woefully underwrote Barbara's part, though Atwell still manages to make her crisis of doubt affecting..."

Telegraph
"...There is superb work from Hayley Atwell, who positively glows with spiritual fervour in the title role..."

John Morrison
"...Simon Russell Beale is on top form as Undershaft the arms magnate, and so is Clare Higgins as his estranged wife. Hayley Atwell, who was a striking Belinda in Hytner's Man of Mode on the same stage last year, is equally impressive as daughter Barbara, the Salvation Army major who can't face the idea of accepting money from her father..."

The Guardian
"...Hayley Atwell captures Barbara's shining, bright-eyed faith..."

The Stage
"...Hayley Atwell’s translucently beautiful Barbara, whose chiselled facial bone structure is as eloquent as her words, gets the passion and determination perfectly..."

Official London theatre guide
"...In Hayley Atwell the production has a Barbara with playfulness in her eyes and seriousness in her jaw-line. Wilful and passionate, dedicated to her beliefs, when money proves an ultimate power, her eyes lose their magnetic sparkle as the heart is ripped out of her belief..."

Pictures
Playbill 1|2

Links
National Theatre [link]

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Monday 3 March 2008

TV randomness - February

Ugly Betty season 1 episodes 17-20
Torchwood series 2 episodes 4-8
Office, The (UK) series 1 episodes 5-6
Gossip Girl season 1 episodes 8-11
Deadwood season 1 episodes 10-12
Sword of Honour
Office, The (UK) series 2 episode 1
Deadwood season 2 episode 1