Samuel West - Uncle Vanya press round up

[updated 7 December]


(Source: Nimax Theatres. Used with permission.)
Uncle Vanya had its press night on 2 November. Pictures from the after party can be viewed at Getty and wooller.com

An ITV news story features an interview with Anna Friel and Laura Carmichael, as well as a short clip from the play.

A selection of review excerpts is below.

Bloomberg
"Samuel West gives a terrific turn as the drunken Doctor Astrov."

British Theatre Guide
"Samuel West is a particularly good Doctor Astrov, a failed arboricultural trendsetter suffering from low esteem and alcoholic excess..."

londontheatre
"the performances on display here are quite exceptional... There is terrific support from Samuel West as Doctor Astrov, obsessed by deforestation..."

Independent
"... in a subtly restrained portrayal of Astrov, the excellent Samuel West conveys the clinical clarity with which this doctor registers a confining inabilty to feel for people what he feels for trees."

Evening Standard
"West nicely conveys Astrov’s complexity. He is a mix of disillusionment and energy; he seems exhausted by the experience of being pulled in different directions..."

Telegraph
"Samuel West captures both the ecological idealism of Dr Astrov, whose concerns about deforestation seem almost spookily prophetic while also bringing a compelling coldness to the role."

Samuel West - Track to Track, upcoming narrations, Theatre Awards UK

Screencaps from Track to Track (video source: The Space).
The Space has a video from the world premiere of Track to Track (via their Twitter, @thespacearts).

This week, Sam recorded a narration for a BBC4 documentary about Tove Jansson, who created the Moomins. It will be broadcast in late December (his Twitter, @exitthelemming 1|2)

Sam and Eleanor Bron are the reciters for a concert at the Wigmore Hall on 16 March 2013 (subject to availability). The program includes Night Mail (Britten) and Henry V (Walton).
On 23 April 2013, he will be the narrator for "Heart of Darkness", a performance at the Cadogan Hall.

A tweet about the Bath Mozartfest (11 November)

I'm narrating Saint-Saëns' Carnival of the Animals at Bath Assembly Rooms tonight. The most brilliant piece; so many tunes per minute.
— Samuel West (@exitthelemming) November 11, 2012

At the Theatre Awards UK (28 October), Sam presented The Stage Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Theatre to his parents Timothy West and Prunella Scales. Here's an excerpt from The Arts Desk's article about the awards:

"The well-loved husband and wife Timothy West and Prunella Scales were given a standing ovation... He [Sam] remarked that last week was Timothy West's 78th birthday - when he rang to wish him happy birthday, his father "was on his way out to do two shows in Richmond, next date Oxford. The previous year he spent his birthday on tour in Cape Town. The year before that he was at the Menier Chocolate Factory. My mother at the moment is doing her Queen Victoria tour in 100 cities, more than 200 venues, and every continent except Antarctica. When it comes to touring, these guys have put in the hours."

Pictures from the event can be viewed at wooller.com

Dan Stevens

 
Dan will be in the Downton Abbey Christmas special. A fourth series of the show has been commissioned but no casting has been confirmed.

Videos from the opening night of The Heiress have been shared by the play's official site and broadway.com.
Publicity has included interviews (Charlie Rose, Playbill, Good Morning America, backstage.com 1|2, broadway.com, USA Today, Front Row,), a slideshow of the cast in costume from Vulture and a feature in Vanity Fair.

Dan's October and November "My Week" columns are available on the Telegraph website.

Other recent interviews have covered projects such as The Heiress, Downton Abbey and the Man Booker Prize: Wall Street Journal, BBC, Daily Beast, NY Daily News and North Jersey.com.
This interview from the Reading Group Center focuses on History of a Pleasure Seeker. Also, an interview from a 2011 issue of Word Magazine has been recently uploaded to the galleries.

Charles Edwards - Evening Standard Theatre Awards, This House, Downton Abbey, Philomena

Screencap from this clip at the KingsSpeechPlay Youtube channel. Photo by Johan Persson from This House (used with permission).
Charles is on the shortlist for the Evening Standard Theatre Awards. He has been nominated for Best Actor, for his performances in The King's Speech and This House.

Most of the original cast, including Charles, will be in the Olivier transfer of This House. Previews begin 23 February and press night is 28 February.

He will be in the Downton Abbey Christmas special (ITV; thanks to @TheDoritoManiac for the heads up).

Charles discussed Downton Abbey and Diana in an interview from Filmoria. He also mentioned an upcoming project which is currently being filmed. Philomena, a film directed by Stephen Frears, stars Judi Dench and Steve Coogan.

Samuel West - Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure

Sam reads next week's Book of the Week, Patrick Leigh Fermor: An Adventure (via United Agents).