Category: theatre

The waning of what Mr. Rylance refers to as the “English style” of Shakespearean acting — formal, rhetorical, presentational — has helped to erode the long-ingrained (if not necessarily acknowledged) sense that, when it comes to Shakespeare, it helps if you’re British, and particularly if you train at one of the great London acting academies like the Royal Academy or the Central School of Speech and Drama.

“Accusations and counter-accusations are flying this week, after the Telegraph‘s comedy critic walked out of Stewart Lee’s Much A-Stew About Nothing – and wrote a combative article explaining why.” Now an audience member accuses the critic of omitting key information from the story.

“The first half-hour or so was beset by his own interruptions, as he took issue with our wrong-headed laughs, our lack of responsiveness, our failure to ‘make connections’ and our want of imagination in coming up with suggestions when asked to do so. … Come the interval, I decided to take him at his word. Why stay on and risk letting him down further?”

The character comedian/author/painter is expected to make use of his countless international contacts in his role as Artistic Director of one of the world’s largest cabaret events. Humphries has already begun planning the 2015 Festival, which will be his first.

“You wouldn’t lend him your car, but would Toad be worth investing money in? The producers of a planned new musical of The Wind in the Willows certainly hope so as they unveil a crowdfunding scheme that is something of a West End first.”

“I can’t put that into language yet. It’s very strange and surreal. It also feels like a tremendous gift, because they got so much so right.” That said, “So far, my viewings of the play have been fraught. … I know the people involved in the production are anxious to know my response. So, it’s hard for me to have my own direct response.”

“Maybe Godot never appears because everyone is mispronouncing his name.” There’s more argument than one might expect over whether English-speaking actors should say god-OH or GOD-oh. (Why doesn’t anyone suggest GO-doe?)

“The premature demise of the $14 million ‘Big Fish’ makes it the fall’s first big-budget entry to bail.”

“Tony Award-winning actor Mark Rylance, who plays the murderous Richard III as well as the love-besotted Olivia in Twelfth Night … says since there is virtually no scenery onstage, the audience needs to listen very closely to Shakespeare’s language to know where they are and who they’re with.”