Drawing: Tom Hiddleston in Coriolanus at The Donmar Warehouse

Posted on June 6, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

I remember meeting Tom Hiddleston at the UK premiere of Joanna Hogg’s Archipelago at The Vue Cinema in Leicester Square. It was in competition for the BFI London Film Festival and a twilight screening, but certainly the dawn of Tom’s career.

Sandwiched between two ‘bigger’ films that attracted large crowds, Archipelago only had a sprinkling of attendees – most of them curious tourists. Tom went unnoticed.

He was already an accomplished stage actor, with two Olivier Award nominations and in fact won one. But I recognised him from the poster and one of the PAs confirmed it “oh yes, that’s Tom Hiddleston, he’s going to be a big star one day. I’ll call him over, if you want his autograph.” So he did and Tom duly obliged. His long moniker took time, even with his speedy style!

We joked that he may have to shorten it when he becomes really famous and having to sign zillions for premiere crowds. Well, the PA was right. He is now a global superstar, thanks to roles such as Loki in Marrel’s Thor series and his signature varies wildly, depending on the moment. But I still have one perfectly formed, every letter (well almost) visible.

Fast forward to the quaint 350 seat Donmar Warehouse in Covent Garden. Tom is in the title role of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus, directed by Josie Rourke. Seventy performances, eight shows, a week of physically and mentally demanding play. He is bruised, battered and scarred! Critics loved him, “Tom Hiddleston has blazing stellar power… magnificent,” wrote the Independent. His fans adored him.

They gathered by their hundreds, covering both exits in a nightly vigil. Tom would come out under tight security, sign for a few and then quickly leave. I didn’t have a hope. I left a sketch at the theatre, but it was only one piece of mail among thousands for the ‘man of the moment’.

He was nominated for an Olivier Award so I managed to secure a spot at the Royal Opera House, dominated by Tom’s fans. He even signed down my side, but it was bedlam and the sketch went unnoticed in a sea of items wanting his sig, which had reduced to some quick scribble.

Plan C, Canada. I found out he was still shooting Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak at the Pinewood Studios in Toronto. I packaged up the sketch and mailed it, and set about formulating Plan D. To my surprise, it arrived in the post yesterday. Tom had also written his line from the scene (3.2.14) – “Rather say I play the man I am.”

Plan D was shelved.

Drawing: Adrian Scarborough in King Lear at The National Theatre

Posted on June 5, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Adrian Scarborough is currently playing The Fool in Sam Mendes “magnetic and unorthodox” production of King Lear, in repertory on the vast Olivier stage at the National Theatre in London. His “lovely-melancholy” turn has garnered rave reviews as Lear’s beloved Fool who batters to death in what the Times called “a startling innovation”.

“His death in a bath tub is sudden and shocking, an example of the coin spin between comedy and tragedy that Mendes manages so well,” said critic Tom Wicker.

Equally at home on both stage and screen, Adrian has appeared in films such as The Madness of King George, Vera Drake, The History Boys, Gosford Park, The King’s Speech and Les Miserables. On the smaller screen he has featured in Gavin and Stacey, Upstairs Downstairs and even an episode of Dr Who.

Adrian was nominated for two Olivier in 2011 for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in the National’s Revival of Terence Rattigan’s After the Dance.

King Lear runs until 2 July 2014.

Drawing: Lizzy Yarnold

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Elizabeth “Lizzy” Yarnold won Great Britain’s first gold medal of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi after dominating the women’s skeleton from start to finish. It meant that Team GB retained the title won by Amy Williams four years earlier in Vancouver. She also won the World Cup for 2013-2014. For the uninitiated ‘the skeleton’ is a sliding sport in which a person rides a small sled head first down a frozen ice chute at 130km. Madness!

Like many Winter Olympic Sports, it’s an elite event. You have to become part of the programme, which obviously Lizzy did, being picked by the Girls 4 Gold talent spotting drive in women’s sport. But she was picked for her shot putting ability! Then a series of tests revealed she would be better as a skeleton racer, similar to Amy, who was a converted 400 metres runner. Her sled is called ‘Mervyn’.

Drawing: Sara Pascoe at the Soho Theatre

Posted on June 3, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

In spite of thriving at standup, Sara Pascoe says, “I started comedy as a hobby and it still doesn’t seem like a proper job.”

The 32 year old actor, improviser and writer started standup in 2007, “It’s the one place where you are talking to every level of society”.

She now has a TB career on both sides of the Atlantic with appearances on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, Stand up for the Week QI (in which she won with a +28 score) and Live at the Apollo as well as the all female Girl Friday on Channel 4, which she co-wrote.

She’s influenced by media personality, body builder and occasional glamour model Jodie Marsh, as well as Winston Churchill. Sara had a three night gig at London’s Soho Theatre last week entitled Sara Pascoe: Sara Pascoe Cs The Truth which The Guardian described as “intelligent silliness and self deprecation to make a near perfect show”. She recognised herself in my sketch after her opening performance and was happy to acknowledge it with my Sharpie.

Drawing: Adrienne Truscott in Asking For It at The Soho Theatre

Posted on June 2, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

“Irreverent, sacrilegious, foul mouthed and uninhibited” are just some of the words the New York Times used to describe the beloved, brave and bawdy Wau Wau (pronounced Vow Vow) Sisters. Tanya Gagne and Adrienne Truscott have collaborated as the physical comedy duo since 1999 with their unique blend of singing, witty banter, aerial high-jinks and bawdy burlesque usually with costumes, but no clothes!

New Yorker Adreinne has just completed a season of her latest side show Asking For It at the Sohoo Theatre in London. Dressed only from the waist up and ankles down. It won the Edinburgh Comedy Award Panel Prize in 2013 .

The satirical broadside against rape culture and a string of male performers aggressively asserting their right to tell jokes about it was described by The Guardian in its five star review as ‘sophisticated confrontationalism’.

As she states in her Twitter profile “I’m a performer first, and a Lady second”. I met both after last Thursday’s show and one of them signed my sketch, which the other one really liked.