Monthly Archives: April 2016

Drawing: Ron Cook in Trelawny of the Wells

Posted on by
Reply

Ron Cook

Patrick Marber’s adaption of Pinero’s ‘ love letter to theatre,’ TRELAWNY OF THE WELLS, directed by Joe Wright in the early Spring of 2013, at the Donmar Warehouse in London’s Covent Garden. Included in the outstanding cast was the impressive and very busy Ron Cook – so busy he played two roles in this production. Opening the 1898 comic play he appears in drag as the ‘theatrical landlady’ described by Charles Spencer in The Telegraph as a “brilliant comic coup” before settling into his role as the “superb” crusty old judge Sir William Gower.

Ron is always very friendly and obliging at the stage door. He signed this drawing for me at the Trafalgar Studios earlier this year when he was appearing in THE HOMECOMING. He returns to the Donmar in June in FAITH HEALER.

Drawing: Amanda Drew

Posted on by
Reply

Amanda Drew

Florian Zeller’s five-star play THE FATHER returned to the West End for a four-week run at the Duke of York’s last month. Joining Olivier winner Kenneth Cranham was Amanda Drew who replaced Claire Skinner as his daughter Anne.

Amanda has previously signed a few of my drawings so this gave me another opportunity to catch up with her to get my latest sketch signed-a montage of her versatile and varied stage career over the past seventeen years, incorporating PARLOUR SONG (2009), ENRON (2010), THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA (1999), MADAME BOVARY (2003), OTHERWISE ENGAGED (2005) and her current role.

THE FATHER is currently on a short tour,which concludes at the Royal Brighton Theatre at the end of the month.

Drawing: Sophie Rose in Quiet Violence

Posted on by
Reply

Sophie Rose

“I’m kissing you because it’s easier than explaining why I don’t want to.”

A line from QUIET VIOLENCE, the debut solo show written and performed by Sophie Rose who was part of the Soho Theatre’s Young Company (SYC). It’s a humorous and poignant look at our self-destructive patterns, a spoken word comedy show about the small things that we do to make life harder for ourselves and gets us into situations we don’t like. It’s a “Fast, physical and full of anarchic poetry, shards of life collide in this powerful story of punishment and rescue.” And it’s all set on a inflatable sofa, “so it’s quite fun,” Sophie said.

After touring the show, including the Edinburgh Fringe, Sophie returned to the Soho with QUIET VIOLENCE last month as part of the Soho Rising series, and signed my sketch of her on the inflatable sofa, which was quite fun.

Drawing: Tessa Peake-Jones

Posted on by
Reply

Tessa Peake-Jones

If you think that Tessa Peake-Jones’ face is familiar, that’s because the popular English actress has appeared in every major TV show over the past twenty years, including
DR WHO, CASULTY, MIDSOMER MURDERS, THE BILL, HOLBY CITY, POPPY SHAKESPEARE and HEATBEAT. However, her most notable role was the bubbly Rachel Turner, Del Boy’s longtime ‘significant other’ in ONLY FOOLS AND HORSES from 1988 until it ended in 2003. At it’s peak the iconic sitcom attracted 24 million viewers. She is currently on the small screen as the crotchety housekeeper with a heart of gold, Mrs Maguire in ITV’s GRANTCHESTER.

Tessa’s equally impressive stage career has seen her in a variety of plays in London and beyond. She has just finished playing Julie who operates an ice-cream van near Beachy Head in the World Premiere of Tabitha Mortibiy’s BEACONS at the Park Theatre in North London. She described it as a “It’s a sweet story about loneliness”.

I drew this sketch of Tessa from two London productions, HOME at the Arcola Theatre in 2013 and PARK AVENUE CAT at the Arts Theatre in 2011, which she signed with a lovely dedication for me during her run at the Park.

Drawing: Timothy Spall, Daniel Mays and George MacKay in The Caretaker

Posted on by
1

The Caretaker

When it premiered in 1960, Harold Pinter’s first big hit, THE CARETAKER changed the face of modern theatre. The psychological study of the confluence of power, allegiance, innocence and corruption among two brothers, Aston and Mick and the homeless hobo Davis. The Old Vic’s latest revival, directed by Matthew Warchus stars Timothy Spall, who specialises in characters outside the social norms He plays Davis, the classic Pinter outsider,disruptive, insistent, menacing yet pathetic. Daniel Mays is the kindly Aston and George MacKay portrays the brutal brother Mick, who exposes Davis as an ‘Artful Dodger.’

I caught up with Daniel and George during a passing shower, under the protection of a cheap umbrella at the stage door and Timothy a week later in drier conditions. All three were happy to sign this sketch.

Drawing: Kit Harington in Doctor Faustus

Posted on by
Reply

Kit Harington

Successful Elizabethan playwright and Shakespeare’s contemporary Christopher Marlowe is buried in an unmarked grave not far from where I reside, in the churchyard of St Nicholas, Deptford. It was on May 18, 1593 that Marlowe was arrested for blasphemy. Ten days later his mysterious early death was reported after being knifed in a local tavern. He was only 29.

One of his most renowned plays was ‘The Tragical History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus’, commonly referred to simply DOCTOR FAUSTUS, based on the German ‘Faustbuch’. The story of an embittered academic, frustrated with the futility of religion and desperate for a deeper understanding of the universe, he risks everything to conjure up a meeting with the demon Mephistophilis, asking him to make a deal with the devil and  selling his soul in return for the ability to perform absolutely anything including the power to perform black magic. References to ‘The Devil’s Pact’ go back as far as the 4th Century, but Marlowe’s hero differs in that his protagonist is unable to repent in order to have the pact annulled.

Playing the title role in Jamie Lloyd’s latest revival at the Duke of York’s theatre is another 29 year-old Christopher… Christopher Catesby  Harington, commonly known as Kit, making his first return to the London boards since playing Albert in the National Theatre’s WAR HORSE. As the new series of HBO’s  GAME OF THRONES is about to screen, he confirmed that his character, Jon Snow, was killed off and dies in the snow at the hands of his own men in the series 5 finale. “I do appear in the new series, but as a corpse,” he revealed to the NY Daily News. “It’s my best work”, he joked.

The show’s massive fan base has descended upon the theatre in droves. I joined the frenzied gathering at the end of the stage door alleyway on Saturday night, held out this quick drawing of Kit as Faustus and he managed to sign it for me, before barriers were installed and some decorum prevailed… and Kit left.

Drawing: Glenn Close in Sunset Boulevard

Posted on by
Reply

Glenn Close

Twenty years on, Glen Close reprises her Tony Award-winning role as the deluded screen star Norma Desmond and makes her much-anticipated West End debut in Lonny Price’s ‘semi-staged’ production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s SUNSET BOULEVARD for it’s five week run at the London Coliseum. Based on the classic Academy Award-winning 1950 noir film, stylised on screen as SUNSET BLVD., written and directed by Billy Wilder, starring Gloria Swanson, the black comedy is cited as one of the greats of American cinema.

Lloyd Webber’s musical version with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton premiered at London’s Aldephi Theatre in 1993 with Patti Lupone in the lead role before making it’s Broadway debut a year later with Glenn Close playing the fading star of the silent era living in the past in her decaying mansion on the fabled Los Angeles street.

Norma Desmond’s immortal line at the end “And now, Mr DeMille I am ready for my close-up,” has that little bit more significance with Ms Close delivering it.

Fans packed the stage door barriers on Saturday evening and surrounded the car, waiting for her exit. I managed to squeeze into a spot over the bonnet and after she had signed for the barrier areas, stood on the vehicle’s runner board and graphed some items on the roof of the car, including my sketch, which I slide across, strategically stopping in front of the star’s skedaddling sharpie. It’s a bit scrawly but it’s Glenn’s and it’s in person and it captures the moment perfectly.

Drawing: Timothy Spall in Mr Turner

Posted on by
1

Timothy Spall

Timothy Spall won a number of International awards including Best Actor at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival, for his performance as the eccentric landscape painter J.M.W. Turner in Mike Leigh’s celebrated biographical drama MR. TURNER. Inexplicably, he missed out on Oscar and BAFTA noms.

When I saw the images from The film and Timothy’s performance I just had to capture that face and his portrayal with my trusty 4B lead. The controversial British Romanticist was renowned for his work in oils, but he was one of the greatest masters of British watercolour painting, elevating the landscape genre to an eminence rivalling history painting.

Known as ‘the painter of light’, Turner was considered a Romantic preface to Impressionism, my favourite period. As homage to this I have taken the rare turn of added a ‘dusting’ of sunset hues with my less trusty coloured pencils to my usual monochromatic studies.

After appearing over the past two decades in film roles such as ‘Wormtail’ in the HARRY POTTER series and Winston Churchill in THE KING’S SPEECH, Timothy returned to the stage as the rugged tramp Davies in Harold Pinter’s THE CARETAKER at London’s Old Vic. I meet one of Britain’s best-loved and most-talented character actors at the stage door on Saturday prior to the matinee and he happily signed this sketch for me.

Drawing: Christopher Wheeldon

Posted on by
Reply

Christopher Wheeldon

Internationally renowned contemporary ballet choreographer Christopher Wheeldon joined the Royal Ballet as a seventeen year old in 1991 and in that same year won the Gold Medal at the Prix de Lausanne competition. He then moved to the Big Apple to join the New York Ballet where he became a soloist in 1998. Three years later he became the Company’s residential choreographer.

He became the first Englishman to be invited to create a new work for the prestigious Bolshoi Ballet and earlier this year was honoured with an OBE by the Queen.

Currently the Royal Ballet’s Artistic Associate, Chris is a familiar face at Covent Garden, especially recently, with a mixed programme celebrating his career. The three works included AFTER THE RAIN, WITHIN THE GOLDEN HOUR and the World Premiere of STRAPLESS. Next week his three-act adaption of THE WINTER’S TALE, Shakespeare’s tale of love, loss and reconciliation begins a two month season.

I left this sketch at the ROH in February and it returned from New York a week later signed and dedicated.

Drawing: Jena Friedman in American C*nt

Posted on by
Reply

Jena Friedman

American stand-up comedian, writer and filmmaker Jena Friedman returned to the UK last month with her critically acclaimed solo show AMERICAN C*UNT (her asterisk), which premiered last year at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Her work has been published in Time, Newsweek, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal, TimeOut New York and was part of the writing team for THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN. In 2010 the New York Times issued a ‘cease and desis’ letter to her for parodying their Wedding videos, which went on to be a very successful web series entitled TED AND GRACE.

AMERICAN C*NT is described as a ‘dark, edgy, spiky, fiercely and unapologetically political and liberal (more or less) look at the state of modern America, including Bill Cosby, Ebola, Donald Trump and Caitlyn Jenner – (The best way to age gracefully as a woman is to be born a man).”

Included on her website menu is a ‘How to stalk me’ option, but I preferred the old-fashioned approach and turn up at the theatre with a sketch.