About Mark Winter / Chicane

Cartoonist. Artist. Illustrator. Oh, and autograph hunter.

Drawing: Edward Berger and Conclave

Posted on May 8, 2025 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Autographed drawing of director Edward Berger

My favourite anti-war film and in fact, recent cinema experience, is Edward Berger’s epic 147 minute remake of ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (2022). It is the third film adaption following the 1930 and 1979, productions, all based on the 1929 novel by Erich Maria Remarque. The German-born director also co-wrote the screenplay with Lesley Paterson and Ian Stokell and co-produced with Malte Grunert and Daniel Dreifuss and featured Felix Kammerer, Albrecht Schuch, Daniel Bruhl, Sebastian Hulk, Aaron Hilmer, Edin Hasanovic and Devid Striesow in the lead roles. Set during World War I, it centres on 17 year-old Paul Baumer, an idealistic young German soldier who finds himself exposed to the realities of war.

In this version of the movie, a parallel storyline follows the armistice negotiations to end the hostilities, which is not in the book. It received 14 nominations at the BAFTA Awards-winning seven, including Best Film and Edward also winning for Best Direction and Adapted Screenplay. At the Academy Awards, its nine nominations resulted in four Oscars, including Best International Feature.

Edward continued his remarkable success with his first English-language film, CONCLAVE (2024), a political thriller surrounding a Conclave to elect the next pope, written by Peter Straughan and based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris. Given recent events following the death of Papa Francesco, there has been renewed interest in the movie, returning to the big screens worldwide. Life has certainly imitated art. After the official nine-day mourning period, the Conclave has begun with 133 cardinals gathering once again in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican to elect the 267th Pope.

The film won four BAFTA Awards; Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Adapted Screenplay and Editing from 12 nominations and received the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay and seven other nominations including Best Picture.

I caught up with the affable Edward in London during this year’s BAFTA Awards and he very kindly signed a quick portrait I did of him and a CONCLAVE montage I designed.

Drawing: The Tattooer

Posted on February 14, 2025 by Mark Winter / Chicane

The second production in Charing Cross Theatre’s season from the Japanese company Umeda Arts Theatre was ‘Tattooer’ adapted by Takuya Keneshima from Junichiro Tanizaki’s short story.

Seikichi, a young tattoo artist and former Ukiyo-e practitioner whose longtime wish is to ‘carve his soul into the skin of a beautiful woman’, is unable to find a willing partner until he finally meets his ideal canvas. During the interval master Japanese ink-brush painter Gaku Azuma takes to the stage to create stunning live artwork, painting one of the cast members and the stage itself.

I was privileged to meet Gaku who graciously signed a montage poster and drew a piece of original art on top of my sketch based on the original poster.

Drawing: Carlos Alcaraz

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Mark Winter / Chicane

autographed drawing of tennis player carlos alcaraz

Spanish sensation Carlos Alcaraz retained his Wimbledon title, emphatically beating seven-time Champion Novak Djokovic again, this time in straight sets to win his fourth Slam at the tender age of 21. Last month he beat Alexander Zerev in five sets to win the French Open at Roland-Garros to become the youngest player in history to win the ‘Surface Slam’, with titles on the three surfaces- hardcourt (US Open in 2022),grass and clay. Victory at SW19 on Sunday also meant he is the youngest man in the open Era to win the ‘Channel Slam’.

Carlos signed my sketch at this year’s Cinch Championships at London’s Queen’s Club. He collected £2,700,000 for winning The Championships. Nice pay day for seven matches in a fortnight.

Drawing: Babora Krejcikova

Posted on July 16, 2024 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Drawing of tennis player Barbora Krejcikova

Babora Krejcikova, the 31st seed, won the Wimbledon Ladies’ Singles with a three-set triumph over Italian Jasmine Paolini to collect her second Major singles title, having won the French Open in 2021. As a result the Czech player returns to the Top 10 in singles rankings, having been as high as No 2 in 2022.

She has won all four Grand Slam titles with her compatriot Katerina Siniakova, winning the 2018 French Open and Wimbledon, the French Open again in 2021, and the Australian, Wimbledon and US titles the following year to complete a career grand slam. They reached No 1 in the world rankings and won the Women’s Doubles gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. Babora has also won three Australian Open Mixed Doubles titles with Rajeev Ram (twice) and Nikola Mektic.

A poignant and emotional moment came when Babora was showed the honours board after Saturday’s final with her name already added as the 2024 champion alongside that of the late Yana Novotna who won in 1998 and was Babora’s mentor and coach, who sadly passed away in 2017. The tears flowed-both now linked in history.

Babora signed my drawing at Wimbledon in 2022, when she and Katerina won the Ladies’ Doubles.

Drawing: Kenneth Branagh as King Lear

Posted on March 4, 2024 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Autographed drawing of Kenneth Branagh as King Lear at the Wyndham's Theatre on London's West End

After an eight year hiatus, Sir Kenneth Branagh returned to the West End boards last autumn with his reduced (two hours with no interval), radically youthful KING LEAR, set in a harsh, neolithic Britain at Wyndham’s Theatre for a limited run of 50 performances. It will transfer later this year to The Shed off-Broadway.

Regarded as ‘the actor’s Everest’, Ken both directed and starred in the titular role amongst a cast of mostly recent Royal Academy of Dramatic Art graduates – his own alma mater. Until last month he was also RADA’s president after succeeding the late Richard, Lord Attenborough in 2015. His appearance was described by one Guardian critic as having a “luxuriant bouffant and possibly the most follicularly blessed Lear since Laurence Olivier”, who first played the mythological monarch at the age of 39.

Ken actually portrayed his idol and fellow theatrical knight, Sir Larry in the 2011 film MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, for which he received one of his eight Oscar nominations. He was the first individual to be nominated in seven different categories, winning in 2022 for his original screenplay and ‘most personal project’ BELFAST, the coming-of-age feature film, based on his formative years in the Northern Irish capital during the beginning of ‘the Troubles’ in 1969. He was also nominated for Best Picture and Best Director. Ken has won five BAFTA Awards from 13 nominations, two Emmys and a Golden Globe. At the recent Screen Actors Guild Awards, he accepted the SAG statue on behalf of the acting ensemble of Christopher Nolan’s OPPENHEIMER for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. His role is the Nobel-winning Danish physicist and J. Robert Oppenheimer’s idol, Niels Bohr.

After missing him at the Wyndham’s stage door, I dropped my LEAR sketch into Ken’s London office late last year, which he kindly returned, signed along with a dedicated copy of the BELFAST poster.

Drawing: Gabriel Vick in Mrs Doubtfire The Musical

Posted on February 12, 2024 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Autographed drawing of Gabriel Vick in Mrs Doubtfire: The Musical at Shaftesbury Theatre on London's West End

The musical adaption of the hilarious and heartfelt 1993 film MRS DOUBTFIRE, starring Robin Williams as the titular nanny, opened its West End run last spring at the Shaftesbury Theatre. Directed by four-time Tony winner Jerry Zaks, with original music by the Kirkpatrick brothers, Wayne and Karey, written by satirist John O’Farrell, and featuring Gabriel Vick as both Daniel Hillard and Euphegenia Doubtfire.

Gabriel’s comedic and chameleonic performance has received rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music, his London stage appearances include the original cast of AVENUE Q at the Noel Coward Theatre, SCROOGE at the London Palladium and CHARIOTS OF FIRE at the Gielgud Theatre.

He plays the out-of-work voice actor Daniel who will do anything for his kids. After losing custody in a messy divorce, he creates the alter ego, a Scottish nanny in a desperate attempt to stay in their lives.

“Multi-talented, hyperactive Gabriel Vick in the lead goes the extra mile, and then some,” wrote the Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish, in this “sure-fire hit, my dears”. As one audience member posted online, “Shout out to Gabriel Vick, he really would’ve made Robin proud. Smashed it!”

This “cross-dressing comedy soars from screen to stage,” wrote Rachel Halliburton in her four-star Times review.

And, listen up poppets… the run has been extended until February 2025, so no reason to miss it.

Gabriel kindly signed my quick sketch last Saturday between shows at the Shaftesbury stage door.

Drawing: The Motive and the Cue

Posted on February 5, 2024 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Autographed drawing of Johnny Flynn, Mark Gatiss, Tuppence Middleton in The Motive and the Cue at the Noel Coward Theatre on London's West End

After a sell-out season at the National Theatre last spring, THE MOTIVE AND THE CUE, Jack Thorne’s latest, critically acclaimed fierce and funny play directed by Sam Mendes, described by many critics as ‘a love letter to theatre’, transferred to the Noel Coward Theatre in London’s West End in December, running until 23 March.

Winner of the Best New Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, it centres on the 1964 experimental, modern-dress Broadway production of Shakespeare’s HAMLET starring Richard Burton, the most famous actor in the world at the time, newly married to Elizabeth Taylor, directed by theatre royalty, Sir John Gielgud. Burton,”still smoking hot from his big-screen romance with Taylor in CLEOPATRA, was looking to solidify his street cred as a serious actor after a few Hollywood duds. Gielgud’s motivation was a little less obvious, as gradually became clear to the rest of the cast and crew”.

As rehearsals progress, two ages of theatre collide, as the collaboration soon threatens to unravel. It was a difficult production with Burton behaving badly because he didn’t get the direction from Gielgud he felt he required… or perhaps he got more direction than expected. The two, who were prior friends, couldn’t work out how their HAMLET might work. For Gielgud, the play mattered a great deal, having played the role more than 300 times, over forty-plus years of playing Shakespearean roles.

Jack Thorne was inspired by two first-hand accounts of the politics of the rehearsal room and the relationship between art and celebrity. William Redfern, a cast member, who played Guildenstern, wrote a series of letters to his friend Bob Mills, which were eventually published as ‘Letters From An Actor’ and Richard L. Sterne’s ‘John Gielgud Directs Richard Burton In Hamlet’. The title comes from HAMLET’s “O, what a rogue and peasant slave” speech. As Gielgud explained, the motive is Hamlet’s reason for a given act, the cue is the passion behind that act.

The three leads, Johnny Flynn as Burton, Mark Gatsis as Gielgud and Tuppence Middleton as Taylor reprised their roles for the West End run and kindly signed my quick sketch at the stage door a couple of weeks ago.

Drawing: Pope Francis

Posted on October 11, 2023 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Nope, the Pope did not sign a drawing I sent to him in 2015. I thought it best to mention that up-front. Despite my lack of success I’ve been thinking of posting my pontiff piece anyway. A quick sweep of the internet indicated that Pope Francis has signed on a few occasions, so it was not an activity he avoided. There have been seven popes so far in my lifetime, dating back to Pope Pius XII. I don’t usually include popes or politicians on my collection list, but somehow Francis appealed to me.

With subdued optimism I did this quick sketch and mailed it to Vatican. Obviously, I wasn’t alone in this elevated, exulted pursuit.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was created a Cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001 after serving as Archbishop of Buenos Aires, and was cardinal priest of San Roberto Bellarmino in Rome until he was elected as the pope on 13 March 2013, following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI. He has always been known for his humility and his concern for the poor and his commitment to social justice and building bridges between people of all backgrounds, beliefs and faiths. While Bishop he had a simple lifestyle, living in a small apartment rather than the elegant bishop’s residence, cooking his own meals and taking public transport. He chose the name Francis to honour St. Francis of Assisi.

I noticed he did sign a young boy’s cast as he left a Rome hospital where he was treated for bronchitis in time to preside over the Palm Sunday and Easter Masses in St Peter’s Square earlier this year. I now know what to do to achieve my goal.

Drawing: Harry Styles

Posted on October 9, 2023 by Mark Winter / Chicane

When Harry met Mark

Back in 2014, while heading home from central London on a chilly December evening, I was enticed – like a moth to the flame – by the deviation of the flashing bulbs at a gathering near the London Coliseum, where the paparazzi were photographing exits from the British Fashion Awards. While standing next to them, basking in the warming glow, a then 20 year-old Harry Styles appeared and momentarily had to wait for his car. We briefly chatted and he was happy to write something in my Rymans pad and sign it while the paps continued flashing. His car arrived a couple of minutes later and he drove off into the night. I drew a quick separate sketch later – here’s the combo. In the meantime, Harry has gone on to do quite well for himself.

Drawing: Carlos Alcaraz

Posted on June 28, 2023 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Autographed drawing of tennis player Carlos Alcaraz at Queen's Club

Carlos Alcaraz won his first title on grass and regained the world number one ranking with an impressive victory over Alex de Minaur in the Queen’s Club final on Sunday. His 6-4 6-4 triumph means he moves above Novak Djokovic and will be the top men’s seed at Wimbledon, which starts on 3 July.

The 20 year-old Spaniard, who was playing only his third grass-court tournament, has won five titles this season. The US Open champion will now set his sights on a Queen’s-Wimbledon double.

However, he needed a final-set tie-break in his first round match to escape with a narrow victory against French qualifier Arthur Rinderknech, before surging to the title without losing a set for the rest of the week. I met him at the players’ entrance after that opening match, where he kindly signed my sketch.