May the Spirit of Christmas bring you peace and happiness.
Following their hit run on Broadway, Sirs Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart brought the Pinter masterpiece NO MAN’S LAND to the West End for a sell-out season at Wyndham’s Theatre, which concluded on Saturday last. They were joined by Owen Teale and Damien Molony in this much-anticipated revival of Harold Pinter’s 1975 cryptic and hilariously tragicomedy directed by Sean Mathias.
A pub postman, Spooner (Sir Ian) is invited back to the luxurious Hampstead pad of Hirst, (Sir Patrick) a famous writer, where they proceed to get trollied on epic amounts of whiskey and vodka, and spend the evening in drunken conversation as the guest ingratiates himself on his near comatose host only interrupted by the intimidating manservants Briggs (Owen) and Foster (Damien). The play is evoked by the classic English farce, laden with ‘peachy’ one-liners such as Briggs, “the best time to drink champagne is before lunch, you cunt.”
In a nutshell, it looks at the absurdity and chaos of late life and the disintegration of memory. TimeOut said of the Sirs performance,”Two actors who still live up to their legend, nailing one of the great works of a playwrights who still lives up to his.”
I managed to get Sir Ian, Owen and Damien to graph this montage sketch in person at the stage door, but Sir Patrick was a little more elusive. I tried on a few occasions, but he had guests or had to rush off, so missed him. However, caught in no man’s land in the final week, I passed it onto the helpful Joshua at Wyndham’s, who did get the drawing to Sir Patrick and it was returned signed, completing the set.
British actress Charlotte Hope is ‘having a bit of a moment’ as they say in the business. The ‘moment’ has lasted four years and continues. The Oxford graduate made her film debut as part of the factory ensemble in LES MISERABLES in 2012 and then went on to play Myranda in the mega-hit TV series GAME OF THRONES and Stephen Hawking’s younger sister Philippa in THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING amongst her impressive recent resume. She is currently in the West End playing Shelly in Sam Shepard’s BURIED CHILD alongside Ed Harris, which I sketched and she signed last week at the Trafalgar Studios stage door.
Young Canadian comedian and writer Mae Martin, described as a ‘brilliant mix of clever, venerable and goofy,’ was even younger when she began performing comedy, at the age of 13. Now eleven years later she has established herself as one of the bright lights on the British circuit. Mae trained for four years at the Toronto outpost of the internationally acclaimed comedy institution and world’s premier school of improv, The Second City, which boasts alumni including Tina Fey, Mike Myers, Dan Aykroyd, John Candy and Bill Murray. London-based since 2010, Mae successfully debuted at the Edinburgh Festival the following year and then her sell-out MAE DAY run in 2012.
I was lucky enough to catch he delightful comic last Thursday before her show at the Soho Theatre where she signed my drawing.
‘The Fresh Prince’ was in London town late last week for the European Premiere of his latest film COLLATERAL BEAUTY. I had sketched this portrait some time ago, but never managed to get Will to sign it. His popularity means it can be a bit of a battle to get his graph. Forbes claims he is the world’s most bankable star, with 17 out of his last 21 films grossing over $100 million and Newsweek once called him ‘the most powerful actor in Hollywood’. But I had another chance to get him to sign my drawing, not helped by the pens being locked down at 4pm, and my arrival at ten past. However the Christmas spirit or spirits prevailed and I managed to secure a spot, albeit it in a difficult position.
Will arrived first, did a few pics then proceeded to sign the line. Three rows back wasn’t ideal and that was confirmed as I just couldn’t quite get the sketch close enough to be seen amongst the gazillion other items and selfie requests. He moved on… but that Christmas spirit was still trending and a very kind gentleman next to me, not in red clothing nor a white beard, but with the wing span of a pterodactyl, grabbed my rendering and positioned in right in front of Will and he happily signed it.
Celia Imrie won the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role as Miss Babs in the 2005 production of ACORN ANTIQUES: THE MUSICAL at the Theatre Royal Haymarket. Celia became known for her television collaborations with Victoria Wood and in 1985 she first played the infamous Miss Babs, the love lorn owner of Acorn Antiques, known for her frequent parodic flirtations with customers and her abuse of her housekeeper Mrs Overall (Julie Walters).
The sketches were a parody on the low budget British soap operas, in particular CROSSROADS, with its low production values, overacting, wobbly sets, appalling dialogue and improbable plots. The West End musical version, directed by Trevor Nunn, which also parodied successful musicals such as LES MISERABLES and CHICAGO premiered in February 2005 and ran for a three-month sell-out season.
Celia recently returned to the London stage to play Goneril in the just completed KING LEAR opposite Glenda Jackson at the Old Vic, where I caught up with her to sign this sketch of her as Miss Babs.
British actress Jane Horrocks played Regan, one of the declining monarch’s daughters, in the latest production of KING LEAR at the Old Vic. Small in statue, but huge on talent, the LITTLE VOICE star said “I relish my smallness. I really like my smallness,” in a Guardian interview earlier this year. She stands 5′ 4″ in ‘killer heels’ stalking about the stage ‘dangerously oversexed’ and ‘deliciously conniving’, complete with her signature shock blonde hair, seen recently in ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: THE MOVIE, reprising her role as Bubble, the goofy sidekick of Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley.
As always the amicable Jane signed my sketch at the stage door on her way into a Saturday matinee a few weeks ago.
Welsh actor Rhys Ifans returned to the London stage as the Fool in KING LEAR, which finished its run at the Old Vic last week. The production marked the theatrical comeback after 25 years of Glenda Jackson in the lead role. Although he had established himself with an extensive acting CV, Rhys became a global name as Hugh Grant’s lodger Spike in the 1999 film NOTTING HILL His scheming clown in LEAR received critical acclaim with the Telegraph’s Dominic Cavendish writing, “Definite highlights include Rhys Ifans as an anarchic Fool, in a Superman cape, donning a scary clown mask and sleeping out the storm in shopping trolley.” Rhys has already gone in by the time I got to the stage door, but popped out for a quite ciggy and a siggy on my sketch.
“Glenda Jackson’s performance will be talked about for years,” wrote Dominic Cavendish in his Telegraph review of Deborah Warner’s star-studded modern-dress production of KING LEAR, which has just completed it’s short run at London’s Old Vic. Twenty-five years after her last stage performance as Christine in Eugene O’Neill’s MOURNING BECOMES ELECTRA at the Glasgow Citizens, the 80 year-old, two-time Oscar winner made a ‘triumphant return to the stage’ with a “ferocious, unflinching performance that transcends gender and puts her amongst the best Lears,” proclaimed the Guardian’s Michael Billington.
In 1992 she became the Labour MP for Hampstead and Kilburn, winning four successive elections before retiring at the last election. It was suggested by more than one critic that her experience of political life and the injustices in the world enriched her understanding Lear. “Where does all her energy come from? Or that voice, which can blast out with a force to induce shockwaves? She is so pale, so spectre-thin with an androgynous crop of lankish hair… her neck pushes forward in vein-accentuating confrontation” continued the Guardian critic. Glenda was a little more subdued, thank goodness, at the stage door when she arrived for a Saturday matinee a couple of weeks ago and signed my drawing.
One of the world’s leading violinists, Anne-Sophie Mutter returned to London last moth as part of the London Symphony Orchestra’s International Violin Festival at the Royal Festival Hall. Since her debut with the LSO in 1980, the German native Anne-Sophie has performed with the Orchestra on a number of occasions, this time coupling Beethoven’s commanding Violin Concerto with Dvorak’s symphony No 9 in E minor.
Known also for championing contemporary music, she has had several works especially composed for her. Anne-Sophie is one of the few violinists to own her Stradivarius, in fact she has two, the Emilani of 1703 and the Lord Dunn-Raven Stradivarius of 1710. The latter she has played for the past 26 years and it is believed to have belonged to Napoleon Bonaparte. A couple of unique facts about Anne-Sophie’s violin performances are her playing without wearing a shoulder rest and her need for traction with the instrument has led her to wearing the same style of John Galliano dress each time she plays.
I left this drawing at the Hall’s Artist’s Entrance and received it back, signed and dedicated from Germany a couple of weeks later.
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