A Midsummer Night’s Dream – Shakespeare’s tale of mischief and misplaced devotion – is the fourth instalment of Michael Grandage‘s current season of plays in the West End at the Noël Coward Theatre.
Susannah Fielding (Hermia), Katherine Kingsley (Helena), Padraic Delaney (Oberon) and Gavin Fowler (Puck) all signed their respective sketches after Tuesday evening’s performance. The season ends today (16 November 2013)
For our wedding anniversary each year my wife Frankie and I celebrate with a little Shakespeare. Last year we saw Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry in Twelfth Night at the Apollo Theatre. This year the Winters saw A Midsummers Night’s Dream at the Noël Coward Theatre with Sheridan Smith as Titania and David Walliams in the ‘Bottom’ role. I did this quick sketch before hand, but on the anniversary evening Sheridan was “indisposed,” so we didn’t see her on stage.
David was happy to sign after the performance. I went back a week later and Sheridan, as usual was delightful. She loved the drawing and thanked me for taking the time to come back and was pleased to sign it.
Outstanding thespian Rory Kinnear has been shortlisted for two Evening Standard Theatre Awards – Best Actor for his astonishing portrayal of Iago opposite Adrian Lester (also nominated) in the National’s Othello. He has also got the nomination for the Most Promising Playwright for The Hero at the Bush Theatre.
The award winners will be announce this Sunday (17 November 2013) at the Savoy Hotel in London.
Rory kindly signed my sketch of him in Hamlet with a nice dedication at the National Theatre in October 2010. I gave him a copy and he said he had it framed and hanging in his home the day he got it.
Novak Djokovic is currently No 2 in the tennis world, but he’s definitely tops when it comes to accommodating his fans and signing autographs.
This week I’ve been at the ATP World Tour Finals in London’s O2 arena, battling weather and malfunctioning pens. Most of the players use the Thames Clipper boat to travel to the venue, so we collect signatures at the O2 Wharf area.
To give you some idea of what a racket this ‘graph collecting can be, here’s a sequence of sketches and their respective signing success over 3 consecutive days.
The Sharpie Bullet Point
To save time, it’s easier to use on pen, usually the pen belonging to the first autograph collector waiting, and do all the signing with that. The pen Djokovic grabbed was a normal, fine point black sharpie, but the owner had left the cap off in preparation for its use and in the moist, windy air it was not flowing too well… aaargh
The Sharpie W10 Chisel Head
My fault this time. I have zillions of pens, so why did I give him a dried up Sharpie W10 chisel point marker? In mitigation it was raining we were partially protected under a walkway, but the rain was sweeping in and water and ink are not a good doubles combination. He was great – kept going over it and used the point with the remaining ink to write ‘to Mark’.
The Pentel N860 Permanent Marker
Perfecto sig – with a Pental N860 marker. Raining again, and he was running late, but happily stopped to sign and dedicate. He told me, “This is excellent”.
Game, set and match
Affectionately called ‘Delpo’ by his fans, the 6 foot 6 inch Argentinian tennis playerJuan Martin del Potro is currently ranked number 5. Winner of the 2009 US Open and the bronze medal in the men’s singles at the 2012 London Olympics, he possesses what many consider to be the most powerful forehand in the game. A right-handed, two handed backhand player, he used the former to sign my sketch at the ATP World Tennis Finals at London’s O2.
One of my favourite tennis players is the Spaniard David Ferrer. Last month he reached the World Number 3 spot. He signed my sketch at the O2 yesterday night, before playing his second match at the ATP World Tennis Finals.
Tennis player Rafael Nadal signed my sketches yesterday, as he left the O2 Arena in London after winning his opening match at the Barclays ATP World Tennis Finals, beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer.
Laura Carmichael, best known for her role as Lady Edith Crawly in the Golden Globe and Emmy award winning historical drama Downton Abbey, made her West End debut in the new production of Uncle Vanya at the Vaudeville Theatre.
She joined Kim Stott, Anna Friel and Samuel West.
Laura’s other television and film credits include The Heart of Thomas Hardy and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
2012 was certainly the year of Uncle Vanya revivals. A very funny and mercurial account of Chekhov’s great tragicomedy of wasted lives, directed by Lucy Bailey at the Print Room, and a more melancholic take from Jeremy Herrin at Chichester. In November, opening within days of each other, two ‘Vanyas‘ hit the West End. A version from Moscow based Vakhtangov Company at the Noël Coward Theatre and Lindsay Posner’s rendering at the Vaudeville, based on a sharp, ruefully witty translation by Oscar Winner Christopher Hampton.
Theatrical titan Sir Peter Hall enjoyed the evening and Laura’s performance immensely, but had to apologise to her for an outburst during the poignant closing speech, during the opening night. “Being rather aged I dropped off for a moment and on being woken up by my wife I was briefly disorientated.”
The production generally garnered positive reviews with the 25 year old Laura’s performance as Vanya’s niece Sonya singled out for praise for its sensitivity.
Mary-Louise Parker is no stranger to screen and stage acting awards – in 2003 she won both a Golden Globe and an Emmy for Supporting Actress in Angels In America. She won a Tony Award for Proof in 2001 and in 2006 another Golden Globe for Best Actress in Needs.
Proof is a 2000 play by American writer David Auburn. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and a Tony Award for Best Play. It premiered off Broadway in May 2000, before transferring to the Walter Kerr Theater in October that year.
Mary-Louise played Catherine, the daughter of a deceased mathematical genius and Professor at the University of Chicago, who struggled with mental illness. After his death, one of his students finds his ‘proof’ for a paradigm shift involving prime numbers. Catherine has to prove her father is the author amongst fears of following in her father’s footsteps, both mathematically and mentally.
Mary-Louise signed my sketch at the European Premiere of Red 2, Empire Cinema in Leicester Square, London, on the 22nd July 2013.
American actress Laurie Metcalf played Jackie Harris in the sitcom Roseanne, which ran for 221 episodes from 1988-97. She won three consecutive Emmy Awards (1992-94) and was nominated for two Golden Globes for her performance in the role. She has also appeared in Desperate Housewives, The Big Bang Theory. She has won both a Theatre World Award and an Obie Award for her work on stage.
In 2012, she joined David Suchet in Eugene O’Neills Long Day’s Journey Into Night at London’s Apollo Theatre.
Laurie signed my sketch at the Apollo Theatre stage door in July 2012.
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