Drawing: Jade Anouka in Chef

Posted on July 6, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Jade Anouka

Rising star of British Theatre Jade Anouka has just finished a three week run of her solo show Chef at London’s Soho Theatre.

Sabrina Mahfouz’s gripping 50 minute poetic monologue about one woman who went from being a haute-cuisine head-chef to a convicted inmate running a prison kitchen made its London debut after a sensational season at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, winning the 2014 Fringe First Award.

“The combination of Mahfouz’s lyrical yet bruising writing and Anouka’s phenomenal performance is a winning one,” wrote The Guardian’s Lyn Gardner. Other critics have been equally full of praise, using adjectives such as “stunning”, “wonderful” and “extraordinary”.

I met the delightful Jade after her final matinée performance at the Soho on Saturday afternoon and she signed my sketch.

Drawing: Jo Burke in iScream at the Leicester Square Theatre

Posted on July 2, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

jo burke

Comedian and writer Jo Burke is a popular regular on the UK stand-up and Cabaret circuit as herself or her alter-ego characters, ‘Mary Magdalene’ and ‘Pie Shop Pat’. She previewed her new show ‘i Scream’ for the 2015 Edinburgh Fringe Festival at London’s Leicester Square on Saturday evening. It’s a brutally honest account of her Edinburgh ‘mini-meltdown’ last year when she performed not one, but two shows. In spite of the exhausting stint both pieces received four-star reviews as has this one, so fingers crossed for a less stressful, but equally successful Festival this time round. I really liked her ‘iScream’ poster and based my sketch on it, which is inspired by the CARRIE film because “I love dark humour and my shows are always dark”, she said.

Drawing: Cressida Bonas in An Evening With Lucian Freud

Posted on June 23, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Cressida Bonas

Known as Cressy to her friends, British actress Cressida Bonas has been described by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein as a “fantastic” acting talent after her debut in Tulip Fever due out later this year. The Burberry model made her theatrical debut in 2014 at the Hay Festival in There’s a Monster in the Lake which was also staged at the Vault Festival in January 2015.

Earlier this month she appeared as Laura in the solo play An Evening With Lucian Freud by Laura-Jane Foley at London’s Leicester Square Theatre, receiving rave reviews. It tells the story of the days when Laura was a PhD student who became a friend of the late artist.

Prince Harry showed his support for his former girlfriend when he was spotted in the audience at one of the performances.

I had to fight the paps and autograph dealers on the first night performance, but managed to get near Cressida and she signed and dedicated this sketch, before quickly leaving the throng.

Drawing: Ian Rickson and Jez Butterworth

Posted on June 20, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Ian Rickson Jez Butterworth

Playwright Jez Butterworth and director Ian Rickson have formed a formidable team and are considered one of contemporary British theatre’s great collaborators. Jez’s debut play, Mojo, the black gangster comedy set in a Soho nightclub in the 1950s, premiered at London’s Royal Court Theatre in 1995, directed by Ian Rickson who became the resident artistic director from 1998 – 2006, replacing Stephen Daldry.

They have been friends and collaborators ever since, with Ian directing all of Jez’s plays. That includes the smash hit Jerusalem, that was a runaway success at the Court, on West End and Broadway.

Eighteen years later Ian directed a revival of Mojo at the Harold Pinter Theatre, featuring an all star cast, including Ben Whishaw, Daniel Mays and Rupert Grint.

I love Jez’s writing and am a huge fan of Ian’s direction. They are both very likeable chaps; always engaging and obliging.

I drew this sketch of Ian and Jez in rehearsals for Mojo, hoping to get both to sign it on press night in November 2013. I managed to get Jez, but couldn’t find Ian, so figured he’d be around through the season. Whenever our paths did cross over the next two years, I didn’t have the sketch on me.

It wasn’t until press night of his most recent play The Red Lion at the National’s Dorfman Stage last week that I had a chance. I had to politely excuse myself at the official gathering in the foyer after the performance. He was his usual friendly self, liked the sketch and happily signed it.

Drawing: Rich Hall

Posted on June 17, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Rich Hall

A master of a absurdist irony and rapid-fire wit, American comedian and musician Rich Hall mosied into London town last week and set up his stable at the Leicester Square Theatre for a few nights with his virtuoso musical mates.

Nearing the end of a UK Tour, Rich Hall’s Hoedown was described as a, “mash up of music, comedy and gratuitous coloration”.

This coincided with his other ‘West End’ show, 3:10 to Humour, which Rich performed during the month at various venues. Time Out’s description was “a mix of music, comedy, liquor and spent dreams with Richa Hall and his talented band. Tremendous fun”.

The Sun has called him “a comedy phenomenon”. Winner of the 2000 Perrier Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Fringe in the guise of his own uncle and red neck alter ego, Otis Lee Crenshaw, a much convicted comedy music singer.

Rich is well known for his TV and radio work, in shows such as QI, Live at the Apollo and Never Mind the Buzzcocks. When not in the UK, Rich goes back to his Montana ranch to write documentaries for BBC4.

With perfect timing, I came out of Leicester Square Station, walked the short distance to the theatre and who should be coming in the other direction? Yes, the man himself. He stopped for the obligatory selfie with a couple, then looked at my sketch and said, “you drew that? Jeez!”. Guilty. I assumed he liked it because he signed it and thanked me.

Drawing: Beverley Knight and Killian Donnelly in Memphis

Posted on June 8, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Beverley Knight Killian Donnelly

Leads Beverley Knight and Killian Donnelly receive standing ovations after every performance of Memphis at London’s Shaftesbury Theatre. The feel good musical about fame and forbidden love is set in the racially segregated Tennessee in the fifties, where African-American R&B music is captivating a new generation of white fans, much to the disgust of their rigid parents. Beverley plays emerging singer Felicia Farrrell and Killian is her charismatic disc jokey Huey Calhoun who is determined to bring ‘fresh’ sounds to his radio audience.

“Beverley Knight’s vocal gloriousness and the charisma of her co-star Killian Donnelly make a show that’s not exactly innovative feel fabulous,” wrote Henry Hitchings in The Evening Standard.

Memphis received the most Olivier Award nominations at this year’s ceremony, including nods for both Beverley and Killian. Killian will be leaving the production next month to play Charlie in the West End transfer of the musical Kinky Boots. It was just announced that Beverley will play Grizabella when Cats returns to the London Palladium in October this year. Beverley had previously signed a drawing for me, so I gave her this one with Killian included and both signed.

Drawing: Nina Sosanya in The Vote

Posted on June 5, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

nina sosanya

The Vote at London’s Donmar Warehouse dramatised the frantic last 90 minutes in a polling station in London (a hastily converted primary school gym).

It featured an all star cast of 50 – as The Guardian’s Michael Billington called it, “as many famous names as a charity gala” – and was broadcast live on Election night on More4. Nina Sosanya plays one of the two polling clerks (the other is Catherine Tate)

This is literally a ‘graph on the run and down a dark alley. After the Election Night performance, the cast left for the after party through the back door to an awaiting bus that was parked at the end of an alley way opposite. A dimly lit alley way at that.

Nina was one of the last to leave and the ‘assistants’ were hurrying everyone along. She went to sign my sketch, but was kept kept moving. Plus she was carrying a lot of stuff. So no arms, no light, moving target… and a security person between me and Nina. This was not looking promising. I managed to giver her a pen and tried to keep the drawing at the ‘write’ distance and as still as possible moving at 100mph…. After a brief period of kinetic combining Nina handled me the pen back and said “sorry… it’s not a very good one.” But nevertheless . A true collector will try and get variations of a signature and this was certainly a variation. It allows me to collect another in less trying circumstances.

Bradley Cooper as The Elephant Man

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

bradley cooper

Bradley Cooper returns to the role of disfigured London celebrity Joseph Merrick – better known as The Elephant Man for a three month run on the West End.

Although The Elephant Man is expressionistic in style, it is based on true historical events. Joseph Merrick (referred to as “John” in the play) suffered from a condition that no one had properly recognised. After being toured around the UK and Europe under the not-too-flattering title, he is rescued by surgeon Frederick Treves who studied him at the London Hospital in White Chapel up until Merrick’s death in 1890.

The play, written by Bernard Pomerance, premiered at the Booth Theater on Broadway in April 1979 and returned there for a much-lauded revival last winter. It has garnered 4 Tony Award nominations, including one for Bradley for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. There are also nods for fellow leads, Patricia Clarkson and Alessandro Nivola and for Best Rvival.

As the script instructs, Bradley declines make up and prosthetics. Instead he contorts his body and his face, adding layers of speech as he gulps and gasps to communicate through mishappen lips.

Director Scott Ellis stages an anatomy lesson with Treves addressing his students in front of a full length photograph of the near-naked Merrick and Bradley performs a mimed illustration of the lecture.

In her Variety review, Marilyn Stasio writes : “as Nivola’s Treves dispassionately drones on about his subject’s twisted limbs and misshapen torso, Cooper stands stock still in a cone of light and silently contorts his own perfect body into an approximation of each deformity. The piece de résistance is the depiction of the wide slobbering aperture that is Merrick’s mouth. Shaping his own mouth into a fleshy oval, the thesp gives expressive voice to the sensitive and intelligent human being imprisoned in his own body. It’s a stunning performance, deeply felt and very moving”.

Bradley returened to normal to greet fans at the stage door barriers on opening night.

Drawing: Alessandro Nivola in The Elephant Man

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

alessandro n

Following a highly acclaimed, record breaking run on Broadway, Scott Ellis’ production of Bernard Pomerance’s historical tale The Elephant Man transferred to London’s theatre Royal Haymarket for a 1 2 week season.

The US cast, led by Bradley Cooper, Patricia Clarkson and Alessandro Nivola have all joined the West End run. The play is based on the short life of severely deformed Joseph Merrick in Victorian London.

Alessandro plays the celebrated surgeon Dr Frederick Treves who saves Merrick form living in freak shows and takes him to a private London hospital for ‘rehabilitation’.

“In this version it is Treves to whom we look for emotional complexity. And Nivola delivers it beautifully,” writes Ben Brantley in the New York Times.

Alessandro, Bradley and Patricia have all all been nominated for Tony Awards in next month’s ceremony. I met Alessandro as he was tanking a break from final rehearsal at the Theatre Royal.

He saw the sketch and said “heeeeeeyyyy… nice sketch”. I asked him if they were goring back to New York for the Tony Awards which are on Sunday 7 June and he said they we were.

Sketch: American Buffalo at Wyndham’s Theatre

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Mark Winter / Chicane

American Buffalo

Sheffield Theatre’s Daniel Evans production of David Mamet’s 1970s classic American Buffalo opened at London’s Wyndham’s Theatre last month starring Damian Lewis, John Goodman and Tom Sturridge. The play examines “the fickle nature of humour among theives as three small time crooks plan one big time heist, a tragedy of errors spins this razor sharp and darkly funny play into a blistering account of divided loyalties, insatiable greed and a coveted Buffalo nickel”.

Damian, John and Tom had signed a portrait drawing I did of them after the opening night’s performance. This sketch is more of a character montage, which they also signed for me this week.