Drawing: Zoe Wanamaker and Samantha Bond (Eleanor and Nell) in Passion Play

Posted on December 23, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Two of the great contemporary British actors of our time, Zoe Wanamaker and Samantha Bond combined in David Leveaux’s beautifully judged revival of Passion Play at the Duke of York’s Theatre last summer.

Peter Nichol’s searing play of a modern marriage disrupted by a ‘blast of sexual infidelity’ is technically daring with the two leading characters each portrayed by two actors for public and private thoughts.

Zoe and Samantha play the competing versions of the same innocent character, soon shattered and betrayed in a 25 year marriage she believed to be happy and strong.
Owen Teale and Oliver Cotton play the love rat husband and his alter ego.

When it opened in 1981 at London’s Aldwych Theatre critics recounted a joke about Moses coming down from Sinai with the Commandments and announcing, “First the good news – I’ve got ’em down to ten. Now the bad news – adultery’s still on.”

Samantha’s maiden name is apt – her best known screen role is in the James Bond series, playing Miss Moneypenny, secretary to M. She appeared throughout Pierce Brosnan’s tenure as 007 which began in 1994 and ended in 2002 with Golden Eye, Tomorow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough and Die Another Day.

Zoe’s extensive list of stage and screen credits includes the Harry Potter series. Fo her theatre works hs ha sheen nominate four times of the Tony and nine times for the Oliver awards, wining two. She has also received three BAFTA nominations.

Both signed this sketch for me at the theatre in Juen 2013.

Drawing: Lindsay Duncan in That Face

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

I met Scottish actress Lindsay Duncan at the Noël Coward Theatre in London in 2012 where she was performing Noel Coward’s Hay Fever. She signed a sketch I drew of her as the lead role of Judith Bliss. I also had this sketch of her as Martha from That Face, which was initially staged at The Royal Court Theatre, before transferring to the Duke of York’s in the West End in 2007. She was nominated for a Best Actress Olivier Award, but I never got it signed at the time. She is currently on Broadway in the revival of Edward Albee’s A Delicated Balance, so I mailed it to her and she very kindly signed and returned it for me.

Since beginning her professional stage career in Dom Juan at London’s Hampstead Theatre in 1976, Lindsay has created an impressive theatrical CV on both sides of the Atlantic.

In September 1985 she created the role of the Marquise de Merteuil in Les Liaisons Dangereuses for the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford Upon Avon before transferring to The Pit in London’s Barbican Centre and then to the Ambassadors in the West End.

In 1987 the play moved to New York. For her performance Lindsay was nominated for a Tony Award and won the Olivier for Best Actress. She won her second Oliver and the Tony in 2001 for her performance as Amanda Prynne in Private Lives. She also won the Critics Circle Theatre Award and Drama Desk Award for the role.

Drawing: Ronan Keating in Once at the Phoenix Theatre

Posted on December 10, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

ronan keating

Last month Irish singer and former Boyzone front man Ronan Keating took over the role of ‘Guy’ from David Hunter in the Olivier and Tony award winning musical Once at the Phoenix Theatre in London.

He is the fourth ‘Guy’ in the West End production and is scheduled to perform the role until March next year when the show will close.

Based on the much loved Oscar winning film, Once tells the story of an Irish busker and a young Czech mother who meet through a shared love of music.

Drawing: Neil Morrissey, Adrian Edmondson, Robert Webb and Miles Jupp in Neville’s Island at the Duke of York’s Theatre

Posted on December 8, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

The latest comedy to hit London’s West End is Neville’s Island, featuring the excellent comedy quartet of Neil Morrissey, Adrian Edmondson, Robert Webb and Miles Jupp. Tim Firth’s play follows four middle aged middle managers who get stranded during a team building exercise.

Neil described the set – a rain soaked island in the Lakes District – as the most uncomfortable he has ever worked on. “It’s all shale and rocks and real trees… everyone gets nicks and cuts.” All four actors have to immerse themselves in water before the play begins. Real insects even buzz around the stage and audience members in the font row are given plastic macs to protect themselves. Adrian added, “It’s Lord of the Flies meets The Office“.

The play was first staged in 1992 and this production directed by Angus Jackson ran at the Chichester Festival last year before transferring to The Duke of York’s Theatre until 3 January 2015.

Drawing: Jenny DiNoia in Wicked

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Jennifer DiNoia has been playing the role of Elphaba the misunderstood, green, Wicked Witch of the West in the hit musical Wicked for the past eight years around the world.

She made her West End and UK debut late last month, starting a 14 week run at London’s Apollo Victoria Theatre.

Jenny has now performed Elphaba in four countries and six companies, including New York on Broadway, Chicago, Seoul and Sydney.

Wicked is now the tenth longest running show in the West End, with booking recently extended to 7 November 2015, its ninth year. In July this year the musical welcomed its 6 millionth patron.

Drawing: Rupert Gould

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Rupert Goold

The old adage, ‘if you want something done, give it to a busy person,’ certainly applies to pioneering English theatre director Rupert Goold. The artistic director of London’s Almeida Theatre and associate director at the Royal Shakespeare Company had two hit shows open weeks apart on the West End. After premiering at the Almeida, Mike Bartlett’s controversial play King Charles III transferred to the Wyndham’s Theatre on Charring Cross Road. It confronts the difficult question of what will happen when the Queen dies and a possible constitutional crisis ensues.

Rupert also directs the new musical Made in Dagenham with Gemma Arterton leading a feisty feminist strike force at the Ford auto factory in the east London suburbs. It’s the stage version of the popular feel good 2010 movie and opened on Guy Fawkes night this week.

As is custom, my wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary with a slice of theatre. The precedent is a Shakespeare play, but this year for a slight deviation we went and saw King Charles III, which pays homage to the Bard, written in a blank verse style. I did this sketch of Rupert winning his Olivier a while back. He won the 2008 award for Best Director for the acclaimed Minerva Studio staging of Macbeth with Patrick Stewart in the title role.

It just so happened I had it in my bag that night – the same evening Made in Dagenham had its press night. Another deviation as we strolled to the train station, past the Adelphi Theatre stage door, where only minutes later the said director appeared with a large grin, indicating a successful opening (the show, not his mouth). A good time to get my sketch signed, which he was more than happy to do.

I immediately congratulated him on Charles III, which in hindsight seemed an odd thing to say at the premiere of his other show. That’s what happens when you’re the busiest director in town!

Sketch: Edward Fox in The Audience at the Gielgud Theatre

Posted on November 1, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Peter Morgan’s The Audience premiered in the West End at the Gilegud Theatre on 15 February 2013, directed by Stephen Daldry. The play centres around weekly meetings called ‘audiences’ between the Queen anad her prime ministers, from her accession in 1952 to the present. Helen Mirren won the Olivier, Evening Standard and WhatsOnStage awards for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II.

Originally playing the role of Winston Churchill was Robert Hardy, but he withdrew before Press night, due to a fall cracking his ribs, and was replaced by Edward Fox.

Winner of two BAFTA Awards in The Go-Between (1970) and A Bridge Too Far (1977), Edward’s distinguished acting career dates back to his stage debut in 1958 and his first film appearance was as an extra in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962).

Arguably his defining role was the silent assassin in Fred Zinnemann’s 1973 thriller The Day Of The Jackal.

This a a 4B pencil portrait of Edward in his Churchillian pose, which he signed for me at a crowded stage door early in the run.

Drawing: Kerry Ellis in Wicked

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

In July 2006 Kerry Ellis joined the original London cast of the musical Wicked at the Apollo Victoria Theatre, playing the role of Elphaba the misunderstood Wicked Witch of the West. She was temporary understudy to Idina Menzel for three months, replacing her and winning the 2008 WhatsOnStage Theatregoers Choice Award. She continues the role until June 2008, before transferring to the Broadway production of Wicked, where her five month run won her the 2009 Broadway Audience Award for Favourite Female Breakthrough Performance. Kerry returned to the London show for a further five months until May 2009.

In 2013 she was named the favourite West End ‘Elphaba’ in the WhatsOnStage.com poll. Not yet done with the role, Kerry has just completed a limited 12 week engagement replacing an injured Willemijn Verkaik the London’s Apollo Victoria where she kindly signed my sketch before her final performance.

Drawing: Zizi Strallen

Posted on October 24, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Zizi Strallen, the third of the extraordinary Strallen sisters said in a recent interview “we have this thing that’s in the Strallen blood”. She describes herself on Twitter as: “Aka Sylphide. Sister, lover, comedienne, daughter, actress, fighter, friend, dreamer, writer … In no particular order!”

Zizi is currently on the UK tour of Cats playing the role of Demeter, which will take up residence at London’s Palladium Theatre over Christmas. Her parents Cherida and Sandy Strallen both performed in the original production of Cats.

I drew this quick portrait of Zizi which she signed after a performance as Meg in Merrily We Roll Along in the West End transfer at the Harold Pinter Theatre in the summer of 2013.

Drawing: Summer Strallen in Love Never Dies

Posted on October 23, 2014 by Mark Winter / Chicane

Summer Strallen is the second of the four hugely talented Strallen sisters. She has been nominated for four Olivier Awards. One was for her performance as Meg Giry in Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s Love Never Dies, the sequel to Phantom of the Opera at the Adelphi Theatre.

It was a role that won her the Broadwayworld.com UK Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and she was also nominated for the Whatsonstage Theatregoers’ Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical.

I did this black biro sketch during Summer’s season as Meg which ran through 2010 and early into 2011, which she signed at the stage door.