John Christopher Jones is a veteran “actor’s actor” with many Broadway shows including Simon Gray’s Otherwise Engaged (directed by Harold Pinter), Hurlyburly (directed by Mike Nichols), The Iceman Cometh (with Jason Robards), and Shaw’s Heartbreak House. He is the subject of a documentary film, The Endgame Project, which follows him in his tenth year with Parkinson’s as he rehearses and performs Beckett’s masterpiece. A “text-lover” through and through, he continues to translate the major plays of Chekov (he received a Lortel Award for his version of The Cherry Orchard) and work on his memoir. I’ve often heard the word “craftsman” […]...
- 7/10/2018
- by Peter Rinaldi
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
John Christopher Jones is a veteran “actor’s actor” with many Broadway shows including Simon Gray’s Otherwise Engaged (directed by Harold Pinter), Hurlyburly (directed by Mike Nichols), The Iceman Cometh (with Jason Robards), and Shaw’s Heartbreak House. He is the subject of a documentary film, The Endgame Project, which follows him in his tenth year with Parkinson’s as he rehearses and performs Beckett’s masterpiece. A “text-lover” through and through, he continues to translate the major plays of Chekov (he received a Lortel Award for his version of The Cherry Orchard) and work on his memoir. I’ve often heard the word “craftsman” […]...
- 7/10/2018
- by Peter Rinaldi
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Crowds gather outside the Gaumont Opera for a special screening of Patrice Leconte’s Do Not Disturb (Une heure de tranquillité)
In a city that is putting on its bravest of faces in the wake of last week’s terror attacks the annual Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema opened last night at the Gaumont Opera cinema on one of the Parisian grands boulevards with a classic French farce.
Based on Florian Zeller’s stage piece which in turn had its roots in Simon Gray’s play Otherwise Engaged, Do Not Disturb features local comic hero Christian Clavier, reunited with director Patrice Leconte, as a well-heeled dentist desperate to listen to a newly purchased rare long play record of a 1958 New Orleans jazz session. The scene is set for a string of interruptions, which turn the bourgeois apartment in to a battleground of emotions as home truths are bared. Among the ingredients are a mistress,...
In a city that is putting on its bravest of faces in the wake of last week’s terror attacks the annual Unifrance Rendez-vous with French Cinema opened last night at the Gaumont Opera cinema on one of the Parisian grands boulevards with a classic French farce.
Based on Florian Zeller’s stage piece which in turn had its roots in Simon Gray’s play Otherwise Engaged, Do Not Disturb features local comic hero Christian Clavier, reunited with director Patrice Leconte, as a well-heeled dentist desperate to listen to a newly purchased rare long play record of a 1958 New Orleans jazz session. The scene is set for a string of interruptions, which turn the bourgeois apartment in to a battleground of emotions as home truths are bared. Among the ingredients are a mistress,...
- 1/16/2015
- by Richard Mowe
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
As the film of her biography of The Invisible Woman comes to the big screen, Claire Tomalin reveals what it feels like to have your book adapted
Most writers can tell stories of how their books failed to be made into films. I had forgotten until I looked up old notes that I sold the film rights of my first book, a life of Mary Wollstonecraft: there was a lunch, a contract, a small sum of money, then nothing. Much the same happened with Mrs Jordan's Profession: a lot of interest and excitement, then it fizzled out (twice). And again with my life of Pepys. For years The Invisible Woman seemed destined to be yet another unmade film.
Biographies are, in their nature, far more difficult to make into films than novels, because novels come with plots constructed and dialogue written, whereas I don't invent dialogue for my subjects or plot their lives for them.
Most writers can tell stories of how their books failed to be made into films. I had forgotten until I looked up old notes that I sold the film rights of my first book, a life of Mary Wollstonecraft: there was a lunch, a contract, a small sum of money, then nothing. Much the same happened with Mrs Jordan's Profession: a lot of interest and excitement, then it fizzled out (twice). And again with my life of Pepys. For years The Invisible Woman seemed destined to be yet another unmade film.
Biographies are, in their nature, far more difficult to make into films than novels, because novels come with plots constructed and dialogue written, whereas I don't invent dialogue for my subjects or plot their lives for them.
- 2/1/2014
- by Claire Tomalin
- The Guardian - Film News
Audiences today often don't know the name of a play until just before its run starts. But would you book a ticket for a show without a title?
With a new play, audiences never quite know what they're getting, but early ticket-buyers for Anthony Neilson's latest piece at the Royal Court were taking an exceptionally wild shot in the dark. Originally advertised several months ago as "Untitled New Play by Anthony Neilson", it was only revealed to be called Narrative on 15 March, three weeks before opening.
Neilson's play joins a very small sub-set of theatre productions that have been delivered onto the posters unbaptised. The other most recent British example was Mike Leigh's 2011 show at the National theatre, promoted and sold for several months as "New play by Mike Leigh", before, at the last minute, becoming Grief.
In both cases, the delay resulted not from indecision or wilfulness...
With a new play, audiences never quite know what they're getting, but early ticket-buyers for Anthony Neilson's latest piece at the Royal Court were taking an exceptionally wild shot in the dark. Originally advertised several months ago as "Untitled New Play by Anthony Neilson", it was only revealed to be called Narrative on 15 March, three weeks before opening.
Neilson's play joins a very small sub-set of theatre productions that have been delivered onto the posters unbaptised. The other most recent British example was Mike Leigh's 2011 show at the National theatre, promoted and sold for several months as "New play by Mike Leigh", before, at the last minute, becoming Grief.
In both cases, the delay resulted not from indecision or wilfulness...
- 4/1/2013
- by Mark Lawson
- The Guardian - Film News
Director Alex Winter's work with "Downloaded," began a decade ago, when he sold his feature screenplay about Napster's early 2000s story. Now, he has scrapped the script, lost the narrative feature, and developed his own documentary on the subject, which he hopes to give a new view on the music industries tumultuous relationship with the company. What it's about: Downloaded charts the rise and fall of Napster and the birth of the digital revolution. It's the story of the young mavericks who helped ignite the biggest youth revolt of our time. Tell Us About Yourself: I started out as a child actor on Broadway with co-starring roles in The King & I, Peter Pan, and Simon Gray's Close Of Play at the Manhattan Theater Club. After attending Nyu film school I began directing commercials, music videos and The Idiot Box; a hit show for MTV that I starred in...
- 3/7/2013
- by Indiewire
- Indiewire
From Simon Gray to Alan Ayckbourn, many playwrights have kept their most interesting roles out of sight – but very much in mind
Rowan Atkinson dominates the posters for a West End production opening this week – a wise calculation that the chance to see on stage the comedian internationally famous as Mr Bean is a major selling point. But another attraction of Quartermaine's Terms, in which Atkinson plays the title role of a baffled bachelor teacher, is the fact that other parts in the play require no actors at all.
The 1981 drama by the late Simon Gray is one of the strongest examples in modern theatre of the use of off-stage characters. Set in an English-language school for foreign students in Cambridge in the 1960s, the script calls for seven members of staff – including, in addition to Quartermaine, fussy principal Eddie Loomis, bluff senior tutor Henry Windscape and elementary conversation teacher Anita Manchip.
Rowan Atkinson dominates the posters for a West End production opening this week – a wise calculation that the chance to see on stage the comedian internationally famous as Mr Bean is a major selling point. But another attraction of Quartermaine's Terms, in which Atkinson plays the title role of a baffled bachelor teacher, is the fact that other parts in the play require no actors at all.
The 1981 drama by the late Simon Gray is one of the strongest examples in modern theatre of the use of off-stage characters. Set in an English-language school for foreign students in Cambridge in the 1960s, the script calls for seven members of staff – including, in addition to Quartermaine, fussy principal Eddie Loomis, bluff senior tutor Henry Windscape and elementary conversation teacher Anita Manchip.
- 1/28/2013
- by Mark Lawson
- The Guardian - Film News
The Observer's critics pick the season's highlights, from the Misanthrope to Johnny Marr, Lulu to Lichtenstein, H7steria to Hitchcock. What are you most looking forward to? Add your comments below and download a pdf of the calendar here
December | January | FebruaryDecember
1 Film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (3D)
Well, not so very unexpected. Every move has been tracked by fanboys, from the casting of Martin Freeman as Bilbo and Benedict Cumberbatch as the dragon Smaug to the return of the king, Peter Jackson, to take over directing from Guillermo del Toro. But Middle-earth (or, as it's sometimes known, New Zealand) is back for the next three Christmases.
3 Pop Scott Walker
The avant-garde Walker Brother returns with his first album since 2006's The Drift. Not for the faint-hearted, Bish Bosch finds the former romantic hero deep in dystopian territory, at once sonorous and rigorous.
3 Classical H7steria
World premiere of...
December | January | FebruaryDecember
1 Film The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (3D)
Well, not so very unexpected. Every move has been tracked by fanboys, from the casting of Martin Freeman as Bilbo and Benedict Cumberbatch as the dragon Smaug to the return of the king, Peter Jackson, to take over directing from Guillermo del Toro. But Middle-earth (or, as it's sometimes known, New Zealand) is back for the next three Christmases.
3 Pop Scott Walker
The avant-garde Walker Brother returns with his first album since 2006's The Drift. Not for the faint-hearted, Bish Bosch finds the former romantic hero deep in dystopian territory, at once sonorous and rigorous.
3 Classical H7steria
World premiere of...
- 12/2/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
Stage and screen actor known for his roles in The Three Musketeers and Young Winston
In 1971 the actor Simon Ward, who has died after a long illness aged 70, was plucked from virtual obscurity by the director Richard Attenborough to play Winston Churchill in the film Young Winston, supported by actors of longstanding reputation including Robert Shaw, Anne Bancroft and John Mills. After the film's release a year later, Ward found himself a star on several continents. "That was a frightening role," he recalled. "You were playing someone whom everyone had very strong feelings about. As a movie, it had the most extraordinary mixture of adventure – the fighting, riding, running up and down mountains – and some wonderful dialogue scenes shot at Shepperton."
Swashbuckling and tongue-in-cheek slapstick were added to the mix when Ward, known for his aristocratic looks and high cheekbones, was cast as the Duke of Buckingham in Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers...
In 1971 the actor Simon Ward, who has died after a long illness aged 70, was plucked from virtual obscurity by the director Richard Attenborough to play Winston Churchill in the film Young Winston, supported by actors of longstanding reputation including Robert Shaw, Anne Bancroft and John Mills. After the film's release a year later, Ward found himself a star on several continents. "That was a frightening role," he recalled. "You were playing someone whom everyone had very strong feelings about. As a movie, it had the most extraordinary mixture of adventure – the fighting, riding, running up and down mountains – and some wonderful dialogue scenes shot at Shepperton."
Swashbuckling and tongue-in-cheek slapstick were added to the mix when Ward, known for his aristocratic looks and high cheekbones, was cast as the Duke of Buckingham in Richard Lester's The Three Musketeers...
- 7/23/2012
- by Anthony Hayward
- The Guardian - Film News
Tony Award nominee Moiss Kaufman 33 Variations, I Am My Own Wife directs celebrated playwright Simon Gray's sharply comedic tale about the promises of youth and the compromises of adulthood. The Common Pursuit chronicles twenty years in the lives of six friends, from their ambitious collegiate days to their surprising discoveries in the real world. Catch this acclaimed production before it ends on July 29...
- 7/20/2012
- by Contests
- BroadwayWorld.com
Check out Richard Ridge chatting with the cast of Roundabout Theatre Companys The Common Pursuit, by Simon Gray, directed by Moiss Kaufman- playing at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre Laura Pels Theatre 111 West 46th Street through July 29, 2012. The cast features Kristen Bush as Marigold, Kieran Campion as Peter, Josh Cooke as Stuart, Jacob Fishel as Martin, Tim McGeever as Humphry, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe as Nick.
- 7/11/2012
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
Rowan Atkinson has joined the revival of Simon Gray's 1981 play Quartermaine's Terms. The Mr Bean star is set to play one of the seven teachers working in an English language school for foreigners in the 1960s. The new West End production will begin performances at the Vaudeville Theatre on January 23, 2012 before an official opening on January 29. Prior to this, the production will visit Brighton's Theatre Royal on January 8-12 and Theatre Royal Bath on January 14-19. Last year, Atkinson was involved in a crash when his McClaren F1 sports car hit a (more)...
- 6/8/2012
- by By Kristina Bustos
- Digital Spy
British actor Rowan Atkinson is to make a return to the stage after his hospitalisation following a horrific car crash last year.
The Mr. Bean star wrecked his McLaren F1 sports car when he crashed into a tree in Cambridgeshire, England last August and was taken to hospital with a shoulder injury.
He is now set to make a triumphant return to acting as a teacher in a revival of Simon Gray's 1981 play Quartermaine's Terms.
The updated production, which follows the lives of seven teachers working in a U.K. language school for foreigners in the '60s, will visit the English cities of Brighton, Bath and London from January.
Atkinson last performed on stage in West End musical Oliver! in 2009 when he played Fagin.
The Mr. Bean star wrecked his McLaren F1 sports car when he crashed into a tree in Cambridgeshire, England last August and was taken to hospital with a shoulder injury.
He is now set to make a triumphant return to acting as a teacher in a revival of Simon Gray's 1981 play Quartermaine's Terms.
The updated production, which follows the lives of seven teachers working in a U.K. language school for foreigners in the '60s, will visit the English cities of Brighton, Bath and London from January.
Atkinson last performed on stage in West End musical Oliver! in 2009 when he played Fagin.
- 6/8/2012
- WENN
This Week on Stage: An actor breaks a leg, old Jews tell jokes, and a 'Cock' fight wows Off Broadway
That old actor’s adage “Break a leg” is not supposed to be taken literally. But that message apparently didn’t make it to Michael McKean, the Laverne & Shirley and This is Spinal Tap alum now starring in the hit Broadway revival Gore Vidal’s The Best Man. The actor was hospitalized Tuesday with a broken leg after being struck by a car in New York City; James Lecesne will be playing his role as a presidential campaign manager for the foreseeable future.
Otherwise, it was relatively quiet on the theater scene, though L.A.’s Geffen Playhouse announced that...
Otherwise, it was relatively quiet on the theater scene, though L.A.’s Geffen Playhouse announced that...
- 5/25/2012
- by Thom Geier
- EW.com - PopWatch
Roundabout Theatre Companys The Common Pursuit, by Simon Gray, directed by Moiss Kaufman is currently in previews. The cast features Kristen Bush as Marigold, Kieran Campion as Peter, Josh Cooke as Stuart, Jacob Fishel as Martin, Tim McGeever as Humphry, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe as Nick. The Common Pursuit will open officially tomorrow, May 24, 2012 at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre Laura Pels Theatre 111 West 46th Street. This is a limited engagement through July 29, 2012.BroadwayWorld brings you highlights from the show below...
- 5/23/2012
- by BroadwayWorld TV
- BroadwayWorld.com
Directing Simon Gray's "The Common Pursuit" seems an unlikely choice for Moises Kaufman. After all, the Venezuelan-born theater artist is best known for writing and directing such experimental works as "Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde," "The Laramie Project," and "33 Variations."By contrast, Gray's play, which premiered in England in 1984 and Off-Broadway in 1986 and is now playing at the Roundabout Laura Pels Theater, is a realistic work, recounting the evolving relationship among six buddies, from their hopeful collegiate days in mid-1960s Cambridge, England to the realities of adult life two decades later."It's the first realistic play I've done and it is unusual for me," admits Kaufman. "I think of realism or naturalism as fascinating forms. But I have trouble with them because they're so prevalent. Also, TV and film do them better than theater. On stage, I'm interested in exploring what's possible theatrically."I was drawn to.
- 5/21/2012
- by help@backstage.com (Simi Horwitz)
- backstage.com
Roundabout Theatre Companys The Common Pursuit, by Simon Gray, directed by Moiss Kaufman is currently in previews. The cast features Kristen Bush as Marigold, Kieran Campion as Peter, Josh Cooke as Stuart, Jacob Fishel as Martin, Tim McGeever as Humphry, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe as Nick. The Common Pursuit will open officially on May 24, 2012 at the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre Laura Pels Theatre 111 West 46th Street. This is a limited engagement through July 29, 2012.
- 5/10/2012
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
British actor Stephen Fry is set to make his big London stage return 17 years after he walked out of a West End play at the beginning of its run.
The funnyman will tackle Shakespeare at the U.K. capital's Globe theatre in September, playing Malvolio in Twelfth Night opposite theatre veteran Mark Rylance.
It is his first major theatre role since he abandoned a West End production of Simon Gray's Cell Mates three days into the play's 1995 run, insisting severe stage fright had sparked a meltdown.
He later admitted the incident was "very nearly his undoing".
The show will run for three weeks, starting on 22 September.
The funnyman will tackle Shakespeare at the U.K. capital's Globe theatre in September, playing Malvolio in Twelfth Night opposite theatre veteran Mark Rylance.
It is his first major theatre role since he abandoned a West End production of Simon Gray's Cell Mates three days into the play's 1995 run, insisting severe stage fright had sparked a meltdown.
He later admitted the incident was "very nearly his undoing".
The show will run for three weeks, starting on 22 September.
- 2/16/2012
- WENN
Harry Potter star to adapt The Invisible Woman, an account of author's secret relationship with actor Nelly Ternan
Ralph Fiennes is to direct The Invisible Woman, an adaptation of Claire Tomalin's account of the relationship between Charles Dickens and actor Nelly Ternan.
It is not yet known whether Fiennes will star in the film, as he did with his directorial debut, Corialanus. But he would appear to be an obvious choice for the leading role: Dickens was 45 when he met Ternan, then 18, in 1857. Their relationship remained secret from the public, even after Dickens's separation from his wife the following year. Ternan travelled with the author for the rest of his life; after his death, she married a man 12 years her junior, having disguised her own age as 23, rather than 37.
Tomalin's book was published in 1990; Simon Gray's play about the same story, Little Nell, opened in 2007, directed by Peter Hall.
Ralph Fiennes is to direct The Invisible Woman, an adaptation of Claire Tomalin's account of the relationship between Charles Dickens and actor Nelly Ternan.
It is not yet known whether Fiennes will star in the film, as he did with his directorial debut, Corialanus. But he would appear to be an obvious choice for the leading role: Dickens was 45 when he met Ternan, then 18, in 1857. Their relationship remained secret from the public, even after Dickens's separation from his wife the following year. Ternan travelled with the author for the rest of his life; after his death, she married a man 12 years her junior, having disguised her own age as 23, rather than 37.
Tomalin's book was published in 1990; Simon Gray's play about the same story, Little Nell, opened in 2007, directed by Peter Hall.
- 8/10/2011
- by Sean Michaels, Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
American TV made stars of Hugh Laurie and Dominic West, bypassing the traditional stage to screen route. Now two schemes hope to exploit this new path for emerging talent
A talented British actor may have to toil for a long time in the Us before hitting paydirt. But when that sought-after role in a primetime drama series comes along, it can fund a year of acting on the English stage, boost an established performer's profile and perhaps even provide a stepping stone to Hollywood.
It has worked for many British stars, from Dominic West, who starred in The Wire and is now wowing audiences in Simon Gray's Butley, to the comedian Hugh Laurie, whose role in House has made him an international celebrity. Ian McShane's delayed Us success in the western series Deadwood, meanwhile, has now seen him join an A-list cast in the summer blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
A talented British actor may have to toil for a long time in the Us before hitting paydirt. But when that sought-after role in a primetime drama series comes along, it can fund a year of acting on the English stage, boost an established performer's profile and perhaps even provide a stepping stone to Hollywood.
It has worked for many British stars, from Dominic West, who starred in The Wire and is now wowing audiences in Simon Gray's Butley, to the comedian Hugh Laurie, whose role in House has made him an international celebrity. Ian McShane's delayed Us success in the western series Deadwood, meanwhile, has now seen him join an A-list cast in the summer blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
- 6/11/2011
- by Vanessa Thorpe
- The Guardian - Film News
Thirty years ago, when Taxi zum Klo was shown in several cinemas under club conditions without a BBFC certificate, I was lined up to give evidence for the defence were it to be prosecuted for obscenity. My services were not required and the film now stands as a milestone in the history of both free speech and the representation of gays in the cinema.
What helps it retain its vitality is that writer-director Frank Ripploh (who died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 52) treats his life as "a normal, tired, neurotic polymorphous-perverse teacher" in Berlin with the same witty, generous, self-denigratory honesty as Clive James and Simon Gray brought to their heterosexual exercises in confessional autobiographies.
Taxi zum Klo is a truthful film, revolutionary in its time, about love, the pleasures of promiscuity and the fears of the fading of desire. Shot just before the great Aids scare of the early 1980s,...
What helps it retain its vitality is that writer-director Frank Ripploh (who died of cancer in 2002 at the age of 52) treats his life as "a normal, tired, neurotic polymorphous-perverse teacher" in Berlin with the same witty, generous, self-denigratory honesty as Clive James and Simon Gray brought to their heterosexual exercises in confessional autobiographies.
Taxi zum Klo is a truthful film, revolutionary in its time, about love, the pleasures of promiscuity and the fears of the fading of desire. Shot just before the great Aids scare of the early 1980s,...
- 4/23/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Dominic West has suggested that having a "mid-life crisis" inspired him to take on a role in Simon Gray's Butley. The Wire star told the Evening Standard that he initially failed to connect with the part of an alcoholic T. S. Eliot scholar whose life falls apart in one day. West said: "I didn't see the point of it until I had a mid-life crisis and then I thought it was the best play ever written." (more)...
- 2/23/2011
- by By Mayer Nissim
- Digital Spy
Dominic West is due to return to the stage in London's West End from June. The actor, known for appearances in HBO's The Wire, 300 and Centurion, will take on the role of Ben Butley in a new production of Simon Gray's award-winning comedy Butley, alongside stage actress Penny Downie and Withnail And I's Paul McGann. Starting its run at the Criterion Theatre from June 1, the play promises a "razor-sharp and (more)...
- 2/21/2011
- by By Naomi Rainey
- Digital Spy
Don't let Hollywood's sugary adaptation put you off reading Mordecai Richler's acid novel, Barney's Version
From behind his Coke-bottle glasses, the bookseller on the Charing Cross Road focused his magnified eyeballs as narrowly as he was able. "Mordecai Richler?" he said, releasing a frisson of fine dust. "Now there's a name from the past."
For those of us to whom the ghost of Canada's greatest satirical writer remains a biting presence, this was not the most reassuring of statements – especially issuing from a bookseller who himself gave the appearance of having been not so much born as unearthed in some archaeological dig. But such was Mordecai Richler's currency when I checked recently in London – where he lived for two decades and about which he often wrote, largely from the expat's point of view. To wit: none of the used bookshops on the Charing Cross Road carried any of Richler's 10 novels.
From behind his Coke-bottle glasses, the bookseller on the Charing Cross Road focused his magnified eyeballs as narrowly as he was able. "Mordecai Richler?" he said, releasing a frisson of fine dust. "Now there's a name from the past."
For those of us to whom the ghost of Canada's greatest satirical writer remains a biting presence, this was not the most reassuring of statements – especially issuing from a bookseller who himself gave the appearance of having been not so much born as unearthed in some archaeological dig. But such was Mordecai Richler's currency when I checked recently in London – where he lived for two decades and about which he often wrote, largely from the expat's point of view. To wit: none of the used bookshops on the Charing Cross Road carried any of Richler's 10 novels.
- 1/27/2011
- by Chris Michael
- The Guardian - Film News
Mike Leigh turns in a subtly compelling film about a quietly contented middle-aged couple, says Philip French
Few film-makers can match Mike Leigh's body of consistently remarkable work for the theatre, TV and the big screen over the past 40 years. Cumulatively, these dramas have created his own version of a Britain populated by recurrent, now familiar faces who have become neighbours in our worlds. What is possibly his greatest achievement to date, Secrets and Lies, was made in 1996, but the quartet of films he has made this century – All or Nothing, Vera Drake, Happy-Go-Lucky and Another Year – would be enough to guarantee him a significant place in our, indeed the world's, cinema.
All four in their different ways tackle that difficult problem of making essentially good people interesting. This is not difficult perhaps in the case of Vera Drake, when the person involved is a kindly, working-class woman drawn into performing abortions,...
Few film-makers can match Mike Leigh's body of consistently remarkable work for the theatre, TV and the big screen over the past 40 years. Cumulatively, these dramas have created his own version of a Britain populated by recurrent, now familiar faces who have become neighbours in our worlds. What is possibly his greatest achievement to date, Secrets and Lies, was made in 1996, but the quartet of films he has made this century – All or Nothing, Vera Drake, Happy-Go-Lucky and Another Year – would be enough to guarantee him a significant place in our, indeed the world's, cinema.
All four in their different ways tackle that difficult problem of making essentially good people interesting. This is not difficult perhaps in the case of Vera Drake, when the person involved is a kindly, working-class woman drawn into performing abortions,...
- 11/7/2010
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Richard Eyre's production of The Last Cigarette, adapted by Hugh Whitemore and Simon Gray from Gray's critically acclaimed The Smoking Diaries, is to transfer to the West End having previously opened the 2009 season at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Starring Felicity Kendal, Nicholas Le Prevost and Jasper Britton, who all perform as Simon Gray, The Last Cigarette will run at Trafalgar Studios from 21 April - 1 August, with opening night 28 April 2009. Designs are by Rob Howell with lighting and projection by John Driscoll and music by George Fenton.
- 4/16/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
Richard Eyre's production of The Last Cigarette, adapted by Hugh Whitemore and Simon Gray from Gray's critically acclaimed The Smoking Diaries, is to transfer to the West End having previously opened the 2009 Season at the Chichester Festival Theatre. Starring Felicity Kendal, Nicholas le Prevost and Jasper Britton, who all perform as Simon Gray, The Last Cigarette will run at Trafalgar Studios from 21 April - 1 August, with opening night 28 April 2009. Designs are by Rob Howell with lighting and projection by John Driscoll and music by George Fenton.
- 3/27/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
A couple of weeks ago I got talking to the actor and director Matthew (Harry) Burton at a party about websites, for which I have a knack. He mentioned that Victoria Gray, the widow of the playwright Simon Gray, was thinking of creating a website for her late husband, as an online resource for anyone interested in his work. I leapt at the chance. Can't think of anything nicer than working on a literary website for a change (instead of magazine ones, which is what I am doing at the moment). I went to see Victoria in the house she shared with Simon in West London. We sat in the kitchen together and discussed URLs and formats. But also English Literature, and her husband generally. She is a lovely sympathetic person, with a kind of glow about her that people who...
- 3/25/2009
- by Josa Young
- Huffington Post
"I was a little annoyed when I went backstage to see Ian McShane in The Homecoming and he said, 'Oh, yes, that's Simon Jones. He's a sort of professional Englishman, isn't he?' " Adds Jones, "I suppose he jumped on my accent. I can speak with an American accent and do so with audio books. I've lived here 25 years." Still, Jones is very much identified with playing upper-crust Brits, most notably on television: He was Bridey in 1981's Brideshead Revisited and the feckless Arthur Dent in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. But on Broadway he is noted for his work in the plays of Noël Coward. He has appeared in Private Lives (opposite Joan Collins) and Waiting in the Wings and Off-Broadway in a lesser-known Coward work, Long Island Sound. Now he's back on Broadway in Blithe Spirit, starring Angela Lansbury, Rupert Everett, and Christine Ebersole, in which he...
- 3/23/2009
- by Simi Horwitz
- backstage.com
California Conservatory Theatre announces their fourth production of the 30th Anniversary Season - Stage Struck by Simon Gray; directed by Donna Davis What happens when you get pushed past the breaking point? When you find out that your reality was all a fantasy? Will you discover that you are capable of....Deception? Treachery? Violence? In Simon Gray's Stage Struck, Robert learns the answers to these questions when his happy, orderly life turns upside down.
- 3/18/2009
- BroadwayWorld.com
British playwright Simon Gray has died. He was 71.
Gray died in London on Wednesday following a long battle with cancer.
The writer penned dozens of plays for TV and radio, as well as enjoying success on Broadway. His most famous works include Otherwise Engaged and Butley - which starred Nathan Lane in its 2006 Broadway revival.
His most recent memoir, The Last Cigarette, is currently being cast for the London stage.
Gray died in London on Wednesday following a long battle with cancer.
The writer penned dozens of plays for TV and radio, as well as enjoying success on Broadway. His most famous works include Otherwise Engaged and Butley - which starred Nathan Lane in its 2006 Broadway revival.
His most recent memoir, The Last Cigarette, is currently being cast for the London stage.
- 8/8/2008
- WENN
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