Friday, 31 July 2020
The Collinsport Historical Society: CERTAIN HONORABLE MEN: Alexandra Moltke's other TV...
The Collinsport Historical Society: CERTAIN HONORABLE MEN: Alexandra Moltke's other TV...: Alexandra Moltke's acting career wasn't limited to DARK SHADOWS, but it might as well have been. A few months before she lef...
Friday, 22 May 2020
The Man on the Flying Trapeze: Pre-Code vs Post-Code: "A Free Soul" and "The Girl...
The Man on the Flying Trapeze: Pre-Code vs Post-Code: "A Free Soul" and "The Girl...: Adela Rogers St. Johns's novel "A Free Soul" was filmed twice -- once in 1931 , under its original title, and again in 1953...
Thursday, 30 January 2020
Antti Alanen: Film Diary: Rudyard Kipling: The Vampire (a poem)
Antti Alanen: Film Diary: Rudyard Kipling: The Vampire (a poem): Philip Burne-Jones: The Vampire (1897), the painting that inspired Rudyard Kipling's poem. The webmaster informs us that the paintin...
Tuesday, 24 September 2019
Actor Charles Dance: September 2019 - news - Charles Dance
Actor Charles Dance: September 2019 - news - Charles Dance: https://aboutactorcharlesdance.blogspot.com/2019/08/august-2019-news-charles-dance.html
Actor Charles Dance: September 2019 - news - Charles Dance
Actor Charles Dance: September 2019 - news - Charles Dance: https://aboutactorcharlesdance.blogspot.com/2019/08/august-2019-news-charles-dance.html
Tuesday, 9 July 2019
So It Goes...: Hawks (1988)
So It Goes...: Hawks (1988): A film featuring James Bond and Goose from Top Gun , written by the bloke who wrote Last of the Summer Wine , from an idea by a Bee Gee. ...
Sunday, 6 January 2019
Mark Gatiss - A Rare Mind's Different Facets
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| Mark Gatiss http://www.applestory.biz/david-sherlock-graham-chapman.html |
Tuesday, 1 January 2019
Sunday, 23 December 2018
Saturday, 15 December 2018
Review: The Madness of George III, National Theatre Live
Review: The Madness of George III, National Theatre Live: Mark Gatiss deserves all the praise for his role as King George III.
The Madness of George III by English playwright Alan Bennett (The History Boys, The Lady in the Van), premiered in 1991 and was then made into a BAFTA Award-winning film starring Nigel Hawthorne.
The story of the Regency crisis of 1788-89, The Madness of George III is here revived by the Nottingham Theatre and brought to us by National Theatre Live. Directed by Adam Penford, the production is a triumph, particularly for Mark Gatiss in the lead; he brings to the stage astonishing range and power.
It’s 1788 and King George III suffers from porphyria, an inherited genetic condition which affects the skin and the nervous system, and which brings about disordered thinking and behaviours. It appears the king might be going mad. Bennett has him undergoing a mental breakdown, with the loss of America playing heavily on his mind. Not only is the health of the monarch precarious but that of the nation: if George III is declared unfit to rule, the dissolute and profligate Prince of Wales (Wilf Scolding) will assume the throne. The present Prime Minister, the frugal and sensible Pitt (Nicholas Bishop), will be the first to go. Disaster looms.
The Crown Prince is conspiring with the medical team of court doctors to bring about the King’s downfall by employing increasingly barbaric treatments and separating him from his loving Queen, Charlotte (Debra Gillett).
One of the symptoms of porphyria is acute sensitivity and blistering of the skin, and the torments of George when he endures the tortures of being cupped are hard to take. You curl up in your seat. Adrian Scarborough plays the tough-loving but honest Dr Wills who – unimpressed by the king’s status and believing that George is suffering from having been over-indulged – is determined to bring about a cure by breaking the man like a horse. The scenes with these two are magnificent; two powerful actors at their best.
The production is cast genderblind as there are only two female roles, the Queen and Lady Elizabeth (Sara Powell). Amanda Hadingue is a stand-out, playing the Prince’s man, Fox, and one of the court doctors.
The play widens and contracts from scene to scene, zooming in to excruciatingly intimate scenes of the king’s mental anguish, or of loving companionship with his wife, then rapidly zooming out again in to portray the life of court and politics. The set by Robert Jones is all angles and decorated panes, referencing the rigid formality of courtly life. Against this, Gatiss delivers a heroic performance; the King’s disintegration is accompanied by a playful and knowing self-awareness, and the audience is privy to it all.
Practically every National Theatre Live offering is a treat. The Madness of George III is an example of the very best of British theatre. Nothing not to rave about.
Five stars: ★★★★★
National Theatre Live presents
The Madness of George III
By Alan Bennett
Directed by Adam Penford
Director for Screen: Matt Woodward
Cast includes Mark Gatiss and Adrian Scarborough
The Madness of George III
By Alan Bennett
Directed by Adam Penford
Director for Screen: Matt Woodward
Cast includes Mark Gatiss and Adrian Scarborough
Screening in selected cinemas on 15 December: see www.sharmillfilms.com.au for details.
Review: The Madness of George III, National Theatre Live
Review: The Madness of George III, National Theatre Live: Mark Gatiss deserves all the praise for his role as King George III.
Thursday, 6 December 2018
Tuesday, 27 November 2018
Thursday, 22 November 2018
Sunday, 18 November 2018
Friday, 16 November 2018
THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN’S MARK GATISS TAKES A TRIP TO THE MOON
THE LEAGUE OF GENTLEMEN’S MARK GATISS TAKES A TRIP TO THE MOON
Comedian, actor and writer Mark Gatiss has been making quite a name for himself. From working on the new Doctor Who behind the screen (as a writer of 2005’s the Unquiet Dead and later the Idiot’s Lantern) and in front of the camera (in The Lazarus Experiment). He also starred opposite future Doctor Who David Tennant in the 2005 live transmission revival of the Quatermass Experiment. In 2008, he wrote and starred in the Holiday Horror special The Crooked House. From the radio to the TV screen and even the cinema, his work as a member of the League of Gentlemen has nearly made him a household name.
So what’s next?
Gatiss is currently working on a production of H.G. Welles’ The First Men in the Moon and he is beaming with pride about it. Starring as Professor Cavor, Gatiss and Rory Kinnear (of Waking the Dead) travel to the moon using an unlikely element called ‘cavorite.’ The actor is ecstatic to bring to life the turn of the century classic. “I’m completely delighted to have the chance to bring this wonderful, funny, charming and scary story to BBC4. It’s very rare to be able to adapt a genius like HG Wells for the small screen and we hope to do full justice to his extraordinary vision.”
Gatiss’ love of Victorian England is already plain to see in his Lucifer Box series, rumored to be developed into a TV miniseries by the BBC (what IS the story on that??). First Men in the Moon will be played on BBC4. No news yet on a cross the pound presentation.
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