Entertainment
Joyce Glasser reviews Bernie
- Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Richard Linklater’s varied filmography can be divided into two halves: the brilliant ‘Before’ films: Before Sunset, Before
Newly arrived undertaker Bernie Tiede (Black) not only adapts quickly to life in
Joyce Glasser reviews In The Fog
- Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Like Romanian Director Christian Mungiu, Writer/Director Sergei Loznitsa, born in Soviet Belarus in 1964, has the ability to draw tension, drama and character out of films paced so slowly that, in less skilful hands, they could be tedious. There is plenty of action in Loznitsa’s powerful film In the Fog, based on the novel by Vasil Bykov, but it’s the antithesis of a US or UK action movie.
The story, set in 1942
Robert Tanitch reviews the latest DVDs
- Monday, 29 April 2013
THE LIFE OF PI (20th Century Fox). The adaptation of Yann Martel’s novel: an Indian teenager is shipwrecked and forced to share a boat with an adult Bengal tiger. It’s a water battle for survival, a test of faith embracing Hinduism, Christianity and Islam, a spiritual journey, a story with the intention to make you believe in God. Ang Lee’s versatility as a director is amazing. Technically and emotionally challenging, the special effects are stunning and the tiger is awesome.
Robert Tanitch at The Duke in Darkness at Tabard Theatre, Chiswick, London
- Monday, 29 April 2013
Patrick Hamilton (1904-1962), the English novelist and playwright, is best known for the novel, Hangover Square, and two psychological murder plays, Rope and Gaslight, which are still regular revived by professionals and amateurs. You will almost certainly have seen film versions.
The Duke in Darkness, which premiered in 1942 and starred Michael Redgrave and Leslie Banks, was much admired at the time; especially Redgrave’s performance as a neurotic servant tipping into madness. But it was not a commercial success, being too sombre for wartime audiences in search of escapist entertainment.
Robert Tanitch reviews The Weir at Donmar Theatre
- Monday, 29 April 2013
Conor McPherson, a writer of monologues, has always been a great story teller. His haunting and multi-awarding winning play, which premiered in 1997 and became an instant modern classic, is given an eloquent revival by Josie Rourke and a fine ensemble of actors.
The setting is a run-down pub deep in rural Ireland. The landlord (Peter McDonald) and two regulars (Brian Cox and Aral O’Hanion) are introduced by a former mate (Roisteard Cooper) to a young woman (Dorval Karan) from Dublin who has just moved into the area.
Joyce Glasser reviews White Elephant
- Monday, 29 April 2013
Argentinean Director Pablo Trapero makes films about his country’s specific social problems, but turns them into universal dramas that continually confound our expectations and avoid clichés. Lion’s Den was shot in an actual maximum security prison for women with children, while Carancho tackled personal injury scams in the motor insurance industry that kill 8,000 Argentineans a year. White Elephant is about priests and social workers who risk their lives in
The film is inspired by, and dedicated to Father Carlos Mugica, a highly educated Roman Catholic priest and activist born into a wealthy politically Conservative family in 1930. The two priests who star in White Elephant are a composite of Mugica who worked in the slums of
Robert Tanitch reviews Ballo at King’s Head, Islington, London.
- Friday, 26 April 2013
King Gustav III of Sweden was assassinated at a masked ball in 1792. When Verdi decided to turn history into opera he had to appease the censor who didn’t want a monarch murdered on the stage. The characters’ names, the location and the century were all changed. The opera was a great success in 1859.
Adam Spreadbury-Maher, artistic director of OperaUpClose, has decided to set the story in a modern, out-of-town Swedish furniture store, sub-title it Meatballs and Murder on the North Circular, and perform it in the round to the accompaniment of a piano.
Robert Tanitch reviews My Perfect Mind at Young Vic/Maria Theatre
- Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Edward Petherbridge had his first big chance when he created Guildenstern in Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead at the National Theatre in 1967 and he went on to have a distinguished career in the classical theatre.
Petherbridge was two days into rehearsing King Lear in New Zealand in 2007 when he suffered a stroke which left him paralyzed; but his memory remained intact. He still knew all his lines.
Robert Tanitch reviews Doktor Glas at Wyndham’s Theatre
- Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Jag har inte läst boken och jag talar inte svenska, or, as we say in English, I have not read the book and I do not speak Swedish.
Hjalmar Soderberg’s novel of love and guilt, a psychological crisis, was published in 1905. It is a modern Swedish classic. I tried to get hold of an English translation; but none is in print.
Can Krister Henriksson, the Swedish actor, who is best known to British audiences through his appearance on television in the Wallander series, fill Wyndham’s Theatre for 39 performances? The theatre seats 759. There are 25,000 Swedes living in the UK. That should help.
More Articles...
- Robert Tanitch reviews the latest DVDs
- Joyce Glasser reviews Rebellion
- Joyce Glasser reviews Olympus Has Fallen
- Robert Tanitch reviews The Breadwinner at Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, Surrey
- Robert Tanitch reviews Ecstasy & Death at London Coliseum
- A taste for life
- Joyce Glasser reviews Love Is All You Need
- Charlie Hill reviews Priscilla Queen of the Desert at the Bristol Hippodrome
- Robert Tanitch reviews Beautiful Thing at Arts Theatre, London WC2
