Sir Kenneth, Mr Lewis and a VERY dramatic summer
Things are brightening up this summer – especially if you’re a Shakespeare fan. For in addition to promising programmes at Shakespeare’s Globe and the RSC, is a pair of intriguing productions, starring two of Britain’s best-loved male actors. And we’re fascinated to see which of them will come out on top.
Like the king he so famously portrayed, Sir Kenneth Branagh came of age on the blood-stained battlefi eld of Agincourt. He was only 24 when he played the lead role in the RSC’s critically-acclaimed 1984 production of Henry V – and his name was soon as well known and as celebrated.
Three years later, he founded the Renaissance Theatre Company and alongside great players including Dame Judi Dench and Derek Jacobi, reinvigorated the Bard, helping to bring his work to a broader audience. He was Hamlet, Benedick, Richard III. He was compared to Sir Laurence Olivier. In fact, he even played him – in the 2011 fi lm My Week With Marilyn.
It hasn’t, of course, been one long ovation for Branagh. As his star rose, he moved into Hollywood filmmaking – and as he found his feet on screen, many believed that his stage career took a back seat; even that he’d lost his way.
He has been nominated for five Academy Awards, was celebrated for the recent television detective drama Wallander (for which he won a Bafta and a Golden Globe), and was knighted last year – but he hasn’t touched Shakespeare, the playwright that made his name, in a decade.
This summer, however, he’s back: in a new production of Macbeth at the Manchester International Festival. Branagh, now 52, takes the lead role alongside Alex Kingston, who plays Lady Macbeth. And it has generated plenty of excitement.
Predictably, it’s a sell-out. In fact, every ticket went within nine minutes – although the final performance, on 20 July, will be broadcast on a big screen at the city’s NCP Bridgewater Hall car park.
It has certainly got off to a glorious start. According to the Manchester Evening News, the 281 local residents lucky enough to see the first special preview of the play greeted it with ‘rapturous applause’ that echoed around the streets outside the venue for a full five minutes after the performance finished. The press, once again, is talking about ‘Branagh-mania’, and the Manchester Macbeth may yet mark a glorious return to his roots.
Meanwhile, a big-screen version of Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet, on release in cinemas later this month, stars the brilliant British actor Damian Lewis, as Juliet’s father Lord Capulet.
Lewis, who is married to fellow actress Helen McCrory, is perhaps best-known for his critically-acclaimed television series The Forsyte Saga, in which he played Soames Forsyte; Band Of Brothers, which followed a group of soldiers as they fought their way through wartime France, and hit drama Homeland, which earned him an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
But he is no stranger to Shakespeare. After graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Lewis – whose ancestors include a Lord Mayor of London and a Royal physician – was a RSC stage actor, playing Posthumus in Cymbeline. In 2005, he also starred in a BBC adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing.
Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers have been adapted for the big screen before. Baz Luhrmann’s colourful 1996 Romeo + Juliet, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, was a huge hit. But this latest version, starring Lewis alongside Douglas Booth as Romeo, Hailee Steinfeld as Juliet, Natascha McElhone as Lady Capulet and new Downton Abbey star Paul Giamatti as Friar Laurence, promises to be another notable date for the Shakespeare summer diary.
The film of Romeo And Juliet is scheduled for cinema release on 26 July. Kenneth Branagh’s Macbeth is sold out, but will be screened at NCP Bridgewater Hall Car Park, Manchester on 20 July (tickets: 0844-375 2013). It will also be screened at selected cinemas.
All’s Well That Ends Well Helena is gifted, kind and in love. But the object of her a ections does not feel the same way. 19 July to 26 September, RSC Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon: 0844-800 1110, www.rsc.org.uk
Macbeth This dark and powerful tragedy runs until 13 October at Shakespeare’s Globe, 21 New Globe Walk, London SE1: 020-7401 9919, www.shakespearesglobe.com
Taming Of The Shrew Shakespeare’s Globe takes this outrageous comedy, performed by an all-female cast, on a UK tour. Until 13 September. For venues: 020-7401 9919, www.shakespearesglobe.com
Titus Andronicus The RSC is also staging one of the Bard’s bloodiest plays. Until 26 October at the RSC Swan Theatre: as above
Melonie Clarke
Like the king he so famously portrayed, Sir Kenneth Branagh came of age on the blood-stained battlefi eld of Agincourt. He was only 24 when he played the lead role in the RSC’s critically-acclaimed 1984 production of Henry V – and his name was soon as well known and as celebrated.
Three years later, he founded the Renaissance Theatre Company and alongside great players including Dame Judi Dench and Derek Jacobi, reinvigorated the Bard, helping to bring his work to a broader audience. He was Hamlet, Benedick, Richard III. He was compared to Sir Laurence Olivier. In fact, he even played him – in the 2011 fi lm My Week With Marilyn.
It hasn’t, of course, been one long ovation for Branagh. As his star rose, he moved into Hollywood filmmaking – and as he found his feet on screen, many believed that his stage career took a back seat; even that he’d lost his way.
He has been nominated for five Academy Awards, was celebrated for the recent television detective drama Wallander (for which he won a Bafta and a Golden Globe), and was knighted last year – but he hasn’t touched Shakespeare, the playwright that made his name, in a decade.
This summer, however, he’s back: in a new production of Macbeth at the Manchester International Festival. Branagh, now 52, takes the lead role alongside Alex Kingston, who plays Lady Macbeth. And it has generated plenty of excitement.
Predictably, it’s a sell-out. In fact, every ticket went within nine minutes – although the final performance, on 20 July, will be broadcast on a big screen at the city’s NCP Bridgewater Hall car park.
It has certainly got off to a glorious start. According to the Manchester Evening News, the 281 local residents lucky enough to see the first special preview of the play greeted it with ‘rapturous applause’ that echoed around the streets outside the venue for a full five minutes after the performance finished. The press, once again, is talking about ‘Branagh-mania’, and the Manchester Macbeth may yet mark a glorious return to his roots.
Meanwhile, a big-screen version of Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet, on release in cinemas later this month, stars the brilliant British actor Damian Lewis, as Juliet’s father Lord Capulet.
Lewis, who is married to fellow actress Helen McCrory, is perhaps best-known for his critically-acclaimed television series The Forsyte Saga, in which he played Soames Forsyte; Band Of Brothers, which followed a group of soldiers as they fought their way through wartime France, and hit drama Homeland, which earned him an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
But he is no stranger to Shakespeare. After graduating from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Lewis – whose ancestors include a Lord Mayor of London and a Royal physician – was a RSC stage actor, playing Posthumus in Cymbeline. In 2005, he also starred in a BBC adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing.
Shakespeare’s star-crossed lovers have been adapted for the big screen before. Baz Luhrmann’s colourful 1996 Romeo + Juliet, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, was a huge hit. But this latest version, starring Lewis alongside Douglas Booth as Romeo, Hailee Steinfeld as Juliet, Natascha McElhone as Lady Capulet and new Downton Abbey star Paul Giamatti as Friar Laurence, promises to be another notable date for the Shakespeare summer diary.
The film of Romeo And Juliet is scheduled for cinema release on 26 July. Kenneth Branagh’s Macbeth is sold out, but will be screened at NCP Bridgewater Hall Car Park, Manchester on 20 July (tickets: 0844-375 2013). It will also be screened at selected cinemas.
A SEASON OF SHAKESPEARE: DATES FOR THE DIARY
A Midsummer Night’s Dream Sheridan Smith and David Walliams star in one of Shakespeare’s greatest comedies. 7 September to 16 November at the Noël Coward Theatre, St Martin’s Lane, London WC2: 0844-482 5141, www.delfontmackintosh.co.ukAll’s Well That Ends Well Helena is gifted, kind and in love. But the object of her a ections does not feel the same way. 19 July to 26 September, RSC Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon: 0844-800 1110, www.rsc.org.uk
Macbeth This dark and powerful tragedy runs until 13 October at Shakespeare’s Globe, 21 New Globe Walk, London SE1: 020-7401 9919, www.shakespearesglobe.com
Taming Of The Shrew Shakespeare’s Globe takes this outrageous comedy, performed by an all-female cast, on a UK tour. Until 13 September. For venues: 020-7401 9919, www.shakespearesglobe.com
Titus Andronicus The RSC is also staging one of the Bard’s bloodiest plays. Until 26 October at the RSC Swan Theatre: as above
Melonie Clarke