Chicago – One of Chicago’s icon theater actors … Michael Shannon … is performing again in town, in the company that he co-founded. Red Orchid Theatre presents Michael Shannon and Travis A. Knight in the World Premiere of “Turret” by Levi Holloway, now at the Chopin Theatre through June 9, 2024. For tickets and info, click Turret.
Two men (Shannon and Knight) survive in a facility deep underground somewhere in the wild woods of the Pacific Northwest, hiding away from something terrible from the outside. Ensnared in a relentless loop of endless tomorrows, they discover the wolf isn’t at the door, it’s already inside, waiting in the creeping darkness all around them. “Turret” is an excavation of masculinity, love, loss and isolation, and a claustrophobic carnival of carnage, carrier pigeons, cribbage, whiskey, music, mischief and mayhem.
Red Orchid’s ’Turret’ at the Chopin Theatre through June 9th
Photo credit: RedOrchidTheatre.org
Michael Shannon was born in Kentucky,...
Two men (Shannon and Knight) survive in a facility deep underground somewhere in the wild woods of the Pacific Northwest, hiding away from something terrible from the outside. Ensnared in a relentless loop of endless tomorrows, they discover the wolf isn’t at the door, it’s already inside, waiting in the creeping darkness all around them. “Turret” is an excavation of masculinity, love, loss and isolation, and a claustrophobic carnival of carnage, carrier pigeons, cribbage, whiskey, music, mischief and mayhem.
Red Orchid’s ’Turret’ at the Chopin Theatre through June 9th
Photo credit: RedOrchidTheatre.org
Michael Shannon was born in Kentucky,...
- 5/11/2024
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Edgar Lansbury, a Tony Award-winning producer and younger brother of actress Angela Lansbury, died Thursday at age 94 at his home in Manhattan, according to his son. No cause was given.
Peggy Gordon, who played in Lansbury’s Godspell, posted the news on Facebook.
“My huge adorable and adoring Godspell family, we have now lost our surrogate daddy, Edgar Lansbury. How blessed was he to live such a full, rich, wonderful life surrounded by people who adored him. Don Scardino says there will be a memorial probably this fall. Contact any and all of your Godspell family members from all ten original companies, plus London (hi Gay) and anyone else I”ve missed. Man, if Joe Beruh was waiting for Edgar with a cigarette in his mouth, I have no doubt Edgar made Joe stomp on it. Love never dies. It’s an energy that only transmutes into matter. That’s all of us.
Peggy Gordon, who played in Lansbury’s Godspell, posted the news on Facebook.
“My huge adorable and adoring Godspell family, we have now lost our surrogate daddy, Edgar Lansbury. How blessed was he to live such a full, rich, wonderful life surrounded by people who adored him. Don Scardino says there will be a memorial probably this fall. Contact any and all of your Godspell family members from all ten original companies, plus London (hi Gay) and anyone else I”ve missed. Man, if Joe Beruh was waiting for Edgar with a cigarette in his mouth, I have no doubt Edgar made Joe stomp on it. Love never dies. It’s an energy that only transmutes into matter. That’s all of us.
- 5/4/2024
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Edgar Lansbury, the Tony-winning producer and younger brother of famed actress Angela Lansbury who guided the Broadway and big-screen versions of The Subject Was Roses and Godspell, has died. He was 94.
He died Thursday at his home in Manhattan, his son David Lansbury told The Hollywood Reporter.
Lansbury also produced the popular 1974-75 Broadway revival of Gypsy that starred his sister in a Tony-winning turn and worked on other films including The Wild Party (1975), directed by James Ivory.
Angela Lansbury, winner of five Tony Awards and star of Murder, She Wrote, died on Oct. 11, 2022, at age 96. His twin brother, TV producer Bruce Lansbury, died in February 2017 at age 87.
Lansbury’s first Broadway production, the intense family drama The Subject Was Roses, opened in 1964, ran for two years, and won a Pulitzer Prize and the Tony for best play. Written by Frank Gilroy and directed by Ulu Grosbard, it starred Martin Sheen...
He died Thursday at his home in Manhattan, his son David Lansbury told The Hollywood Reporter.
Lansbury also produced the popular 1974-75 Broadway revival of Gypsy that starred his sister in a Tony-winning turn and worked on other films including The Wild Party (1975), directed by James Ivory.
Angela Lansbury, winner of five Tony Awards and star of Murder, She Wrote, died on Oct. 11, 2022, at age 96. His twin brother, TV producer Bruce Lansbury, died in February 2017 at age 87.
Lansbury’s first Broadway production, the intense family drama The Subject Was Roses, opened in 1964, ran for two years, and won a Pulitzer Prize and the Tony for best play. Written by Frank Gilroy and directed by Ulu Grosbard, it starred Martin Sheen...
- 5/4/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Apple TV+ has rounded out the cast for Jessica Chastain-led The Savant, its eight-episode limited series from writer/executive producer/showrunner Melissa James Gibson, Fifth Season and Anonymous Content.
Jordana Spiro (Ozark), Trinity Lee Shirley (Da Bottomz), newcomer Toussaint Francois Battiste (Waiting for Godot), Cole Doman (Mutt), Hannah Gross (The Adults), David Wilson Barnes (George & Tammy), Michael Mosley (The Sinner) and Dagmara Dominczyk (Succession) join previously announced Chastain, Nnamdi Asomugha and James Badge Dale, who recurs.
Chastain, who also executive produces, plays a top-secret investigator known as the Savant, who infiltrates online hate groups to take down the most violent men in the country. Asomugha plays her husband.
Inspired by a true story published by Cosmopolitan, the storyline and additional character details are being kept under wraps.
Chastain and Kelly Carmichael exec produce through her Freckle Films banner. James Gibson exec produces, with Matthew Heineman directing and exec producing.
Jordana Spiro (Ozark), Trinity Lee Shirley (Da Bottomz), newcomer Toussaint Francois Battiste (Waiting for Godot), Cole Doman (Mutt), Hannah Gross (The Adults), David Wilson Barnes (George & Tammy), Michael Mosley (The Sinner) and Dagmara Dominczyk (Succession) join previously announced Chastain, Nnamdi Asomugha and James Badge Dale, who recurs.
Chastain, who also executive produces, plays a top-secret investigator known as the Savant, who infiltrates online hate groups to take down the most violent men in the country. Asomugha plays her husband.
Inspired by a true story published by Cosmopolitan, the storyline and additional character details are being kept under wraps.
Chastain and Kelly Carmichael exec produce through her Freckle Films banner. James Gibson exec produces, with Matthew Heineman directing and exec producing.
- 4/3/2024
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Iran continues to be a site of unrest among dissident filmmakers protesting leadership and government under the country’s current president, Ebrahim Raisi. In 2022, Iranian filmmakers such as Jafar Panahi, Mohammad Rasoulof, and Mostafa Al-Ahmad were arrested over their responses to Iran’s censorship of events including a building collapse that killed at least 41, and later the death of Mahsa Amini, killed by Islamic police for allegedly not wearing her hijab.
The only Iranian film to premiere at Cannes 2023, the omnibus satire “Terrestrial Verses” also saw one of its directors, Ali Asgari, banned from leaving his country. You can understand why after you see this probing film about life under the eye of a controlling government.
IndieWire understands the travel ban on Asgari has since been lifted, though freedom of expression remains an issue in Iran for filmmakers querying the status quo. “Terrestrial Verses,” the film Asgari co-directed with Alireza Khatami,...
The only Iranian film to premiere at Cannes 2023, the omnibus satire “Terrestrial Verses” also saw one of its directors, Ali Asgari, banned from leaving his country. You can understand why after you see this probing film about life under the eye of a controlling government.
IndieWire understands the travel ban on Asgari has since been lifted, though freedom of expression remains an issue in Iran for filmmakers querying the status quo. “Terrestrial Verses,” the film Asgari co-directed with Alireza Khatami,...
- 3/28/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
The Turkish satirical drama A Round of Applause is a presentation of an individual’s struggle for existence in the modern world. The Netflix original definitely takes on elements from absurdist literature and makes me want to think of the nihilistic approach that Samuel Beckett used in his play Waiting for Godot. Just like the way Estragon and Vladimir wait for Godot to arrive, Metin waits to find the meaning of his existence. Will Metin be able to find his purpose in life? Will Zeynep get another chance to go back in time and mend her relationship with Metin and Mehmet? Let’s see what the Best Director Award-winner (for Happy New Year) Bekun Oya has in store for us.
Spoilers Ahead
Why Was Mehmet Worried About Their Baby?
Mehmet and Zeynep were excited to welcome their child into the world and started preparing for it. Meanwhile, their family friends...
Spoilers Ahead
Why Was Mehmet Worried About Their Baby?
Mehmet and Zeynep were excited to welcome their child into the world and started preparing for it. Meanwhile, their family friends...
- 2/29/2024
- by Debjyoti Dey
- Film Fugitives
Cave of Forgotten Dreams: Rasti Hunts for Spiritual Treasures
There have been countless films about the quest for fortune and glory, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a film about treasure hunting less esoterically inclined than Aliyar Rasta’s debut The Great Yawn of History. Two men from different religious backgrounds go on a mysterious odyssey to find a cave where someone has hidden gold coins, though this is dubiously based solely on one of the man’s dreams. Like a roadtrip version of Waiting for Godot, this eventually turns into an allegory about the search for a different kind of bounty.…...
There have been countless films about the quest for fortune and glory, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find a film about treasure hunting less esoterically inclined than Aliyar Rasta’s debut The Great Yawn of History. Two men from different religious backgrounds go on a mysterious odyssey to find a cave where someone has hidden gold coins, though this is dubiously based solely on one of the man’s dreams. Like a roadtrip version of Waiting for Godot, this eventually turns into an allegory about the search for a different kind of bounty.…...
- 2/22/2024
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
For two seasons, Colman Domingo and Jacob Elordi have passed each other on the set of the megahit HBO drama “Euphoria” without ever sharing a scene. That’s why Domingo, who won an Emmy for guest actor in the show, describes this conversation as “an overdue coffee” — just without the caffeine kick. As the actors discuss the pressures of portraying historical figures — Domingo embodying Civil Rights leader Bayard Rustin as he plans the 1963 March on Washington in George C. Wolfe’s “Rustin,” and Elordi rendering the human side of Elvis in Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla” — they realize another thing they have in common: They’re both mama’s boys.
In this Actors on Actors meet-up, they talk about those deep attachments, which helped them through shooting back-to-back films — Domingo flying from “Rustin” to the role of the abusive Mister in Blitz Bazawule’s reimagining of “The Color Purple”; Elordi getting...
In this Actors on Actors meet-up, they talk about those deep attachments, which helped them through shooting back-to-back films — Domingo flying from “Rustin” to the role of the abusive Mister in Blitz Bazawule’s reimagining of “The Color Purple”; Elordi getting...
- 12/11/2023
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Ben Whishaw felt inspired to become an actor after watching a Samuel Beckett play.The 43-year-old star has revealed that he quit university and decided to pursue an acting career after watching 'Waiting for Godot'.Ben - who is now set to star in a new West End production of the play - told BBC News: "When I was 18 I was doing an art foundation course in Bedford and went one night with a friend to London to see a play that was part of a season of plays by Samuel Beckett at the Barbican Theatre. The play was 'Waiting for Godot'."The next day I dropped out of my art course, having decided I wanted to study acting instead. "I am unbelievably thrilled and excited - and a little terrified too - to be having this chance to perform Beckett's utterly radical and incredibly beautiful play.
- 12/7/2023
- by Josh Evans
- Bang Showbiz
Studiocanal has Samuel Beckett biopic ‘Dance First’.
Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex, Emma Seligman’s Bottoms and Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel are all opening in UK-Ireland cinemas, on a weekend with several well-reviewed films by and about women.
Starting in 150 cinemas through Mubi, How To Have Sex is the debut feature of Screen 2021 Star of Tomorrow Walker. The film follows three British teenage girls on a clubbing holiday in Malia, where one of the group has her first experiences with sex. The cast includes fellow Screen Stars Mia McKenna-Bruce and Samuel Bottomley, with casting director...
Molly Manning Walker’s How To Have Sex, Emma Seligman’s Bottoms and Kitty Green’s The Royal Hotel are all opening in UK-Ireland cinemas, on a weekend with several well-reviewed films by and about women.
Starting in 150 cinemas through Mubi, How To Have Sex is the debut feature of Screen 2021 Star of Tomorrow Walker. The film follows three British teenage girls on a clubbing holiday in Malia, where one of the group has her first experiences with sex. The cast includes fellow Screen Stars Mia McKenna-Bruce and Samuel Bottomley, with casting director...
- 11/3/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Chicago – Michael Shannon is also a film director. The distinctive actor, who has wowed cinema fans with his performances over the years, showcased his directorial debut at the 59th Chicago International Film Festival (Ciff) with “Eric Larue.” Shannon did a master class on directing, walked the Red Carpet and appeared at the film screening.
Janice Larue is (Judy Greer) a middle-aged mother coming to terms with a shooting spree perpetrated by her son. Adapted from Brett Neveu’s 2002 play — which debuted at A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago — the film follows the shell-shocked Janice as she attempts to navigate the tragedy in her small town. While a local pastor tries to reconcile Janice with the victims’ mothers, Janice’s feeble husband (Alexander Skarsgård) finds refuge in an upstart church led by a motivational preacher (Tracy Letts). But Janice must find her own way. The film was a Special Presentation of the 59th Ciff.
Janice Larue is (Judy Greer) a middle-aged mother coming to terms with a shooting spree perpetrated by her son. Adapted from Brett Neveu’s 2002 play — which debuted at A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago — the film follows the shell-shocked Janice as she attempts to navigate the tragedy in her small town. While a local pastor tries to reconcile Janice with the victims’ mothers, Janice’s feeble husband (Alexander Skarsgård) finds refuge in an upstart church led by a motivational preacher (Tracy Letts). But Janice must find her own way. The film was a Special Presentation of the 59th Ciff.
- 10/16/2023
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
In a genre not traditionally given to brevity, James Marsh’s literary biopic “Dance First” at least has that on its side: In 100 minutes, it races through the key events and alliances in the life of Irish author and dramatist Samuel Beckett, even finding time for some metaphysical musings alongside the cradle-to-grave checklist. But Beckett’s characteristic terseness — or radical “lessness,” to borrow a title from one of his stories — isn’t a feature of this creditable but ponderous film, which ultimately achieves its efficient runtime by skirting any meaningful engagement with Beckett’s work and literary legacy. What’s left is an anatomy of his unhappiness via a procession of stymied or soured relationships: shot with grace, acted with intelligence, but short on Beckettian daring or wit.
It’s another biopic from Marsh, following 2014’s popular “The Theory of Everything” and 2017’s less-seen “The Mercy,” that resists bringing his...
It’s another biopic from Marsh, following 2014’s popular “The Theory of Everything” and 2017’s less-seen “The Mercy,” that resists bringing his...
- 10/1/2023
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
Fionn O'Shea, Gabriel Byrne and James Marsh at the press conference Photo: Courtesy of San Sebastian Film Festival/Jorge Fuembuena The life of Samuel Beckett, although very little of the work, is explored in James Marsh’s Dance First, written by Neil Forsyth. The film, which is the closing night selection at San Sebastian Film Festival dips into the Waiting For Godot author’s life from childhood to death, featuring key performances from Gabriel Byrne and Fionn O’Shea as the author, alongside Sandrine Bonnaire and Léonie Lojkine as his wife Suzanne, with support from the likes of Aidan Gillen and Maxine Peake.
Speaking at the press conference in San Sebastian Gabriel Byrne said that “talking to himself” as the writer interrogates a second version of himself of the film was quite tricky.#
“Technically, it was difficult," he explains, “because usually when you're doing drama, you're talking to somebody else...
Speaking at the press conference in San Sebastian Gabriel Byrne said that “talking to himself” as the writer interrogates a second version of himself of the film was quite tricky.#
“Technically, it was difficult," he explains, “because usually when you're doing drama, you're talking to somebody else...
- 9/30/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Dance First, a biographical drama from The Theory of Everything director James Marsh about the life of Irish Nobel prize-winning playwright Samuel Beckett, will close the 71st San Sebastian Festival.
The feature, which stars Gabriel Byrne as Beckett alongside Sandrine Bonnaire as his longtime partner, and eventual wife, Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil, will close the 2023 San Sebastian festival on Sept. 30. Dance First will screen out of competition at San Sebastian.
Dance First follows Beckett’s life from his time as a fighter for the French Resistance during the Second World War, through his friendship with fellow Irish literary luminary James Joyce, his rise with such groundbreaking plays as Waiting for Godot, Endgame and Happy Days — which established the Theater of the Absurd movement — to his receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, and his later life as a recluse. Written by Neil Forsyth, the film also features Aidan Gillen as James Joyce...
The feature, which stars Gabriel Byrne as Beckett alongside Sandrine Bonnaire as his longtime partner, and eventual wife, Suzanne Deschevaux-Dumesnil, will close the 2023 San Sebastian festival on Sept. 30. Dance First will screen out of competition at San Sebastian.
Dance First follows Beckett’s life from his time as a fighter for the French Resistance during the Second World War, through his friendship with fellow Irish literary luminary James Joyce, his rise with such groundbreaking plays as Waiting for Godot, Endgame and Happy Days — which established the Theater of the Absurd movement — to his receiving the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969, and his later life as a recluse. Written by Neil Forsyth, the film also features Aidan Gillen as James Joyce...
- 8/21/2023
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A woman with a lost dog, a small girl performing a TikTok dance in a chador, and a worn-out filmmaker trying to get his movie project off the ground are just three of the characters populating the omnibus of single-take vignettes in writer-directors Alireza Khatami and Ali Asgari’s “Terrestrial Verses.” Combined, these nine stories give off a powerful cumulative effect as we see the petty bureaucracies and paper-pushing quotidian blocks to working-class life unfold and whittle these people down. Cultural, religious, and institutional constraints wear down everyday citizens in Tehran in stories that may lack a beginning, middle, or end but still arrive at a well-drawn if eerie and ambiguous conclusion that would feel dystopic if the events weren’t so ordinary.
The sole Iranian entry in the 2023 Cannes Official Selection, “Terrestrial Verses” opens with a panoramic, widescreen shot of the Tehran cityscape. At first gently and then overwhelmingly,...
The sole Iranian entry in the 2023 Cannes Official Selection, “Terrestrial Verses” opens with a panoramic, widescreen shot of the Tehran cityscape. At first gently and then overwhelmingly,...
- 5/25/2023
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Ghanaian-Australian vocalist Genesis Owusu has announced his sophomore album Struggler, out August 18th via Ourness/Awal. He’s offering a preview of the record with its lead single and opening track “Leaving the Light,” which comes with a dramatic accompanying music video.
Owusu’s follow-up to his 2021 album Smiling with No Teeth was recorded with a small army of producers between the US and Australia, and was inspired in part by Samuel Beckett’s tragicomic play Waiting for Godot and Franz Kafka’s magical realism novella Metamorphosis. It’s billed as “an imminent exploration of the chaos and absurdity of life,” with inspirational undertones of endurance and perseverance.
“The struggler runs through an absurd world with no ‘where’ or ‘why’ at hand,” Owusu explains in a statement. “Just an instinctual inner rhythm, yelling at them to survive the pestilence and lighting bolts coming from above. A roach just keeps roaching.
Owusu’s follow-up to his 2021 album Smiling with No Teeth was recorded with a small army of producers between the US and Australia, and was inspired in part by Samuel Beckett’s tragicomic play Waiting for Godot and Franz Kafka’s magical realism novella Metamorphosis. It’s billed as “an imminent exploration of the chaos and absurdity of life,” with inspirational undertones of endurance and perseverance.
“The struggler runs through an absurd world with no ‘where’ or ‘why’ at hand,” Owusu explains in a statement. “Just an instinctual inner rhythm, yelling at them to survive the pestilence and lighting bolts coming from above. A roach just keeps roaching.
- 5/18/2023
- by Abby Jones
- Consequence - Music
Elon Musk has had a busy few days. Over the weekend, he ordered the “w” in the the sign on Twitter‘s San Francisco headquarters painted over, so that it read “Titter.” Then, on Monday, he changed his Twitter display name to “Harry Bōlz” before tweeting, “Impersonating others is wrong!” He later added: “I’m just hoping a media org that takes itself way too seriously writes a story about Harry Bōlz… ” Then, on Tuesday, he announced that the site’s unpaid “legacy” verification checks, formerly scheduled for removal on April Fool’s Day,...
- 4/13/2023
- by Miles Klee
- Rollingstone.com
Los Angeles, April 9 (Ians) Hollywood star Keanu Reeves is reported to make his first major theatre performance in a Broadway revival of Samuel Beckett’s ‘Waiting for Godot’.
The ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ actor, 58, once portrayed Prince Hamlet in a 1995 Manitoba Theatre Centre production of ‘Hamlet’ in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but is now said to be ready to take on his first play role in decades, reports aceshowbiz.com.
Various theatre insiders let it slip to Page Six that they have “heard that the ‘John Wick’ star will appear in the play,” but added there is “no word on who is producing or directing the piece.”
Keanu appeared in the 1993 Shakespeare movie ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ alongside Oscar-winning “Hamlet” director Sir Kenneth Branagh, 62, as well as Dame Emma Thompson, 63, Denzel Washington, 68, and Kate Beckinsale, 49.
He’s also a theatre fan, and was last year seen in the audience of ‘American Buffalo...
The ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ actor, 58, once portrayed Prince Hamlet in a 1995 Manitoba Theatre Centre production of ‘Hamlet’ in Winnipeg, Manitoba, but is now said to be ready to take on his first play role in decades, reports aceshowbiz.com.
Various theatre insiders let it slip to Page Six that they have “heard that the ‘John Wick’ star will appear in the play,” but added there is “no word on who is producing or directing the piece.”
Keanu appeared in the 1993 Shakespeare movie ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ alongside Oscar-winning “Hamlet” director Sir Kenneth Branagh, 62, as well as Dame Emma Thompson, 63, Denzel Washington, 68, and Kate Beckinsale, 49.
He’s also a theatre fan, and was last year seen in the audience of ‘American Buffalo...
- 4/9/2023
- by Agency News Desk
- GlamSham
Set in an isolated wood cabin during a heavy snow storm, Director Andrey M Paounov and Screenwriter (and long time Dn alum) Alex Barrett’s frosty feature January is the tale of an encroaching mystery that is set to devour the lives of five men who find themselves caught in a limbo between life and death, past and present, communism and capitalism, known and unknown. It’s inspired by Yordan Radichkov’s play of the same name but whilst that play is concerned with a world where small settlements start to perish, Paounov and Barrett’s film is one where the world and reality itself is at risk of collapse. Shot in gothic black and white photography and with a clever acknowledgement of cinema’s relationship with itself, it’s a feature with striking imagery that’ll linger long in the mind after the credits roll. Dn sat down with...
- 1/24/2023
- by James Maitre
- Directors Notes
To mark the release of The Big Hit on 12th September, we’ve been given 3 copies to give away on DVD.
Etienne (Kad Merad), an often out of work but endearing actor, runs a theatre workshop in a prison, where he brings together an unlikely troupe of prisoners to stage Samuel Beckett’s famous play Waiting for Godot. When he is allowed to take the colourful band of convicts on a tour outside of prison, Etienne finally has the chance to thrive.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The Small Print
Open to UK residents only The competition will close 19th September 2022 at 23.59 GMT The winner will be picked at random from entries received No cash alternative is available Please note prizes may be delayed due to Covid-19 To coincide with Gdpr regulations, competition entry information will not be stored once the competition...
Etienne (Kad Merad), an often out of work but endearing actor, runs a theatre workshop in a prison, where he brings together an unlikely troupe of prisoners to stage Samuel Beckett’s famous play Waiting for Godot. When he is allowed to take the colourful band of convicts on a tour outside of prison, Etienne finally has the chance to thrive.
Please note: This competition is open to UK residents only
a Rafflecopter giveaway
The Small Print
Open to UK residents only The competition will close 19th September 2022 at 23.59 GMT The winner will be picked at random from entries received No cash alternative is available Please note prizes may be delayed due to Covid-19 To coincide with Gdpr regulations, competition entry information will not be stored once the competition...
- 9/7/2022
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Australian actor Geoffrey Rush is legendary for many reasons — he is one of the few performers to have won the Triple Crown of Acting. He rose to considerable international prominence after his role in Scott Higgins' biopic "Shine" and has played various incredible roles in his career, one of many being that of Captain Hector Barbossa in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film franchise.
The villainous, ferocious, once-cursed captain of the Black Pearl has a compelling character arc that takes time to evolve. He's not just a mustache-twirling villain existing to vex our heroes — he has depth. It's hard to imagine the franchise without Barbossa. Interestingly, Rush turned down the opportunity to play the character, and it wasn't until his agent persuaded him that he decided to take on the role.
It Had Been A Long Time Since Pirates Ruled The Cinemas
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" film franchise is...
The villainous, ferocious, once-cursed captain of the Black Pearl has a compelling character arc that takes time to evolve. He's not just a mustache-twirling villain existing to vex our heroes — he has depth. It's hard to imagine the franchise without Barbossa. Interestingly, Rush turned down the opportunity to play the character, and it wasn't until his agent persuaded him that he decided to take on the role.
It Had Been A Long Time Since Pirates Ruled The Cinemas
The "Pirates of the Caribbean" film franchise is...
- 8/25/2022
- by Fatemeh Mirjalili
- Slash Film
Before joining Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise, Geoffrey Rush already had an Oscar and BAFTA under his belt. For the first 20 years of his career, the Australian actor won critical acclaim by portraying a controversial writer in "Quills," a tormented pianist in "Shine," and numerous Shakespeare characters, but he became a star when he took on the role of a cursed, undead pirate.
Although Rush's work was often celebrated by critics in the mid and late '90s, he was far from a household name. However, that changed when he stepped into the role of Captain Hector Barbossa. The mutinous, zombified, pirate became one of the most popular characters in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise and introduced Rush to mainstream audiences across the globe, but the actor never expected the character to return after the first film.
Waiting For Barbossa
It seems that Rush was born to play Barbossa in the "Pirates" franchise,...
Although Rush's work was often celebrated by critics in the mid and late '90s, he was far from a household name. However, that changed when he stepped into the role of Captain Hector Barbossa. The mutinous, zombified, pirate became one of the most popular characters in the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise and introduced Rush to mainstream audiences across the globe, but the actor never expected the character to return after the first film.
Waiting For Barbossa
It seems that Rush was born to play Barbossa in the "Pirates" franchise,...
- 8/24/2022
- by Christian Gainey
- Slash Film
Even though “Sonatine” was only his fourth film as a director, for many fans and critics it is still one of the best by Takeshi Kitano and arguably an important milestone in his career as it received much international attention, thanks to directors like Quentin Tarantino, whose production company decided to release “Sonatine” as one of their first titles for American audiences. However, for Kitano himself, the importance of this film is much more personal as it is artistic, evident in the title of the movie itself, which himself explains as an indicator that he finally was able to use the various devices and means within the medium on a basic level, similar to a student of the piano practicing basic pieces. All modesty aside, “Sonatine” is quite an impressive movie which not only continues its director’s themes of deconstruction, but also the idea of how beauty is connected to death.
- 4/21/2022
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s light yet profound drama is the kind of thrilling discovery that foreign-language cinema is all about
Two years ago, accepting the first best picture Oscar for a foreign-language film, for Parasite, Bong Joon-ho said: “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” If Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car – definitely amazing – becomes the second foreign-language victor, that means Oscar voters will have vaulted multiple barriers: not just the film’s own English subtitles, but the various Japanese, Mandarin, Korean and Korean sign language ones its main character, widowed theatre director Yûsuke, uses in his experimental multilingual stage productions.
Through the course of this year’s awards season, Drive My Car has had a gear surge out of the foreign-language category to enter the bigger conversation – despite a foreboding three-hour runtime, a resolutely high-minded tone and the kind...
Two years ago, accepting the first best picture Oscar for a foreign-language film, for Parasite, Bong Joon-ho said: “Once you overcome the one-inch-tall barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” If Ryūsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car – definitely amazing – becomes the second foreign-language victor, that means Oscar voters will have vaulted multiple barriers: not just the film’s own English subtitles, but the various Japanese, Mandarin, Korean and Korean sign language ones its main character, widowed theatre director Yûsuke, uses in his experimental multilingual stage productions.
Through the course of this year’s awards season, Drive My Car has had a gear surge out of the foreign-language category to enter the bigger conversation – despite a foreboding three-hour runtime, a resolutely high-minded tone and the kind...
- 3/16/2022
- by Phil Hoad
- The Guardian - Film News
A single, bare tree interrupts the vast emptiness of the indeterminate desert landscape where “Gold” takes place. It’s a pathetic speck of shelter that does little to prevent the relentless heat from tormenting Zac Efron’s nameless character for the bulk of the film, his progressively weathered face giving new meaning to the words “blistering sun.” The location brings to mind the sparse set design of “Waiting for Godot,” (Beckett’s stage directions read: “A country road. A tree.”) as does the film’s narrative itself, a tale of similarly hopeless anticipation in the bleakest of atmospheres.
. Overall, however, “Gold,” like its title, does little to stand out in a crowd, so committed to its stripped-down style of storytelling and monotonous sepia color scheme that there’s little left for the audience to connect with, leaving us parched for something to focus on besides the purulent third-degree sunburn on Efron’s face.
. Overall, however, “Gold,” like its title, does little to stand out in a crowd, so committed to its stripped-down style of storytelling and monotonous sepia color scheme that there’s little left for the audience to connect with, leaving us parched for something to focus on besides the purulent third-degree sunburn on Efron’s face.
- 3/9/2022
- by Susannah Gruder
- Indiewire
Emmanuel Courcol channels the feel-good energy of films like The Full Monty or Francophone dramedy Sink Or Swim for his latest, which fictionalises the true story of Swedish actor Jan Jönson's attempt to help prisoners stage a version of Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot.
Transporting the action to France, versatile star Kad Merat takes on the role of Étienne Carboni, an actor whose dreams of becoming a household name have remained just that. Étienne's latest project sees him venture inside the walls of a prison to provide theatre workshops for the inmates. It is here that he becomes inspired to try to stage Beckett's absurdist classic - after all, he reasons, few are more familiar with the concept of waiting in the same place and performing the same rituals day after day than prisoners.
Courcol's film unfolds across its ensemble as Étienne works with Patrick (David Ayala), Kamel (Sofian Khammes), Moussa (Wabinlé.
Transporting the action to France, versatile star Kad Merat takes on the role of Étienne Carboni, an actor whose dreams of becoming a household name have remained just that. Étienne's latest project sees him venture inside the walls of a prison to provide theatre workshops for the inmates. It is here that he becomes inspired to try to stage Beckett's absurdist classic - after all, he reasons, few are more familiar with the concept of waiting in the same place and performing the same rituals day after day than prisoners.
Courcol's film unfolds across its ensemble as Étienne works with Patrick (David Ayala), Kamel (Sofian Khammes), Moussa (Wabinlé.
- 11/7/2021
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The standing ovation was inevitable.
Not just because audiences getting to their feet and applauding has felt perfunctory and expected for decades. Pass Over is being lauded as the first play staged on Broadway since the coronavirus pandemic forced all live performances to stop in March 2020. And at the top of this performance during the official opening Sunday matinee at the August Wilson Theatre on August 22nd, the thousand or so people in attendance were greeted and welcomed and congratulated for being “one of the first audiences back to see a real Broadway play.
Not just because audiences getting to their feet and applauding has felt perfunctory and expected for decades. Pass Over is being lauded as the first play staged on Broadway since the coronavirus pandemic forced all live performances to stop in March 2020. And at the top of this performance during the official opening Sunday matinee at the August Wilson Theatre on August 22nd, the thousand or so people in attendance were greeted and welcomed and congratulated for being “one of the first audiences back to see a real Broadway play.
- 8/29/2021
- by Jerry Portwood
- Rollingstone.com
Almost 18 months after the last new show opened on Broadway – the musical “The Girl from the North Country,” which bowed on March 5, 2020 – the New York theatre community celebrated the rialto’s return with the premiere of “Pass Over.” Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s play opened at the August Wilson Theatre on August 22 under the direction of Danya Taymor.
Inspired by both Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” and the book of Exodus, “Pass Over” occurs under the glow of a single streetlight. With a deft balance of comedy and horror, joy and sorrow, Nwandu explores centuries of systemic racism, including the plantation and the present, through the conversations between the indefatigably optimistic Moses (Jon Michael Hill) and Kitch (Namir Smallwood), which are punctuated by the two different white men (both played by Gabriel Ebert) who disrupt their space.
Watch 2021 Tony Awards slugfest: Who has the edge in the incredibly competitive Play races?...
Inspired by both Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot” and the book of Exodus, “Pass Over” occurs under the glow of a single streetlight. With a deft balance of comedy and horror, joy and sorrow, Nwandu explores centuries of systemic racism, including the plantation and the present, through the conversations between the indefatigably optimistic Moses (Jon Michael Hill) and Kitch (Namir Smallwood), which are punctuated by the two different white men (both played by Gabriel Ebert) who disrupt their space.
Watch 2021 Tony Awards slugfest: Who has the edge in the incredibly competitive Play races?...
- 8/26/2021
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
Ian McKellen’s Broadway credits include starring opposite Patrick Stewart in Harold Pinter's No Man's Land and Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot, and with Helen Mirren in Conor McPherson’s adaptation of August Strindberg's Dance Of Death
Oren Jacoby’s fabulous tribute On Broadway features Helen Mirren, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Tony Kushner, August Wilson, Christine Baranski, Hal Prince, James Corden, Alec Baldwin, John Lithgow, Tommy Tune, David Henry Hwang, Trevor Nunn, Julie Taymor, Jack O’Brien, Viola Davis, and George C Wolfe (director of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - Best Costumes Oscar win Ann Roth) sharing their thoughts on the impact of Broadway. Stephen Sondheim, James Earl Jones, Sam Shepard, Bob Fosse, David Byrne, Michael Bennett, Adam Driver, Neil Simon, Michael Mayer, John Malkovich and Gary Sinise, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C Reilly, and Ethan Hawke, Patricia Schoenfeld’s role, and the importance of theatre came up during our conversation.
Oren Jacoby’s fabulous tribute On Broadway features Helen Mirren, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, Tony Kushner, August Wilson, Christine Baranski, Hal Prince, James Corden, Alec Baldwin, John Lithgow, Tommy Tune, David Henry Hwang, Trevor Nunn, Julie Taymor, Jack O’Brien, Viola Davis, and George C Wolfe (director of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom - Best Costumes Oscar win Ann Roth) sharing their thoughts on the impact of Broadway. Stephen Sondheim, James Earl Jones, Sam Shepard, Bob Fosse, David Byrne, Michael Bennett, Adam Driver, Neil Simon, Michael Mayer, John Malkovich and Gary Sinise, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John C Reilly, and Ethan Hawke, Patricia Schoenfeld’s role, and the importance of theatre came up during our conversation.
- 8/19/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
While international critics and cinephiles alike were celebrating features such “Close-Up” and “The Taste of Cherry”, making a movie in his home country became increasingly difficult for director Abbas Kiarostami. Luckily, he would find financial backing in countries such as France, which was also the case for his 1999 feature “The Wind Will Carry Us”, whose title refers to a poem by Iranian author Farough Forrochzad, an artist Kiarostami cherished a lot, considering one of the main characters in the movie recites the poet’s work on various occasions. “The Wind Will Carry Us” manifested its director’s reputation internationally, winning the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, the Fipresci Prize and various other awards, with many people calling it one of Kiarostami’s best works.
In order to document a rare burial ceremony, four men from Tehran travel all the way to the remote village of Siah Dareh,...
In order to document a rare burial ceremony, four men from Tehran travel all the way to the remote village of Siah Dareh,...
- 8/3/2021
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Ashish Avikunthak’s place in the Indian cinematic canon is on the liminal margins where avant-garde experimentations take refuge from the mainstream consciousness. His works exist at the intersection of film theory and political ideologies, formulating a unique set of aesthetic principles for the presentation of agitprop.
“The Churning of Kalki” is a notable attempt to document a spiritual and political revolution that has been indefinitely deferred, fragmented by the forces of modernity. Although Avikunthak has previously conducted visual translations of his obsession with the works of Samuel Beckett in films like “End Note” (2005), it reaches new heights in “The Churning of Kalki”. The latter is Avikunthak’s interpretation of Beckett’s seminal theatrical masterpiece “Waiting for Godot” and continues most of the play’s investigations, contextualised differently within frameworks that have Indian history and mythology embedded in them.
Filmed during the Maha Kumbh Mela which is...
“The Churning of Kalki” is a notable attempt to document a spiritual and political revolution that has been indefinitely deferred, fragmented by the forces of modernity. Although Avikunthak has previously conducted visual translations of his obsession with the works of Samuel Beckett in films like “End Note” (2005), it reaches new heights in “The Churning of Kalki”. The latter is Avikunthak’s interpretation of Beckett’s seminal theatrical masterpiece “Waiting for Godot” and continues most of the play’s investigations, contextualised differently within frameworks that have Indian history and mythology embedded in them.
Filmed during the Maha Kumbh Mela which is...
- 7/26/2021
- by Swapnil Dhruv Bose
- AsianMoviePulse
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi reaches a new grandeur with this engrossing adaptation about a theatre director grappling with Chekhov and his wife’s infidelity
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s mysterious and beautiful new film is inspired by Haruki Murakami’s short story of the same name – and that title, like Murakami’s Norwegian Wood, is designed to tease us with the shiny wistfulness of a Beatles lyric. Hamaguchi’s previous pictures Asako I and II and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy were about the enigma of identity, the theatrical role play involved in all social interaction and erotic rapture of intimacy. Drive My Car is about all this and more; where once Hamaguchi’s film-making language had seemed to me at the level of jeu d’esprit, now it ascends to something with passion and even a kind of grandeur. It is a film about the link between confession, creativity and sexuality and the...
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s mysterious and beautiful new film is inspired by Haruki Murakami’s short story of the same name – and that title, like Murakami’s Norwegian Wood, is designed to tease us with the shiny wistfulness of a Beatles lyric. Hamaguchi’s previous pictures Asako I and II and Wheel of Fortune and Fantasy were about the enigma of identity, the theatrical role play involved in all social interaction and erotic rapture of intimacy. Drive My Car is about all this and more; where once Hamaguchi’s film-making language had seemed to me at the level of jeu d’esprit, now it ascends to something with passion and even a kind of grandeur. It is a film about the link between confession, creativity and sexuality and the...
- 7/14/2021
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The Lincoln Center Theater production of Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s award-winning play Pass Over will begin performances August 4 at the August Wilson Theatre, making it first Broadway show in line to hit the stage since the industry’s Covid shutdown in 2020.
As now planned, Pass Over will begin preview performances nearly a full month before the previous front-runner, Hadestown, returns on Sept. 2. The official opening night for Pass Over will be Sunday, Sept. 12; tickets go on sale Friday for performances through Oct. 10.
Directed by Obie Award winner Danya Taymor, Pass Over will star Jon Michael Hill, Namir Smallwood in his Broadway debut, and Tony Award winner Gabriel Ebert (Matilda). Pass Over will mark the Broadway debuts of writer Nwandu and director Taymor.
The play’s world premiere was produced and presented at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and was filmed by director Spike Lee for a film...
As now planned, Pass Over will begin preview performances nearly a full month before the previous front-runner, Hadestown, returns on Sept. 2. The official opening night for Pass Over will be Sunday, Sept. 12; tickets go on sale Friday for performances through Oct. 10.
Directed by Obie Award winner Danya Taymor, Pass Over will star Jon Michael Hill, Namir Smallwood in his Broadway debut, and Tony Award winner Gabriel Ebert (Matilda). Pass Over will mark the Broadway debuts of writer Nwandu and director Taymor.
The play’s world premiere was produced and presented at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and was filmed by director Spike Lee for a film...
- 6/1/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Antoinette Chinonye Nwandu’s play Pass Over, which received the 2019 Lortel Award for Outstanding Play for its Off Broadway run, will open at Broadway’s August Wilson Theatre for a limited engagement. Dates and cast have not been announced.
The play will be directed by Obie Award winner Danya Taymor.
The 2017 play, which was filmed at Chicago’s Steppenwolf theater by Spike Lee for a 2018 adaptation that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, will be updated and revised for its Broadway debut. The Broadway production will be “a new version that centers the health, hope and joy of our audiences, especially Black people,” said the playwright in a statement.
Pass Over, drawing inspiration from Waiting for Godot and the Exodus story, is set on a city street corner where Moses and Kitch “stand around – talking shit, passing the time, and hoping that maybe today will be different.” As they dream of their promised land,...
The play will be directed by Obie Award winner Danya Taymor.
The 2017 play, which was filmed at Chicago’s Steppenwolf theater by Spike Lee for a 2018 adaptation that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, will be updated and revised for its Broadway debut. The Broadway production will be “a new version that centers the health, hope and joy of our audiences, especially Black people,” said the playwright in a statement.
Pass Over, drawing inspiration from Waiting for Godot and the Exodus story, is set on a city street corner where Moses and Kitch “stand around – talking shit, passing the time, and hoping that maybe today will be different.” As they dream of their promised land,...
- 5/4/2021
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
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