Tom Hiddleston, Martin Freeman, James McAvoy, Judi Dench - The Olivier awards 2014 red carpet – in pictures, plus winners

THE GUARDIAN
Mark Brown, arts correspondent
The Guardian, Sunday 13 April 2014

Host Stephen Mangan and Louise Delamere on the red carpet. Photograph: Dave J Hogan/Getty Images

The winners

Best actor Rory Kinnear for Othello at the National theatre, Olivier

Best actress Lesley Manville for Ghosts at the Almeida theatre & Trafalgar studios

Best actor in a supporting role Jack Lowden for Ghosts at the Almeida theatre & Trafalgar studios

Best actress in a supporting role Sharon D Clarke for The Amen Corner at the National theatre, Olivier

American Airlines best new play Chimerica at the Almeida theatre & Harold Pinter theatre

Best new comedy Jeeves & Wooster In Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of York's theatre

Best director Lyndsey Turner for Chimerica at the Almeida theatre & Harold Pinter theatre

Best actor in a musical Gavin Creel for The Book Of Mormon at the Prince of Wales theatre

Best actress in a musical Zrinka Cvitešić for Once at the Phoenix theatre

Best performance in a supporting role in a musical Stephen Ashfield for The Book Of Mormon at the Prince of Wales theatre

Mastercard best new musical The Book Of Mormon at the Prince of Wales theatre

Best revival Ghosts at the Almeida theatre & Trafalgar studios

Best musical revival Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter theatre

Best theatre choreographer Casey Nicholaw for The Book Of Mormon at the Prince of Wales theatre

Best entertainment and family The Wind In The Willows at the Duchess theatre

Autograph sound award for outstanding achievement in music Once – Martin Lowe for composition & arrangements, Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová for music and lyrics

White Light award for best lighting design Tim Lutkin & Finn Ross for Chimerica at the Almeida theatre & Harold Pinter theatre Paul Pyant and Jon Driscoll for Charlie And The Chocolate Factory at Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Best sound design Carolyn Downing for Chimerica at the Almeida theatre & Harold Pinter theatre Gareth Owen for Merrily We Roll Along at the Harold Pinter theatre

Best costume design Mark Thompson for Charlie And The Chocolate Factory at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane

Xl video award for best set design Es Devlin for Chimerica at the Almeida theatre & Harold Pinter theatre

Outstanding achievement in an affiliate theatre Handbagged at the Tricycle theatre

Best new dance production Eastman – Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui & Sadler's Wells for Puz/zle at Sadler's Wells

Outstanding achievement in dance Michael Hulls for his body of lighting work including Ballet Boyz – The Talent at Sadler's Wells

Best new opera production Les Vêpres Siciliennes at the Royal Opera House

Outstanding achievement in opera English Touring Opera for its brave and challenging touring productions at the Linbury studio theatre, Royal Opera House

BBC Radio 2 audience award Les Misérables at the Queen's theatre

READ MORE HERE; http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/apr/13/almeida-theatre-wins-olivia-awards-chimerica-west-end

Olivier Awards 2014 nominees

THE GUARDIAN
theguardian.com, Monday 10 March 2014 08.01 EDT

Best actor

Henry Goodman – The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the Duchess theatre

Tom Hiddleston – Coriolanus at the Donmar Warehouse

Rory Kinnear – Othello at the National Theatre, Olivier

Jude Law – Henry V at the Noël Coward theatre

Best actress

Hayley Atwell – The Pride at the Trafalgar Studios

Anna Chancellor – Private Lives at the Gielgud theatre

Judi Dench – Peter and Alice at the Noël Coward theatre

Lesley Manville – Ghosts at the Almeida theatre & Trafalgar Studios

Best actor in a supporting role

Ron Cook – Henry V at the Noël Coward theatre

Mark Gatiss – Coriolanus at the Donmar Warehouse

Jack Lowden – Ghosts at the Almeida theatre & Trafalgar Studios

Ardal O'Hanlon – The Weir at the Donmar Warehouse & the Wyndham's theatre

Best actress in a supporting role

Sharon D Clarke – The Amen Corner at the National Theatre, Olivier

Sarah Greene – The Cripple Of Inishmaan at the Noël Coward theatre

Katherine Kingsley – A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Noël Coward theatre

Cecilia Noble – The Amen Corner at the National Theatre, Olivier

American airlines best new play

1984 at the Almeida theatre

Chimerica at the Almeida theatre & Harold Pinter theatre

The Night Alive at the Donmar Warehouse

Peter and Alice at the Noël Coward theatre

Best new comedy

The Duck House at the Vaudeville theatre

The Full Monty at the Noël Coward theatre

Jeeves & Wooster In Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of York's theatre

The Same Deep Water As Me at the Donmar Warehouse

COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINEES: http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/mar/10/olivier-awards-2014-full-list-nominations

Matthew Macfadyen interview - Ripper Street, Perfect Nonsense

INTERVIEW MAGAZINE
By EMMA BROWN




In fiction, Victorian London is synonymous with all things seedy: corrupt politicians lording over—or ignoring—an impoverished underworld of drug dens, prostitutes, murderers (both supernatural and natural), and sideshows. This is the London of Sherlock Holmes, Inspector Bucket, Sally Lockhart, and Deputy Inspector Edmund Reid, star of BBC America's drama Ripper Street. Now in its second season (and with a third confirmed), Ripper Street follows Reid and his two right-hand men—Game of Thrones' Jerome Flynn and American Adam Rothenberg—as they uncover the city's burgeoning heroin trade and the official who support it (Joseph Mawle). Played by Matthew Macfadyen, Reid's precinct patrols Whitechapel, most famous at the time as the borough of Jack the Ripper.

Macfadyen is certainly a familiar face; now, 39, the actor has appeared in high-profile British films such as Anna Karenina, Pride and Prejudice, Frost/Nixon, and Enigma. We spoke with Macfadyen, who is currently finishing a play in London, over the phone.

EMMA BROWN: I heard that you're in rehearsals. What are you rehearsing for?

MATTHEW MACFADYEN: I'm not rehearsing for anything. I'm doing a play in the West End [Perfect Nonsense]. I finish in six weeks. It's a sort of farce about Jeeves and Wooster, the P.G. Wodehouse characters. It's based on one of their books. It's good fun.

BROWN: Are you Jeeves or Wooster?

MACFADYEN: I'm Jeeves, among others. There's only three of us and there's eight parts or so, so we play lots of parts. There's a bit of cross-dressing going on.

BROWN: When you're doing a play, do you feel that you're better at the end of the run than you were at the beginning?

MACFADYEN: Probably inevitably. If the play's good and you've got a feeling for it and you're allowed to explore, inevitably it gets a bit richer and more layered. I'm coming towards the end of a run, and it's slightly different with a comedy—it's very technical, but the adrenaline that's there in the beginning is gone. It's a whole trick in itself to keep things fresh so you're not being deadened by the repetition. In a comedy you get lots of laughter back, so that's quite energizing. It's a weird one; we will have done 198 shows by the end.

BROWN: When's the last time you forgot your lines?

MACFADYEN: A couple weeks ago, but I recovered quickly.

BROWN: No one noticed?

MACFADYEN: I don't think so. I actually forgot my lines and laughed, because the guy I'm playing opposite made me laugh, Stephen Mangan. He's very funny. He's that guy from Episodes on Showtime. He made me laugh and I forgot my lines. Bastard.

BROWN: Did you know Stephen and the other actor before you signed on for the play?

MACFADYEN: Stephen I did know—he was a year above me at drama school. Mark Hadfield, who's the other actor, is wonderful. I knew of him, but I hadn't worked with him before.

BROWN: Have you ever performed a comedic play to a silent house?

MACFADYEN: No, usually they laugh. But it's funny when you're doing a comedy, because you're listening for the audience so much when you're onstage. Every audience has a completely different character from the night before. We played right through Christmas and, before Christmas, audiences were a little bit ill-tempered, a little grouchy. It was fascinating to see. We realized it was because they had half a mind on their Christmas presents and having to travel somewhere to go and see relatives. They weren't wholly there listening to the show. As soon as Christmas was done, the audiences went up a notch and sort of relaxed. It was very funny.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.interviewmagazine.com/culture/matthew-macfadyen-ripper-street/#_

Matthew Macfadyen: Jeeves & Wooster in Perfect Nonsense (review). I say, chaps, a top-hole show!

THE BUCKS HERALD
by Anne Cox
anne.cox@jpress.co.uk
15 November, 2013



What ho! Gosh, there’s jolly fun to be had at the theatre these days. Had a simply spiffing time at The Duke Of York’s this week seeing a new comedy featuring a pair of coves that had me in oodles of laughter.

It was Perfect Nonsense of course but the audience laughed like drains. I can’t think of a better night’s entertainment.

It seems impossible to imagine but the hilarious antics of Bertie Wooster and his man, Jeeves, have never made it into the West End – until now. Writer PG Wodehouse would have been delighted that his creations have finally won the recognition they deserve.

His stories, and there are shelves of them, have been notoriously hard to lift off the page. Making the leap to stage or screen has, on the whole, been disappointing (the recent Blandings series on Sunday afternoon BBCTV is a case in point).

But now, everything has come together, in a show that is a hoot to watch from beginning to end. It’s blessed with a near perfect cast and the pedigree of a top-hole production team.

Is casting the key? Stephen Mangan, as Wooster, is sublime. He’s charismatic from the outset, with an ear-to-ear beam that displays his pearly whites to perfection. You can’t help falling for his charm. Wooster/Mangan is just so bally endearing. The chap is brimming with innocence and whimsy, the eternal optimist who seems to always land on his feet no matter what fix he’s in.

He’s joined in this escapade by Matthew Macfadyen who has never struck me as having any sort of funny bone judging from a biography that leans heavily towards classical and heavyweight drama. How wrong I was.

He is the epitome of a gentleman’s gentleman with a beautifully paced performance that is shared by his acting partner, the Macfadyen Left Eyebrow, which should really have its own entry in the programme. It rises in incredulity at frequent intervals and obviously went to the same acting classes as Roger Moore’s Left Eyebrow. It deserves an Olivier.

Who’d have thought the star of Spooks, Wuthering Heights and Ripper Street, was imbued with a sense of humour? It’s rare to ever see him smile or be, in any way, animated in his previous roles. Here he lets caution to the wind and even dons a dress (nice legs, by the way). I hope this is a turning point for the actor. He really should show his comedic talents more often. Mr M, a solidly built, lofty 6ft 3ins, even dances (though I doubt whether he’d score more than a 3 on Strictly).

READ MORE HERE: http://www.bucksherald.co.uk/what-s-on/theatre/jeeves-wooster-in-perfect-nonsense-review-i-say-chaps-a-top-hole-show-1-5683266

Podcast: Stephen Mangan, Matthew Macfadyen and Sean Foley at Jeeves & Wooster Q&A

Listen to the post-show Q&A with cast members Matthew Macfadyen and Stephen Mangan and director Sean Foley on our Outing to see Jeeves and Wooster - Perfect Nonsense 

WHAT'S ON STAGE

By Editorial Staff • 6 Nov 2013 • London

Last night we took over 100 theatregoers to see Sean Foley's production of Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense at the Duke of York's Theatre.

Written by siblings Robert and David Goodale, Perfect Nonsense is adapted from PG Wodehouse's The Code of the Woosters (1938), the first installment in the Totleigh Towers saga.

The play stars Stephen Mangan as Bertie Wooster, Matthew Macfadyen as Jeeves and Mark Hadfield as Seppings.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/11-2013/podcast-stephen-mangan-matthew-macfadyen-and-sean-_32560.html?cid=homepage_news

 

Matthew Macfadyen, Stephen Mangan images from PERFECT NONSENSE, at the Duke of York theatre (CONTACT MUSIC)

 

Stephen Mangan and Matthew Macfadyen: On friendship and Jeeves and Wooster

Stephen Mangan and Macfadyen have known each other for nearly 20 years (Picture: Manuel Harlan)

METRO
Thursday 31 Oct 2013 6:00 am

‘It’s like trying to do a 1,000-piece jigsaw – you think you’ll never get it.’ Stephen Mangan is preparing to take to the West End stage as disaster-prone aristo Bertie Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, a new farce based on PG Wodehouse’s novels.

‘It’s the most ridiculously complicated plot in the history of theatre!’ he declares of the Goodale brothers’ furiously fast and funny play-within-a-play.

Fortunately, Matthew Macfadyen, playing Bertie’s unflappable valet, is on hand to bring a touch of Jeevesian calm to the situation. ‘It’s exactly like a dance,’ he says. ‘It’s more about having it in your body, a physical memory.’

If you’re going to form a double act with someone, it’s probably a good idea to do it with a friend. Mangan and Macfadyen have known one another for almost 20 years, having been at Rada at the same time and previously worked together on productions of Much Ado About Nothing and Richard Sheridan’s The School For Scandal. ‘Because we know one another well, there wasn’t that: “Will we like each other? Do we have the same sense of humour?” worry before we started rehearsals,’ says Mangan.

Playing such a well-known duo inevitably brings weighty expectations, not least from devotees of the books. Are they connoisseurs of Wodehouse’s novels? ‘I’ve probably read about 15,’ says Mangan. Macfadyen confesses to having managed only one. ‘Three children,’ he proffers by way of explanation.

‘There’s always an anxiety about playing literary characters because one of the great joys of reading books is that you can create your own vision of things,’ says Mangan. ‘Everyone who knows and loves those books will have an idea of what Bertie and Jeeves should look like.’

For audiences raised on the classic early 1990s TV adaptation, of course, they probably look quite a lot like Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie. Is that hard to compete with?

‘There’s a new Hamlet every eight months in the West End, so hopefully people will be able to cope with another Jeeves and Wooster after 20 years,’ laughs Mangan. ‘I should play Bertie as a depressed Norwegian with a limp. Then people would say: “Wow, look what’s he done with the part!”’

Macfadyen has been in this position before: he played Mr Darcy in the 2005 film version of Pride And Prejudice, which followed in the wake of the popular BBC TV adaptation. ‘Every interview I did I was asked about Colin Firth. I would patiently explain that most actors don’t think: “How am I going to make it different?”’ he says, patiently. ‘You simply can’t work like that. What you think is: “Isn’t it lovely that I’m treading in the same shoes as this lovely actor.”’

Mangan is philosophical about being handpicked for the role of Wooster, who is dismissed as ‘mentally negligible’ by Jeeves in the novels. ‘You’re talking to the man who’s played Adrian Mole and Postman Pat,’ he laughs.

‘Between them, they’re probably the three sexiest characters in the English tradition.’ He adds with mock-solemnity: ‘You think you’re going to grow up to play James Bond but you get offered Bertie Wooster instead.’ Whether he ever gets to play 007 or not, he doesn’t seem too unhappy with his lot.

Though both actors are well-known for their film and TV work, they are clearly relishing the prospect of returning to the theatre. ‘You never hear anybody laugh when you’re filming a TV show or a movie,’ says Mangan. ‘In the theatre, an audience that’s really up for it and generous will get actors giving their best performances. It’s a two-way thing.’

READ MORE HERE: http://metro.co.uk/2013/10/31/stephen-mangan-and-matthew-macfadyen-on-friendship-and-jeeves-and-wooster-4167223/

Matthew Macfadyen, Stephen Mangan on The One Show discussing Jeeves and Bertie Wooster

Fallon6MM

Matthew Macfadyen: Review: Jeeves and Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, Theatre Royal Brighton, until Saturday October 26

SUSSEX EXPRESS
October 24, 2013

I was interested to see how a theatre adaption of Jeeves and Wooster would be updated for modern times.

Would it appear a bit dated perhaps? Would the jokes still be funny? And would there be enough laughs?

I need not have worried because this adaptation starring Stephen Mangan (Green Wing) and Matthew Macfadyen (Spooks) was an absolute riot from start to finish.

Humour has been injected into this play at every possible opportunity.

The performances from Mangan (Wooster), Matthew Macfadyen (Jeeves) and Mark Hadfield (Seppings) are side splittingly funny and the trio boast brilliant comic timing.

While Mangan plays just one character, Matthew Macfadyen and Hadfield play a multitude of different characters, including women.

And Hadfield plays a seven foot man, which involves standing on a chair in a very long coat.

Plus Matthew Macfadyen plays both a man and a woman at the same time, thanks to some inventive costumes, where he is split down the middle - one half man other half woman.

The stage too is used to create yet more humour. The clever Jeeves uses a bicycle to power a revolving stage and change the scenery. He has made furniture on wheels to move about.

This was the most imaginative use of scenery I have ever seen in the theatre - not only was it creative but it set up lots of the jokes in the play too.

The relationship dynamic between Jeeves and Wooster is of course filled with comedy.

Matthew Macfadyen is cool and collected as Jeeves, while Mangan plays Wooster like an over excited young chap who takes child like delight in the world.

And watch out for the lightning speed costume changes and some improvisation along the way.

Oh and they finish with a 20s flapper style dance which is so much fun.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/review-jeeves-and-wooster-in-perfect-nonsense-theatre-royal-brighton-until-saturday-october-26-1-5621695

Rehearsal Pics: Stephen Mangan and Matthew Macfadyen rehearse Perfect Nonsense

WHAT'S ON STAGE
Editorial Staff
4 October, 2013

Stephen Mangan and Matthew Macfadyen are deep in rehearsals for Perfect Nonsense, which opens at the Duke of York's Theatre from 30 October 2013 (press night 12 November) following runs at Richmond Theatre (10-19 October) and Brighton Theatre Royal (22-26 October).

The production, which is directed by Sean Foley (look out for our forthcoming interview), is adapted by siblings Robert and David Goodale from PG Wodehouse's The Code of the Woosters (1938), the first installment in the Totleigh Towers saga.

Matthew Macfadyen, who has starred in films including Pride and Prejudice and Anna Kerenina, described the play as "an absolute hoot". He added: "I'm also especially pleased to be working again with the supremely talented Messrs Mangan and Foley."

Stephen Mangan is best known for TV roles in Green Wing, I'm Alan Partridge, Episodes and Dirk Gently. He has also appeared in numerous stage productions including Birthday and The People Are Friendly at the Royal Court and The Norman Conquests at the Old Vic.

READ MORE HERE:http://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/10-2013/rehearsal-pics-stephen-mangan-and-matthew-macfadye_32147.html?cid=homepage_news

Come on our hosted WhatsOnStage Outing on 5 November. Click here  for more information.

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

Win a pair of tickets to see Matthew Macfadyen and Stephen Mangan as Jeeves & Wooster plus an overnight stay in London

THE GUARDIAN
the guardian.com, Friday 13 September 2013 05.41 EDT

When a perfectly delightful trip to the countryside takes a turn for the worse, Bertie Wooster is unwittingly called on to play matchmaker – reconciling the affections of his host's drippy daughter Madeline Bassett with his newt-fancying acquaintance Gussie Fink-Nottle. If Bertie, ably assisted by the ever-dependable Jeeves, can't pull off the wedding of the season, he'll be forced to abandon his cherished bachelor status and marry the ghastly girl himself! Jeeves & Wooster in 'Perfect Nonsense' opens at the Duke of York's Theatre next month.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THIS COMPETITION

Matthew Macadyen - Jeeves and Wooster stills

Via Matthew Macfadyen News

Matthew Macfadyen: What ho! Jeeves and Wooster head for West End By Tim Masters Entertainment and arts correspondent, BBC News

Almost a hundred years on from their first appearance in print, PG Wodehouse's comic creations Jeeves and Wooster are being resurrected on stage.

Matthew Macfadyen will play valet Jeeves with Stephen Mangan as the dim but amiable Bertie Wooster in Perfect Nonsense, by Robert and David Goodale.

"I'm ridiculously excited and slightly scared," Mangan told the BBC.

Perfect Nonsense will open in Richmond and Brighton in October ahead of a West End run at the Duke of York's Theatre.

The new play, which has the blessing of the Wodehouse Estate, is based on 1938 novel The Code of the Woosters.

Mangan confessed he had never read any PG Wodehouse before he was approached about the role of the "mentally negligible" Wooster.

"It was one of those things I'd always meant to do," he said. "As everyone says, he's the finest comedy writer the English language has ever produced.

"So I started tucking in, and it's like crack cocaine. Wodehouse wrote about 90 novels and I've read about a third of them."

"This play from Bobby and David Goodale is an absolute hoot - a wonderfully crafted and joyful bit of perfect nonsense," said former Spooks star Macfadyen. "I am delighted to be a part of it."

Mangan said he wasn't daunted by Fry and Laurie's much-loved portrayals. "They were perfect casting and the TV show was brilliant, but TV and theatre are different things.

"You get a different Hamlet every seven months on the London stage, so I think we can cope with two Jeeves and Woosters in 20 years."

Perfect Nonsense plays at Richmond Theatre from 10 to 19 October and Theatre Royal Brighton from 22 to 26 October. It will then run at the Duke of York's in London from 30 October.

READ MORE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22715927

Matthew Macfadyen: Jeeves and Wooster to take to West End stage in Perfect Nonsense (GUARDIAN) Mark Brown, arts correspondent

Matthew Macfadyen will star as Jeeves (left) and Stephen Mangan as Wooster at the Duke of York's Theatre. Photograph: Uli Weber

There are the books of course, TV series in the sixties and nineties, radio adaptations and a musical take from Andrew Lloyd Webber but, dash it, never a stage play featuring one of the greatest comedy double acts ever conceived.

On Monday a corrective to that will be announced. PG Wodehouse's Jeeves and Wooster are finally coming to the West End in a new play starring Stephen Mangan as the endearingly idiotic Bertie and Matthew Macfadyen as his brilliant, unflappable butler.

Mangan, recently seen in the BBC2 sitcom Episodes, said he was "ridiculously excited" at the prospect, although he admitted he had not read any of the Wodehouse books before being offered the role.

"I always meant to," he told the Guardian. "Everyone tells you how funny they are, but for some reason I never got round to him. They gave me the script, I started reading some books and I've been ploughing through them since then. It's like crack cocaine.

"I'm quite pleased with myself for holding out for so long because it means I've got them all in my head. I don't think anyone else can quite coin a sentence with such invention and wit. Wit almost doesn't seem a big enough word for it. The sheer brilliance of the writing almost takes your breath away."

The play, called Perfect Nonsense, by the brothers Robert and David Goodale, is largely based on Wodehouse's 1938 book The Code of the Woosters, described by some critics as his best work.

The play will open at the Duke of York's Theatre on 30 October after short runs at Richmond Theatre and the Brighton Theatre Royal.

READ MORE:http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2013/jun/02/jeeves-and-wooster-west-end