London Year-End Roundup: Five Best Productions of 2013 (Matt Smith, Rupert Grint, Brendan Coyle, Rufus Sewell...)

BROADWAY BUZZ
 By Matt Wolf December 25, 2013 - 12:00AM



American Psycho, Almeida Theatre
Critics were divided on the merits of Spring Awakening composer Duncan Sheik’s stage take on the era-defining Bret Easton Ellis novel, and who can blame them? One must look back to Sweeney Todd to find a musical that makes such a compelling case for putting psychosis center-stage. In Rupert Goold’s expert production, British TV name Matt Smith (Doctor Who) makes the gym-fit Patrick Bateman a charismatic killer of anyone’s dreams…or, make that nightmares. You have until February 1 to be drawn in—and then recoil—for yourself.

Mojo, Harold Pinter Theatre
Can a play that looked show-offy and posturing in one incarnation seem mournful and even profound the next? The answer is there to be savored in Mojo, running through February 8 at the Harold Pinter Theater (an apt locale given that Pinter himself appeared in Jez Butterworth’s 1997 film adaptation of gangster low-life in 1950s London). The cast—encompassing Harry Potter star Rupert Grint, Skyfall’s Ben Whishaw and Downtown Abbey’s own Bates, Brendan Coyle—remains the starriest seen in London all year, and the peerless director is Ian Rickson.

Old Times, Harold Pinter Theatre
Two brilliant actresses, Oscar nominee Kristin Scott Thomas and Tony nominee Lia Williams, traded roles throughout the run of Ian Rickson’s quietly dazzling take on Harold Pinter’s 1971 play, which meant audiences got two chances to ponder the shimmering mysteries at the heart of the text. This was a big year on both sides of the Atlantic for the Nobel laureate, with Broadway’s starry No Man’s Land and Betrayal competing for attention, as well. But Rickson and his cast of three, including the divine Rufus Sewell, stood a league apart. Can they go to Broadway, as well, please?


READ MORE HERE: http://www.broadway.com/buzz/173767/london-year-end-roundup-five-best-productions-of-2013/harold

Photo Flash: First Look at Brendan Coyle, Rupert Grint and More in MOJO

BWW
November 1, 2013

Ian Rickson directs Brendan Coyle (Mickey), Rupert Grint (Sweets), Daniel Mays (Potts), Colin Morgan (Skinny), Ben Whishaw (Baby) and Tom Rhys Harries (Silver Johnny) in a major West End revival of Jez Butterworth's award-winning Mojo, reuniting director and writer who previously collaborated on the play's world premiere at the Royal Court in 1995. Mojo is booking to 25 January 2014, with press night on 13 November 2013. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the cast in action below!

Mojo is produced in the West End by Sonia Friedman Productions who also produced Butterworth and Rickson's internationally-acclaimed Jerusalem.

The show runs at the Harold Pinter Theatre, Panton Street, London SW1Y 4DN. Booking until 25 January 2014. Press night: 13 November at 7pm. Performances: Monday - Saturday 7.30pm, Thursday and Saturday matinees 2.30pm. First midweek matinee 7 November. No matinee on Thursday 14 November at 2.30pm. Replacement matinee Tuesday 12 November at 2.30pM. Prices: £10 - £50 until 16 November 2013. Then £10 - £55.00; all prices include a £1.50 restoration levy. There is a number of front row stalls seats available as day seats at £10 for every performance, released for sale at the Box Office on day of performance, in person at 10am. Box Office: 0844 871 7622 or www.mojotheplay.com.


READ MORE HERE:http://www.broadwayworld.com/westend/article/Photo-Flash-First-Look-at-Brendan-Coyle-Rupert-Grint-and-More-in-MOJO-20131101#

Photo Credit: Simon Annand

Rupert Grint and Brendan Coyle Collaborate On Stage in West End Production

BBC AMERICA

By Leah Rozen | Posted on July 29th, 2013

The worlds of Harry Potter and Downton Abbey will collide this fall when Rupert Grint and Brendan Coyle appear together on the West End stage in a London revival of Mojo, a crime drama about petty crooks and gangsters.

If you’re thinking about booking tickets and hopping a plane across the Atlantic, the just announced production will begin performances at the Harold Pinter Theater on Oct. 26.

Grint, 24, who played Ron Weasley in eight Harry Potter films, will be making his stage debut. Coyle, who portrays valet John Bates on Downton, is a veteran of the London stage.

Mojo, written by Jez Butterworth, was first staged at the Royal Court Theater in London in 1995. This new revival will costar Ben Whishaw (BBC America’s The Hour and Skyfall) and Daniel Mays (Made in Dagenham). Ian Rickson, who directed the original production, will again be directing.

It was Rickson’s idea to cast Grint. “I’d seen the Potter films with my daughter and always thought Rupert was truthful as Ron Weasley,” Rickson told entertainment columnist Baz Bamigboye of the Daily Mail. “There’s something ordinary and centered about him, and in this world of Mojo you want that grittiness.”

READ MORE HERE: http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2013/07/rupert-grint-and-brendan-coyle-collaborate-on-stage-in-west-end-production/

Rupert Grint, Brendan Coyle, Ben Whishaw and Daniel Mays star in Mojo revival

Ian Rickson's all-star production at the Harold Pinter Theatre from 26 October

By Theo Bosanquet • 25 Jul 2013 • London

WHAT'S ON STAGE

As previously rumoured, Harry Potter star Rupert Grint will make his stage debut in a revival of Jez Butterworth's play Mojo later this year.

According to the Daily Mail, Grint will star alongside Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey), Ben Whishaw (Skyfall, Hamlet) and Daniel Mays (Trelawny of the Wells, Mrs Biggs) in the production.

Brendan Coyle will return to the stage after a gap due to his Downton Abbey commitments. An accomplished stage actor, he won an Olivier Award in 1999 for Conor McPherson's The Weir (the Donmar's recent revival of which is transferring  to the West End in January).

Ben Whishaw rose to prominence after starring in Trevor Nunn's acclaimed Old Vic production of Hamlet directly out of drama school. He has since appeared on stage in Mike Bartlett's Cock at the Royal Court and, most recently, Peter and Alice opposite Judi Dench in the West End.

READ MORE: http://www.whatsonstage.com/london-theatre/news/07-2013/rupert-grint-brendan-coyle-ben-whishaw-and-daniel-_31420.html