Annie Lennox, Sophie Hunter and Benedict Cumberbatch listened as the US president described meeting the royals

THE MIRROR
BY LUCY BUCKLAND

Proving his celebrity transcends all walks of life, stars have flocked to Barack Obama 's live question and answers session this morning.

Benedict Cumberbatch, Australian beauty Holly Valance and British singer Annie Lennox all listened intently as the US President hosted his "town-hall" style meeting during the second day of his visit to the UK ahead of his meeting with Jeremy Corbyn .

The US president took questions from ordinary Brits after stopping off at London's Globe Theatre to mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare .

READ MORE HERE: http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/stars-flock-barack-obamas-sensational-7815854

(video) Prince Charles plays Hamlet alongside Benedict Cumberbatch, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Ian McKellen

THE TELEGRAPH
 Harry Wallop, video courtesy bbc two / shakespeare live
23 APRIL 2016 • 10:12PM



The Prince of Wales - briefly - became the Prince of Denmark on Saturday.

Prince Charles appeared on stage at Stratford as part of a stellar cast in Shakespeare Live, a light-hearted tribute to Britain's most famous writer, 400 years to the day after he died.



Prince Charles uttered Shakespeare's most famous line "to be or not to be", managing to achieve not just every actor's dream, but trump Dame Judi Dench.

His short contribution came as part of a complex and witty homage to Shakespeare and his soliloquy from Hamlet known the world over.

Prince Charles appeared alongside Tim Minchin, Benedict Cumberbatch, Harriet Walter, David Tennant, Rory Kinnear, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, and the RSC’s current Hamlet, Paapa Essiedu.

It was a fitting finale to a day of celebrations in Stratford that mixed solemnity, pomp, quite a bit of low farce - and royalty. William Shakespeare probably would have approved.

Thousands gathered in Stratford-Upon-Avon on Saturday to celebrate the death of Britain’s most famous writer – and his birthday too.
 

READ MORE HERE:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/04/23/prince-charles-plays-hamlet-in-brilliant-bbc-sketch/

Benedict Cumberbatch stars as crazed royal in trailer for The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses

SUN

Benedict Cumberbatch takes centre stage in the latest instalment of BBC Shakespeare series The Hollow Crown.

Titled The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses, Benedict will star alongside Dame Judi Dench, Hugh Bonneville and Sophie Okonedo.

The Sherlock star will be leading the cast as Richard III in the show as the UK celebrates Shakespeare's 800th birthday.


The story will follow Richard III's descent into madness and tracks his life from childhood.

Writer Dominic Cook, while talking to The Express, said of the king, “He’s quite monstrous, he ends up murdering children in the plays. He’s a psychopath. There’s no two ways about it: he’s a psychopath.

“But why did he become like that? There’s a story that leads up to that."

He later added: “There are some incidents he witnesses as a child that are horrific and contribute to him becoming a human being who is not able to empathise with other human beings.”

This new collection will be sure to delight Sherlock fans as Benedict, 39, reunites with Andrew Scott — who plays nemesis Moriarty on the hit BBC show.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/7085904/Benedict-Cumberbatch-stars-in-The-Hollow-Crown.html

Michael Fassbender on making 'Macbeth': 'the Scottish film'

THE DENVER POST
By Jake Coyle AP Film Writer
POSTED:   05/22/2015 05:22:09 AM MDT




CANNES, France (AP) — Michael Fassbender doesn't know if the "Macbeth" curse carries over to movie adaptations, but he'd rather not test it.

"The Scottish film" is what Michael Fassbender calls his "Macbeth" adaption, which is set to premiere Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival. He's maintaining the theatrical superstition of not speaking the name of Shakespeare's play — at least he wasn't in an interview ahead of the festival.

"Sometimes I say it, sometimes I don't," Fassbender said. "It depends on the day."

"Macbeth," usually referred to by the euphemism "the Scottish play" by actors wary of its legendary spell, will be the final film to screen in competition at Cannes. Directed by Australian director Justin Kurzel and co-starring Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth, it has been eagerly awaited as the blood-soaked finale of the French Riviera festival, which concludes Sunday with the presentation of the Palme d'Or top prize.

Although interpreting Shakespeare is a traditional rite of passage for any British Isles actor of ambition, it wasn't a priority for Fassbender, the Oscar-nominated actor of "12 Years a Slave," ''Shame" and the "X-Men" films. The film marks the first entry into Shakespeare, on stage or screen, by the German-born, Ireland-raised Fassbender.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_28169019/michael-fassbender-making-macbeth-scottish-film

Judi Dench to star with Benedict Cumberbatch in Shakespeare

THE TELEGRAPH
By Anita Singh, Arts and Entertainment Editor7:59PM BST 01 Jun 2014




Dame Judi Dench is to star opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in Richard III after the Sherlock actor ambushed her during a Shakespeare masterclass.

The veteran actress will play Queen Margaret to Cumberbatch's hunchbacked monarch in a BBC production this autumn.

Appearing before an audience on the final day of the Hay Festival, in conversation with Sir Richard Eyre, Dame Judi was initially coy about whether she would take the part.

Cumberbatch approached her several months ago, it emerged, and has been trying to persuade her to take the role.

But she was put on the spot when the audience were invited to participate in the discussion and Cumberbatch, from his seat in the front row, seized his opportunity.

Dame Judi Dench is to star opposite Benedict Cumberbatch in Richard III after the Sherlock actor ambushed her during a Shakespeare masterclass.

The veteran actress will play Queen Margaret to Cumberbatch's hunchbacked monarch in a BBC production this autumn.

Appearing before an audience on the final day of the Hay Festival, in conversation with Sir Richard Eyre, Dame Judi was initially coy about whether she would take the part.

Cumberbatch approached her several months ago, it emerged, and has been trying to persuade her to take the role.

But she was put on the spot when the audience were invited to participate in the discussion and Cumberbatch, from his seat in the front row, seized his opportunity.


READ MORE HERE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/10868771/Judi-Dench-to-star-with-Benedict-Cumberbatch-in-Shakespeare.html

Michael Fassbender admits to Macbeth doubts

INDEPENDENT WOMAN
May 25, 2014

The X-Men star portrays the anti-hero in Justin Kurzel's big screen adaptation of William Shakespeare's play, alongside Marion Cotillard as Lady Macbeth.

"(It was) scary. I hope I did justice to it. It's pretty big boots to fill," he said.

Actors who have previously played Macbeth on stage and film include Orson Welles, Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Kenneth Branagh.

The drama, which is set for release in 2015, also stars Southcliffe's Bafta-winning actor Sean Harris as Macduff, Elizabeth Debicki as Lady Macduff and Paddy Considine as Macbeth's ally Banquo.



READ MORE HERE: http://www.independent.ie/woman/celeb-news/fassbender-admits-to-macbeth-doubts-30302727.html

Richard Armitage: New audiobook recasts 'Hamlet' as a thriller

LAS CRUCES SUN NEWS
Mark Kennedy AP Drama Writer
POSTED:   05/20/2014 06:00:46 AM MDT



(Eds: 'Hamlet: Prince of Denmark' available for download beginning Tuesday. With AP Photos.)
NEW YORK (AP) — The hero of a new audiobook is introduced as he lies in bed, tying to sleep on a frigid day in 1601.

He's the heir to the Danish throne, a tall handsome man of 27 with "a pale, finely chiseled face" and "mournful eyes that were the pale gray-blue of the sea in autumn."

"To hell with the throne," the young man says, pulling the sheets over his head when a court jester comes to awaken him. "I want to sleep. Forever."

Not familiar with this guy? You should be. His name is Hamlet.

Audible Inc., the world's largest seller of downloadable audiobooks, has followed the success of their recent novelization of "Macbeth" with a new thriller about the moody prince of Elsinore.

"Hamlet: Prince of Denmark," co-written by Shakespeare expert and novelist A. J. Hartley and British mystery writer David Hewson, was released Tuesday, narrated by "The Hobbit" actor Richard Armitage.

It's a fresh, contemporary take on Shakespeare's tragedy, one not afraid to create new characters or cut long soliloquies. We get a noirish Hamlet, who, when asked by Laertes if he's ready to fence, blurts out: "I've been ready all my life."

The writers admit they're a little nervous about the reaction they'll get for this "Game of Thrones"-like portrait of a slightly bipolar Hamlet who never utters the line "To be or not to be."

 READ MORE HERE: http://www.lcsun-news.com/portal/las_cruces-sunlife/ci_25798021/new-audiobook-recasts-hamlet-thriller?_loopback=1

Online: http://www.audible.com/mt/Hamlet

FIRST LOOK: Michael Fassbender as glowering Macbeth with Marion Cotillard as his blood-stained Lady

MAIL ON-LINE
By AMELIA PROUD
PUBLISHED: 00:58 EST, 15 May 2014 | UPDATED: 04:40 EST, 15 May 2014



There couldn't be a more salivating prospect than Michael Fassbender as Shakespeare's aspirant Macbeth and Marion Cotillard as his manipulative Lady.

And a first look at the posters for the 2015 movie version of the cursed Scottish play - directed by Justin Kurzel - does nothing to quell the appetite

'It’s the first time I’ve played a character with no light, total darkness,' Marion Cotillard told Variety recently of playing Lady Macbeth.

'And when she loses control … I’m affected by the character I live with when I’m shooting, so I lost control of everything, like her, and it was really hard to handle.'

She also told The Independent: 'The depth of humanity in her – but it’s all driven away by fear and despair. How you do things to have a better life – but when they are against humanity, you will fail.'

And she has faith in her co-star: 'I saw a lot of movies [Fassbender] was in, and I have the feeling he’s reached another level here.

'When you start a scene and you don’t really know where you’re going to go, that’s a roller-coaster. Many times I was surprised by what he does in this movie, and this is priceless.'




Read more: http://fixmoneyy2minutes.com/tvshowbiz/article-2628955/Michael-Fassbender-glowering-Macbeth-Marion-Cotillard-blood-stained-Lady.html#ixzz31sl9WyYC 
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Images from Macbeth…Starring Michael Fassbender!

QUICK HIT FLIX
BY ZERO BIRD APRIL 18, 2014 NEWS



This upcoming version of Macbeth not only stars Fassbender (X-Men: First Class, Hunger) and Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), but is being directed by Justin Kurzel, who directed the very heavy Snowtown Murders, which if you haven’t seen, you need to. These first couple of images are gorgeous and I can’t wait to see some footage.

READ MORE HERE: http://quickhitflix.com/images-this-time-macbeth-starring-michael-fassbender/

From Hobbit to hunchback - Martin Freeman set to appear in Shakespearean role

MAIL ON LINE
By BAZ BAMIGBOYE
PUBLISHED: 18:03 EST, 3 April 2014 | UPDATED: 18:25 EST, 3 April 2014

Sherlock and Hobbit star Martin Freeman will play his first Shakespearean role, Richard III, on the London stage this summer.

The actor has made a pact with Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock to his Dr Watson) about treading the boards in plays by the Bard.

Cumberbatch will give his Hamlet at the Barbican — as this page was first to report — in August of 2015.

However, Freeman’s Machiavellian monarch will be in rehearsal by late May or early June of this year, and in performance by July. 

Richard III will run through till September.

Freeman will be leading the first play in the second season for Jamie Lloyd Productions, which performs under the Trafalgar Transformed banner at the Trafalgar Studios in Whitehall. 

Lloyd set up his company with Howard Panter and the Ambassador Theatre Group. 

Tickets for Richard III, the first of four plays in the new season, are expected to go on sale in the next seven to ten days.

Director Lloyd is still casting other roles for Richard III.

Freeman was last on stage at the Royal Court in Bruce Norris’s powerful play Clybourne Park. His career has taken off like a rocket since the success of The Office and Sherlock on BBC television.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2596457/BAZ-BAMIGBOYE-From-Hobbit-hunchback-Martin-Freeman-set-appear-Shakespearean-role.html#ixzz2xsiNNz41 

Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Benedict Cumberbatch confirmed for Hamlet at Barbican in summer 2015

DIGITAL SPY
By Tom Eames
Wednesday, Mar 26 2014, 6:18am EDT



Benedict Cumberbatch has been confirmed to play Hamlet on stage next year.

The Sherlock star will appear in a new production of William Shakespeare's play at London's Barbican Theatre from August to October 2015.

It was previously reported that the play had been delayed from this year to 2015 due to Cumberbatch's schedule, but it had not been officially announced until now.

Lyndsey Turner has also been confirmed as directing the play for Sonia Friedman Productions.

Friedman said that she is "thrilled" to be producing the play, adding that Cumberbatch is "one of the most gifted and exciting actors of his generation".


Read more: http://www.digitalspy.com/celebrity/news/a560248/benedict-cumberbatch-confirmed-for-hamlet-at-barbican-in-summer-2015.html#ixzz2xAUduB2b 
Follow us: @digitalspy on Twitter | digitalspyuk on Facebook

Much Ado About Nothing (David Tennant + Catherine Tate) trailer: watchalong/tweetalong on Valentine’s Day

FLIKFILOSOPHER
Wed Feb 12 2014, 11:22am




Have you seen the wonderful production of Much Ado About Nothing that was in the West End in the summer of 2011? You don’t need to have been in London, and you don’t need to have snagged a ticket to

do so: a filmed version is available to rent or buy at Digital Theatre, the wonderful on-demand service for stage productions. It’s very reasonably priced, and the service is not region-locked, so you can watch from anywhere on the planet.

READ MORE HERE: http://www.flickfilosopher.com/2014/02/much-ado-nothing-david-tennant-catherine-tate-trailer-watchalongtweetalong-valentines-day.html

Video Of Tom Hiddleston Shirtless And Sword Fighting Will Ruin Your Life

BUZZ FEED
Ellie Hall
BuzzFeed Staff

Nothing about this video of Tom Hiddleston backstage before a performance of Coriolanus is okay.

From the first seconds, this artistic video makes it clear that it will cause fangirls worldwide to spontaneously combust.

Even covered in fake blood, he manages to be perfectly charming because of course he does.

And just when you thought he couldn’t get any more attractive, BAM. SWORD FIGHTING.



AND THEN THIS HAPPENED.

TO WITNESS THE REST:http://www.buzzfeed.com/ellievhall/this-important-video-of-tom-hiddleston-shirtless-and-sword-f

 

Tom Hiddleston, interview: from Thor to a sell-out Coriolanus

THE TELEGRAPH
By Chloe Fox11:00AM GMT 14 Jan 2014


Tom Hiddleston photographed for the Telegraph magazine in 2013 Photo: Lorenzo Agius

There is an electric atmosphere in the auditorium of the Donmar Warehouse – more befitting a rock concert than a Shakespearean tragedy – as the audience waits for a preview performance of Coriolanus to begin.

Five years since he last appeared on this small stage as a little-known actor, Tom Hiddleston is returning as a bona fide film star.

At 32 Hiddleston has achieved the kind of success that most young actors can only dream of. His performance as Captain Nicholls in Steven Spielberg’s 2011 adaptation of the National Theatre’s War Horse was by far the film’s most memorable. But it is as Loki in Marvel Comics’ blockbusting Thor franchise that Hiddleston has generated an obsessive following.

When he made a surprise appearance in character at the international Comic-Con convention in San Diego last summer, some members of the hysterical 7,000-strong crowd actually knelt in worship. At last count, his Twitter following was approaching a million.

Hiddleston in Coriolanus at the Donmar Warehouse. Photo: Johan Persson

‘It’s mad and bananas and amazing,’ Hiddleston tells me, over a restorative full English breakfast at a central London hotel, the morning after the Coriolanus preview. ‘But I can handle it for the simple reason that it genuinely feels like it’s not real. You know when you go to a fancy dress party and everyone looks incredible and there are crazy things hanging from the ceiling? For about five hours or so, you enter into another world and then, when you come out of it, you are sitting at home with a cup of tea and a biscuit and you’re thinking to yourself, “Well, that was weird. Fun, but weird.” That’s exactly what it feels like.’

Hiddleston gives a powerhouse performance,’ said Telegraph theatre critic Charles Spencer of his Coriolanus. Photo: Johan Persson

Hiddleston’s Coriolanus is a masterclass in layering; a celebrated warrior with matinee-idol looks who is part venomous despot, part isolated soul-searcher. For a full two and a half hours, the 6ft 1in actor commands the stage with a complexity that leaves the audience in silent rapture. ‘Hiddleston gives a powerhouse performance,’ was the Telegraph critic Charles Spencer’s verdict. ‘The mixture of charisma and emotional truth in his performance is very special indeed.’

Little wonder that Coriolanus will be only the second Donmar Warehouse production to be shown live in cinemas around the world when National Theatre Live broadcasts the January 30 performance. ‘It is a huge and slightly overwhelming privilege,’ Hiddleston says. ‘I feel incredibly excited about it.’


Hiddleston as Cassio with Kelly Riley (Desdemona) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (Othello) in Othello at the Donmar Warehouse in 2007. Photo: Noriko Takasugi


READ MORE HERE: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/10561842/Tom-Hiddleston-interview-from-Thor-to-a-sell-out-Coriolanus.html

London Theater Review: ‘Coriolanus’ Starring Tom Hiddleston

VARIETY
David Benedict
@eggsbened



Making enthralling theater out of one of Shakespeare’s best-known titles is one thing. It’s an achievement of an altogether higher order to take the austerely forbidding “Coriolanus” — an argumentative tragedy discussing the demands of politics and the power of the people — and turn it into a theatrical triumph. But that’s exactly what Donmar Warehouse a.d. Josie Rourke has done. Thanks to an ideally dovetailed ensemble led by a scorching Tom Hiddleston, tension builds, fills the theater and never flags throughout an all-consuming evening.

The 250-seat Donmar is an intriguingly confined space in which to stage a play springing from the idea of a man in opposition to the crowd. Having almost single-handedly won the war against the enemy Volscians, victorious Coriolanus (Hiddleston) returns to Rome where he is to become Consul. To do so he must accede to the crowd’s demands to show his wounds and, as he sees it, beg for their approbation — an idea he finds abhorrent. Whipped up by manipulative senators, the people grow increasingly enraged until Coriolanus’s arrogance overcomes him. Banished from Rome and his family, he fatally joins the opposition headed by rival General Tullus Aufidius (Hadley Fraser).

 On the stage, bare but for a stark single row of twelve chairs and a towering ladder casting a deep metaphorical shadow, Coriolanus’s young son Martius (Joe Wills at the performance reviewed) patiently outlines a diamond-shaped acting area on the floor in blood-red paint. A sign of things to come, it’s also an immediate indication of the production’s tight focus which, from the very opening scene, yields dividends. Rourke’s cast is successfully lean with just the four named citizens skillfully deployed about Lucy Osborne’s set to conjure crowd scenes. The pitch of the crowd’s hunger-fuelled anger — and the mounting hostilities between them and proud Coriolanus — leads most productions towards shouting. But rather than the generalized rage and loss of control that shouting creates, Rourke maintains tension by keeping a lid on everything. As a result, characters’ reasonings are unusually clear and the all-important urgency and dramatic momentum is sustained.

That’s epitomized by Hiddleston’s performance. Out goes roaring military might, the thunderous soldier, and in comes the diamond-bright gleam of attack-ready energy. Yet from the few tiny glimpses of the power he’s keeping damped down, the threat of what Coriolanus will unleash remains ever-present, adding immeasurably to his all-important status. Not blowing his stack too early makes him appear far more dangerous and exciting to watch.

Furthermore, Hiddleston fascinatingly makes Coriolanus a man who chooses not to listen rather than someone shouting too loud to hear. With his thought processes so legible, his arrogance becomes less of a foregone conclusion and, therefore, properly tragic.

The control of stagecraft is everywhere apparent, not least in the added, silent scene in which Coriolanus, released from public display and privately exhausted from battle, stands alone. Caught center-stage in Mark Henderson’s ferocious white light, water from high above the set surges down onto Hiddleston’s bloody body, spraying into the dark like sparks off steel. A magnificent image in its own right, it’s actually making audiences see and feel the character’s brutally defiant self-determination.

READ MORE HERE:http://variety.com/2013/legit/reviews/london-theater-review-coriolanus-starring-tom-hiddleston-1200969320/

Sean Bean is playing Macbeth in a dark new reimagining

i09
November 13, 2013




Check out our first look at Sean Bean as the Scottish lord misled by witches, Macbeth, in a brand new movie, Enemy of Man. See also some pictures of James D'Arcy as Banquo.

READ MORE HERE:http://io9.com/sean-bean-is-playing-macbeth-in-a-dark-new-reimagining-1463863189

David Tennant's long-haired Richard II rules at RSC

BBC
By Tim Masters
October 18, 2013

Early reviews have noted Tennant's "mesmerising" performance and "Christ-like" hair.

Richard II is the former Doctor Who star's first RSC role since his acclaimed Hamlet five years ago.

Tennant and the cast won enthusiastic applause on Thursday's opening night in Stratford-upon-Avon.

The production transfers to the Barbican in London in December.

It reunites Tennant with Hamlet director Gregory Doran, who is now in charge at the RSC.

Starting with Richard II, Doran intends to stage each one of Shakespeare's plays once over the next six years up to 2019.

Written almost entirely in verse, Richard II is a story of power and plotting in which the king's weakness and vanity threatens to drag his people into a civil war.

In the cast alongside Tennant are Michael Pennington as John of Gaunt, Nigel Lindsay as Henry Bolingbroke, Oliver Ford Davies as the Duke of York and Jane Lapotaire as the Duchess of Gloucester.

The play opens with a funeral lament sung live by a small choir, after which Tennant's smooth-chinned, long-haired Richard arrives in a flowing white robe, in sharp contrast to those around him in chain-mail or mourning black.

In another scene he preens his rock-star locks in a mirror.

"His hair takes some getting used to," notes The Telegraph's Dominic Cavendish. "Great gingery-brown extensions trail girlishly downwards. Long, magisterial, quasi-medieval robes add to the effeminate impression.

"With his startled eyes and concentrated frown, Tennant is frail, pale and consistently interesting but the nervous energy he excels in is confined to quarters early on."

Tennant gives a "mesmerising performance that grows in power as Richard's authority declines," according to Michael Billington in The Guardian.

"The packed houses for this production's run in both Stratford and at the Barbican may have much to do with Tennant's star presence. But this is the strongest company the RSC has fielded in years."

The Independent's Paul Taylor called it "another palpable hit for the Tennant/Doran collaboration".


READ MORE HERE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-24538143