Latest news with #StratfordUponAvon
South China Morning Post
28-06-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Meet Callie Cooke, who plays Jodie in F1: The Movie – the actress appears alongside Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, and rose to fame in her native UK on Cheaters and Doctor Who with Ncuti Gatwa
Actress Callie Cooke, 31, has come a long way since making her on-screen debut nearly a decade ago in a 2016 episode of BBC's long-running medical show, Doctors. Callie Cooke at the European premiere of F1, in London on June 23. Photo: Reuters In 2022, Cooke snagged a leading role in the BBC sitcom Cheaters, and last year she appeared in an episode of the beloved sci-fi series Doctor Who alongside the first Black actor in the role, Ncuti Gatwa Advertisement Cooke's most recent project, F1, starring Brad Pitt and Damson Idris, is her most high-profile to date. Here's everything to know about Callie Cooke. She always wanted to become an actress Callie Cooke, seen here repping Miu Miu, always wanted to be an actress. Photo: @callie_cooke/Instagram Raised in Stratford-upon-Avon in England, Cooke revealed in an interview with 1883 magazine that her first introduction to acting came through TV soap operas. 'I was always watching TV and I was blown away by these soap actors that you thought were real people,' she said. 'It's such a comfort thing. Both my parents worked a lot, and it was the one thing that would get us all together on an evening.' Stratford-upon-Avon is famously the birthplace of William Shakespeare, and Cooke's fascination with acting was also fuelled by growing up near the home of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). 'I saw the most unbelievable actors [there], and I always thought it's what I would work in,' she told 1883. Her first role earned her an award nomination
New York Times
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Play About a Breakdown Was a 2000 Hit. What Do Audiences Say Today?
When the British playwright Sarah Kane died by suicide in 1999, at age 28, she left behind the manuscript for an unperformed work. 'Just remember, writing it killed me,' Kane wrote in an accompanying note, according to Mel Kenyon, the playwright's long-term agent. Just over a year later, when the Royal Court Theater in London premiered the piece — a one-act play called '4:48 Psychosis' that puts the audience inside the mind of somebody having a breakdown — it received rave reviews. Writing in The New York Times, the critic Matt Wolf said it was 'arguably Kane's best play' and compared it to the work of Samuel Beckett. Yet despite the praise, a question hung over the production: Was it possible to honestly critique a play about depression so soon after Kane's tragic death? The headline on an article by the Guardian theater critic Michael Billington suggested a challenge: 'How Do You Judge a 75-Minute Suicide Note?' Now, 25 years later, theatergoers are getting a chance to look at the original production of '4:48 Psychosis' afresh, and see if passing time brings a change in perspective. The show's cast and creative team is reviving the production at the Royal Court, where it runs through July 5, before transferring to the Royal Shakespeare Company's Other Place Theater in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, where it will run from July 10-27. This time around, critical reception has been mixed. Dominic Cavendish, writing in The Daily Telegraph, praised the production and said the play 'still feels raw,' but Clive Davis, in The Times of London, argued that ''4:48 Psychosis' isn't a play at all, rather the random agonized reflections of a mind that has passed beyond breaking point.' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Guardian
19-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
4.48 Psychosis review – bared anguish and delicate detail in Sarah Kane's final play
What must it have felt like to watch Sarah Kane's final play, whose depressed protagonist plots imminent suicide, knowing that the playwright killed herself the previous year? First staged in 2000, under the shadow of Kane's death in 1999, it is back now with the original creative team, including director James Macdonald and its fine three-strong cast of Daniel Evans, Jo McInnes and Madeleine Potter. They play a divided self, it seems, reflecting on illness, shame, self-loathing, love, betrayal, medication culture and – importantly – the prospect of ending it all at exactly 4.48am. Co-produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company, the play is again staged in the upstairs theatre at the Royal Court (after which it will travel to Stratford-upon-Avon). It is variously abstruse and lucid in its arguments on life, death and suicide, and still original in form. But this production feels like the reconstruction of a seminal performance rather than a seminal performance for today. Maybe this is because Kane's position has changed in the intervening decades: she sits firmly in the canon. So this replica-like revival has the strange effect of a museum piece in this 'new writing' space, posthumous and reverential. Jeremy Herbert's set is a white square with functional table, chairs and an overhanging mirror that reflects the audience and the protagonist's selves which acquire more fractured counterparts in shadow. Light alters in this room, glowing sharp or soporific, like the setting and rising of the sun (beautifully designed lighting by Nigel Edwards). There are bursts of disturbance within, reminiscent of the grey fuzz of an old TV set, which becomes an inspired visual analogy for the dismal brain fog of depression. The protagonist variously lies prone, circles the stage or sits in antagonistic conversation with a psychiatrist (another inner voice). There are deep, startlingly lyrical passages ('the cold black pond of myself') alongside bathos and grim humour; the script is an exemplar of Kane's perceptive and emotionally unswerving gifts as a writer. But dramatically it is sedate. You wish for something messier, louder, angrier. There are flickers of this – a stunning moment when the protagonist (McInnes) shouts as she lies on the table, enraged at life – yet it then returns to blankness. Maybe this non-mood is the point – a depression that leaves meaningful emotion quashed – but it evokes a kind of vacancy in the air nonetheless. There is still value in its staging and poignancy, too. It is beautifully performed with moments of bared anguish and delicate detail. The opening of the stage windows, a countervailing gesture to the reflection of a closed window on stage, is a haunting, yet exhilarating, final image. At the Royal Court theatre, London, until 5 July. Then at the Other Place, Stratford-upon-Avon, 10-27 July. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at
The Guardian
07-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
My cultural awakening: a shock at a Shakespeare production made me quit the bank for theatre
I was a working-class kid who'd failed my exams and done a series of nothing jobs before I discovered Shakespeare in my 20s. I was bored out of my head most of the time, working nights in a bank as a computer operator, watching tapes going round. A respite came three times a year when my girlfriend at the time, Sandra, and I would drive from our rented flat in Ealing to Stratford-upon-Avon and queue at the RSC for cheap returns or standing tickets. The plays were so good it made life bearable. In June 1978, we went to see Jonathan Pryce as Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew, with David Suchet. The sunny Saturday matinee coincided with Scotland playing in the World Cup and as the audience made its way into the Royal Shakespeare Theatre foyer, a Scottish supporter with a six-pack of lager was getting rowdy and rude, singing football songs outside. He grabbed me, saying, 'Have a drink with me, brother', and did a double-take as if he recognised me. I turned away, feeling I'd die of embarrassment in this posh and genteel crowd focused on the business of being civilised and arty. As we entered, he continued shouting abuse, putting his fingers up and telling us where we should go stick our English, stuffy-nose, Shakey bollocks. No sooner was he ushered out and we'd taken our seats than he burst back in, got on to the stage and knocked down the whole set to horrified shouts. We were gobsmacked; the show ruined by a moronic football fan. Actors tried to stop the damage until, suddenly, with one final shout of: 'Why don't ye all fuck off?' he collapsed. Then, very slowly, the house lights dimmed, a spotlight fell on the drunk and it dawned on us all that it was him: Jonathan Pryce, as Christopher Sly, a character in Taming of the Shrew's lesser done prologue. It was a magical moment, shocking and breathtaking. I was captivated. The play was brilliant and I turned to Sandra frequently, whispering: 'I want to do this.' 'You can,' she said. I saw my future in front of me. After the production, I enrolled in an arts degree with the Open University, left the bank and started running creative arts projects in prisons, working with lifers in Wormwood Scrubs. Just as the Shrew confronted me with the transformative power of theatre, this work made the invisible visible, even in unexpected places. I did similar work with disadvantaged teenagers in New York, took acting evening classes and finally went to a proper drama school in London. I set up my own theatre company, mainly for people who could not go to conventional drama school, and taught and directed in community theatre for 32 years. I have put on so many shows – all, I'm sure, influenced on some level by Pryce and that incredible matinee. I've used that framing device many times and when I directed Trevor Griffiths's play Comedians 10 years ago, in which Pryce once famously starred, I cast an actor who reminded me of him on that Saturday afternoon when theatre changed the world a little bit. In the years since, I've thought about why he might have done a double-take. People often commented that we looked alike. My daughters first noticed it in Pirates of the Caribbean and message when he's in Slow Horses with 'Dad, you're on TV'. In December, I attended a British Film Institute screening of Comedians introduced by Pryce. As he finished, I walked up the aisle and told him how he changed my life. 'I feel like you woke me up,' I said. 'I'm so delighted,' he replied. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion You can tell us how a cultural moment has prompted you to make a major life change by filling in the form below or emailing us on Please include as much detail as possible Please note, the maximum file size is 5.7 MB. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. Your contact details are helpful so we can contact you for more information. They will only be seen by the Guardian. If you include other people's names please ask them first.
The Independent
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Outlander's Sam Heughan to play Macbeth in Royal Shakespeare Company debut
Outlander star Sam Heughan is to play Macbeth in his debut with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). The British theatre company has announced its programme of events for 2025/2026, including a raft of plays that will be staged in Stratford-upon-Avon, the birthplace of famous playwright William Shakespeare. In the RSC's latest version of Macbeth, Scottish actor Heughan, 45, known for playing Highland warrior Jamie Fraser in romance drama Outlander, will star opposite The Day Of The Jackal actress Lia Williams, as Lady Macbeth. Heughan said: 'At age 18, standing on the main stage of the Royal Lyceum Edinburgh, playing 'spear-carrier number 2' (essentially a glorified extra) in a production of Macbeth, I could only dream of one day playing the infamous title character. 'It feels full circle to be returning to the stage, after over a decade working primarily in television and film. 'Not only is Macbeth my favourite Shakespeare play: intense, immediate and unsettling, it also happens to be famously Scottish. 'The RSC has always been at the pinnacle of my ambition and I feel deeply honoured and thankful to be working alongside some enormously talented and creative people. 'The Other Place is the perfect space to create an intense, intimate production and, like Lady M, we will be calling upon the spirits of the RSC's highly acclaimed past productions for their blessing.' David Tennant, Sir Ian McKellen, and Ralph Fiennes are among the actors who have played the famous character who, consumed by greed and power, murders the king to take the Scottish throne for himself. The new production will be shown at The Other Place theatre from October 9 to December 6. Elsewhere, four of Shakespeare's most famous characters have their stories revisited across two performances, also being staged at The Other Place, from January 2026. The first performance in All Is But Fantasy explores the story of Lady Macbeth, who is consumed by guilt after plotting to murder King Duncan, and Emilia, a character in tragedy play, Othello. The second performance looks at the story of Juliet, from tragic romance story Romeo And Juliet, and Richard III, who uses manipulation to become king in the eponymous play. Olivier award-winning actor Adrian Lester will play the title role of Cyrano de Bergerac in a new version of Edmond Rostand's play about the novelist and playwright, showing at the Swan Theatre from September 27 to November 15. Over at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Harry Potter star Alfred Enoch will star as Henry V in a play running from March 14 to April 25 2026. Other highlights include an 80-minute staging of King Lear and a two-part adaptation of John Galsworthy's novels, The Forsyte Saga, both playing at the Swan Theatre later in the year, with the former also going on tour. The RSC is also staging plays in the West End and recently announced the UK premiere of Liz Duffy Adams's Born With Teeth, which will play at Wyndham's Theatre, previewing on August 13 with a final performance on November 1. The production follows rival playwrights Christopher Marlowe, played by Doctor Who's Ncuti Gatwa, and Shakespeare, played by Killing Eve's Edward Bluemel. Over in North America, Lolita Chakrabarti's acclaimed stage adaptation of Maggie O'Farrell's award-winning novel Hamnet embarks on a three-date tour of the US in Spring 2026. RSC co-artistic directors Tamara Harvey and Daniel Evans said: 'From Malawi or Manhattan, through French fields, Scottish heaths, mythical lands and Giant country, our 2025/26 programme celebrates what we believe a 21st Century RSC can and should be: global in ambition and outlook, open and collaborative in nature and continuously redefining how Shakespeare and great storytelling can bring joy, connection and improve our understanding of one-another. 'We are delighted to welcome so many artists in their RSC debuts this season, including internationally renowned acting talents Adrian Lester, Sam Heughan and Lia Williams, playwrights Debris Stevenson, Richy Hughes, Shaun McKenna and Lin Coghlan, alongside the visionary theatre-makers of tomorrow, Lynette Linton, Simon Evans, Josh Roche and Whitney White to name a few.'
