Latest news with #InterAlia
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Rosamund Pike looks quirky in a pair of hot pink leather gloves at the press night of her new play Inter Alia
Rosamund Pike put on a quirky display as she celebrated her performance in Inter Alia at a press night after party at The National Theatre in London on Wednesday. The actress, 46, who stars as a High Court judge in the play, wore a floral two piece set consisting of a crop top and midi skirt. She teamed her outfit with a pair of black stiletto heels and opted for a subtle makeup look. Inter Alia, by Australian writer Suzie Miller, comes from the team behind Prima Facie, which starred Jodie Comer. It follows Rosamund's character Jessica Wheatle who is working to change the legal system while juggling her home life as a wife and a mother. Her husband Michael is portrayed by Jamie Glover while Jasper Talbot stars as their son Harry. It comes after revealed she was punched in the face and had her mobile phone snatched violently out of her hand by a 'mugger' on a bicycle. The Gone Girl star spoke of her '15 minutes' of hell when she was targeted by the thief in 2006 as she spoke to her mother while walking down the street. She said she screamed in terror and her mum, Caroline Friend, was left fearing the worst until she was able to call her back on another phone. Rosamund, who starred with Piers Brosnan in Die Another Day (2002), told Magic Radio: 'I was on the phone to my mother — on a mobile phone walking along a road — and I was mugged. 'The phone was snatched so all she heard was me scream and a thud and the phone went dead.' She said the 'mugger' was a kid who sped past her on a bicycle and punched her down the side of her cheek. Rosamund, who was born in London, said the thief took her mobile phone and left her with a bruise on her face. The actress is one of a number of celebs who have fallen victim to the terrifying trend of phone snatching that is sweeping London. Former tennis star Annabel Croft said her mobile was stolen 'clean out of her hands' while she waited for a taxi outside London King's Cross station in June last year. Ms Croft wrote on Instagram: 'I just wanted to warn people who are on their own in London. I just got mugged waiting for a taxi outside King's Cross St Pancreas. 'The man was riding a bike and wearing a black balaclava. He rode straight at me and took my phone clean out of my hands. 'He rode away with it but luckily dropped my phone so I got it back. Terrifying!'
Time Out
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
Review: ‘Inter Alia' starring Rosamund Pike at the National Theatre
Playwrights usually want to flex their range after their first big hit. But it's to the credit of Susie Miller that she cares so much about the issues explored in her smash Prima Facie that she's come up with a follow up that you have to at least describe as 'a companion piece'. Both Prima Facie and Inter Alia are named after legal terms, both are about high-achieving female members of the legal profession, and while Prima Facie was a monologue and Inter Alia is a three-hander, both have a huge-scale female role at their centre that makes them the perfect vehicle for a screen star looking to scratch the stage itch. And so both have had Justin Martin-directed UK premieres starring major celebrities: Jodie Comer made her stage debut in Prima Facie, while Rosamund Pike treads the boards for the first time in years in Inter Alia. The most crucial similarity, however, is not entirely apparent from the first half hour or so of Inter Alia, which is basically an extended sequence of Pike's high court judge Jessica frenziedly girl bossing as she juggles her extremely high-powered job with a busy social life and being a mum to vulnerable teen Harry (Jasper Talbot). It's a breathless performance from Pike, who crests and surges from neuroticism to icy confidence. It's draining: there's barely room for us or her to breathe, and a sequence where she sings Shania Twain's 'Man! I Feel Like a Woman!' in a karaoke club feels like the conclusion of an extended intro basically designed to let Pike show off. But she is good: of course she's posh, but she's earthy, likeable, open, vulnerable, somewhat demystifying of her profession. And it's not entirely unsubtle writing, just full tilt. We're bouncing around in Jessica's head, and being asked to consider that she is attempting to fulfil several impossible roles: neither the perfect mother nor the perfect judge really exist, and certainly not a seamless mix of the two. Martin's production is notably more sophisticated than Prima Facie: he and his team use puppetry, illusions, child actors, live music and other effects to create a world that's half naturalistically rendered, half foggy memories of Harry's childhood. It's impossible to discuss what happens next without spoilers: if I dropped a veiled reference to Netflix's Adolescence you'd get it straight away. So let's cut to the chase: like Prima Facie, Inter Alia concerns rape and the difficulty in securing a conviction for it. The accused here is of course Harry, and despite Jessica's feminist politics and her awareness of the statistics and sensitivities around these sorts of cases, she wants to believe there has been a mistake. But Miller is very good at exploring the ambiguity of rape cases. On the one hand there's the fact that ambiguity is why most of them fail in court – it is extremely difficult to obtain clearcut evidence (helpfully Jessica early on describes a rare successful prosecution). But there's also a moral vagueness that Jessica and her husband Michael (Jamie Glover) cling to, the sense that due to different understandings of the incident Harry and the girl in question might both be 'right', that she Jessica can hold on to her principles and her beloved son by telling herself Harry did wrong but misunderstood the situation. Miller's plays explore why rape convictions are so rare, and portraying Harry as wildly unsympathetically would not help in that regard, Inter Alia gets a lot stronger after the rape storyline emerges: it gives the play a sense of purpose, channelling Pike's manically fizzing energies towards something more than than a showcase of her range. Miller is more interested in the emotional and legal terrain Jessica finds herself in here than diagnosing exactly why a young man might do this. But her play is not incurious in that respect, and there's a particularly powerful scene when a frantic Jessica excoriates her self-absorbed husband over his failure to explain boundaries to their son. It's cruel of her to lay this on him; but she strikes a nerve that begs the question. Yes, Inter Alia is kind of a big performance lecture exploring a subject that is close to Miller's heart to the point of artistic fixation. It is a contrivance that her plays concern women who are high up in the legal profession and thus able to clearly explain the mechanics of what's going on. But once warmed up Inter Alia hits home thoughtfully and forcefully. Adolescence can't be the only word on this subject. And where that used virtuoso camerawork and cleverly shifting perspectives to tell its story in an artful manner, Inter Alia benefits from a gale-force Pike and a sophisticated production from Martin – its final image will chill you to the bone.
Time Out
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The 10 best new London theatre openings in July 2025
News From Rachel Zegler in 'Evita' to Rosamund Pike's National Theatre debut, it's another big month on the London stage By the standards of any other city, July in London is a pretty damn busy month for theatre. Here, it's the start of the summer slowdown, with few of the big subsidised venues running a show over the hols, most big new West End shows keeping their powder dry until the autumn, and much of the industry decamping to the Edinburgh Fringe, which this year begins at the very end of the month. Nonetheless, there's still plenty to keep us going, including loads from the National Theatre which is opening a show in each of its three theatres plus one in the West End. Really, though, there's only one show on people's lips at the moment – and it handily takes our number one spot. The best new London theatre openings in July 2025 What is it? If last year was Brat Summer, this one is Balcony Summer. Hollywood star Rachel Zegler's nightly 9pm-ish performances of 'Don't Cry for Me Argentina' in Jamie Lloyd's revival of Andrew Lloyd Webber's finest hour (don't @ me) has made headlines around the world thanks to the fact she's not singing it in the auditorium but on the outside front balcony, to an increasingly large nightly crowd. Even if the rest of it is rubbish it deserves the number one slot for such an audacious gesture. But as it's essentially a reworking of Lloyd's excellent 2019 Open Air Theatre production, we're expecting it to be pretty damn good. London Palladium, now until Sep 6. Buy tickets here. 2. Inter Alia What is it? It's a month of London shows, heavily dominated by the National Theatre: you can catch last year's Michael Sheen-starring Nye again, plus see The Estate and Till the Stars Come Down below. But pick of the bunch has to be Susie Miller's Inter Alia, the follow up to her massive Jodie Comer-starring smash Prima Facie. Reuniting with director Justin Martin, it stars the mighty Rosamund Pike – making her NT debut – as a maverick high court judge struggling to balance her work and home life. National Theatre, Lyttelton, Jul 10-Sep 13. 3. Girl from the North Country What is it? A welcome return home to the Old Vic for Conor McPherson's Bob Dylan sort-of-musical. A dark and brooding yarn of the American Dustbowl – certainly not autobiographical – it follows the inhabitants of a Minnesota boarding house as they grapple with poverty, madness and worse. There are, of course, Dylan songs – though on the whole they're not the ones you expect. It's an ensemble piece, but Olivier winner Katie Brayben is probably the biggest name as the witchy Elizabeth, who gets to sing 'Like A Rolling Stone'. Old Vic, now until Aug 23. 4. Till the Stars Come Down What is it? This is nice: Beth Steel's poignant, beautifully observed, subtly devastating drama about an Anglo-Polish wedding in the town of Mansfield was one of the best shows to be staged at the National Theatre last year, and while you wouldn't instantly peg it for a West End transfer, it's lovely that it's getting one. The great Siobhan Matthews returns as bride-to-be Sylvia at the head of a partially recast ensemble that also includes The White Lotus 's Julian Kostov as her intended Marek. Haymarket Theatre Royal, Jul 1-Sep 27. Buy tickets here. 5. Sing Street What is it? A little over a decade ago playwright Enda Walsh scored a walloping great transatlantic musical theatre hit when he adapted John Carney's Irish indie film Once for the stage. Now Walsh turns his attention to Carney's 2016 coming-of-age film Sing Street, which follows the exploits of a schoolboy named Conor who forms a band in '80s Dublin. Expect to be charmed. Lyric Hammersmith, Jul 8-Aug 23. Buy tickets here. 6. The Estate What is it? Arguably me and the National Theatre should just get a room. But it's a big month for them, okay? The Estate feels like the great unknown of this list. Starring the excellent Adeel Akhtar as an Asian politician with a sudden, unexpected chance to seize the role of Leader of the Opposition, it's made all the more intriguing by the fact that it's written by Shaan Sahota, a first time writer (who is also a doctor). Most people don't get their debut plays staged at the National – one assumes she's pretty good. National Theatre, Dorfman, Jul 9-Aug 23. 7. The Merry Wives of Windsor What is it? Globe boss Michelle Terry becomes possibly the only artistic director in history to programme Shakespeare's preposterous Henry IV-spin off twice: following an earlier indoor production of The Merry Wives, Sean Holmes directs this outdoor one, starring George Fouracres as Sir John Falstaff, mysteriously reincarnated to the Elizabethan court. Holmes is great on the weirder bits of Shakespearean whimsy – expect something a bit harder and darker than you'd usually expect from the Wives. Shakespeare's Globe, Jul 4-Sep 20. Buy tickets here. 8. Noughts & Crosses What is it? A revival of Dominic Cooke's 18-year-old stage adaptation of Malorie Blackman's seminal racial dystopia is probably the randomest moment of Drew McOnie's first season in charge of the Open Air Theatre. But it's also a pretty cool one that shows associate artistic director Tinuke Craig is hopefully going to be allowed to put her own imprint on the theatre, as she heads up her first production here. Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, now until Jul 26. Buy tickets here. 9. Nature Theatre of Oklahioma: No President What is it? London's first chance to see this revered avant-garde US company as it plays a string of dates at the Southbank. Subtitled A Story Ballet of Enlightenment in Two Immoral Acts, I have no idea why the show is called No President, but it focuses on a showdown between rival gangs of former actors and ex-ballet dancers, taking each other on to protect a mysterious theatre curtain and whatever might be behind it. Queen Elizabeth Hall, Jul 9-11. 10. Burlesque the Musical What is it? There is a lot of potential for a big glitzy West End musical adaptation of Christina Aguilera's cult-ish 2010 film, which comes with a songbook of tracks from the film written by Aguilera and Sia. There are eccentricities to this production: a very limited West End run, the fact that its original director was dumped after last year's regional dates, and the fact that US reality show contestant Todrick Hall is now director, choreographer, writer of some new songs and the co-star, which is… a lot of hats. These are eccentricities rather than failings though: let's not prejudge.
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Rosamund Pike says return to stage after more than a decade ‘frightening'
Gone Girl star Rosamund Pike has said her return to the stage after more than a decade is 'frightening'. The Saltburn actress, 46, is to make her National Theatre debut this year in the play Inter Alia – an examination of modern masculinity and motherhood from the mind of Prima Facie writer Suzie Miller. Pike was last seen on stage in Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler at the Theatre Royal Bath in 2010 and has also been in productions of Madame De Sade, Gaslight, Summer And Smoke, and Hitchcock Blonde. The perfect line-up to send us into the weekend! 🫶 A huge thanks to tonight's guests, Rosamund Pike, Kris Marshall, Zahra Ahmadi and Olivia Dean ✨ Missed #TheOneShow? Watch on @BBCiPlayer 👉 — BBC The One Show (@BBCTheOneShow) March 28, 2025 'All through my 20s I was on stage a lot and it felt sort of natural and right, and now it's frightening,' she told BBC's The One Show. 'I'm playing a judge in a play by Suzie Miller, who wrote Prima Facie. It's a very exciting project. 'It's also about a mother raising a son, and I have two sons, so that's very close to my heart. 'And it's really about the juggle of life, and when you've given your life over to the law, is the law enough when things start to get rough? So it's challenging and exciting.' In the play the British actress plays High Court judge Jessica Parks, who has 'to reckon her professional life and role as wife, mother, friend and feminist'. It is directed by Justin Martin, who also worked on Olivier Award-winning Prima Facie, about a criminal defence lawyer who is sexually assaulted. The Golden Globe-winning actress also appeared on the show to speak about series three of epic fantasy show The Wheel Of Time. She said: 'We're very proud of it. We're a very close cast. We've weathered a lot together, and this is definitely our most elaborate and complex (series). 'And I think it's the offering we're most proud of. It's the most ambitious, and it's beautiful.' National Theatre Live is set to broadcast Inter Alia live to cinemas around the UK on September 4 2025. The play is being staged between July 10 and September 13 2025 at the Lyttelton Theatre on the South Bank.
