Ryan Donaldson stars as the eponymous Tartuffe in the Abbey’s production of Molière’s play adapted by Frank McGuinness. Until April 8, and then on a national tour from April 12 until May 13.
BOOK: The Lonely City
Anything by Olivia Laing. I recently finished The Lonely City and The Trip to Echo Spring. In The Lonely City, Laing examines the connection between isolation and creativity, how loneliness functions both as a personal and a social/political structure.
In The Trip to Echo Spring, we follow Laing across the United States, excavating the relationship between alcoholism and the creative process. I love them both, they’re a rallying cry to empathy, to vulnerability and to kindness. And to the power of art to, in Laing’s words, “salve a sense of soreness, to make one feel less flinchingly alone”.
STREAMING: Motherland
I’m not usually a ‘laugh out loud’ person while watching things but I do all the time with Motherland. The writing is fantastic and I could watch Anna Maxwell Martin in absolutely anything. I’m most looking forward to watching The Last of Us, with Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. I loved the game, and hear the series really does it justice.
PODCAST: Off camera
I’m a big fan of Off Camera with Sam Jones. Sam’s a photographer/director who does long-form shoots and interviews with people from across the arts and sports. They’re often well over an hour and much more intimate than the usual interviews that actors do to plug a movie.
I think it’s such a skill to be a good interviewer, to be able to draw someone out of themselves with kindness and empathy. When it’s done in that way it’s often as interesting as the subject itself.
THEATRE: Long Day’s Journey Into Night
I can’t wait to see Long Day’s Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill in the West End, with the legendary Brian Cox playing James Tyrone, directed by Jeremy Herrin.
I was very lucky to work with Jeremy on Frank McGuinness’s Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme. Herrin’s production of People, Places &Things, starring Denise Gough, is still one the most visceral experiences I’ve ever had in theatre.