MASTER CLASS
WH AT 'S ON
MASTER CLASS A
ustralian starlet Sarah Snook has already shared screen time with some serious Hollywood heavyweights, among them Ethan Hawke (Predestination), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) and Kate Winslet (the Dressmaker), writes Laura Burgoine...
In her latest role she’s stepping onto the Old Vic stage with Ralph Fiennes in Ibsen’s classic The Master Builder. Playing the mesmerising and irrepressible Hilde Wangel - cast opposite Ralph Fienne’s Master Builder Halvard Solness - Sarah is incandescent. The 28-year-old more than matches Fiennes with her alluring aura and undeniable
stage presence. The reason she’s so good? I actually don’t know. And that’s what it is. Her acting is invisible, her talent impossible to define. Keep your eye on this actress. I think she may just be the next Cate. Or Kate. Growing up in Adelaide and now settled in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, the National
Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA; Australia’s RADA) graduate was introduced to the Norwegian playwright’s work at a young age. “I’ve only done Ibsen once before. When I was about 12,” she tells the Weekender. “I was involved in a production of The Doll House with a forward-thinking drama teacher of mine. Two or three of us
came on as the kids in the play.” Cast as Apple founder Steve Job’s real-life publicist Andrea Cunningham, in the Oscar nominated biopic Steve Jobs, was the role that landed Sarah in Hollywood. “That was incredible. It was a real gift to be able to work on that with the people involved,” she reflects. “I had a small role but it meant I could sit back and learn from the best of the best. Michael Fassbender has this real insistent drive but he was also very welcoming.” A desire to pursue more theatre brought the actress to London. “I’d been doing mostly movies and TV in the States but I wanted to do more theatre,” she explains. “Coming to London came out of being in San Francisco [filming Steve Jobs on location]. I was coming to London for my sister’s wedding and was able to meet with Matthew Warchus”. Evidently, the meeting went well. “I move with where the work goes,” Sarah says. Working with Ralph Fiennes didn’t rattle the actress’s cage. “He’s the actor of our generation. If I’d heard him described that way before I started I would have been much more terrified,” she admits. “Certainly those people raise the bar for everyone else around them. You don’t want to be left in the shadows so you have to step up.” Performing eight shows a week – bearing in mind the play runs at just under three hours requires mental stamina more than anything, Sarah reveals. “I just take it easy during the days that I’m not on. A lot of it is being mentally prepared as much as physically,” she says. “Your body will jump if you tell it to.” The Master Builder is at the Old Vic, The Cut, SE1 8NB, from January 23-March 19. Admission: £12-£60. Phone: 0844 871 7628. www.oldvictheatre.com
Following his nose OLIVIER AWARD winning actress Kathryn Hunter is putting a new spin on the classic tale of tormented romantic Cyrano de Bergerac – a swordsman, philosopher and poet who longs for his love but is paralysed by his fear of being too ugly to be loved, writes Laura Burgoine... In the new staging of Edmond Rostand’s play Kathryn, playing Cyrano, leads an all-female cast that includes Ellie Kendrick (Game of Thrones, Misfits) and Sabrina Bartlett (Poldark) in Glyn Maxwell’s witty and
4 February 19 2016
heart-breaking adaptation. First seen at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre in 2013, this is the play’s London premiere. “The play is a great, great classic that’s kind of famous all over the world; they call it a heroic comedy,” Kathryn tells the Weekender. Feeling cursed by his over-sized nose and unable to declare his love for Roxane, the play’s protagonist teams up with a very handsome but inarticulate man and together they form the perfect romantic lover. “Cyrano proposes that they seduce her together. The Christian figure will be the face and the body and Cyrano will be the mind and the soul.” Cyrano writes love letters to Roxane but eventually Christian (the young man she’s fallen in love with) dies and Cyrano decides not to tell
her it’s been him writing the letters all along. She retreats to a convent in mourning and Cyrano visits her daily for fifteen years. “Cyrano asks Roxane to read the last letter and as she starts to read she realises he’s reciting it,” Kathryn says. “It’s a play about what is love? Is it the love of the body or the soul and can you have one without the other?” The actress describes this allfemale version as a “wonderful translation”. “There’s fewer parts for women in general but hopefully an audience will find this adaptation interesting,” she continues. “It’s really challenging not only to play men but to play alpha males! Our research has shown the Gascon were really tough and known to be very boisterous and courageous. Napoleon said ‘if I had a hundred real
Gascons in my army, I’d go to hell and back’.” The RADA trained actress is known for her physicality as a performer; she starred in Richard III, Antony and Cleopatra, Kafka’s Monkey and was the first British woman to play King Lear. In 2013 she played Puck in Lion King director Julie Taymor’s New York production of a Midsummer Night’s Dream. “Julie is extraordinary. She’s very, very visual. Her imagination is extraordinary. It was visually beautiful and dreamlike; there was a nod to the Lion King with some young dancers with deer puppet heads,” she recalls. “She had me fly in upside down! We performed in Brooklyn. I took my inspiration for Puck from her in a way; she’s quite childlike and has this extraordinary amazing energy and imagination.”
Taking risks is a pivotal part of the profession, Kathryn admits. “Sometimes you can fall flat on your face. I go on my gut instinct; I’m quite impulsive anyway. I was very beguiled by Cyrano De Bergerac.” “There’s something very witty about him and yet very innocent. He’s an all or nothing sort of man with a lot of depth, which is very unusual and beautiful.” Cyrano de Bergerac is at the Southwark Playhouse, 77-85 Newington Causeway, SE1 6BD, from February 18-March 19 at 7:30pm / 3pm matinees. Admission: £20 / £16 concessions / £12 previews. Phone: 020 7407 0234. www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk
[email protected] /
www.weekenderlife.co.uk
MASTER CLASS A
ustralian starlet Sarah Snook has already shared screen time with some serious Hollywood heavyweights, among them Ethan Hawke (Predestination), Michael Fassbender (Steve Jobs) and Kate Winslet (the Dressmaker), writes Laura Burgoine...
In her latest role she’s stepping onto the Old Vic stage with Ralph Fiennes in Ibsen’s classic The Master Builder. Playing the mesmerising and irrepressible Hilde Wangel - cast opposite Ralph Fienne’s Master Builder Halvard Solness - Sarah is incandescent. The 28-year-old more than matches Fiennes with her alluring aura and undeniable
stage presence. The reason she’s so good? I actually don’t know. And that’s what it is. Her acting is invisible, her talent impossible to define. Keep your eye on this actress. I think she may just be the next Cate. Or Kate. Growing up in Adelaide and now settled in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick, the National
Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA; Australia’s RADA) graduate was introduced to the Norwegian playwright’s work at a young age. “I’ve only done Ibsen once before. When I was about 12,” she tells the Weekender. “I was involved in a production of The Doll House with a forward-thinking drama teacher of mine. Two or three of us
came on as the kids in the play.” Cast as Apple founder Steve Job’s real-life publicist Andrea Cunningham, in the Oscar nominated biopic Steve Jobs, was the role that landed Sarah in Hollywood. “That was incredible. It was a real gift to be able to work on that with the people involved,” she reflects. “I had a small role but it meant I could sit back and learn from the best of the best. Michael Fassbender has this real insistent drive but he was also very welcoming.” A desire to pursue more theatre brought the actress to London. “I’d been doing mostly movies and TV in the States but I wanted to do more theatre,” she explains. “Coming to London came out of being in San Francisco [filming Steve Jobs on location]. I was coming to London for my sister’s wedding and was able to meet with Matthew Warchus”. Evidently, the meeting went well. “I move with where the work goes,” Sarah says. Working with Ralph Fiennes didn’t rattle the actress’s cage. “He’s the actor of our generation. If I’d heard him described that way before I started I would have been much more terrified,” she admits. “Certainly those people raise the bar for everyone else around them. You don’t want to be left in the shadows so you have to step up.” Performing eight shows a week – bearing in mind the play runs at just under three hours requires mental stamina more than anything, Sarah reveals. “I just take it easy during the days that I’m not on. A lot of it is being mentally prepared as much as physically,” she says. “Your body will jump if you tell it to.” The Master Builder is at the Old Vic, The Cut, SE1 8NB, from January 23-March 19. Admission: £12-£60. Phone: 0844 871 7628. www.oldvictheatre.com
Following his nose OLIVIER AWARD winning actress Kathryn Hunter is putting a new spin on the classic tale of tormented romantic Cyrano de Bergerac – a swordsman, philosopher and poet who longs for his love but is paralysed by his fear of being too ugly to be loved, writes Laura Burgoine... In the new staging of Edmond Rostand’s play Kathryn, playing Cyrano, leads an all-female cast that includes Ellie Kendrick (Game of Thrones, Misfits) and Sabrina Bartlett (Poldark) in Glyn Maxwell’s witty and
4 February 19 2016
heart-breaking adaptation. First seen at Grosvenor Park Open Air Theatre in 2013, this is the play’s London premiere. “The play is a great, great classic that’s kind of famous all over the world; they call it a heroic comedy,” Kathryn tells the Weekender. Feeling cursed by his over-sized nose and unable to declare his love for Roxane, the play’s protagonist teams up with a very handsome but inarticulate man and together they form the perfect romantic lover. “Cyrano proposes that they seduce her together. The Christian figure will be the face and the body and Cyrano will be the mind and the soul.” Cyrano writes love letters to Roxane but eventually Christian (the young man she’s fallen in love with) dies and Cyrano decides not to tell
her it’s been him writing the letters all along. She retreats to a convent in mourning and Cyrano visits her daily for fifteen years. “Cyrano asks Roxane to read the last letter and as she starts to read she realises he’s reciting it,” Kathryn says. “It’s a play about what is love? Is it the love of the body or the soul and can you have one without the other?” The actress describes this allfemale version as a “wonderful translation”. “There’s fewer parts for women in general but hopefully an audience will find this adaptation interesting,” she continues. “It’s really challenging not only to play men but to play alpha males! Our research has shown the Gascon were really tough and known to be very boisterous and courageous. Napoleon said ‘if I had a hundred real
Gascons in my army, I’d go to hell and back’.” The RADA trained actress is known for her physicality as a performer; she starred in Richard III, Antony and Cleopatra, Kafka’s Monkey and was the first British woman to play King Lear. In 2013 she played Puck in Lion King director Julie Taymor’s New York production of a Midsummer Night’s Dream. “Julie is extraordinary. She’s very, very visual. Her imagination is extraordinary. It was visually beautiful and dreamlike; there was a nod to the Lion King with some young dancers with deer puppet heads,” she recalls. “She had me fly in upside down! We performed in Brooklyn. I took my inspiration for Puck from her in a way; she’s quite childlike and has this extraordinary amazing energy and imagination.”
Taking risks is a pivotal part of the profession, Kathryn admits. “Sometimes you can fall flat on your face. I go on my gut instinct; I’m quite impulsive anyway. I was very beguiled by Cyrano De Bergerac.” “There’s something very witty about him and yet very innocent. He’s an all or nothing sort of man with a lot of depth, which is very unusual and beautiful.” Cyrano de Bergerac is at the Southwark Playhouse, 77-85 Newington Causeway, SE1 6BD, from February 18-March 19 at 7:30pm / 3pm matinees. Admission: £20 / £16 concessions / £12 previews. Phone: 020 7407 0234. www.southwarkplayhouse.co.uk
[email protected] /
www.weekenderlife.co.uk
