Tag Archives: Benedict Cumberbatch

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Fandom on stage: The wheel is come full circle

When people think of hardcore fan*s, they often picture stereotypes like the guys of The Big Bang Theory hanging out in the comic book store, or of the legions of fan*s and cosplayers at Comic-Con. Rarely is the first thing on someone’s mind when fanning is mentioned going to be Shakespeare or theater.

However, believe it or not, some of the biggest celebrities that fan*s have fallen in love with also perform Shakespeare on stage in live theater. Fan*s can dress up as the Doctor at Comic-Con and also enjoy Shakespeare; the two aren’t mutually exclusive. And sometimes, those interests even overlap.

Recently, Tom Hiddleston, whom most fan*s recognize as Loki from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starred in a stage production of Shakespeare’s Coriolanus produced by National Theatre Live in London. While most Americans weren’t able to travel to see the live production at the Donmar Warehouse in England, National Theatre Live records its plays and broadcasts them in certain theaters around the globe. It’s an excellent way to see brilliant British theatre productions when you’re stuck stateside, like me.

This production of Coriolanus was fantastic. Even Hiddleston fan*s have to admit he was just one of the many terrific things about this play. The production made superb use of a black box space, using just a simple square stage with no scenery or backdrop aside from the cement wall of the warehouse behind them. Coriolanus is a fairly raw play to begin with, and stripping it down to, for the most part, just the actors on the stage really focused attention on the performances, which were all brilliant.

Aside from Hiddleston, fan*s may also recognize Mark Gatiss, co-creator and star of Sherlock, as well as Alfie Enoch, better known as Dean Thomas from the Harry Potter movies.

Another production that National Theatre Live broadcasts in the States almost every year is a fascinating staging of Frankenstein directed by Danny Boyle, known for Slumdog Millionaire and more. This production stars two Sherlocks, each taking turns with the two lead roles. One night, Benedict Cumberbatch will play Dr. Frankenstein while Jonny Lee Miller plays the Creature, and the next night they switch roles. I’ve seen the version with Cumberbatch playing the Creature and it was incredible. If, for any reason, anyone still doubts Cumberbatch’s acting abilities, they need only watch this production to have that doubt erased.

If you’re a fan* as well as a Broadway lover, there have been many opportunities for your interests to overlap recently. Doctor Who fan favorite Arthur Darvill was starring in Once for several months, which I’m sure was enjoyable if you had a chance to see it. Also, at the beginning of January, Chuck’s Zachary Levi finished up a run with the musical First Date, which was wonderful, according to reviews. Emmy-winner Jim Parsons also made his Broadway debut in the 2011 production of The Normal Heart, which is being adapted as a television movie this year.

I can’t mention Broadway productions without bringing up one of the best friendships in the business: Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan, who are starring in repertory productions of No Man’s Land and Waiting for Godot that have gotten rave reviews. And if you follow either of these gentlemen on Twitter, you know just how awesome they really are. As an added bonus, these productions also star Billy Crudup, who may be more recognizable to some fans as Watchmen’s Dr. Manhattan.

McKellan and Stewart are also both accomplished Shakespearean actors. Recently, Stewart played a small role in the BBC’s The Hollow Crown, a miniseries adapting the second of the Bard’s historical tetralogies: Richard II; Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2, and Henry V. Stewart played John of Gaunt in Richard II. He has also played Claudius on stage and on film in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Hamlet, which starred another fan* favorite, David Tennant.

Tennant is probably most famous for his role as the 10th Doctor on the long-running British sci-fi series Doctor Who. He also played Barty Crouch Jr. in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Recently, he has taken on a variety of roles, including starring in several stage productions of Shakespeare’s works. In just the last few years, he has appeared as Hamlet, Benedek in Much Ado About Nothing (alongside former Doctor Who companion Catherine Tate), and Richard II in the Royal Shakespeare Company production.

Speaking of Shakespeare, I’d be remiss if I didn’t include possibly the ultimate crossover between fandom and Shakespeare: Joss Whedon’s Much Ado About Nothing. The movie was filmed during a break in filming The Avengers and stars many of the actors fan*s have come to know and love from Whedon’s other beloved series. The entire film was shot at Whedon’s own home in black and white and is one of my favorite film adaptations of Shakespeare ever.

The best parts of the film are all the subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle) actions and expressions of the characters in the background. The film flows with a relaxed pace and it’s easy to feel the chemistry and friendship between the actors. This was a project most of them did for fun because they enjoyed working together, and I think some of that comes through in the finished product. If you’re a fan* as well as a Shakespeare lover, I cannot recommend this film highly enough.

And finally, we’ve come full circle. Aside from Hiddleston’s recent stage performance of Coriolanus, he also starred as Prince Hal, the man who becomes Henry V, in the The Hollow Crown. The series aired in the United Kingdom shortly before the Summer Olympics in 2012, and in the United States back in September. It can now be purchased on DVD, and each play is a fairly faithful adaptation of Shakespeare’s work. They are beautifully filmed and the cast is magnificent: aside from Hiddleston and Stewart, you also have Jeremy Irons, Ben Whishaw, Michelle Dockery, Joe Armstrong, Simon Russell Beale, and many others, all of whom are amazing.

This is just an overview of a few of the theatre works some of our favorite celebrities have done in the last few years. If you know of something I missed, feel free to share it in the comments so we can all experience it! One of my favorite parts of being a fan* is introducing people to new things; you wouldn’t believe how many Supernatural and Doctor Who converts I’ve made over the years.

Like I said last week, we now live in a time where it’s cooler to be a fan* than it used to be, so let’s take advantage of that and show everyone just how cool we can be. We can fan out over the new Guardians of the Galaxy trailer or Benedict Cumberbatch on Sesame Street and still enjoy things like Shakespeare and wine.

To be or not to be isn’t the question any more, because now we can have both.

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Osage County defines dysfunctional family

“Life is very long.” These words from T.S. Eliot open August: Osage County, a film that looks at the impact one person’s decisions can have, like ripples in a pond, on several generations of a family in different stages of those long lives.

August: Osage County is the story the Weston family — a family that is the very definition of dysfunctional. The patriarch, Beverly, is an alcoholic and former award-winning poet; his wife, Violet, is dealing with cancer and has become addicted to pills that severely affect her mind; and their three daughters, Barbara, Ivy, and Karen, each lead complicated lives of their own. When tragedy strikes, the girls return home to face their mother’s addiction and madness.

The movie is based on the Tony Award-winning play of the same name by Tracy Letts, who also wrote the screenplay for the film. Editing and adapting a play of that caliber must be a challenge, but Letts (whom you may recognize) did an excellent job trimming his three-hour script into a two-hour film while maintaining all the integrity and dark humor of the original text. Director John Wells closely follows Letts’ dialogue and even some of the original staging, though unlike the play, the entire film does not take place in the Weston home.

The success of both the play and the film depends entirely on the performances of the actresses playing the roles of Violet and Barbara Weston. In this case, the producers found two of Hollywood’s best, who are always up for any challenge.

Violet’s mood swings are unpredictable, an endless emotional roller coaster. Meryl Streep masterfully portrays the many highs and lows of the venomous Weston matriarch in a performance deserving of her latest Oscar nomination. Suffering from cancer in her mouth, Violet is dependent upon multiple pill prescriptions that have clearly addled her mind. In her drugged state, Violet often lashes out against her family in bitterness for the long and hard life she has endured.

Julia Roberts, nominated for an Oscar in the supporting actress category, proves she is more than able to hold her own opposite Streep with an equally emotional performance as Barbara. The oldest Weston daughter is dealing not just with her father’s disappearance and her mother’s addiction, but with a dissolving marriage and a rebellious daughter of her own. Barbara also has to come to terms with her fear that she will travel the same road to bitterness and addiction as her mother. That struggle is quiet and unspoken for much of the movie, but it bubbles to the surface and is illustrated well near the end of the film.

The rest of the cast is rounded out with many recognizable faces and names, and each actor plays his or her role extremely well. Margo Martindale and Chris Cooper are terrific as Violet’s sister and brother-in-law. Martindale had been underappreciated for years, until her fantastic performance in FX’s Justified, and Chris Cooper almost always quietly steals any scene in which he appears.

Ewan McGregor does a fine job as Barbara’s husband who, despite their separation, remains supportive. However, McGregor’s performance is often overshadowed by the strong performances of the females around him. The same is true for Dermot Mulroney: his character is textbook sleaze, but the performance itself is almost negligible in a film filled with so many heavy-hitters. Americans are most familiar with Benedict Cumberbatch as the overly confident Sherlock, or the manipulative Commander John Harrison / Khan, but he performs well here as the meek and downtrodden Little Charles, Violet’s nephew.

August: Osage County is almost entirely character-driven. However, those characters are so compelling, and the acting so strong, that it is easy to overlook how little action the film contains. The plot does have several twists and surprises along the way to move the story to its conclusion. The original play is clearly Violet’s story, but changes to the ending of the film version shift the focus onto Barbara and give the narrative a new light. While that ending may not provide as much closure as some would like, it is more hopeful than the original play.

August: Osage County is a well-acted, strongly written movie that certainly lived up to my expectations. If you’re a fan of Letts or of intense, sometimes grim, family dramas, this is definitely a must-see. Letts’ writing does a great job of balancing the serious moments with dark humor and levity. But keep in mind that, despite being billed as a comedy by some media outlets, August: Osage County turns the lens on the reality that “life is very long” indeed.

And, if nothing else, the film will leave you feeling a little better about your own family.

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12 Years a Slave stresses Gettysburg’s significance

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November 19, 2013, was the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. That date was celebrated across the nation as an interesting piece of trivia, but it is critical to understand that the Address and the liberties won in the Civil War are only 150 years old.

To put that span of time into perspective, railroads are older than the Thirteenth Amendment’s guarantees of freedom, and the last child of a slave only died in 2011. American slavery is, unfortunately, a piece of our very recent history. The film 12 Years a Slave, nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, skillfully displays the horror of a world that was transformed by the events of the 1860s.

Lincoln’s address at Gettysburg was a defining moment in the American story that is difficult to truly comprehend without context. When the war broke out, North and South believed themselves divided over a simple political dispute: who was sovereign under the U.S. Constitution, the states or the federal government? There was a certain inauthenticity in this understanding, as the South was only fighting for states’ rights to protect their “peculiar institution,” also known as human slavery.

It was not until Lincoln gave his address at Gettysburg that both sides, especially the North, acknowledged the war was not simply a political dispute, but a moral one. To the president, this was a war about ending a great evil. While history has immortalized his words, many at the time questioned the president’s actions. Some, indeed, were wondering what took him so long.

The slavery question had been creating more and more heated disputes among the American people in the decades since the ratification of the Constitution. Many in the North saw the war from the beginning as a crusade against the great slave power. Some came from the Quaker traditions of Pennsylvania, which had filed the first anti-slavery petition to the U.S. Congress in its very first session. Many, however, were recent converts.

The printing of two seminal works of literature in the 1850s sparked a rise in abolitionist sentiment. The more commonly known work is Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, but the other work, seemingly forgotten by history, was Solomon Northup’s Twelve Years a Slave.

Twelve Years tells the story of Northup, a free-born African-American from New York who was tricked into a trip to Washington, D.C., where he was drugged and kidnapped. After 160 years of relative obscurity, Solomon’s tale has made it to the big screen, and in a big way.

Chiwetel Ejiofor, a British actor, takes us through the difficult journey from free man with a wonderful family to human livestock, letting the true tragedy of his life sink in deeply with each scene. Solomon is given the slave name “Platt” and is sold to Ford, played by the always fantastic Benedict Cumberbatch.

Cumberbatch plays a straightforward yet challenging character. A product of his time, Ford is a slave owner, but not necessarily a tyrant. Ford finds himself impressed by Solomon and often treats him like a friend, while still keeping the line between master and slave clear. It becomes difficult at times to tell if Cumberbatch’s character is truly a good man or is simply manipulating his slaves to get the best work out of them.

After a dispute, Solomon is sold to a notorious slave-breaker by the name of Epps, played by Michael Fassbender. Those familiar with Fassbender’s work probably know what to expect. His portrayal of Magneto in X-Men: First Class allowed for a lot of moral ambiguity in his actions, but Epps is no such complex character. I believe some men are simply evil, and Fassbender convinces the viewer Epps is nothing short of a monster.

This section of the movie is the toughest to watch, and it certainly lives up to the brutal reputation of slavery in the American South. You may find yourself hoping for the movie to end so you can move on to think happier thoughts, but I believe these scenes are what elevate the movie beyond entertainment or even art; sitting through these uncomfortable scenes will strengthen the character of any viewer.

Steve McQueen’s adaptation of Twelve Years a Slave is a difficult work of modern cinema that displays in stark and real terms the tragedy of chattel slavery. It reminds us that seven score and 10 years later, we still owe a debt to our shackled ancestors, whether we descend from slaves or not. These men and women were viewed as subhuman even as they toiled to build the country of freedom we enjoy today. We owe it to the human beings who worked by the force of the whip: to remember their tragedies and to tell their stories.

McQueen (the director, not the late “King of Cool”) proves himself unafraid to turn a mirror on the United States and remind us all why the dead at Gettysburg did not die in vain. His deft work emphasizes to us that the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation are not simply words on a paper to memorize for a school assignment. They are philosophical tracts that changed the history of America and the world.

The Gettysburg Address changed the reasons for fighting the Civil War. Instead of dying for ideological differences about nationalism and states’ rights, the thousands of men who gave their lives at Gettysburg died for a greater ideal. Those brave soldiers sacrificed themselves so that America could have a new birth of freedom — so that millions of men and women still unborn could live free.

Lincoln believed the American people would not long remember what he said in Gettysburg. But true art — art with a purpose — always survives the centuries. We may not be watching McQueen’s masterpiece in 150 years, but the work done by Ejiofor, Fassbender, and Cumberbatch will keep the story of Solomon Northup alive in the American conscience for at least another generation.