The Merry Wives of Windsor at Shakespeare's Globe: rare London revival is a treat
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Leader Live
02-08-2025
- Leader Live
Rhosllannerchrugog: Actor Mark Lewis Jones pays heartfelt tribute
Mark Lewis Jones' face is well known even if the name is not as familiar. His credits read like a list of recent iconic TV shows - The Crown, Game of Thrones, Keeping Faith, Man Up and Baby Reindeer. His film career is equally impressive ranging from his memorable role as First Order Captain Moden Canady in Star Wars: The Last Jedi to his role in the recent film, Sweetland. This week he is President of the National Eisteddfod which is being held in Wrexham, only a few miles from his home village. He noted his sincere thanks to the grandfather for insisting that the Eisteddfod be "by everyone and for everyone". In his speech he said: "My grandfather, Jonathan Dafis, sang in the pavilion many times as a loyal member of the Rhos Male Voice Choir, as well as helping to organise the festival when he came to the area in 1945, but somehow when I was growing up I didn't feel that the Eisteddfod was relevant to me. "I was, and continue to be, a proud Welshman, brought up in a community that was Welsh even though we were so close to the border, but even so I didn't think the Eisteddfod was for a Welshman like me. And it took me a while to understand that I was wrong." He added his wife, Gwenno, runs a clothes shop in Cardiff, and would regularly hire a stall on the Maes. "One of my favorite memories of coming to the Eisteddfod (with Gwenno), was meeting and chatting with people who had travelled from afar to be part of the festival. "It became clear to me how essential the Eisteddfod is, supporting and promoting the arts in our country. I now have four sons, each one appreciating the importance of the festival, and Jacob, the youngest, is working on the Maes this week. "I have come to understand what Taid understood from the beginning - that the Eisteddfod is for everyone, for everyone. And if he was still with us I know he would be here, in the front row, with a proud smile on his face when he finally saw his grandson on stage." Mark Lewis Jones also outlined how he chose to become an actor. "I have been fortunate to be able to stand on several famous stages over the years - the Globe and the National in London, the Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford - but I have never been on the stage of the National Eisteddfod before," he said. He went to Ysgol Morgan Llwyd in Wrexham and he had no idea what to do with his life. "But at school there was a teacher called Gwawr Mason. And one day, for some reason, she asked me to be in the next school show? And for some reason I said - yes, ok," he said. He came from a home without any connection with the arts, and a home where English was the main language. "After taking part in that school show, my life changed completely. I wanted to act. My parents were unsure of course, but supportive nonetheless. After all, I had nothing to lose - I have two brothers who are carpenters, but I think my mother and father realised after seeing me handle a saw that there was no future for me in that field. "So I went on to work with Clwyd Youth Theatre. I went to the College of Music and Drama in Cardiff, then to Theatr Clwyd and London. "But I can definitely tell you that that would never have happened if Gwawr Mason had not offered a helping hand to a young, lost boy. Very sadly we lost Gwawr during lockdown and although I have thanked her many times for her support I don't feel I will ever, ever, ever be able to thank her enough," he said. As President Mark Lewis Jones has a full schedule in the next few days but he is especially looking forward to taking part in the Stiwt theatre's centenary celebrations, an institution he has a very personal connection to, in his home village.
Spectator
31-07-2025
- Spectator
Is Stephen Fry the right choice to play Lady Bracknell?
Last year, the National Theatre staged The Importance of Being Earnest in a new production by Max Webster. It attracted mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, who applauded its determination to do something new – to re-queer Wilde for a younger audience, if you like – but also dared to suggest that Ncuti Gatwa, who played Algernon Moncrieff, was not the most comfortable casting for Wilde's protagonist. Still, Gatwa is a big name and pulled in the crowds, and so it was little surprise that, for the play's inevitable West End transfer, similarly starry names had to be produced. The first was Olly Alexander, the pop singer and actor, and now it has been revealed that none other than Sir Stephen Fry, the recently knighted national treasure himself, will be donning drag to play Lady Bracknell. The idea of male actors playing one of Wilde's greatest roles is nothing particularly surprising. Over the past few years, Geoffrey Rush and David Suchet have both given their Bracknells, as it were, and the idea of a superb classical actor taking on such a dynamic part is an exciting opportunity. Fry, however, is nobody's idea of a leading classical actor. His last major role on stage was as Malvolio in the Globe's Twelfth Night in 2012, and although he received decent notices, he was overshadowed by Mark Rylance as Olivia. (It was, naturally, an all-male production, something that would be almost inconceivable now.) Otherwise, he has largely opted for television and film over theatre, to mixed returns. His performance as Wilde in the eponymous 1997 film was a triumph of humanity, wit and obvious identification with the great playwright. Other roles have been less obviously distinguished. And of course he has his own unhappy associations with the theatre. Notoriously, he fled to Brussels in 1995 after being upset by the reviews for his performance in Simon Gray's Cell Mates, a saga of which his website now says, 'The experience still haunts him, but the depression has now faded to embarrassment and the anger to forgiveness.' Let us hope that Fry's return to the stage this autumn makes for a happier experience. He has a clear identification with Wilde and his works, and said of his casting that 'Oscar Wilde has been a hugely important figure in my life and career and The Importance of Being Earnest is a play that changed my life when I first saw it aged ten. It made me understand what language can do and absolutely transported me. Wilde is a beacon to people who still believe in open thinking and adventuring with the mind and spirit.' Few would disagree. Yet there is another question to be asked, too. The role of Lady Bracknell was played at the National by Sharon D Clarke, a fine actress of infinite range, and it seems a strange decision not to at least consider bringing Clarke back, or at the very least casting another grande dame of London theatre in the role to balance Alexander – another actor who has not appeared on stage in over a decade – in the lead. I would have loved to have seen, say, Cate Blanchett or Gillian Anderson in the part, or if the role had to be cast with a man, what someone like Roger Allam or, indeed, Mark Rylance would have done with the Lady. Still, perhaps it is not worth being too exercised by this piece of stunt casting. The Importance of Being Earnest is like London buses, or the Holy Trinity – you wait ages for one, and then three come along at once – and there will undoubtedly be another, more traditional production in due course. (Also, the casting of that great comedian Hugh Dennis as Canon Chasuble could be a coup.) Yet I fear that this is pandering to West End audiences who demand Big Stars at all costs. Fry is clearly a great lover of all things Wilde, and this may be a dream come true for him. Likewise, his presence will bring in the crowds, just as Gatwa's did. However, whether they were really the best actors for the role, or just the most bankable names, is a question that hangs over this particular Earnest.
Time Out
31-07-2025
- Time Out
Stephen Fry joins Olly Alexander in the West End transfer of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest' transfers to London's West End
UPDATE: Following the announcement back in June that the National Theatre's production of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest would transfer to London's West End with Olly Alexander replacing original star Ncuti Gatwa, full casting has today been announced. The huge news is that massive Brit star Stephen Fry will make one of his rare stage appearances: his first since the Globe's Twelfth Night back in 2012. He'll play the play's infamous old battle-axe Lady Bracknell: very different casting to Sharon D Clarke, who played the role at the NT, but having the role played by a man is not without precedent (David Suchet did it in the West End a while back). They'll be joined by an excellent cast that includes Nathan Stewart-Jarrett as Jack Worthing, Hugh Dennis as Rev. Canon Chasuble, Shobna Gulati as Miss Prism, Kitty Hawthorne as Gwendolen Fairfax, Jessica Whitehurst as Cecily Cardew and Hayley Carmichael as Merriman/Lane. Ncuti Gatwa's time on Doctor Who proved to be pretty brief. But he didn't put his feet up in the gap between his two seasons – theatre was his first love and he got straight back on that stage last Christmas to star in the National Theatre's hallucinogenically camp take on Oscar Wilde's classic The Importance of Being Earnest, the first the NT had staged since the '80s. The Max Webster-directed production was a roaring great hit and now it's set to transfer to the West End, replacing Mischief Theatre's The Comedy About Spies at the Noël Coward Theatre. Gatwa's not coming along though: whether he'd have been up for it is a moot point, as he's already busy starring in the RSC's new West End play Born with Teeth. However, a fine replacement has been found for the role of young 'bachelor' about town Algernon Montcrieff: it's Olly Alexander, who hasn't been in Doctor Who but did make his name as actor in It's A Sin, another show by Russell T Davies. Wilde's play is very much an ensemble affair and there is no news on further casting at this stage, though we dare to dream that the mighty Sharon D Clarke will return as the formidable Lady Bracknell. If you want to know a little more about what the production was like last time, then read our four-star review here.
