Latest news with #RiversideStudios
Irish Examiner
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
'Wicked sense of humour': John Minihan on photographing Gary Oldman in Krapp's Last Tape
'There is no Memory in Beckett. Even Krapp's Last Tape has no memory in the usual sense of associated recall, but rather, a mechanical process set in motion by a jar or vibration: the closing of or opening of a door.' - William S Burroughs, The Adding Machine Samuel Beckett knew the essence of theatre is that an actor is present in the flesh on the stage in a way in which he is not on the screen. Academy award winner Gary Oldman returned to the UK stage after a 37-year hiatus in April of this year to perform Samuel Beckett's one-act play, Krapp's Last Tape, at the York Theatre Royal. For over 50 years I have been photographing Beckett plays: Waiting for Godot, Endgame, Happy Days and Krapp's Last Tape. All played with an array of actors from Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Billie Whitelaw, John Hurt, Michael Gambon, Max Wall, Pierre Chabert, Barry McGovern, Stephen Rea and Robert Wilson. They all bring their own exuberance to the roles they play. Trying to define Krapps Last Tape is like well trying to define the overall dramatic works of Samuel Beckett - it's complex yet simple, ever evolving and wildly addictive. Gary Oldman in Krapp's Last Tape. Picture: John Minihan When I heard last November that Oldman was doing Krapp's Last Tape, I knew that I wanted to see and photograph him. He's an actor with a wicked sense of humour. I knew he would bring something special to the part in a work that's Beckett's most approachable stage play and my favourite to photograph. Krapp is a sentimental 69-year-old listening to his 30-something voice on a spool from his archive, looking back regretfully upon a life lived in which he sacrificed love to artistic ambition. We see Krapp onstage in an old white collarless shirt, and black waistcoat in which he keeps his pocket-watch and a banana. I told Gary about the time I photographed Max Wall who played Krapp at the Riverside Studios in London in 1987, bringing his own brand of music-hall humour and relishing the word 'spool'. 'Spoool,' he crooned. I was in the dressing room with Max where he started eating the banana; staff were dispatched to get another banana before the show could start. Music-hall humour is strewn through the world of Samuel Beckett, and the plays often benefit in performance from a less reverent attitude than is usually the case. It's becoming harder to photograph plays in the West End of London. I was invited to the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London in 2024 to see Waiting for Godot. The producers could not have been more helpful, but they had their own photographer doing the stills for newspaper publicity and reviews. Back in the day there was always a photo call for the main theatre photographers in London. I knew Douglas H Jeffrey, the doyen of theatre photographers who I first met when I was an apprentice in the Daily Mail darkroom in 1962. Douglas supplied Fleet Street's newspapers with beautiful black and white photographs of shows in the London's West End. He loved theatre, always wore a beret and an artist smock with pockets to hold film and lense. He was never interested in being interviewed about his work. I remember he photographed the playwright Joe Orton in 1967 only months before he was murdered in Islington by his partner Kenneth Halliwell. Gary Oldman played Orton in the film, Prick Up Your Ears, in 1987. My friend Adrian Dunbar, who has directed Beckett in Ireland, London and Paris, was in York for nearly a week supporting Gary in rehearsals of Krapp's Last Tape. I met Gary with Adrian, and the pair were happy, laughing and joking. They go back as actors to the early 1970s to the Royal Court in London and the RSC. Listening to them, it could have been a scene from Estragon and Vladimir in Waiting for Godot. John Minihan's image of John Hurt in Krapps Last Tape in 1998. I was also relishing the opportunity to go back to the beautiful city of York which hosted its first Beckett Festival in June 2011. I had an exhibition of my Beckett photographs at York University together with a range of world-class writers like the Nobel laureate JM Coetzee, who I photographed outside the door of York Minister. The event also featured a performance by the renowned Gare St Lazare players with Cork actor Conor Lovett performing his arresting adaptions of Samuel Beckett's short stories, First Love and The End. I loved being back in York with Adrian and meeting Gary and his photographer wife Giselle and their children. The show is dedicated to John Hurt and Michael Gambon. The production team even used the same recorder that those great actors used for their shows at Dublin's Gate Theatre. Samuel Beckett would, I believe, have given the nod to Gary Oldman who seemed to have found his perfect home. Dublin-born photographer John Minihan has been based in West Cork for many years. As well as capturing famous images of the likes of Princess Diana, Edna O'Brien, and Francis Bacon, he also took several photographs of Samuel Beckett Read More Barry Keoghan and Nicola Coughlan provide star power for Fastnet Film Festival in West Cork
The Guardian
05-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The Empire Strips Back review – Chewie gets jiggy in galactic burlesque parody
Might there be an overlap between sci-fi fans – I speak as one myself – and audiences who are up for watching women remove their clothes? The huge success of 'burlesque parody' The Empire Strips Back suggests that, yes, there just might be. Created in Australia and since performed globally, the show recasts scenes and characters from a galaxy far, far away as sexy strip-and-dance numbers, stylishly lit and slickly performed to a banging pop and rock score. If you like the sound of Boba Fett bumping and grinding to Guns N' Roses, or Han Solo and Chewbacca getting jiggy to the Backstreet Boys – well, these are the droids you're looking for. What makes the show stand out is the fidelity of its design, its unofficial status notwithstanding; and its sense of humour. The scenes you'll remember are the funny ones – Jabba the Hutt rapping, anyone? – or at least, those that put a cheeky spin on the original material. See a scantily clad female Luke Skywalker seeking warmth in the belly of her disemboweled tauntaun, or C-3P0 being undressed, rather than disassembled, by two busybody Jawas. There's a once-seen, never-forgotten number (you may sense a great disturbance in the Force) featuring a naked Emperor Palpatine and a mirrorball shaped like the Death Star. The set pieces are freestanding, and between them, MC Pete Anderson jollies things along fan convention-style, soliciting the audience's R2-D2 impressions and best Star Wars tattoos. Anderson too clarifies the distinction between striptease and burlesque, the latter of which (he claims) is empowering, not creepy. It's hard not to notice that it's mainly women being empowered in The Empire Strips Back, whose male cast members alone end the show fully clothed. But if it's not striking a Rebel Alliance-like blow for freedom, The Empire Strips Back is at least striking one for pretty good fun. At Riverside Studios, London, until 17 August
Scottish Sun
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Inside Dermot O'Leary's new show Silence is Golden – which left him frustrated and filming lasting hours over blunder
The show's start has been confirmed - and it's sooner than you think golden rule Inside Dermot O'Leary's new show Silence is Golden – which left him frustrated and filming lasting hours over blunder Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) DERMOT O'Leary's brand new show is worlds away from This Morning's iconic sofa or The X Factor. The telly favourite, 51, recorded his brand new game show Silence Is Golden last year. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 2 Silence is Golden launches this Monday on U&Dave Credit: UKTV 2 Dermot O'Leary hosts the new game show which sees contestants win money if they stay completely silent Credit: Rex Dermot hosts as the audience have one simple task - remain absolutely silent. Each participant is mic'ed up while they're seated with highly-sensitive tech that can pick up even the faintest peep. Throughout the show, a series of well-known comedians appear on stage, hoping to leave the audience in fits of laughter with their jokes - and the £250,000 jackpot prize at zero. Dermot filmed the U&Dave series last July, in the midst of hosting This Morning's summer edition with Alison Hammond. Six episodes of the new show were recorded, each 60-minutes in duration and kick off on Monday, May 5th. Before the episodes were filmed, a pilot was recorded as a test run. The run-through was plagued with technical issues, leaving bosses scrambling behind-the-scenes. Each participant had to wear a rather uncomfortable headset microphone, which felt more like a metal hanger on your head. I know because I sat in the audience at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, watching it all unfold. As the show got underway, an adjudicator would sit and monitor noise levels from each mic during each individual performance from the funny faces. This Morning star accused of 'looking SO bored' as Ferne McCann talks about new Dancing On Ice series It would then be decided how many decibels were recorded and what cash would dwindle as a result. The sensitivity issues with the mics left the crew visibly frustrated, and some frowns in the audience as the segments had to be restarted. During the first part of the night, a large chunk of the prize pot had been wiped out over apparent fails, which were disputed by crew and the audience. Even Dermot O'Leary looked like his patience was wearing thin at times, though after almost three decades in telly, was ever the pro and continued with the pilot. After what felt like a 24-hour marathon, the show eventually got on the road and things started to run smoothly, apart from the irritating metal contraption keeping my microphone in place. Each episode of Silence is Golden will feature three returning celebrity captains - Katherine Ryan, Seann Walsh and Fatiha El-Ghorri. The show is natural laugh-out-loud comedy and great fun, and Dermot's energy and warmth takes it to a new level.
The Sun
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Inside Dermot O'Leary's new show Silence is Golden – which left him frustrated and filming lasting hours over blunder
DERMOT O'Leary's brand new show is worlds away from This Morning's iconic sofa or The X Factor. The telly favourite, 51, recorded his brand new game show Silence Is Golden last year. 2 2 Dermot hosts as the audience have one simple task - remain absolutely silent. Each participant is mic'ed up while they're seated with highly-sensitive tech that can pick up even the faintest peep. Throughout the show, a series of well-known comedians appear on stage, hoping to leave the audience in fits of laughter with their jokes - and the £250,000 jackpot prize at zero. Dermot filmed the U&Dave series last July, in the midst of hosting This Morning's summer edition with Alison Hammond. Six episodes of the new show were recorded, each 60-minutes in duration and kick off on Monday, May 5th. Before the episodes were filmed, a pilot was recorded as a test run. The run-through was plagued with technical issues, leaving bosses scrambling behind-the-scenes. Each participant had to wear a rather uncomfortable headset microphone, which felt more like a metal hanger on your head. I know because I sat in the audience at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, watching it all unfold. As the show got underway, an adjudicator would sit and monitor noise levels from each mic during each individual performance from the funny faces. This Morning star accused of 'looking SO bored' as Ferne McCann talks about new Dancing On Ice series It would then be decided how many decibels were recorded and what cash would dwindle as a result. The sensitivity issues with the mics left the crew visibly frustrated, and some frowns in the audience as the segments had to be restarted. During the first part of the night, a large chunk of the prize pot had been wiped out over apparent fails, which were disputed by crew and the audience. Even Dermot O'Leary looked like his patience was wearing thin at times, though after almost three decades in telly, was ever the pro and continued with the pilot. After what felt like a 24-hour marathon, the show eventually got on the road and things started to run smoothly, apart from the irritating metal contraption keeping my microphone in place. Each episode of Silence is Golden will feature three returning celebrity captains - Katherine Ryan, Seann Walsh and Fatiha El-Ghorri. The show is natural laugh-out-loud comedy and great fun, and Dermot's energy and warmth takes it to a new level.
Forbes
23-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
David Bowie Hits The Top 10 With An Album Fans Have Been Waiting Decades For
David Bowie's Ready Set Go – Live at Riverside Studios debuts on four U.K. charts, hitting the top ... More 10 on three and continuing his posthumous chart dominance. (MANDATORY CREDIT) David Bowie performing at Giant Stadium at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey on August 3, 1987. (Photo by Ebet Roberts/Redferns) David Bowie may be gone, but when it comes to the music charts in the United Kingdom, he's never really left. The late rock legend continues to make regular appearances thanks to a steady stream of vinyl drops and bestselling and streaming-centric compilations that pull from his vast and varied catalog. This week, Bowie is back on multiple tallies in his home country with Ready Set Go - Live at Riverside Studios, a long-awaited release that's been a favorite among fans for decades, even before it was officially available to own. The recently-issued live album is new to four U.K. rankings this frame. Ready Set Go breaks into the top 10 on three of those lists and nearly does the same on a fourth, proving once again – as if there was ever really any question – that there's still major demand for Bowie's work. Ready Set Go earns its highest placements on the Official Albums Sales and Official Physical Albums charts. On both tallies, it kicks off at No. 8. It also lands on the Official Vinyl Albums list, debuting at No. 10. The fact that a Bowie offering, released nearly a decade after his death, can launch inside the top 10, is quite the feat. Finally, the live set makes an appearance on the Official Albums chart, the most important music ranking in the country for full-lengths. The list blends pure sales with streaming data to measure overall popularity. There, Ready Set Go starts at No. 44, just missing the top 40 cutoff. Bowie has now earned at least two dozen top 10 placements on the Official Albums Sales chart alone, and his total placements on the Official Vinyl Albums ranking recently crossed 50. Few artists have built a posthumous discography as formidable as Bowie's, and his list of wins keeps growing. Ready Set Go was recorded on September 8, 2003, when Bowie performed a set at Riverside Studios in London. The concert was beamed via satellite to cinemas around the world, which was a novelty at the time and a major event for fans. Reportedly, 50,000 people tuned in to witness the event live. Now, more than 20 years later, that performance is finally available as an album, on both vinyl and CD. It was released for Record Store Day 2025, and it seems it's one of the big winners of this year's event.
