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The Herald Scotland
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Step into the witty world of PG Wodehouse
'Yes, he's got a great story,' says Daws, one of the most familiar faces on television, who has appeared in the likes of Jeeves and Wooster, John Sullivan's Roger Roger. Essex-born Daws became interested in PG 'Plum' Wodehouse (as a child, Wodehouse couldn't pronounce his first name, Pelham, and early attempts sounded like 'Plum,') when at RADA. 'I was given a copy of Right Ho, Jeeves by actor/writer Tom Wilkinson, who was directing at the Academy. I read it and loved it, little knowing that a few years later I'd be starring in a wonderful TV adaptation.' Daws became fascinated with Wodehouse, reading several biographies of the writer. 'I learned about his extraordinary life, including his early career as a Broadway lyricist, which I'd known nothing about. I then called my friend Bill Humble and said, 'Do you think there might be a play about this?'. Incredibly, he told me that he'd just finished working on a screenplay about his life, which wasn't being picked up.' He smiles. 'The screenplay didn't make it, but the play has.' The actor adds; 'I was invited up to do the piece at the Assembly two years ago but couldn't because I was filming. Then Bill died just before Christmas. But I called our producer and suggested we do it this year.' The Wodehouse theatre project is clearly a labour of love. 'I was fascinated to learn that Wodehouse was a man who lived in a little bubble. So few people actually knew what he looked or sounded like. And I had no idea that before he'd become a successful writer, he'd been a contributor of stories to magazines, but then made his fortune in America as a lyricist for the likes of Cole Porter. At one point he had five shows running on Broadway simultaneously, and even if he'd never writer a Jeeves and Wooster, he'd have become famous for helping to create the great American musical, using the American vernacular, which hadn't been done before.' What sort of man was Wodehouse? 'He was guarded and considered quite shy and naïve. He was in some ways a repressed Victorian, separated from his parents for most of his childhood. (His father was a Colonial Civil Servant. Plum was dumped on a nanny from the ages of two to 15 while they worked in Hong Kong). He really did exist in the world he conjured up and was never really happy in the world outside of it. The one time in his world he was forced out of it, it didn't go well at all.' Daws is referring to Wodehouse's connection with Nazi Germany. Living in France when war broke out, he was playing in a cricket match on the June day in 1941 when taken prisoner and sent to an internment camp in Upper Silesia. The Germans manipulated him into making what became known as the 'Berlin broadcast', which was used by the Nazis for propaganda purposes. He wrote a diary of this period entitled Wodehouse in Wonderland. Wodehouse described the period as his 'great shaming.' MI6 later exonerated the writer. 'To be honest, some people are still divided (about Wodehouse's complicity) but I think there is no shadow of a doubt that he was innocent. But stupid? Yes. Interestingly (and sadly) the British government didn't release the report of his innocence until after his death.' Wodehouse was a workaholic, describing himself as 'a writing machine'. 'This was when he was happiest,' says Daws. Was Wodehouse living the life in his head of the sort he couldn't manage for real? 'I didn't think of that, but I think it's spot on. It's often true of writers generally, such as Dickens, but I think it's especially true of Wodehouse.' Daws adds; 'And Plum didn't write about a world which existed. It was historic, but it had a lightness to it, about toffs and rich people and the so-called Roaring Twenties. Yet he's still respected as one the greatest comic writers ever. And he was entirely dedicated to his craft.' The actor laughs. 'He knew that comedy is a very serious business.' The play is set in the 1950s where we see Wodehouse is in his New York state home, writing another Jeeves and Wooster book. We hear Wodehouse's wife Ethel ('Bunny') occasionally ask for a drink as an off-stage voice, while he writes letters to his beloved daughter 'Snorkles' (his affectionate name for Leonora). He is also pursued by a biographer, whom we don't see, keen to write his story. And Wodehouse occasionally breaks into the songs he has co-written. Read more Daws loves the challenge, but he's eminently qualified to entertain an audience, leaping across characters including Bertie Wooster, Jeeves, Lord Emsworth, Gussie Fink-Nottle and the squashily romantic Madeline Bassett. He has long been a natural performer. Born with feet and leg problems, the actor spent the first five years of his life in and out of hospital. 'I didn't walk until I was five, but I was precocious little brat and cast into the women's ward I sang songs like How Much Is That Doggie in The Window.' He grins. 'I blame my early age handicap for introducing me to the joys of comedy. And then at my ordinary secondary school, I was lucky to have a great drama department. But there were showbiz genes in the family tree, such as grandmother who appeared in Marie Lloyd musicals in the West End and played the Fairy Godmother at Drury Lane.' Robert Daws' talent shone through, accepted into RADA aged just 17, he went on to join the Royal Lyceum Company in Edinburgh and work in acclaimed TV productions such as the award-winning Outside Edge by Richard Harris. He smiles as he rewinds, 'I think I'm so lucky to have worked in rep theatre. You really get the chance to find out what you are good at and hearing the gears crunch when it doesn't work.' Daws grins. 'In this play I do almost everything, play so many characters. It's almost like going back to the days when I played the back end of a pantomime camel in Dick Whittington.' But the reason he can shine in this production is because he was that half of a camel. 'Yes, you do learn as you go along.' He laughs out loud. 'I do owe an awful lot to Esmarelda. For one thing, she got me my Equity Card.' Wodehouse in Wonderland, Assembly George Square Studios, until August 24, (excluding 18), at 6:10pm
Mint
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
A new book about Aparna Sen, the star who became an indie film pioneer
In 1961, exactly 20 years prior to her directorial debut with 36 Chowringhee Lane, the world was introduced to Aparna Sen, née Dasgupta, the daughter of eminent film critic Chidananda Dasgupta, as the young Mrinmoyee of 'Samapti', a part of Satyajit Ray's Teen Kanya (1961). Sen says that this was in keeping with the fact that she had always wanted to be an actor, and her parents indulged her dreams and even promised to send her abroad to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London. In 1969, she returned in a brief role in Ray's cinema to play Samit Bhanja's love interest in Aranyer Din Ratri. While her career as an actor was not exactly stellar to begin with, very soon she went on to become one of the most popular actresses of Bengali cinema. Her pairing with some of the top male stars of the industry, such as Uttam Kumar and Soumitra Chatterjee, lent a certain sheen and appeal to her films and made her an extremely popular star in turn. Bhranti Bilas (1963), Baksa Badal (1970) and Jay Jayanti (1970) continue to remain some of her most popular films. Even as an actress, she played the roles of educated, working and empowered women, so it really does not come as a surprise that the women in the cinema which she would go on to create would be superior creatures compared to the men therein. While she does not like to talk about her career as an actress, it is worthwhile to probe her career as one. Most of the earlier films she acted in—being products of the mainstream Tollygunge-based Bengali film industry—fetched stardom and an iconic status for her, which have still not waned. Aparna Sen is not only one of a very small group of female actors-turned-directors (others include Sai Paranjpye, Hema Malini, Pooja Bhatt, Nandita Das and Revathi), but also the best known of them. She is recognized not only for her direction and acting, but also as a cultural and sociopolitical commentator. She was also the editor of the immensely popular Bengali magazine called Sananda from 1986 to 2005, when Madhumita Chattopadhyay took over as the editor-in-chief…. Like Sharmila Tagore who made her cinematic debut with Ray, Aparna Sen too straddled both worlds—she appeared in parallel or art films while having a remarkable presence in the 'commercial' genre of Bengali cinema in which she was often cast opposite the matinee idol Uttam Kumar. However, as Sen repeatedly expresses with displeasure, she was never happy acting in commercial films, and given her exposure to world cinema and other avant-garde art forms, she was extremely critical of such films with clichéd plots, a lack of innovation in form and content, and melodramatic acting. In fact, her condescension towards the commercial film earned her the tag 'snob' within the film industry. The first draft of her debut film as a director, 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981), as Sen likes to recount, came into being in the make-up room of a Bombay studio, as she waited to be called for the next shot of one of those many commercial films she could not intellectually connect to: 'I began writing a short story out of exasperation. I asked myself whether I should continue to act in such films in which I did not believe.' Sen did not stop acting in these films, though. For that earned her a livelihood. But she was creatively inclined to art-house cinema which, however, did not have as many viewers. In the 1960s and 1970s, she acted in films as aesthetically diverse as Akash Kusum (1965) directed by Mrinal Sen, and Satyajit Ray's Aranyer Din Ratri, at the same time as a commercially successful film such as Jay Jayanti (1971) with the reigning superstar of the day, Uttam Kumar, as well as others such as Mem Saheb (1972), Basanta Bilap (1973), Rater Rajanigandha (1973), Chhutir Phande (1974) and Proxy (1977), and several others that soon followed. And in all of them, Aparna Sen was portrayed as a sophisticated, sometimes rather westernized, if not too radical, woman. In recent years, she has become extremely selective about acting in films. If she happens to appear in one at all, it is usually in a meaningful role, central to the plot. Her last film was the Mandira Basu-directed Basu Paribar (loosely based on James Joyce's 'The Dead') in 2019, where she played Soumitra Chatterjee's wife. In her later films, Sen—who evolved with changing times—continued to play emancipated urban characters, often breaking stereotypes and emerging iconic in her dignified rebellion against patriarchal norms. One such film was Rituparno Ghosh's Unishe April (1994), which dramatized a widowed dancer's difficult relationship with her daughter, who failed to empathize with her mother's uncompromising pursuit of her career and apparent neglect of her household. In Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury's 2009 film Antaheen, she played the role of a successful journalist-cum-photographer who prioritized her career over family and lost it. In Srijit Mukherji's 2018 film Ek Je Chhilo Raja, she played the role of the prosecution lawyer who came across as an independent and fiery individual. Excerpted with permission from Rupa. The book will be available for sale next week.
BBC News
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Beverley's Esme Kingdom says Netflix gave her 'the best summer'
My Oxford Year star Esme Kingdom, 26, said she had to "pinch herself" when the film aired on Netflix. Ms Kingdom, from South Dalton, near Beverley, secured her first major role as Maggie Timbs in the romantic drama which was the top film in the UK on the streaming platform last week. Esme grew up attending musical theatre classes in Hull before going on to study at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) during the pandemic, which meant she had to attend classes on said: "I had to pretend to be an owl in my back garden during Covid and my neighbours were probably looking out of the window thinking what the hell is going on in the Kingdom household." Esme said filming the movie was "the best summer of my life." "We were being so silly and eating so much food and it was the funniest summer I've ever had," she said. "And I see the the cast at least once a week still." The cast included Sofia Carson, an American actress who has starred in several Netflix and Disney shows and Corey Mylchreest - well known for his roll as King George in the Netflix show Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. Esme said director Iain Morris "was very much on the vibe of improvise around the script. So, because the part felt quite similar to me, it came quite naturally." "I come from a very, very small village," she said. "So there wasn't a huge amount of opportunity within the fields and the cows." She added: "I guess there is a lack of opportunity around here, but there's so many actors and actresses that have seemed to come out of Beverley." The East Yorkshire town has seen a series of actors rise to stardom over the last decade including Anna Maxwell Martin, who starred in Line of Duty, Eleanor Tomlinson, who played a lead roll in Poldark, and Lewis Pemberton, known for his role in attending RADA remotely, she said she remembered "doing voice exercises and having to slap people over the screen. It was so silly but it got me to where I am today."Esme said she wished she could tell herself "everything is going to be fine and you'll achieve your dream before you even know it."She hopes to be in more films in the future and continue to put East Yorkshire on the map. Listen to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering the BBC News app from the App Store for iPhone and iPad or Google Play for Android devices
Irish Examiner
09-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Examiner
Laura Whitmore: 'Siobhán McSweeney said I'd have the best time at the Everyman'
There can be a lot of snobbery around the acting world, Laura Whitmore tells me, with a drama school pedigree considered de rigueur in certain circles. Considering the 40-year-old Bray native's credentials include a stint at RADA, a 2022 West End debut, and various film and TV roles, it's fair to say she's earned her acting chops, but her impressive CV still doesn't dampen the disdain from some quarters. 'I'll still get, oh yeah, but you're a presenter. You presented a reality television show. How can you do that?' she says, meaning acting, which was the craft she actually pursued first, getting down to the last eight for a role in Channel 4 series Totally Frank when she was 18. (She didn't get the part, much to the relief of her mother who wanted her daughter to see out her journalism degree at DCU.) Whitmore knows her worth, though, and has no truck with haters or misplaced snobbery. 'You just have to listen to your own voice, do what's right for you, create your own path and be authentic.' Being authentic has certainly worked for the former MTV presenter who, having got that gig ahead of 3,000 other applicants back in 2008, has since forged an impressive multi-hyphenate career across the worlds of TV, radio, podcasting, journalism, and entrepreneurship. She's consistently been drawn back to acting, though, starring in three plays in the last 12 months alone, and getting rave reviews for her performances. Laura Whitmore in The Girl on the Train 'I get such joy from it, which sounds weird because sometimes it's quite dark, some of the places you have to go. But, really, I'm really enjoying this,' she says, referencing her role in the stage adaptation of Paula Hawkins's 2015 bestselling thriller The Girl On The Train. Whitmore plays the 'flawed' titular girl, Rachel Watson, and in addition to loving the fact that the role requires her to be 'me at my least glamorous' — 'it's probably the least amount of time I've ever had to spend in hair and makeup, in that there is no hair and makeup' — Rachel's faults are what drew her to the role in the first instance. 'She's not this perfect protagonist who does everything right. She makes a lot of mistakes. But at the heart of this, there is a woman who is rebuilding her life.' Whitmore loved the fact that the story is written 'by a woman about a woman' and found the strong themes of alcoholism, domestic abuse, and coercive control that run through the narrative, 'relatable'. 'I think that's what I was drawn to, the human side of it. Rachel is very human and every single character in this play is flawed. There's no good guy and bad guy. Some are worse than others, but everyone has these traits that don't make them perfect, which is all of us really, isn't it?' Laura Whitmore attends the BRIT Awards after party at Claridge's on March 1, 2025 in London, England. To the casual onlooker, Whitmore herself might well come across as perfect. There's something of a head girl vibe about her, a sense that she's got her 'i's dotted and 't's crossed; that she charted her course for success early on and hasn't deviated. She's made her own luck and created her own opportunities, though, and is as far removed from the modern day 'nepo baby' phenomenon as it's possible to get. She's a grafter — 'If I'm given an opportunity, I will work my ass off to the best of my ability,' she tells me — and attributes her work ethic to the influence of her mother Carmel. In Whitmore's 2021 bestselling self-help book, No One Can Change Your Life Except for You, she also credits her mum with giving her 'the knowledge that having a child AND working is possible'. Having had her daughter, Stevie Ré, with Scottish comedian husband Iain Stirling in March 2021 (the trio live in North London), she's now well versed in the working mum juggle, and while she's making it work, with mum Carmel getting a shout out — 'every now and then, my mother comes over from Ireland and helps us out and saves the day' — Whitmore doesn't sugar-coat the downsides that come with her chosen career.'I remember working in Australia where I was on a different time zone, so you couldn't even talk to your family when you came up off set because they were asleep. It's hard. You have to really love it.' She's always had a clear delineation between her work and personal lives (although there has been crossover; Sterling narrates Love Island, the reality TV show Whitmore presented for three series, and the two have a podcast together, Murder they Wrote), but she's made it clear from early on in her working life that certain topics are off-limits, and that extends to her social media. 'I've got friends who show everything online and give all of themselves online and they're able for it. I just don't think I'm emotionally able to do that. I need boundaries. I know what I can cope with and what I can't cope with. Having boundaries helps.' When it comes to live theatre, Whitmore says it's the immersive nature that drews her to it. 'When I watch a film these days, I'm terrible. I'll be on my phone, scrolling, going, 'I know her'. Then my husband will say 'put down your phone and watch', because I'm, 'oh, I've missed a bit'. When you're in a theatre, you're not allowed to have your phone out, you have to be part of it and you have to be present.' Laura Whitmore attending the BAFTA TV Awards 2024 Whitmore says she hasn't been to Cork city 'in years' — although she did recently visit Skibbereen and Stevie Ré's godmother is Corkonian — but is looking forward to exploring when the production arrives Leeside later this month. 'Siobhán McSweeney was like, 'I hear you're coming to the Everyman. You are going to have the best time, they're so lovely down there. I'm so happy you're doing it'.' Cork is the only city in which Girl On The Train has an 8pm curtain up, she notes. 'Everywhere else is 7.30pm. I was like, 'that's so Cork. They just love the night!'' At this point in the run, the character of Rachel is 'in her bones' she says, but she's had to learn to leave her behind when she comes off stage. 'I found that was one thing I've had to learn, even from presenting. I've been doing quite a few documentary series recently, and I found that hard because I was bringing it home. I was lucky to speak to psychologists about that. The one thing they always say to me is you can't bring it with you, you have to be able to park it. You have to be able to, not forget about it, but be able to, again, have boundaries. It's the same with a character, when you're taking on a role who has been through a lot of trauma, you have to be able to step away and be Laura. Otherwise, it would be very difficult. I drink a lot of fake wine on stage. Sometimes I need a real glass afterwards.' The chameleon-like ease with which she switches between her various work hats is impressive, and she's her own best cheerleader. Laura Whitmore: 'The presenting makes me better at acting.' 'People like to put you in boxes and go, 'You're this or you're this',' she says. 'I think it's okay to constantly evolve and grow. The presenting makes me better at acting sometimes. And the acting makes me better at presenting. I'm doing a documentary series that's coming out in September and I touch on real-life subject matter that's quite dark, but actually the character of Rachel's quite dark. So some of the stuff I've learned from talking to families doing that series has helped me with the role of Rachel. It all links together in a weird way.' She's embracing it all and enjoying it too. 'It doesn't seem like a fun role, but I feel it's quite cathartic. And it's challenging and it's a bit scary. I quite like that.' She pauses and then adds: 'I don't think I want a boring life. I don't think I have a boring life.' Far from it. The Girl on the Train comes to The Everyman August 19-23 at 8pm; matinee, Saturday, August 23 at 2pm. Tickets from The play is at Bord Gáis Energy Theatre from August 26 to 30,
Scottish Sun
31-07-2025
- Politics
- Scottish Sun
Brawl in Ukraine parliament as anti-corruption bill passes after biggest anti-Zelensky protests since war forced U-turn
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A BRAWL has erupted in Ukraine's parliament as Volodymyr Zelensky U-turned on an anti-corruption bill. The brave President has walked back curbing the power of anti-corruption bodies after protests hit the country. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 7 An MP wearing a white t-shirt slaps another one Credit: Parliamentary TV-channel - RADA 7 The two MPs could be seen brawling in Ukraine's parliament Credit: Parliamentary TV-channel - RADA 7 Another MP had to hold them apart Two MPs began scrapping as the bill to repeal the week-old change was going through the Verkhovna Rada today. An MP in a white t-shirt and another spectacled MP in a navy polo shirt threw fists at the start of the livestream of the session. The pair appear to argue before the man in navy throws a punch and hits the man in white's armpit. The man in white then slaps the man back before other MPs quickly jump in and break the pair up. Although the reason for the scuffle was not known, it occurred amid a tense atmosphere in the chamber. MPs voted 331 to 0 in favour of the bill to restore the independence of the bodies which are a check on corruption. Zelensky had last week passed a measure to place the watchdogs under the oversight of the prosecutor-general. However, Ukrainians took to the streets and allies of Ukraine, including the EU and human rights groups, decried the measure. Zelensky said his goal had been to speed up prolonged investigations, ensure more convictions and remove Russian meddling in investigations, which he didn't detail. He said he had taken note of the protests and decided to present a new bill to Parliament underscoring that the prosecutor general and his deputies cannot give orders to anti-graft agencies or interfere in their work. Putin strikes Ukraine maternity ward in another outrageous snub to Trump Fighting corruption is crucial for Ukraine's aspirations to join the EU and join the Western bloc of wealthy, allied countries. It is also key to maintaining access to billions of dollars of vital Western aid in the nearly 3-year all-out war. Zelensky had warned that the bill needed to be passed in order to clear the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office (SAPO) of "Russian influence". The offices of the two agencies were raided by Ukraine's security services on Monday after infiltration allegations from Moscow emerged. 7 Protesters marched against the law change last week Credit: Getty 7 Thousands took to the streets, marking the first protests since Russia's invasion Credit: AP But many civilians strongly disagreed with his beliefs saying the bill now gives Zelensky ultimate power over independent bodies. After the bill passed, thousands of people came together in the capital of Kyiv to take part in the biggest anti-government protest since the start of Russia's barbaric invasion in February 2022. Though the protests didn't call for the president's removal, the controversy threatened to undermine public trust in their leaders at a critical time. EU Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos, who called last week's legislative changes a serious step back, welcomed approval of the bill, saying lawmakers had corrected last week's damaging vote. She wrote on X: "Today's law restores key safeguards, but challenges remain, Kos, who monitors the record of countries that are candidates to join the bloc. "The EU supports (Ukrainian) citizens demands for reform. Upholding fundamental values & fighting corruption must remain the priority." Zelensky speaks following repeal Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken out following the repeal of the law. He said: "I want to thank all members of parliament for passing my bill – now officially a law, as I have just signed the document. The text will be published immediately. "This is a guarantee of the proper independent functioning of Ukraine's anti-corruption bodies and all law enforcement agencies. "It ensures the absence of any external influence or interference, including through regular polygraph checks for all law enforcement personnel who have access to state secrets or have relatives in Russia. This is the right decision. "It is very important that the state listens to public opinion. That it hears its citizens. Ukraine is a democracy – without a doubt." It comes after Russia launched its latest barrage of missiles and kamikaze drones at Ukraine. Nine people were killed around the country, including six in Kyiv. One of those was tragically a six-year-old boy. President Volodymyr Zelensky posted a video of burning ruins, saying people were still trapped under the rubble of one residential building. He said: "Kyiv. Missile strike. Directly into a residential building. People under the rubble. All services are on site. Russian terrorists." The brave leader later added: "Today, the world once again saw Russia's response to our desire for peace, shared with America and Europe. 7 Russia is slowly advancing in the west of Ukraine Credit: AP 7 Russia claims to have captured Chasiv Yar - with new footage showing it left in ruins Credit: AP "New, showcase killings. That is why peace without strength is impossible." Heartbreaking scenes saw rescuers carrying the dead child across the rubble of the collapsed nine-storey apartment building in the Sviatoshynskyi district of Kyiv. Russia said on Thursday it had captured the town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine after nearly 16 months of fighting. The advance, if confirmed, would mark a significant gain for Moscow's forces and could enable them to press on towards key "fortress" cities in the Donetsk region, including Kostiantynivka, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
