#Amelia Donkor

[rowanoptera]

Episode 191 of the Persistent & Nasty podcast features a reading of my new short horror story, Home Body, by actor Amelia Donkor. I'm really proud of this - give it a listen for some belated halloween chills!

[peterviney1]

As You Like It- RSC 2019 review The second of three plays in Stratford, AS YOU LIKE IT (linked). Some new variations on lines and scenes, as expected at the RSC. All RSC Shakespeare is unmissable …

[makingupstoriesinmyhead]

Liked on YouTube: "Sonnet 81 | Amelia Donkor | Sonnets in Solitude" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMGP6Cl5MnY

[doctorwhonews]

Sixth Doctor and Peri return in new audio adventures for 2020

Latest from the news site: Big Finish have announced four new adventures for the Sixth Doctor and Peri for August 2020, set after The Trial of a Time Lord and their audio adventure The Rani Elite. Producer/Director Scott Handcock said: Ever since the Sixth Doctor and Peri were reunited in The Widow’s Assassin back in 2014, listeners have wanted a continuation of their post-Trial of a Time Lord adventures together. And so now, to commemorate twenty years of Doctor Who at Big Finish, they’re getting a new collection of stories spanning the cosmos. We travel to nineteenth-century Africa, futuristic Earth colonies and a 1970s film studios plus we meet the ultimate Doctor/companion relationship counsellor in Sigmund Freud! Nicola Bryant said about her character's return: Because of the journey that BF have given them, both together and individually, we’ve been lucky enough to expand them into these amazing new people. If everything had stayed in some kind of stasis where we were stuck with exactly what we did on television, then I think the audience might have disappeared. But it just seems that we’ve been given such great journeys, and I love coming back to this Doctor/companion. This new set of stories will also feature Colin Baker's daughter Rosie in the third adventure. 1. The Headless Ones by James Parsons & Andrew Stirling-Brown When a distress call from an unknown source threatens to rip the TARDIS from the vortex, the Doctor and Peri arrive in nineteenth-century Africa hoping to find the cause of the disturbance. Instead, they meet a British expedition searching for a long lost tribe: the B’lemyae… better known to the locals as ‘the Headless Ones’. 2. Like by Jacqueline Rayner On the Earth colony world Rusina, the populace strive to be popular. Likes lead to promotion, dislikes lead to demotion – and more recently, something worse. So when the Doctor investigates the truth behind their subscriber-led society, he finds himself about to become very unpopular indeed. 3. The Vanity Trap by Stuart Manning Myrna Kendal used to be a Hollywood film star. Now she spends her life reminiscing on chat shows but there is always one unfinished film she refuses to talk about… at least until the TARDIS interrupts a TV interview, and the Doctor and Peri’s appearance stirs up long-forgotten memories. 4. Conflict Theory by Nev Fountain Concerned by the Doctor’s increasing over-protectiveness, Peri presents him with an ultimatum: either they seek counselling or she leaves the TARDIS permanently. Reluctant to lose one of his closest friends, the Doctor seeks out one of the finest psychoanalysts in the universe: Dr Sigmund Freud. Cast Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri Brown), Deirdre Mullins (Amanda Latimer), Hugh Skinner (Lord Oliver Erpingham), Vivienne Acheampong (Siyanda), Javone Prince (Kaylin), Lucy Robinson (Christie), Eilidh Loan (Marconi), Amelia Donkor (Hoffmann), Rachel Atkins (Governor Crompton), Timothy Blore (Sandis-Fernis), Sarah Douglas (Myrna Kendal), Rosie Baker (Carolyn Sue), Stephen Critchlow (Jimmy Garfield), Ryan Forde Iosco (Dr. Karp), David Sibley (Dr. Freud), Raj Ghatak (The Complex), George Naylor (Dodo). Doctor Who News http://www.doctorwhonews.net/2019/08/sixth-doctor-and-peri-200819113008.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[londontheatre]

Ian McDiarmid as Enoch Powell – credit Mihaela Bodlovic

What Shadows is gloriously raw, one of those productions with such a good script that it doesn’t need to be, and isn’t, embellished with superfluous sound effects in an attempt to create a dramatic atmosphere. Much of it is well performed, with an uncluttered set that makes good use of video projections. The flitting between the decades – scenes are set in either 1967/68 or 1992 – made things a tad more complex than was strictly necessary.

Enoch Powell (Ian McDiarmid), who retains a reputation in the public eye for his so-called ‘rivers of blood’ speech (those exact words are not in the said speech), is presented as a figure who has thought through his lines of argument. A truncated version of the speech is given in the play, giving audiences a feel for the most salient points. I thought this was a good way to dramatise it, not getting bogged down in the details whilst providing a deep enough introduction for anyone unfamiliar with the speech’s content. Later, when Powell is interviewed as an elderly man by Rose Cruickshank (Amelia Donkor), an Oxbridge academic, his intellectual ability is still evident.

That doesn’t make his views any less abhorrent, or otherwise simply bizarre. There’s a decent attempt at examining the aftermath of what Powell refers to as “the Birmingham speech”, particularly in the personal circumstances of Grace Hughes (Paula Wilcox). No play could look at every effect and consequence arising from a speech that labelled immigration as “ludicrous” and “dangerous”, and the focus on just a few personal stories makes the play more compelling than a macro-level overview of, say, continuing opposition to multiculturalism, would.

Ameet Chana as Sultan and Amelia Donkor as Joyce – credit Mihaela Bodlovic

A rather obvious danger exists in giving Powell a platform on the Park Theatre stage, and concerns about even staging a show of this nature have, admittedly, some validity. But, as a production, What Shadows has much going for it. McDiarmid is convincingly Powell through and through – the nasal manner of speaking, an unashamed admission of political career ambitions (dashed by the Birmingham speech), and a commitment to abide by his principles even if it meant losing long-standing friendships with his Quaker friend Clem Jones (Nicholas Le Prevost) and Clem’s wife Marjorie (also Paula Wilcox). A portrayal of Powell suffering from Parkinson’s disease in his retirement does not, perhaps expectedly, evoke much sympathy, but McDiarmid’s Powell would, I suspect, have been uncomfortable with affection in any event.

Powell isn’t the only one in the play given full character development: Rose Cruickshank has a few skeletons in the cupboard, one of which stretches back to her childhood. Sofia (Joanne Pearce), a former academic whose career was left in tatters after she asserted Powell’s Birmingham speech “had never been answered”, whatever that means, has much to add to proceedings even as a relatively minor character. But I’m not quite convinced, for instance, the oh-so-slightly prejudiced Grace would have married Sultan (Ameet Chana), a self-confessed “educated” man from Jhelum, in Pakistan.

A complicated, provocative and uncomfortable play, it is not always easy to watch. But there are themes and topics of discussion that remain relevant, almost five decades after that belligerent speech.

Review by Chris Omaweng

“I was a storm. I was also a man entirely alone in a storm. There were forces beyond my control and I was one of them.” Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech was the most polarising political speech of the last 50 years. Oxford academic and daughter of a Caribbean immigrant, Rose Cruickshank wants answers. Enoch’s controversial words about immigration shattered her childhood. Rose cannot find inner peace until she understands what led him to make the speech that defined a generation. Will a meeting with the man himself give her the answers she desperately craves?

Roxana Silbert (Artistic Director, Birmingham Repertory Theatre), directs Ian McDiarmid (The Star Wars films, Merchant of Venice, Life of Galileo) as one of the most provocative figures in recent history.

Oliver Mackwood and Charles Diamond in association with Park Theatre present The Birmingham Repertory Theatre production of What Shadows By Chris Hannan Directed by Roxana Silbert

Cast: Ian McDiarmid as Enoch Powell Nicholas Le Prevost as Clem Jones Amelia Donkor as Rose Cruickshank & Joyce Cruickshank Paula Wilcox as Grace Hughes & Marjorie Jones Waleed Akhtar as Saeed Ameet Chana as Sultan & Doctor Sharma Joanne Pearce as Sofia & Pamela

Creatives: Roxana Silbert Director Ti Green Designer Chahine Yavroyan Lighting Designer Giles Thomas Original Sound Design Louis Price Video Designer Anna Morrissey Movement Director Stephen Kemble Voice & Dialect Coach Luke Kernaghan Associate Director

Plays: 27 Sep – 28 Oct 2017 http://ift.tt/1NQfsF7

http://ift.tt/2fQBAeo LondonTheatre1.com

[thecraggus]

Spooks: The Greater Good (2015) Review

Spooks: The Greater Good (2015) isn't great, but it's pretty good if you were a fan of the TV show. #Review

Swapping Black Crows for Black Ops, Kit Harrington finds he still knows nothing as he runs around London trying to unravel Harry Pearce’s latest Gordian knot of conspiracy and double crosses in this competent but unremarkable coda to the successful television series “Spooks”.

When MI-5 lose Adem Qasim (Elyes Gabel), a high value CIA prisoner during a routine transfer, Harry Pearce (Peter Firth)…

[makingupstoriesinmyhead]

Liked on YouTube: "Sonnet 71 | Amelia Donkor" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFkDxBNv-JI

[londontheatre]

What Shadows 2016: Ian McDiarmid as Enoch Powell – c Ellie Kurttz

Olivier and Tony Award-winning actor, Ian McDiarmid will play MP Enoch Powell in Chris Hannan’s searing play, What Shadows. Directed by Roxana Silbert (Artistic Director, Birmingham Repertory Theatre), What Shadows tells the story of Powell’s explosive Rivers of Blood speech, bringing to life the community that inspired it and, 30 years later, its effects on a woman trying to make sense of her life. The production runs 27 Sep – 28 Oct in PARK200, with a national press night on Tuesday 3 October. “I was a storm. I was also a man entirely alone in a storm. There were forces beyond my control and I was one of them.”

Oxford academic and daughter of a Caribbean immigrant, Rose Cruickshank wants answers. Enoch’s controversial words about immigration shattered her childhood. Rose cannot find inner peace until she understands what led him to make the speech that defined a generation. Will a meeting with the man himself give her the answers she desperately craves?

Director Roxana Silbert says of What Shadows: “As we near the 50th anniversary of Enoch Powell’s explosive ‘Rivers of Blood’ speech, the nation finds itself again facing profound and difficult questions about national identity and attitudes to immigration. Chris’s powerful play is a scorching interrogation of prejudices and how a bitterly divided country moves forward in the wake of a crisis. It couldn’t be more necessary.”

The full cast and creative team includes:

Ian McDiarmid as Enoch Powell Nicholas Le Prevost as Clem Jones Amelia Donkor as Rose Cruickshank & Joyce Cruickshank Paula Wilcox as Grace Hughes & Marjorie Jones Waleed Akhtar as Saeed Ameet Chana as Sultan & Doctor Sharma Joanne Pearce as Sofia & Pamela

Roxana Silbert Director Ti Green Designer Chahine Yavroyan Lighting Designer Giles Thomas Original Sound Design Louis Price Video Designer Anna Morrissey Movement Director Stephen Kemble Voice & Dialect Coach Luke Kernaghan Associate Director

Ian McDiarmid is an Olivier and Tony award-winning British character actor and director, internationally renowned for his role as Palpatine in George Lucas’ Star Wars films. His film credits include Sleepy Hollow, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Gorky Park and Dragonslayer, and his recent theatre credits include the title role in A Life of Galileo directed by Roxana Silbert for the RSC, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice at the Almeida, Maximus in Emperor and Galilean for the National Theatre, the title role in John Gabriel Borkman for the Donmar Warehouse and the father in Rupert Goold’s Six Characters in Search of an Author for Chichester Festival Theatre.

LISTINGS What Shadows Venue: PARK200, Park Theatre, Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, London N4 3JP Dates: 27 September – 28 October 2017 Press night: Tuesday 3 October Performances: Tue – Sat Evening 19.30, Thu & Sat Matinees 15.00 Age guidance: 14+ Running time: 2 hours 15 mins inc. interval

http://ift.tt/2usfgtL LondonTheatre1.com