Julian has just made it back from Los Angeles after a trip to see a producer for an acting role for a an upcoming theatre venture. Watch this space for more information! Julian had to rust back this week for the Royal Premiere of ‘HUGO’ on monday in London’s Leicester Square.

In 2004 the National Theatre turned another of Philip Pullman’s books “His Dark Materials” into a theatre production to massive acclaim, with the Stage saying:

“For anyone who sees this show, it will remain one of their most memorable theatrical experiences. If they take a child with them, that child will be hooked for life and surely that is the most important of all.”

The Stage, Dec 2004

Look forward to seeing this show hopefully later in the year!

A massive congratulations to the Cock Tavern Theatre where Julian performed recently. They have just scooped an Olivier award last week for the opera ‘La Boheme’.  They beat five international opera companies to the ultimate theatre prize.

The performance was set in present day Kilburn and centered around aspiring novelist Rodolfo working on a laptop.

La Boheme opened at the 35-seat Cock Tavern pub theatre in north-west London at the end of 2009 and was put on by OperaUpClose. It ran for six months, and transferred to Soho Theatre in July 2010, where it sold out for six weeks – and returned to north London to the King’s Head in Islington for another season earlier this year.

Adam Spreadbury-Maher (producer), Robin Norton-Hale (director) and Ben Cooper (producer) are pictured with their award outside the King’s Head, where La Boheme was also staged. Picture by Rocco Redondo.

Directed & Designed by Edward Bond
Produced by Berislav Juraić & Sam James

“The Fool” explores the artist’s place and role within contemporary society, illustrating the unfortunate fate of the artist in unjust surroundings. Focussing on the life of the 19th century, peasant poet John Clare, “The Fool” reinterprets Clare’s existence, making him advocate in his poetry of the spirit of the rural rebellion against growing industrial capitalism, the failure of this battle fuelling his eventual descent into madness. This is the first revivial since Peter Gill’s original production at the Royal Court Theatre in 1975.

“… undoubtedly a highlight of the season so far”

Whats on Stage

“A success on all fronts, this production is one you will want to see and recommend to others.”

ThePublicReviews.com

‘The Fool’ is on 10 – 23 October 2010, To book or more information click here.

The Cast

Oliver Bennett … Miles/Jackson’s Backer 4
Noa Bodner … Mary Lamb
Jonathan Broke … Peter/Charles Lamb/Lord Milton’s Guest
Anthony Cable … Lord Milton/Govenor
Julian Pindar … Bob/Hilary (The Assistant Gamekeeper)/ Porter’s Backer 2 (The Marquise’s Friend)
Peter Cadden … Admiral/Doctor/2nd Gentleman/1st Irishman
Ben Cripsin … John Clare
Ian Crowe … Parson/Napoleon
Christopher Davies … Lawrence/Porter’s Backer 1 (The Marquise)/Man In Straightjacket/Keeper
Nick Howard-Brown … 3rd Irishman/1st Gentleman
Diana Katis … Mrs Emmerson
James Kenward … Darkie/Jackson
Dominic Leeder … Hamo/Jackson’s Backer 3 (The Young Shopkeeper)/2nd Irishman
Rosanna Miles … Patty
Katy Morgan … Betty/Lord Milton’s Guest
Jonathan Renner … Warder/Porter/3rd Gentleman
Rebecca Smith Williams … Mary
Director/Designer … Edward Bond
Lighting Designer … Keith Marston
Sound Designer … Jack Harris
Musical Director … Pavel Tejeda
Costume Designer … Steph Williams
Props Designer … Sophie Doe
Hair & Make-Up … Jess Cheetham
Assistant Directors … Vanda Butkovic & Ross Drury
Fight Choreographer … Lawrence Carmichael
Producers … Berislav Juraić & Sam James
Production Manager … Phil Richardson
Stage Manager … Lee Davies

Julian is appearing in ‘The Fool’ at the Cock Tavern Theatre, between the 10th-23rd October

As described by Michael Billington in The Guardian, Edward Bond is “one of Britain’s most, shocking, uncompromising playwrights”. Bond was one of the first contemporary British writers to discard theatrical convention, forget pretty sets and a tight structure, rip down the conventional walls of theatre and present stark, truthful drama presenting the human condition. Bond has been writing now for six decades and the Cock Tavern Theatre is celebrating this by presenting a season containing a play from each decade of Bond’s writing career.

Julian is appearing as ‘Bob’ in the production “The Fool” which explores the artist’s place and role within contemporary society, illustrating the unfortunate fate of the artist in unjust surroundings. Focusing on the life of the 19th century, peasant poet John Clare, The Fool reinterprets Clare’s existence, making him advocate in his poetry of the spirit of the rural rebellion against growing industrial capitalism, the failure of this battle fuelling his eventual descent into madness. This is the first revivial since Peter Gill’s original production at the Royal Court Theatre in 1975.

The following is the trailer and you will see him playing one of his many violins that he has:

Saturday evening saw the curtain go down on the final performance of ‘Enjoy’ at the Gielgud Theatre. A brilliant show that has broken box office records around the country. From its beginnings in Bath Theatre Royal to ending at the Gielgud theatre in the West End it has made audiences cry with laughter! Congratulations to everyone involved.

Julian was asked to appear with Peter Bowles in a press photo for his next production ‘The Browning Version’. The show starts at the Theatre Royal Bath from 25th june until 1st August and is directed by Peter Hall at Theatre Royal Bath.

The power has now been restored and show will up tonight as normal.

“It isn’t just the funniest most thoughtful and poignant play in town – it’s the most enjoyable one.”
thelondonpaper

“… had the Bath audience in hysterics”
Guardian (before the move to the West End) – read review

Critics Choice: Best Theatre Production (5th Feb 09)
Evening Standard – read review

“the ending is shattering, poetic, unforgettable”
The Independent -read review

“Richard Glaves closes each act with two of the most moving speeches on the modern stage.”
What’s on Stage – read review

“It’s great to see justice finally being done to one of the richest and most original of all Alan Bennett’s plays. ”
Telegraph – read review

“… there was no stopping this redoubtable revival of Alan Bennett’s most peculiar play”
The Times – read review

“The final 10 minutes are devastating and memorable”
Guardian – read review

The BBC has a video interview with Enjoy playwright Alan Bennett. He talks a bit about the history of Enjoy with also some clips from the show. They report that Enjoy has already taken £1m in advanced ticket sales.

Monday is press night for Enjoy so we will have to wait and see what the reviewers have to say about it, but tickets are going very fast so if you do want to come and see Julian please book soon!

The time has almost arrived! ‘Enjoy’ previews start tonight at the Gielgud Theatre with a press night on 2nd Feb. Julian has been in rehearsals for the past couple of days and everything has been going really well. If you do want to book tickets visit the Delfont Mackintosh website or Ticket Master.

The end of November signalled the end of the Enjoy tour at Richmond Theatre, and what a sell out tour it was. Julian now has two months off and he already has two short TV films and a television show to do before he starts the West End run.

We’ve uploaded some new photos from Semi-Monde, Winters Tale and Etta Jenks productions. The photo above is of director Alistair McGowan and Julian. Semi-Monde was Alistair McGowan’s directorial debut of Semi-Monde.

Check the photos out on the photos page. Julian is currently enjoying 3 weeks off from Enjoy before heading to Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester to continue the Enjoy theatre tour.

Julian has confirmed that he will be heading to London West End’s Gielgud Theatre with the rest of the cast and crew of Alan Bennett’s show Enjoy. The show has had an amazing run on tour around the country, breaking box office records as it goes. The show will run from 22nd January to the 2nd May for a 14 week run.

To book tickets contact the box office at 0844 482 5130 or visit www.delfontmackintosh.co.uk.

Some more press comments:

“Christopher Luscombe’s pitch-perfect revival….sad, funny and beautifully acted”
Charles Spencer, The Daily Telegraph August 2008

“The performances are just about perfect *****”
Michael Billington, The Guardian, August 2008

“David Troughton and Alison Steadman give masterful performances.the writing is brilliant; lyrical, obscene, funny.”
John Peter, Sunday Times, August 2008

“Enjoy is one of Bennett’s best plays”
Susannah Clapp, The Observer, August 2008

From 01 September 2008 To 06 September 2008
The Lowry, Salford

From 08 September 2008 To 13 September 2008
The Playhouse, Oxford

From 15 September 2008 To 20 September 2008
Malvern Theatres, Malvern

From 22 September 2008 To 27 September 2008
Theatre Royal, Brighton

From 30 September 2008 To 04 October 2008
New Theatre, Cardiff

From 27 October 2008 To 01 November 2008
Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester

From 03 November 2008 To 08 November 2008
Arts Theatre, Cambridge

From 10 November 2008 To 15 November 2008
Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham

From 17 November 2008 To 22 November 2008
Richmond Theatre, Outer London

The reviews are coming in thick and fast for Enjoy, this one is by Michael Billington of The Guardian who gave the show 5 out of 5!

Alan Bennett’s 1980 comedy has acquired a sudden topicality with the news that 40,000 households are to be subject to a detailed social survey. For Bennett’s rich and wondrous play is, among many other things, about the way we assume a false identity when under observation. If this sounds unduly solemn, I can only say that Christopher Luscombe’s production, substantially recast since it first appearance at the Palace Watford, had the Bath audience in hysterics.

Bennett’s setting is one of the last back-to-backs in Leeds, occupied by a beleaguered old couple. Connie is a houseproud amnesiac who claims, “I keep that toilet like a palace.” Wilfred, with a steel plate in his head after a hit-and-run accident, is a more tormented soul who cannot wait for the bulldozers to arrive. But when a sexually ambiguous sociologist called “Ms Craig” arrives to monitor the couple’s daily life, everything goes haywire. Their daughter Linda announces she is off to marry a Saudi prince; Wilfred keels over after a brutal attack by a young thug; and the couple’s long-banished gay son is revealed to be in their midst.

The play’s brilliance lies in its mixture of satire and farce. Bennett is clearly attacking the self-consciousness of closely scrutinised behaviour and the transformation of working-class life into a theme-park industry. But his play is also riotously funnny. The highpoint comes in a scene, echoing DH Lawrence’s The Widowing of Mrs Holroyd, in which Wilfred’s supposed corpse is stripped and washed in what a neighbour, Mrs Clegg, calls “the customary manner”. Carol Macready is magnificent as Mrs Clegg, offering a mountainous mixture of fake gentility and voyeuristic curiosity as she eagerly tugs off Wilfred’s trousers. In its ability to combine a social point about bogus traditions with a literary reference, the scene also typifies a play that climaxes with an echo of Proust.

The performances are just about perfect. David Troughton seethes with rage as the abusive, partially paralysed Wilfred, who feels he has been cheated of life. Alison Steadman wisely never patronises Connie but plays her as a simple, kindly woman for whom cleanliness is far superior to godliness. Josie Walker again invests Linda with a vituperative sexiness, while Richard Glaves as the svelte “Ms Craig” has the ambivalent mystery of Ben Jonson’s The Silent Woman. Janet Bird’s design cleverly reminds us that there is a conscious theatricality about this cramped working-class pad destined to end up a museum piece. After its short tour, this joyous production should move lock, stock and barrel into the West End.