Categories Cymbeline Gallery Theatre

Before They Were Famous: Stage Roles – Nov 13, 2020

Damian Lewis in Cymbeline

by Tristram Kenton | The Guardian | November 13, 2020

Cymbeline by William Shakespeare
Damian Lewis as Posthumus Leonatu
Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Venue: Stratford-upon-Avon
1997

Cymbeline, King of Britain when Augustus Caesar was Emperor of Rome, has a daughter, Innogen, and two sons who were stolen in infancy. The queen, his second wife, has a son, Cloten, whom Cymbeline wishes Innogen to marry, but she has secretly married the commoner Posthumus Leonatus who was adopted as an orphan and raised in the Cymbeline family. Cymbeline banishes Posthumus to Rome, where he meets Iachimo, who wagers with him that he can seduce Innogen. Arriving in Britain, Iachimo realizes that she is incorruptible, but, hiding in her bedroom, obtains evidence which convinces Posthumus that he has won the wager. Posthumus orders his servant Pisanio to kill Innogen at Milford Haven, but instead Pisanio advises her to disguise herself as Fidele, a page. In Wales,she meets her brothers, who were stolen twenty years before by the banished nobleman Belarius. Cloten pursues Innogen to Wales in Posthumus’ clothes, determined to rape her and kill Posthumus. Instead, he is killed by one of her brothers, and his decapitated body laid beside Innogen, who has taken a potion that makes her appear dead. When she revives, Innogen/Fidele joins the Roman army, which is invading Britain as a result of Cymbeline’s failure to pay tribute to Rome. Posthumus and the stolen Princes are instrumental in defeating the Roman army. A final scene of explanations leads to private and public reconciliation.

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Categories Bill Print Media

Herding Cats and Damian Lewis – June 29, 2018

Damian Lewis: A Complete Gent

by Staff | Blake Mill | June 20, 2018

Britain’s filmmaking industry is flourishing and perhaps second only to Hollywood in terms of volume and critical acclaim. It is renowned for producing quirky, offbeat films that stand in stark contrast to the standard Hollywood fare of action blockbusters. Tony Bracewell, the British comedy film producer, is one of the men on the vanguard of this industry. Here is his story.

What is it like working with big actors?
Tony: In the popular imagination, there’s a sense that some actors can be prima donnas and difficult to work with. Nothing’s been further from the truth in my experience. Actors – or ‘the Talent’ as they’re known in the industry – tend to be very hardworking, dedicated people. They want to do a good job and want challenging roles.  We were incredibly lucky to have Damian Lewis play a cameo role in Bill. Again, you couldn’t have asked to work with a nicer guy. Everything he did was inch perfect and he was a complete gent.

Tell us about making your most recent film Bill
Tony: When we made the comedy Bill we took the life of William Shakespeare and told it from a unique angle. The film critic Mark Kermode subsequently described it as being “hugely funny and filled with semi-historically literate gags interspersed with pure slapstick humour.”

One running gag in the script blended the tales of William Shakespeare and Dick Whittington. So, when young Bill Shakespeare leaves Stratford to make his fortune as a playwright, his cat is meant to follow him all the way to London. The trouble is to make that work, you need a cat to follow stage directions. We tried everything: laying trails of cheese on the ground, trails of ham, coercing, pushing, you name it. We had some great people on the film, but no one could make it work. At some point, we had to cut our losses and accept that cats cannot be herded!

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