Jonathan Pryce on Tom Stoppard, 'Write Something More Comprehensible'

Jonathan Pryce recently spoke out in defense of theatre audiences and against playwright Tom Stoppard.

"I think Tom Stoppard's got snobbier," the Olivier and Tony Award-winner said. His remarks were in regards to Stoppard's recent comments that audiences have become dumber. Earlier this week, Stoppard said that he had to rewrite parts of his script of THE HARD PROBLEM which he considered clever cultural allusions, because audiences did not get the references.

"I thought it was an extraordinary thing to say," Pryce continued. "Just because people didn't get his esoteric piece of writing at the National Theatre. Write something more comprehensible."

Jonathan Pryce is a Welsh actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime girlfriend, English actress Kate Fahy, in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s. His work in theatre, including an award-winning performance in the title role of the Royal Court Theatre's Hamlet, led to several supporting roles in film and television. He made his breakthrough screen performance in Terry Gilliam's 1985 cult film Brazil.

Critically lauded for his versatility, Pryce has participated in big-budget films such as Evita, Tomorrow Never Dies, Pirates of the Caribbean, The New World, GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, GI Joe: Retaliation as well as independent films such as Glengarry Glen Ross and Carrington. His career in theatre has also been prolific, and he has won two Tony Awards-the first in 1977 for his Broadway debut in Comedians, the second for his 1991 role as The Engineer in the musical Miss Saigon.

In 2015 he joined the cast of the HBO series Game of Thrones in Season 5 as The High Sparrow. Pryce admitted that one of the main reasons he took on the role was because of how influential the character is plot-wise. While initially being quite sceptical about "sword and sorcery" shows, Pryce later had a change of heart after his positive experiences on the Thrones sets.

Source: Telegraph