Kevin Spacey to Star in Richard III at BAM; Sam Mendes to Direct

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 12/7/10 at 11:46pm

Can't believe no one has posted this yet. Very exciting news, in my opinion. Kevin Spacey will be starring in RICHARD III at BAM in Spring 2012 as part of The Bridge Project. Amazing casting. Spacey is one of my absolute favorite actors and RICHARD III is one of my favorite Shakespeare's. Can't wait to grab my ticket when they eventually go on sale.
Playbill article

[MariusPontmercy]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 5:11am

There seems to be some confusion over the dates for this - first it was announced as per that article to be coming to London in 2012 (on the usual Bridge Project schedule, i.e. New York early in the year, international tour, then London in the Summer), but now the Old Vic has announced that it's coming to London a year before that - June to September 2011, and tickets are on sale next month.

Maybe it's just the London dates that have changed and it's just playing there first with a gap before the NY run.

[Weez]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 6:38am

Yeah, I think it's just London that changed.

Does anyone else's brain automatically fill in "-ad -ss -otherf***er" when they see the acronym BAM?

[mallardo]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 7:14am

Can anyone explain to me why the Bridge Project which is supposed to bring together Briish and American actors concentrates almost entirely (almost but for The Cherry Orchard) on Shakespeare where the Brits are right at home and the Americans struggle to keep up? Shouldn't they have done at least a token American play?

[Weez]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 7:27am

"No" is the short answer. Last year was supposed to be a Shakespeare and Three Sisters, but Three Sisters got put on hold (probably because of an impending production starring Gwyneth Paltrow that was rumoured for, I think, the Theatre Royal Haymarket but has yet to materialise) so they went with the two Shakespeares. Also I don't know why they're only doing one play this year, unless my suspicion that Spacey is planning on leaving the Old Vic soon and wants to go out with a bunch-back'd bang is correct.

While it doesn't explain why the focus was always on non-US playwrights, there was originally meant to be far less of a Shakespeare bias.

And you're giving my fellow countrymen FAR too much credit if you genuinely believe English people find Shakespeare inherently easier to get to grips with than Americans do.

Updated On: 12/8/10 at 07:27 AM

[mallardo]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 8:48am

Weez, I'm speaking of this company only on the basis of the performances I saw. There was some pretty wretched acting going on and most of it, alas, was by the American contingent.

The question remains unanswered. Why no American plays in an Anglo-American project?

[Weez]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 9:06am

Which ones did you see? I've seen all of 'em to date and found that while some of the US members were occasionally out-acted by some of the UK members (which is easily done when you're acting with the likes of Simon Russell Beale), I've seen FAR worse Shakespearean performances by other UK actors than by the US members of the Bridge Project. And I'm not talking minor fringey productions either. Also, iirc, most of the criticism levelled at the performances for the As You Like It/The Tempest season (on this side of the Atlantic anyway, can't speak for the BAM performances) was pretty much "what the hell is Stephen Dillane doing? Can anyone even hear him? I thought he was supposed to be good?!".

[Roscoe]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 9:35am

More money to be saved in avoiding this like the f*cking plague.

[TulitaPepsi]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 9:41am

Will Diane be there?

[madbrian]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 12:50pm

I'm busy that day.

[Ed_Mottershead]

Posted: 12/8/10 at 8:16pm

This was indeed music to my ears. I LOATHE Kevin Spacey and DESPISE BAM, which translates into I don't have to go to that out-of-way barn of a theatre to see that half-*ssed conceited would-be actor.