The Picture Journal

Inside Look: Christian Cooke

We spoke to actor Christian Cooke about his role as Pony William in the Donmar Warehouse production of Knives in Hens. Knives in Hens is set in a rugged ‘pre-industrial’ time and place far removed from contemporary life. What was the nature of the conversations with the director and fellow cast regarding how these characters exist, or even your own thought process? A lot of the early work we did was physical. Lots of movements work to really get inside the bodies of these people and consider how they move. They are people of the land who were put to work…

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Katie Leung

Who do you know who has the ‘best’ voice – and qualify what your standards are for them being ‘best’ Sara Kestelman who I worked with recently in a production at Hampstead Theatre has a magnificent voice which resonated effortlessly in the space on stage, piercing through the soul without the need for volume/ shouting. She also happens to be an incredible actress. What was the last habit that you took up and the last one that you’ve given up? Taken up menthols. Given up coffee. If the last three places you read about or watched became a travel itinerary,…

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Inside Look: George Blagden

We spoke to actor George Blagden about his role as Presley in the Shoreditch Town Hall production of The Pitchfork Disney. What was the most challenging aspect of the play as you read it, that surprised you in how well it unfolded live? The language. When you read Philip’s work for the first time, your imagination takes you to a million different places of where this sort of story-telling could work effectively. If you didn’t have the luxury of having Phil there (which we did!), you could interpret his writing in lots of different ways, and different productions of this…

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Inside Look: Arinzé Kene

We spoke to actor Arinzé Kene about his role as Same Cooke in the Donmar Warehouse production of One Night In Miami. Cooke was a ground-breaking artist beyond just a creative capacity in that he crossed genres (at risk of losing his gospel career) and took control of his music management. How much do you think these chapters of his life would influence his role in the civil rights movement, or vice-versa? There were several differing views at the time on what the best methods to combat racial injustice were. Some saw peaceful protest as an ideal route while other…

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Samuel Barnett

In the theme of your new series Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency – since everyone will be asking you about the mysteries you’ve solved – what is a historically significant or famed mystery that you find completely uninteresting… or, likely possesses the least intriguing solution? An enduring mystery lies around Shakespeare. Did he really write all of those plays…?!?! Yep. He did. Mystery solved. What moment in your life did you feel the most like a tourist? I visited the giant bronze Buddha at a monastery on Lantau island. All the monks there were silent and dressed in their orange…

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Morfydd Clark

You’ll soon be appearing in Interlude in Prague about Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Discounting Mozart, which child prodigy do you find most fascinating? Rimanujan or William Gadoury, the 15-year-old Canadian boy who discovered a lost Mayan city using Google Maps. Describe your taste in music by way of a film soundtrack. Thelma and Louise Cast your favourite Shakespeare play with a contemporary cast/ director. A Midsummer Night’s Dream: Puck – Patsy Ferran Oberon/ Theseus – Idris Elba Titania/ Hippolyta – Hayley Atwell Helena – Lydia Leonard Hermia – Anna Kendrick Demetrius – Simon Manyonda Lysander – Sope Dirisu Bottom – Michael…

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Inside Look: Bethan Cullinane

We spoke to actress Bethan Cullinane about her role as Innogen in Royal Shakespeare Company’s Cymbeline. What line from Cymbeline did you look forward to saying the most on opening night? “A large Gin and tonic, please”. My second favourite was probably my first line of the second half. It’s the first time I directly speak to the audience. I walk out, disguised as a boy and say “I see a man’s life is a tedious one”. It tends to get a laugh, and after a very emotionally heavy first half it’s a nice refresher. It is a moment of…

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