W. Scott McLucas Studio Theatre
in association with NICK BROOKE LTD. and Pleasance
Julian Sands in A Celebration of Harold Pinter
directed by John Malkovich
October 10 – November 30, 2012
With personal anecdotes and reflections drawn from their work together, Julian Sands combines Harold Pinter’s poems and political prose to create a very fresh and intimate insight into the Nobel laureate’s literary legacy.
A Celebration of Harold Pinter premiered at the 2011 Edinburgh Fringe Festival as an homage to Pinter, who died in 2008. The production toured through Britain, and was presented in San Francisco and Los Angeles earlier this year with Backstage calling it “mandatory viewing for devotees of the actor and certainly ‘the defining dramatist of the 20th century.’”
Click to watch Julian Sands’s interview on The Charlie Rose Show!
“Julian Sands is on occasion about as naked as an actor can be… WHEN HE READS PINTER’S POEMS, YOU FEEL THE PLAYWRIGHT’S PRESENCE. This modest, affecting show embodies the notion of the actor as a transparent vessel through which we see the thoughts and feelings of others. Humility is not a trait usually associated with actors. But there is something profoundly humble about their putting their bodies in the service of other minds.” — The New York Times
“Performing the valuable service of bringing this marvelous, little-known poetry to striking life, THE BEAUTIFULLY PERFORMED EVENING IS A REVELATION.” — NY Post
“Julian Sands, making a strong New York theater debut, is performing portions of Pinter’s work in AN ELEGANT, ENGAGING HOMAGE. Sand [is] confident and enthusiastic onstage. His accomplished delivery of Pinter’s moving language is both GRACEFUL AND IMPASSIONED… By the end of this skilled presentation, we feel that we’ve been rewarded with a richer perspective on Pinter, and on Sands as well.” — AP
“SANDS IS ENGAGING AND OPEN. It’s great to hear him orate Pinter’s work in his plummy accent, coaxing out the sly, dark humor that’s just below the surface” — Entertainment Weekly
“Appropriately, SANDS’ DELIVERY PROVES TO BE CRISP, HEATED, AND JUST A BIT WILY. And the sense of his unswerving admiration and respect for the language and his understanding of Pinter’s intent for each piece never flags” — TheaterMania
“Though Sands’ performance appears straightforward, it’s actually a quite subtle one, filled with impeccably timed pauses that comically recall the famously ominous ones used by Pinter in his plays. “A Celebration of Harold Pinter” marks Sands’ New York stage debut, and I hope it’s not the last one by this WARM, WITTY AND THOROUGHLY WINNING ACTOR.” — Backstage
“In a show comprised not only of history, dramatization of the subject’s poems, and notable opinions about him, but also personal experience and reflection, we’re treated to an INTIMATE AND INSIGHTFUL ENTERTAINMENT.” — Woman Around Town