On Stage

(Reverse chronological order)

Long Day’s Journey into Night

Long Day’s Journey into Night ran at the Bristol Old Vic from 23 March to 23 April 2016.

Photo by Hugo Glendinning

Photo by Hugo Glendinning

Photo by Hugo Glendinning

Photo via Bristol Old Vic

Photo via @blackwater2287 on Instagram

Photo via @katie.clark_ on Instagram

Photo via @acaciasheppard on Instagram

Photo via @victoriaaaayun on Instagram

Photo via @anavujanic on Instagram

Photo by Seamus Ryan

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Photo via @Danbhayklan on Twitter

Photo by Hugo Glendinning

LDJINthefix LDJINbristolpost

Photo by Hugo Glendinning

Running Time approximately 3 hours 20 minutes with interval

Director Sir Richard Eyre
Designer Rob Howell
Lighting Designer Peter Mumford
Sound Designer John Leonard
Costume Supervisor Irene Bohan
Associate Director Katie Henry
Casting Director Maggie Lunn

Cast
Jeremy Irons as James Tyrone
Lesley Manville as Mary Tyrone
Hadley Fraser as Jamie (James Tyrone, Jr.)
Billy Howle as Edmund
Jessica Regan as Cathleen

Reviews:

“An intense, electrifying production.” MAIL ON SUNDAY

“A production tantalisingly close to perfection.” THE TIMES

“Jeremy Irons and Lesley Manville shine with sexual passion and rage.” THE GUARDIAN

“First-class production from a first-class regional theatre.” THE STAGE

“What a complete production this is.” THE OBSERVER

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The Gods Weep

The Gods Weep ran at the Hampstead Theatre, London from 12 March to 3 April 2010.

The play text can be purchased from the Oberon Books website.

The following photos by Keith Pattinson, 2010:

Cast list
NIKKI AMUKA-BIRD – Beth
KAREN ARCHER – Astrologer
NEAL BARRY – Ian
BABOU CEESAY – Gavin
SAM HAZELDINE – The Soldier
JOANNA HORTON – Barbara
JEREMY IRONS – Colm
LUKE NORRIS – Jimmy
SALLY ORROCK – Nadine
HELEN SCHLESINGER – Catherine
JONATHAN SLINGER – Richard
LAURENCE SPELLMAN – Martin
JOHN STAHL – Castile
MATTHEW WILSON – Security Guard
Creative team
DIRECTOR Maria Aberg
DESIGNER Naomi Dawson
LIGHTING DESIGNER David Holmes
SOUND DESIGNER Carolyn Downing
VIDEO AND PROJECTION DESIGNERS Ian William Galloway and Finn Ross
MOVEMENT DIRECTOR Ayse Tashkiran
FIGHT DIRECTOR Malcolm Ranson

Reviews:

WhatsOnStage
The Telegraph
London Evening Standard
The Stage
Official London Theatre Guide

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Impressionism

Impressionism ran from 28 February to 5 July 2009 on Broadway at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in New York City

Above photos by Joan Marcus

Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen Interviewed on NPR – Saturday 7 March 2009 Listen Here!

Sara Krulwich/The New York Times

Sara Krulwich / New York Times

Enter the Anti-Diva, Stage Right – New York Times article about Joan Allen in Impressionism

Irons Makes Good Impression

Jeremy Irons and Joan Allen in Impressionism

Gerald Schoenfeld Theater, New York City February 28 – July 5, 2009

Opening night March 24, 2009

Jeremy’s character is “Thomas Buckle”

More on his character – Irons, in addition to playing the photojournalist (Thomas Buckle), is also at different moments the former lover and father of the gallery owner. Allen, the gallery owner, is also a nurse in Africa, where Irons is photojournalizing.

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Never So Good

National Theatre London, England

17 March to 14 August 2008
National Theatre – Never So Good

To see a video from the pyrotechnics department of The National Theatre in which they show how some of the special effects for Never So Good were done, click here.

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Jeremy Irons Helps Free the Human Spirit
6/1/07 – 2:12 PM
By Adam Gonshor freeingthehumanspiritticket

(www.andPOP.com) – The man behind bars for life isn’t much different than Jeremy Irons, the English actor explains.

Irons was putting together a charity event at a prison in England recently and was speaking with one of the inmates.

The prisoner explained that he had been arguing with his girlfriend in the kitchen when he saw a knife lying nearby. He picked it up, the knife went through her heart, and he’ll be spending the rest of his life behind bars.

“And I thought, anybody could have done that,” Irons tells andPOP. “And now this man’s life was ruined. I realized that so easily could have been me in there. There is no difference. We tend to think of prisoners as people totally different than us and we throw away the key, when in fact in many cases, these are people who just got it wrong because of anger, or lack of education, or frustration.”

One way prisoners can deal with their anger and stay out of jail once they are released, Irons explains, is through yoga and meditation.

Seems far-fetched – both that the spiritual practice can help prisoners transform themselves into better citizens, and that the assessment is coming from an Oscar-, Emmy- and Tony-winning actor.

But Irons knows what he’s talking about.

For many years, Irons has been a proponent of Freeing the Human Spirit, a program started by Sister Elaine MacInnes, who has been teaching meditation in prisons since 1980.

They had met when MacInnes – who was appointed an office of the Order of Canada in 1999 – was living in England. Irons continued helping whenever he could when she moved to Toronto.

“It’s very tough to say I want to put meditation and yoga into your prison,” Irons says, “but she’s a determined woman.”

Her determination has paid off. The Freeing the Human Spirit program has been accepted in 27 prisons in Canada and is being practiced in 14.

The goal is to lower the likelihood of reoffenders. “What this is planned to do is to break that cycle so that when prisoners leave, they have a sense of their own worth, their own individuality, their own being,” says Irons, known for his roles in Eragon, the Merchant of Venice, The Man in the Iron Mask and Die Hard 3 and as the voice of Scar in the Lion King.

And while there aren’t many costs involved with the program, there are some, which is why Irons will be in Toronto on Monday (June 4) for a fundraiser at the Jane Mallett Theatre (visit freeingspirit.com for ticket info). Kate McGarrigle, the legendary folk singer and mother of Rufus Wainwright, will perform.

What can people expect once Irons takes the stage?

“I don’t know,” he says. “Hopefully we’ll get something together.”

Further pushing reveals that Irons plans to do some readings and poetry. “I’m almost as excited to see what we’re going to do as you are.”

It can be unsettling to some to know that if a celebrity doesn’t attach themselves to a charity or cause like this, it may go unnoticed, or not noticed as much. If Al Gore wasn’t so passionate about the environment, global warming wouldn’t be as highly spoken about. If Irons didn’t take time to speak about Freeing the Human Spirit, perhaps it too would suffer.

It’s just the nature of charity, Irons says.

“There are so many people doing good work in the world,” he says. “But you have to raise funds. It’s just something I’m able to do because of my position and I’m delighted to do it. I’ve been very fortunate. I had a great upbringing and I have a career I love. Things have been easy for me. And for a lot of people they haven’t been easy so this is something that gives me great pleasure to be able to give back at least a little something.”

And maybe the cause he’s fighting for now can improve his life a little bit, too.

“[Sister Elaine] is always telling me I should [meditate and do yoga] regularly because it would stop me from smoking so much and it’s a great antidote to the pressures in my life but I have yet to get into the daily practice of it,” Irons says. “One day I will grow the wisdom to do so.”

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Jeremy Irons lends support to prison yoga program

Updated Mon. Jun. 4 2007 11:00 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

Actor Jeremy Irons says his work as an actor enabled him to connect with the prisoners he wants to help as part of a program that encourages inmates to meditate and practice yoga.

“I live on the edge,” Irons told CTV’s Canada AM. “I play characters who live on the edge and I like that. I’m very aware that it’s a very thin line between being inside jail and being outside jail.”

The actor is involved in Freeing the Human Spirit, a program that helps prisoners deal with their anger and stay out of jail through the practice of yoga and meditation.

Irons — who has won an Oscar, an Emmy, a Golden Globe and a Tony — became involved with the program through 83-year-old Moncton, N.B.-born Catholic nun and Zen master Elaine MacInnes.

MacInnes has been teaching meditation to prisoners since 1980. She received the Order of Canada in 1999 for her work in the area.

According to The Globe and Mail, Irons met MacInnes while she was living in England in the mid-nineties while he was taking one of her Zen classes.

“She’s an extraordinary woman,” Irons told The Globe. “Sadly, she’s now 80-something, although you wouldn’t know it.

“I wish she was 30-something because she has so much to give to life. I’ve only met four or five amazing people in my life, and she is one.”

Irons has been involved as a hands-on participant with the Freeing the Human Spirit program for the past 12 years. The Freeing the Human Spirit organization and some prisons are located near his Oxford home.

“The idea is not only to help prisoners while they’re in prison, but to prepare them for when they get out,” Irons told Canada AM. “Because when they get out, they haven’t got a house, they haven’t got a job, their wife’s probably left them.

“It’s tough and unless you’ve got some sort of calm and centre for yourself, it’s really difficult not to reoffend and go back in. So, it seemed to me to be a fantastic organization.”

The program has been running in Canada for around four years, according to Irons. It is accepted in 27 prisons in the country and is currently being practiced in 14 correctional facilities. The program can make a genuine difference in the lives of the incarcerated, Irons said.

“When you’re banged up in prison, as Paris (Hilton) will find out, I suppose, you’re stuck in a cell on your own, a very negative experience,” Irons told Canada AM. “But if you can turn that cell into an ashram, if you can learn to meditate and do yoga, exercise your mind and exercise your body — then it becomes a positive experience.”

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Photos from Freing the Human Spirit fundraiser event at the Jane Mallett Theatre, Monday 4th June 2007