Cynthia Erivo

Monday

Alexander Larman

The Tony Awards were surprisingly safe and unexciting

So, in the end, it wasn’t so much Oh, Mary! as it was Not Tonight, Mary! Cole Escola’s out-there, queer-as-they-come farce, revolving around the strained relationship between the “foul and hateful” Mary Lincoln, a dipsomaniac with ambitions to be a cabaret singer, and honest Abe, here presented as a pitiful figure so deep in the closet he may as well be in Narnia, was widely regarded as the play to beat at this year’s Tonys. There hasn’t been an out-and-out comedy that’s won the major awards for a considerable time, let alone one that emerged from off-Broadway, and it’s testament to Escola’s prowess (as well as some of the most laudatory reviews in recent memory), that it was front-runner for Best Play.

tony

Monday

The Spectator

This month in culture: November 2024

Here In theaters November 1 What happens when the director, writer and stars of Forrest Gump get together in 2024? A goosebump-inducing story of family, time, space, home and the enduring nature of love. The “Here” in question is taken from the graphic novel by Richard McGuire, which tells the story of a location through generations and eras, transcending time. Director Robert Zemeckis plays on the panel-frames of graphic literature by employing a fixed camera angle throughout the film. AI de-aging technology is used to depict the actors from teenagerhood through their eighties. Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly and Michelle Dockery star.

Culture

Monday

Alexander Larman

1984 on Audible is a deliciously chilling immersion experience

Forty years on from the year in which it is set, and released on the date of Winston Smith’s first diary entry, George Orwell’s seminal dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four (not 1984, despite how this most recent retelling has chosen to style the title) has received perhaps its highest-profile adaptation since Michael Radford’s film. Andrew Garfield plays the reluctantly rebellious Winston, and man-of-the-moment Andrew Scott is a smoothly vicious O’Brien. Cynthia Erivo makes for a suitably feisty Julia, and Tom Hardy reprises his Bane boom as Big Brother, although his contributions are wisely kept to a minimum.

george orwell nineteen eighty-four audible

Thursday

Charlie Nash

Should a black British actor play Harriet Tubman?

The Twitter pitchforks are out once more – this time for Cynthia Erivo, an actor and singer born in London to Nigerian parents. The 32-year-old is set to play the titular role in Harriet, a movie based on the life of abolitionist Harriet Tubman who helped countless African American slaves escape through the Underground Railroad. The film, set for a November release this year, boasts a cast including Janelle Monae and Hamilton star Leslie Odom Jr. Erivo is a Tony-winning performer who received great reviews for her turn as a soul singer in Bad Times at the El Royale. Yet she finds herself in the middle of a war for Tubman's legacy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

cynthia erivo harriet tubman