The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has its world premiere in London today. The last of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth films is nearly here. And so begins the end of the epic journey – mission – quest – thing – we have all been on together.
But fear not! We have no intention of letting these films sail into the West without a fanfare! So get ready to celebrate at The One Last Party – There and Back Again: a Party of Special Magnificence, a final toast to all SIX movies, both The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit trilogy.
This will be on Saturday 21st Feb 2015 – the day BEFORE the Oscars — at a venue in Los Angeles, TBA. There will be music, food, drink, entertainment (from William Kircher’s band The California Dreamers, celtic musicians Emerald Rose, and more) and all kinds of fun! But here’s the thing… Continue reading “The One Last Party – tickets available NOW!”
We mentioned last week that actor Adam Brown (aka Ori) is currently appearing in the new play Saxon Court, a production by Made by Brick at the Southwark Playhouse in London. Staffer greendragon went along to see the show in preview, and brings us this review:
Southwark Playhouse, just a few minutes’ walk from the Elephant and Castle tube station, is a fascinating place with a characterful, cosy lobby/bar, and two studio theatre performance spaces, known as ‘The Large’ and ‘The Little’. Emerging playwright Daniel Andersen’s Saxon Court is being presented in The Little. The production, directed by Melanie Spencer, makes skilful use of the intimate space, turning the black box into a workplace, with simply an area on the walls stage right and stage left painted grey to frame the stage. The show tells the tale of a typical London office, on the day of the Christmas party in 2011, at the height of the financial crisis. Things are not going well and someone is likely to get fired – but who will it be?
This is listed as a ’16+’ production, and deservedly so – the folks in this office are as raucous, vulgar and boozy as one might expect on party day! Joey and Nat are the older hands in the office, constantly teasing newcomer Noel; receptionist Tash has recently been off for some ‘surgery’ (and it’s fairly obvious from the moment she enters what her procedure might have been!); they all answer to boss Donna, who is harsh, driven and ruthless.
Adam Brown plays Mervyn (unfairly referred to throughout as ‘Ugly Mervyn’!), an employee from another office who is summoned to meet with Donna. Though Brown has the smallest role to play, his performance is one of the strongest. His Mervyn is funny, gauche, annoying (and, it turns out, as mean as everyone else!); and yet at the moment when he realizes he might be fired, we are given a glimpse of touching poignancy, before the comedy returns.
Actors John Pickard (Joey) and Debra Baker (Donna) also give strong performances. The play is very funny; the almost full house on the night I attended rang with loud and frequent laughter. Andersen clearly knows office worker ‘types’ – I’m pretty sure I’ve temped in this office, with the wine-swigging receptionist dressed up to the nines for the Christmas party. His characters are well-drawn, all hiding – and gradually revealing – insecurities, vulnerabilities and flaws.
My only criticism of the evening was that I was left somehow dissatisfied. We’d spent the past couple of hours watching these people be caustic and despicable; I would have liked to have seen some sense of a journey, of an imminent change or a lesson learned. Furthermore, the play looks at an office in crisis, but fails to give much insight into the wider city (and world) in financial crisis at that time. Instead, the script seems rather superficial; I felt that this office would continue much the same the next day, albeit minus an employee. But perhaps that is part of the point: life goes on, staff and crises come and go, but there will always be offices with snarky workers and drunken, regrettable Christmas parties.
Definitely not a family show – heed the 16+ guideline! But if you fancy a biting, funny antidote to Christmas schmaltz, then Saxon Court is well worth seeing. It runs at Southwark Playhouse until December 13th; click here for showtimes and tickets.
Our favourite scribe dwarf Ori, aka actor Adam Brown, is appearing on stage in London! Brown will be in Made by Brick’s production of Saxon Court, which runs at the Southwark Playhouse from November 19th to December 13th.
The theatre’s website describes the play as ‘a razor sharp satire to darken your Christmas’ – and warns that ‘this production contains graphic language and scenes of violence (as any good Christmas party should)!’ It sounds like the perfect comedic antidote to festive glitter – watch a trailer here:
Tickets are available from the box office – click here to purchase.
We know many of our readers consider the Extended Edition of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth movies the definitive editions, but what many of our staff really love are the extras on the home editions. Filmmaker Michael Pellerin is the architect and creative force behind the features that give us insight into the movie-making team and experience. In fact his team’s work is absolutely essential viewing.
So, TheOneRing.net is pleased to share with viewers, courtesy of Warner Bros., an exclusive teaser from the edition. This short clip (and please watch it in full screen in HD) is from The Appendices Part IX, from a featurette called “Barrels Out of Bond: The Elven Sluice”. Continue reading “Exclusive teaser video from ‘Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’ Extended Edition”
ATLANTA — Prompted by Hobbit actor John Bell, Jed Brophy took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge while a guest at this year’s DragonCon in Atlanta. Jed was there as part of the “Tolkien’s Middle-earth” programming track and along with Craig Parker, Adam Brown, Manu Bennett and Billy Boyd, served as celebrity guest for the show.
As part of his efforts, he visited the swimming area at the Marriott Marquis and took the icy plunge to raise money and awareness for ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s Disease. He also challenged Parker and Brown to accept the challenge.
There’s fun for all ages at TORn’s table at DragonCon – one of our youngest visitors yesterday was baby Stephen, who happily posed as Sam in our photo op. (Thanks to his parents for sharing the pic with us!) Continue reading “DragonCon is in full swing!”
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has its world premiere in London today. The last of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth films is nearly here. And so begins the end of the epic journey – mission – quest – thing – we have all been on together.
