-
Wossy for tea and TV
Kathy appeared on Jonathan Ross’ Radio 2 Saturday show yesterday, talking about The Quare Fellow, tea, her lodger Tom, life in general and why she prefers working on TV than in film. You can listen to it here, at least until 11 June, as this is a link to the most recent show rather than a permanent link. Soon as the BBC sticks up a permanent link, it’ll put it in the Media section.
-
Shepard’s delight
The Quare Fellow has opened and is in the middle of its run. It’s got positive reviews in the FT, The Guardian and The Stage. Meanwhile, Kathy’s next play has been announced. She’ll be directing the European premiere of Sam Shepard’s The God Of Hell at the Donmar Warehouse, Covent Garden, between 20 October and 3 December. The black comedy, described by Shepard as “a take-off on Republican fascism”, follows dairy farmers Frank and Emma, who led an uneventful life until a mysterious man starts hiding in their basement and a government official knocks at their door. Sam Shepard has written 45 plays (11 of which have won Obie Awards) including True West, Fool for Love and A Lie of the Mind (Donmar)…
-
60-second interview: Kathy Burke
The Metro Kathy Burke is one of Britain’s best loved actresses for parts including the comedy roles of Waynetta Slob and Linda in Gimme, Gimme, Gimme. She won Best Actress at Cannes in 1997 for Nil By Mouth but gave up acting to direct in 2001. Her latest play, Brendan Behan’s The Quare Fellow, returns to London’s Tricycle Theatre after a sell-out national tour. The Quare Fellow has had great reviews. Does that bolster your confidence as a director?Not really – but it does get people in to see the play. Good reviews obviously help a lot more than bad reviews. We’ve done this play before and we know that it works and that…
-
Behan on your bike
Some more details on the upcoming re-run of The Quare Fellow at The Tricycle in Kilburn, courtesy of the Oxford Stage Company. Running from 25 May to 2 July, as previously mentioned. Directed by Kathy, obviously. Original music by ex-Pogues guitarist Philip Chevron. Actors are (big cast): Sean Gallagher (TV’s Linda Green), Sean Campion (Stones in his Pockets), Jason Kavanagh (Brookside), Kieran Cunningham (Speed the Plow at Contact), Tony Rohr (TV’s The Lakes and The Weir), David Ganly (John Bull’s Other Island), Noel McAlley, Ciaran McIntyre (Dancing at Lughnasa – UK tour), Nick Danan (This Lime Tree Bower, Belgrade Theatre Coventry), Matthew Dunphy (The Lieutenant of Inishmore), Gary Lilburn (The Weir at the Royal Court), Patrick Lynch (Juno & the Paycock, Abbey Theatre Dublin), Paul Lloyd (The Cripple of Inishmaan at Leicester Haymarket), Christopher Logan (professional debut), Gerard Rooney (Rough Beginnings at Lyric Theatre Belfast), Jay Simpson (Mother Clap’s Molly House at the…
-
Second run on Tricycle
Kathy’s production of Behan’s The Quare Fellow is to get a second run at the Tricycle Theatre, Kilburn, London. She took the classic play about prison on a UK tour between February and May last year to celebrate its 50th anniversary. Now, a year on, it’s back at the Tricycle from 25 May to 2 July. Tickets will be on sale from midnight tonight.
-
My acting days are over
Kathy Burke had it all as an actress – critical acclaim, a top award at Cannes, and a place in the nation’s heart as Waynetta Slob. But now she has found a new passion, she tells Jasper Rees The Daily Telegraph Kathy Burke was, for a period in the 1990s, a sort of cockney working-class Judi Dench. Straddling the broad comedy of the television sketch show Harry Enfield and Chums and the unflinching realism of Gary Oldman’s movie Nil By Mouth, for which she won a best actress award at Cannes in 1997, she was one of those much loved performers everyone got used to always being around. When an…
-
Back to her roots
Media section updated with an interesting interview with Kathy about The Quare Fellow and her approach to directing, posted on the York Theatre Royal website. Plus an Observer piece written by Kathy herself about the project got off the ground (note the imaginative subs who used the same headline “Kathy comes home” as an Observer feature almost exactly two years ago).
-
Kathy Burke and her quare fellow
Kathy Burke is one of our most popular actresses. Winner of the Best Actress Award at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in 1997 for Gary Oldman’s lacerating Nil by Mouth, regular nominee and award winner in the TV comedy stakes, she could by now be pulling in the mega-bucks. She also taught me, “don’t just be involved as an actor in this business. Try and branch out and understand the other side of things”.’ Instead, here she is on a grey January evening, sitting in the bare dressing room of London’s famous Old Vic Theatre, solemn-faced, chain-smoking – a far cry from her larger-than-life comic creations – love-lorn Linda of Gimme Gimme…
-
Happy anniversary
Kathy is touring the country with her direction of Brendan Behan’s The Quare Fellow. Starting at the Liverpool Playhouse on 12 February and ending at the Tricycle Theatre in London on 8 May, it is a 50th anniversary production of Behan’s classic comedy-drama. Set in an Irish prison, the play follows the inmates, wardens and the quare fellow as his hour approaches. Performed by the Oxford Stage Company, it is the first time in 20 years that this masterpiece has been on the stage. Full details below. Click on the theatre website for more details and to buy tickets online: 12-21 Feb Liverpool Playhouse 0151 709 4776 www.everymanplayhouse.com 24-28 Feb Oldham Coliseum 0161…
