The Donmar Warehouse production of Friedrich Schiller's MARY STUART, in a new version by Peter Oswald and directed by Phyllida Lloyd, opened on Sunday, April 19 at the Broadhurst Theatre (235 West 44th Street). The production stars Janet McTeer as Mary, Queen of Scots and Harriet Walter as Queen Elizabeth I.
The production, which received rave reviews from critics, is nominated for seven Tony Awards, including Revival of a Play, Actress in a Play (Janet McTeer, Harriet Walter) and Director of a Play (Phyllida Lloyd). McTeer is also the winner of the 2009 Drama Desk Award for Actress in a Play for her performance.
Here are some recent stories featuring the production:
Associated Press: Queen to Queen: McTeer, Walter talk Tonys and more By Douglas J. Rowe
Queen to Queen's sofa. Your move.
Janet McTeer and Harriet Walter bookend the couch in McTeer's dressing room. The two British actresses are both nominated for best actress Tony Awards, and while they're both pleased by the honor, neither likes the idea of competing.
"It's not nice. It's no fun," McTeer says. "But we would, both of us, absolutely adore if Phyllida got one, because she's a genius."
She's, of course, talking about Phyllida Lloyd, the director of the critically acclaimed Broadway drama, Mary Stuart.
Walter plays England's Queen Elizabeth I and McTeer the title role of Mary, Queen of Scots. McTeer has already picked up this year's Drama Desk Award for her portrayal of the doomed Mary, and she has a Tony for her performance in A Doll's House, in 1997.
To read the complete article, click here: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iuH7eRzP_XBmIiL5SA5HKjwvrK5wD98IGAVO0
New York Magazine Command Performances As the Queen of Scots or Mrs. Churchill, Janet McTeer demands attention. By Jesse Green
A Broadway beheading was never such a high as it is for Janet McTeer in the title role of Mary Stuart. Though the Scots queen has been imprisoned, rained upon for twelve solid minutes, and sentenced to death, she goes to the ax happily, beaming with faith. "And since I am still her when I come offstage," says the strapping McTeer, "that happiness comes with me-at least until I fall asleep two hours later."
Great performances are forged in the tension between an actor's sufficiency and insufficiency: Janet McTeer is clearly not Mary Stuart, and yet, for those three hours, eight times a week, Mary Stuart can only be Janet McTeer. To turn what could easily have been a botch into a triumph (McTeer is up for her second Tony award in June) takes technique-and then "years of practice" to make it disappear. "You should be able to do it like driving a car," she says-or like a plane whose wheels retract after takeoff.
To read the complete article, click here: http://nymag.com/arts/theater/features/56906/
New York Times Forget the Ingénues; Cue the Grown-Ups By Patti Cohen
In Mary Stuart the British stage actress Harriet Walter, 58, is the 16th century's most powerful woman, Queen Elizabeth, while Janet McTeer, 48, is her nemesis - roles that have earned them both nominations for best actress at the Tony Awards.
