Tonight on BBC4 Steven Berkoff will talk of his role in Hamlet in Elsinore, followed by the production.

More on Hamlet in Elsinore is here
http://www.iainfisher.com/berkoff/berkoff-tv-early.html

The Irish Classical Theatre Company in Buffalo present Master Harold... and the Boys from 16 Nov- 3 Dec 2023.

The director is Aaron Mays and the performers are Sam Fesmire, Roderick Garr and Gerald Ramsey.

"I think playwright Athol Fugard does something quite remarkable with this play. By acknowledging that some of the difficult moments in this piece are reflections on his own actions as a young man growing up in apartheid South Africa, and his willingness to examine his own role in inheriting and upholding the hate and intolerance of that environment, Fugard opens the door of humility and self-reflection. “Master Harold”…and the Boys centers both a tenderness and an ugliness that we may not otherwise choose to dwell on, particularly because of how vulnerable we might feel if we recognize traces of either in ourselves".

For more on the production see the theatre website here
https://irishclassical.com/
For more on Master Harold click here
http://www.iainfisher.com/fugard/athol-fugard-plays-port-elizabeth.html

You can buy an Elton John pinball machine signed by Ken Russell for only ÂŁ19,900 !!!!

"This is a piece of Pinball history. Capt Fantastic pinball was made to clebrate the Tommy film produced by the legendary Ken Russell.  The art depicts the Kngs Theatre PINBALL WIZARD showdown with Elton John playing his custom pinball in big red boots and glasses.  The machine available was used in a Portsmouth Film Festival event where Ken signed his name on the backglass art".

The pinball machine is on sale here.
https://www.gumtree.com/p/hobbies-collectibles/elton-john-arcade-pinball-machine-captain-fantastic-ken-russell-signed-/1467434029
For more on Tommy click here.
https://iainfisher.com/russell/ken-russell-film-tommy.html

The BBC are celebrating 400 years since Shakespeare's Folio edition (the collected works) was published.  There will be events on television, radio and online.  One television programme they will be including is the film of Hamlet at Elsinore, with Christopher Plummer as Hamlet, Robert Shaw as Claudius, Michael Caine as Horatio and Donald Sutherland as Fortinbras. Steven Berkoff is the player king and shows with mime how you turn a small role into something memorable.  More details when available.

For more on Hamlet in Elsinore click here
https://iainfisher.com/berkoff/berkoff-tv-early.html

For more details of the events when available click here
https://iainfisher.com/berkoff/berkoff-news.html

Blue Raincoat Theatre Company present A Place with the Pigs at The Factory Performance Space, Sligo, Ireland on 21-25  Nov 2023.  The director is Niall Henry and the performers are John Carty and Sandra O Malley.

"Based on a true story, A Place With the Pigs is a poignant and sometimes farcical tale about a Russian soldier who deserted his post during WWII and spent the next 41 years hiding in his pigsty. The plays begins with Pavel Ivanovitch preparing to rejoin the world by throwing himself at the mercy of his countrymen".

There is a post-show talk on 22 Nov 2023.

More details of the performance are here
https://iainfisher.com/fugard/fugard-news.html

More on the play is here
https://iainfisher.com/fugard/athol-fugard-plays-exile.html