Recent Posts

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71
Athol Fugard discussion / Re: The Train Driver in London 2026
« Last post by Iain Fisher on April 09, 2025, 10:36:36 AM »
Park Theatre present The Train Driver from 14 Jan- 7 Feb 2026.  The director is Jimmy Walters and the play is presented by Proud Haddock and Sarah Lawrie in association with Park Theatre.

"December 2000, Cape Flats, South Africa. A woman steps in front of a train with her baby on the railway tracks between Philippi and Nyanga.

Two months later Roelf, the train driver, has spent weeks searching for the identities of the victims. After a fruitless journey through shanty towns, he encounters an old gravedigger named Simon who helps the desperate man unburden his conscience. Based on a true story, The Train Driver is a soulful exploration of guilt, suffering, racial intolerance and the powerful bonds that grow between strangers".

For the theatre website click here
https://parktheatre.co.uk/
For more on the play click here
https://iainfisher.com/fugard/athol-fugard-plays-keeping-watch.html



72
Savage Messiah: Ken Russell / Re: Richard Chamberlayne passes away
« Last post by Jon Sorensen on April 08, 2025, 12:07:45 PM »
Hi, Iain,

Richard Chamberlain was an amazing acting talent.

Ken (Russell) made me a gift of many of his own films on DVD. A friend of mine, a visual effects supervisor who had just come off "Perfume" (2006), had never seen any of Ken's movies. I gave him a bunch of them. I told him "Dance Of The Seven Veils" was amongst the best things Ken ever done. It was Ken at his best. My friend went off and reported back that what he really dug was Ken's "The Music Lovers" with Chamberlain. He was hooked and converted, and my friend was due to make a documentary about Ken and I hanging out together. It did'nt happen. Then Ken died.

But all this reminds me of the incredible films and other film-makers we had. Seeing that Chamberlain had died I was prompted to go hunting for the now very rare "Lady Caroline Lamb" (1972), made by Robert Bolt and starring Chamberlain as Lord Byron. A film full of siginificant philosophies for me personally, I have a copy winging its' way to me as I write this. Boy, we had a golden age in which Ken, John Boorman, Stanley Kubrick and Robert Fuest and others were, to me, the bedrock. We have been lucky to have lived when we have lived.

Thanks for all your great work. Stay well, Iain. Keep flying the flag.

Jon
www.jonsorensencreative.com

73
Steven Berkoff discussion / Steven Berkoff and Frankenstein in Chichester, UK
« Last post by Iain Fisher on April 04, 2025, 11:05:03 AM »
Steven Berkoff will be reading from Frankenstein at the Chichester Festival on 8 July 2025.

"The legendary actor and playwright Steven Berkoff reads from Mary Shelley’s iconic horror story Frankenstein. With poetry from Mary Shelley and the Romantic era women writers read by Emily Rose Smith. Music from the period including Fanny Mendelssohn played by concert pianist Elena Toponogova, plus contemporary South Downs poetry.".

The Chichester Festival website is here
https://festivalofchichester.co.uk/

More on Steven Berkoff is here
https://iainfisher.com/berkoff/berkoff-overview.html


74
Savage Messiah: Ken Russell / Re: Music Videos by Jon Sorensen
« Last post by Jon Sorensen on April 02, 2025, 07:58:24 PM »
Hi, Iain,

A few words. I am embarking on another feature film project. It has been 25 years since
"Alien Blood". That movie is still out there and the US Distributors have just renewed its' contract,
so it's like Dracula in that it simply refuses to die and walks on, astonishing for an indie film I was sure would be gone in a year.

I know you are a fan of that "Russellesque" feature. This new script will amalgamate two stories I
have wanted to make into a film for many years. I will post here occasionally on updates. It's all highly visual stuff and will be ready when it is ready. But there it is.

Thanks so much for flying the flag for Ken, (and others), and please do keep up the great work.

Stay well, Iain, and all of you Keep Your Sense Of Wonder.

As a matter of passing, the two recent music shorts of my site you will find are "Pets" and "Warp", but there is a fair ton of them in the Ken Russell music/visuals spirit.

Take care of yourselves,


Jon Sorensen

75
Savage Messiah: Ken Russell / Richard Chamberlayne passes away
« Last post by Iain Fisher on March 30, 2025, 07:04:53 PM »
Richard Chamberlayne, who played Tchaikovsky in The Music Lovers, has passed away.

Chamberlayne achieved fame starring in all 191 episodes of the television series Dr Kildare. He then took challenging roles in cinema, including Petulia and of course The Music Lovers as well as playing Octavius in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

The Music Lovers was the first Ken Russell film I saw, so Chamberlayne introduced me to a new world.

"Richard Chamberlain, the hero of the 1960s television series Dr Kildare who found a second career as an award-winning 'king of the miniseries,' has died. He was 90 ... Chamberlain died on Saturday night in Waim?nalo, Hawaii of complications after a stroke, according to his publicist, Harlan Boll.
Martin Rabbett, his lifelong partner, said in a statement: “Our beloved Richard is with the angels now.... Photoplay magazine named him most popular male star for three years in a row, from 1963-65 (Associated Press, The Guardian, 30 Mar 2025, click here).
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/mar/30/richard-chamberlain-hero-of-dr-kildare-and-king-of-the-miniseries-dies-aged-90

Thanks to Alex for the link.

For more on The Music Lovers click here
https://iainfisher.com/russell/ken-russell-film-the-music-lovers.html


76
Steven Berkoff discussion / Brighton on Rakuten (free)
« Last post by Iain Fisher on March 26, 2025, 01:06:33 PM »
Brighton, the film of Steven Berkoff's Brighton Beach Scumbags, is available online at Rakuten TV.  The film extends Berkoff's play.

The Rakuten website is here
https://www.rakuten.tv/uk
For more on the play Brighton Beach Scumbags click here
https://www.iainfisher.com/berkoff/berkoff-play-ensemble.html


77
Steven Berkoff discussion / Dahling You Were Marvellous and Purgatory in UK
« Last post by Iain Fisher on March 26, 2025, 12:36:05 PM »
Troupe 22 Theatre Company present a double bill of Dahling You Were Marvellous and Purgatory from 6-9 August 2025.  The directors are Aaron Hayes and Bethanie Hayes.

"Dahling You Were Marvelous is a satirical play by Steven Berkoff that takes place in a London restaurant after a West End theatre opening night. The play is a series of vignettes that depict the world of theater through the conversations and actions of its characters. The play is a series of vignettes that comment on the superficiality of the theatrical world, the importance of social standing, and the need for praise.

Purgatory: John, a middle-aged actor, moves into a run-down guesthouse where he encounters romantic spinster Sarah".

The Troupe 22 Theatre Company website is here
https://www.troupe22.co.uk/

For more on Dahling You Were Marvelous click here
https://iainfisher.com/berkoff/berkoff-play-ensemble.html


78
Savage Messiah: Ken Russell / Savage Messiah in Wotton-Under-Edge, UK
« Last post by Iain Fisher on March 18, 2025, 06:25:14 PM »
Wotton Cinema are showing Savage Messiah on 30 March 2025.  This is part of a celebration of Sophie Gaudier-Brzeska.

"Sophie Gaudier-Brzeska, who lived in Wotton from 1916 to 1922, will be celebrated this month with events marking the centenary of her death... Sophie, a distinguished writer, poet, and author, was known for her work in English, French, and Polish... Despite her contributions, she has rested in an unmarked grave for a century.   A stone marker was finally unveiled at her grave in Tredworth Road Cemetery, Gloucester, on Monday, March 17, as part of the commemorative events.

The film screening is part of a weekend of centenary celebrations in Wotton-under-Edge, taking place from March 28 to March 30.  Throughout the weekend, Wotton Heritage Centre will be hosting a special display about Sophie Gaudier-Brzeska.

On Friday, March 28, at 7.30pm, Del Barrett, director of the Hundred Heroines Museum, will give a talk entitled In Sophie’s Orbit, at the Chipping Clubroom, which is next to the heritage centre.

On Saturday, March 29, there will be a circular walk inspired by Sophie’s routes, a free workshop on creating identity through masks and photography, and a series of talks on Sophie’s life and legacy at Wotton Cinema.

The day will end with a Polish dinner with readings at Good Food On the Edge.

Information from Matty Airey, The Gazette, 18 March 2025, click here
https://www.gazetteseries.co.uk/news/25016412.events-wotton-edge-honour-sophie-gaudier-brzeska/

The Wotton Cinema website is here
https://www.wottoncinema.com/index
For more on Savage Messiah click here
https://iainfisher.com/russell/ken-russell-film-savage-messiah.html



79
Savage Messiah: Ken Russell / Lair of the White Worm and Coppola's Dracula
« Last post by Iain Fisher on March 16, 2025, 06:24:25 PM »
An interesting view of Lair of the White Worm from a review.

"It’s critical at this point to note that The Lair of the White Worm might be a masterpiece. You could imagine Francis Ford Coppola watching it in preparation for making Bram Stoker’s Dracula and taking copious notes, only to scribble in the margins, 'But a little less horny'".

By Lily Hardman, Far Out Magazine, 15 March 2025, click here
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/hugh-grant-forgotten-bram-stoker-adaptation-weird/

For more on the film click here
https://iainfisher.com/russell/ken-russell-film-lair-white-worm.html


80
Savage Messiah: Ken Russell / Re: Altered States remake
« Last post by Iain Fisher on March 15, 2025, 09:51:33 AM »
Robert Pattinson to star and Trey Edward Shults to direct.  These are still rumours.

From Jordan Ruimy, 13 March 2025, World of Reel click here
https://www.worldofreel.com/blog/2025/3/13/trey-edward-shults-altered-states-remake-to-star-robert-pattinson
 
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