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Post by harrietcraig on Aug 23, 2018 22:16:17 GMT
May I add Suchet? He has stage acting nailed. He gave a great performance -- even doing a credible American accent -- in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at the Almeida in 1996 or 1997. (The less said about the American accent attempted by his co-star in that production -- whom I respect too much to name here -- the better.) |
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Post by profquatermass on Aug 24, 2018 6:52:44 GMT
To save everyone else the trouble, it was Diana Rigg
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Post by lynette on Aug 24, 2018 13:17:19 GMT
To save everyone else the trouble, it was Diana Rigg Saw that. She dried and needed a prompt when I saw it. The whole auditorium became an iceberg. |
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Post by david on Aug 24, 2018 15:05:15 GMT
I thought Suchet's contribution in the televised version of Peter Pan goes wrong was great. The fact that he was willing to take part as well as send hismelf up shows the class of the man. But, he is definitely one actor who is on my bucket list of people to see on stage.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2018 15:47:45 GMT
That's DAME Diana Rigg if you please. And I've seen 'Mother Love'. I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her.
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Post by Rory on Aug 24, 2018 15:51:52 GMT
I saw Dame Diana in WAOVW at the Aldwych with David Suchet and thought she was marvellous!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2018 17:38:54 GMT
That's DAME Diana Rigg if you please. And I've seen 'Mother Love'. I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of her.
I would pay considerable amounts of money to see Mother Love again. I've been a bit scared of WW2 bomb shelters AND laburnums AND marzipan for decades.
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Post by harrietcraig on Aug 24, 2018 21:02:17 GMT
I saw Dame Diana in WAOVW at the Aldwych with David Suchet and thought she was marvellous! Oh, I thought she was marvellous, too. I didn't mean to suggest otherwise, I was just saying that she can't do an American accent to save her life (but considering everything else she can do, that small chink in her armor can easily be overlooked). |
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Post by Polly1 on Aug 24, 2018 22:24:16 GMT
I'm another Suchet fan. I've only seen him on stage once, in Amadeus, and his performance was just so good. I still vividly remember the huge surge of emotion and pain I felt at that moment when he's just met Mozart and comes outside into the street and hears the start of the horn concerto and is so torn with pain and jealousy and conflicting emotions. Oof. I've seen Suchet many times, starting with my very first West End play, Oleanna, but his performance in Amadeus was the best of the lot. I was INCENSED when he was beaten to the Olivier by Spacey for Iceman, still bear a grudge. He (Suchet) has been nominated something like 6 times, I think, and never won, a great shame. However, the answer to the thread title is quite obviously Dame Sir Lord SRB, no argument. |
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Post by da55id on Aug 25, 2018 8:09:26 GMT
Hell, I'm new and this is my first post. My vote goes to Derek Jacobi and Robert Lindsay, Saw them together in Becket many years ago- wonderful! Both are great in Shakespeare . SRB is great and there's Anthony Sher too.
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Post by profquatermass on Aug 25, 2018 9:46:39 GMT
Interesting that everyone sees the expression 'greatest living stage actor' and immediately thinks Shakespeare and the classics. But Roger Allam and Alex Jennings have both excelled in those *and* musicals
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2018 9:53:32 GMT
I was thinking about Alex Jennings last night in bed actually (as you do). I saw him in Ghetto in the 80s and oh my word he was good. Charming and creepy and utterly wonderful.
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Post by profquatermass on Aug 25, 2018 9:56:30 GMT
I was thinking about Alex Jennings last night in bed actually (as you do). I saw him in Ghetto in the 80s and oh my word he was good. Charming and creepy and utterly wonderful. Oh he was brilliant in Ghetto. I wish that would be revived - it was really great |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 25, 2018 10:12:55 GMT
I really don't think that we can put Sher into contention for this.
His career has never broken through into mainstream success. His reliance on being directed by his husband in recent years has somewhat tarnished both their reputations.
He hasn't achieved significant TV or film exposure in a long time. He has received very few nominations/wins for leading theatre awards - since his successes in the 80s.
For me, he is someone who failed the live up to his earlier promise. His talent was there for all to see. But his most recent performances have, to my mind, been so mannered, so Acted as to seem very old school. His Falstaff was so ponderous, so over-produced vocally that he seemed to be in a different play to the rest of the cast - and yes, the character is an outsider - but he should still be an integrated part of the action.
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Post by indis on Aug 25, 2018 10:33:30 GMT
Tom Hiddleston - and i am running  lol |
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Post by da55id on Aug 25, 2018 12:10:58 GMT
Hell, I did mean Hello. But I have made another mistake! I didn't realise that Anthony Sher's non-appearance on tv or film was relevant to my elevation of him as a stage actor! Silly me! Thanks to a very clever person for putting me right!
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Post by kathryn on Aug 25, 2018 18:05:58 GMT
He hasn't achieved significant TV or film exposure in a long time. What’s that got to do with being a stage actor? |
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Post by kathryn on Aug 25, 2018 18:10:28 GMT
Tom Hiddleston - and i am running lol Hiddles is good, but I think he’s a little young for the title - he hasn’t had time to demonstrate his range. He has yet to do any contemporary plays (professionally at least) and has never originated a role. In 30 years he may be in contention - but that would require him to return to the stage more frequently than he has since he got his big Hollywood break. |
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 25, 2018 18:20:06 GMT
He hasn't achieved significant TV or film exposure in a long time. What’s that got to do with being a stage actor? It is about providing a full picture of his career - context if you like. The vast majority of names suggested so far have had a career of significant success on stage and on screen. Having a TV/film career does not mean you are automatically a strong stage performer (and vice versa) - but compared to people such as Jacobi, Lindsay, SRB and many others, Sher has not reached out to the broader public in the same way. I am not sure why my mention of TV/film work in one sentence out of nine has warranted such negativity. It is part of his career as an actor - just as it is for every other name mentioned. Indeed comment was made about Hopkins (the nominee who sparked this whole discussion) not having appeared on stage that much in recent years compared to his film/tv appearances over the same period. I stand by my opinion that Sher has failed to live up to the potential he showed in the early/mid 80s. Much as I admired him then, I just do not feel he is close to being one of the greatest living stage actors. |
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Post by kathryn on Aug 25, 2018 18:50:46 GMT
I feel like the parameters of the thread were pretty clear - the stage careers of English actors. Not having many stage performances to consider is a valid argument against someone being the greatest living English stage actor, because it is indicative of a lack of range. Not having many TV or film performances - while interesting in the context of a wider career - is off-topic. As are actors of other nationalities and dead actors.
You are, of course, entitled to stand by your opinion about Anthony Sher. But it was an odd comment to throw in there without acknowledging that it was off-topic.
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 25, 2018 19:12:38 GMT
I didn't realise that we were required to flag O/T comments on this forum.
I am far from the only person to have not stuck precisely to your parameters - yet the only one to receive a slapped wrist.
One of the great things about this forum has been the free-flowing conversations that do frequently deviate considerably from the initial topic. That is the nature of conversations work. And long may that continue.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2018 19:25:05 GMT
Isn't Sher South African anyway?
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Post by oxfordsimon on Aug 25, 2018 19:33:13 GMT
Isn't Sher South African anyway? He is a British citizen - so I would think that would be close enough. |
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Post by kathryn on Aug 25, 2018 19:40:46 GMT
Dual nationality, British and South African, according to wiki. Not sure whether to disqualify him on a technicality (British is not necessarily the same as English, even though English is British) or not! oxfordsimon since when is a question a slap on the wrist? You got exactly the same amount of pushback for the comment as the Kevin Spacey discussion did, no-one was picking on you especially. It was just a bit of an odd thing to say in context. I’ve very much enjoyed the free-flowing and remarkably pleasant and good-natured discussion in this thread thus far. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2018 20:18:39 GMT
Diana Rigg has done an incredible body of work over the years. A lot of people forget that she was a fine dramatic actress pre Avengers and Bond girl era. And since Mother Love has done many great roles on both stage and screen.
To rank the theatrical dames and knights or those who should be is always hard or subjective. Some have a greater variety of work across different genres, some shine for example in what we are judging here the stage which I think is the purest form of acting.
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lol 
