Nunn, Trevor

Lady Jane

The story of Lady Jane Grey, cousin to Henry the VIII, who found herself Queen of England for 9 days in 1553, at the age of 16.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: PG13
Release Date: 12-DEC-2003
Media Type: DVD

"I foresee a glittering future for your daughter," the conspiratorial Duke of Northumberland insidiously whispers to the mother of Lady Jane Grey, the woman who would be England's queen, albeit for only nine days. The same could be said for Helena Bonham Carter, who, in her screen debut, carries this historical drama with aplomb. Jane, a principled and precocious 15-year-old (she reads Plato in Greek) was a pawn in a plot to maintain Protestant rule in the wake of young King Edward's death. A dashing Cary Elwes, anticipating his swashbuckling role in The Princess Bride, costars as Northumberland's feckless, wastrel son, Guilford, whose arranged marriage to Jane unexpectedly blossoms into love and rebellion. Anglophiles will bask in this impeccably mounted production (featuring Patrick Stewart as Jane's bullying father), but swooning teens, too, may embrace these young lovers as did the youths who made Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 Romeo & Juliet a box-office smash in its day. --Donald Liebenson

Twelfth Night

A once-in-a-lifetime cast shines in this hilarious version of the beloved Shakespeare comedy! When a shipwreck separates siblings Viola and Sebastian in a foreign land, each thinks the other is dead, and both embark on a series of romantic misadventures involving deception, cross-dressing, dashing counts, obese alcoholics and a perceptive fool who presides over the entire madcap affair. A delight from start to finish, this dazzling treat is British comedy at its best!

When a shipwreck separates siblings Viola and Sebastian in a foreign land, both think the other is dead and embarks on a series of romantic misadventures.

Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma! (London Stage Revival)

When Mary Rodgers, daughter of the composer Richard Rodgers, was reported as saying she never wanted to see another Oklahoma!, it was her way of paying the highest tribute to Trevor Nunn's production at the Royal National Theatre which was subsequently taken into the studio and filmed. The camera follows the playgoers into the auditorium of the Olivier where in their company we watch the show and applaud the numbers as the real thing. Nunn treats Rodgers and Hammerstein's first collaboration with the utmost seriousness, restoring the full text so that it comes across as a drama indebted to Eugene O'Neill. Although Oklahoma! unfolds at a leisurely pace, it is extraordinary how one is drawn into the drama under Nunn's direction.

There's seldom a wish for true locations as the pace picks up and we move into the claustrophobic company of Judd Fry in his riveting encounter with the cowboy Curly. The close-up camera work affords an experience the theatre can't bring and also pays handsome dividends in appreciating Susan Stroman's intricate and lively choreography. Her dancers are a fine team, notably Jimmy Johnston who is outstanding as Will Parker leading the Kansas City ensemble. Hugh Jackman (X-Men) as Curly matches him in vocal prowess and looks, and Shuler Hensley sings the tricky role of Judd Fry very well. It's harder to place Peter Polycarpou's Pedlar, a considerably larger role than in the film version, whose accent strays from London's East End to the plains of Europe. Maureen Lipman, rightly deemed the lynchpin of the musical by Nunn, is a joy to watch as Aunt Eller. Laurey (Josefina Gabrielle) and Ado Annie (Vicki Simon) are good but not special. Aside from an abrupt start to Act Two and the occasional voice off microphone, the production sounds good with a larger orchestra present than in the theatre. An Oklahoma! on an epic scale. --Adrian Edwards

George Gershwin - Porgy & Bess / Trevor Nunn · Sir Simon Rattle · W. White · C. Haymon · Glyndebourne Opera

This powerful production originated on the stage of the Glyndebourne Festival. It was restaged and filmed on location for the BBC telecast preserved in this video recording. Director Trevor Nunn takes full advantage of the realism, fluidity of movement, and precision of small details that are difficult to achieve when televising a staged performance but easy and natural in a movie treatment.

Nunn's vision, conveyed by an unusually talented cast, is constantly touching and rises to overwhelming intensity at climactic points. For example: the crap game and fight that end in Robbins's death, the hurricane scene, Crown's capture and abuse of Bess on Kittiwah Island, Porgy's fight with Crown, the comically sinister antics of Sportin' Life, the double-edged pathos and absurdity of the scene in which Bess gets "divorced," and the electrifying conclusion, when Porgy throws away his crutches and sets out, naively, to find Bess in New York.

Musically, Simon Rattle and all the performers find the exact style for Gershwin's marvelous score--not only such big numbers as "Summertime," "Bess, You Is My Woman Now," "I Loves You, Porgy," "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'," "It Ain't Necessarily So," "I Hates Your Struttin' Style," and "O Lawd, I'm on My Way," but such smaller items as the exquisite cries of the street vendors of honey, strawberries, and crabs. There are no weaknesses in the cast. Willard White and Cynthia Haymon are ideal in the title roles, Gregg Baker is a terrifying, larger-than-life Crown, and Damon Evans is a properly slimy Sportin' Life. The white police officers are splendidly repulsive. --Joe McLellan

The Gershwins' musical masterpiece Porgy and Bess is one of America's greatest works. This production was adapted for the screen by Trevor Nunn and Yves Baigneres. It was directed by Trevor Nunn and is based on the highly successful staging of the original Glyndebourne Festival Opera production in 1986-87, which was remounted at Covent Garden in the autumn of 1992 with most of the original cast. Immediately after that performance the production was moved to the giant stage at Shepperton Studios, with much expanded sets and lighting. It was then recorded using EMI's original award-winning soundtrack.

First performed in 1935 and based on the play Porgy by DuBose and Dorothy K. Heyward, Porgy and Bess has achieved worldwide renown through such memorable songs as "Summertime," "It Ain't Necessarily So," "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin'," "Oh Lawd, I'm on My Way," and many more, set to Gershwin's moving symphonic score. 184 minutes.

Porgy: Willard White
Bess: Cynthia Haymon
Crown: Gregg Baker
Serena: Cynthia Clarey
Maria: Mariette Simpson
Sporting Life: Damon Evans
Clara: Paula Ingram (sung by Harolyn Blackwell)
Jake: Gordon Hawkins (sung by Bruce Hubbard)
Mingo: Barrington Coleman
Robbins: D. Alonzo Washington (sung by Johnny Worthy)

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

Yes, it's nine hours long. Yes, it's Charles Dickens, he of the 900-page novels you had to read in high school. And, yes, it's a film of a play. But the Royal Shakespeare Company's Tony Award-winning 1981 production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby at London's Old Vic Theatre was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and those of us who missed its Emmy-winning PBS broadcast can be thankful for A&E's superb video boxed set. Dickens's story of greed, poverty, and cruelty in Victorian England is handled deftly by director Jim Goddard and set designer John Napier, who never deny their film's staginess but instead seek to exploit it, unafraid to show the viewer the skeletal nature of the theater and, in one instance, boldly using actors as props. The RSC makes excellent use of this mise en scène, bringing to life Dickens's characters with intensity, verve, and just the right notes of melodrama--this being a Dickens story, after all.

Roger Rees plays the young, earnest Nicholas, whose father's death prompts him; his sister, Kate (Emily Richard); and their mother (Jane Downs) to make their way to London to seek out the financial assistance of Nicholas's cold, calculating uncle, Ralph Nickleby (played to scowly perfection by John Woodvine). Ralph grudgingly provides his nephew with employment at a Yorkshire school for abandoned boys under the cartoonishly vile Wackford Squeers (Alun Armstrong), but Nicholas can't stomach the physical abuse Squeers heaps on his students. After lashing out at the sadistic schoolmaster during a particularly savage beating of a child, Nicholas escapes the school, taking with him the most wretched of the young creatures, a limping, crooked-backed boy named Smike (played heart-wrenchingly by David Threlfall). The story unfolds from there, with the now-itinerant Nicholas forced to make his way in the world while adhering to his principles and protecting Kate and their mother from his scheming uncle, who is eventually forced to come to terms with his emotions in the story's shocking conclusion. Typically Dickensian, the characters are neatly divided between good and evil, with little ambiguity. Still, each of the 39 actors in the ensemble does a wonderful job, making it a production that figures to linger in the memory long after you're done clapping. --Steve Landau

William Shakespeare: Othello

Towering screen and stage legend Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings, X-Men) stars in this ferocious, deeply human and timeless production of William Shakespeare's classic tragedy from legendary director Trevor Nunn (Les Miserables) and the Royal Shakespeare Company. Noble Moroccan Othello finds his life with beautiful, fiercely loyal Desdemona thrown tragically out of balance when secretly jealous, scheming confidante Iago begins an insidious campaign of lies and treachery. Featuring agracious and dignified performance from celebrated operatic bass Willard White and a superb Imogen Stubbs as the tragic couple, this award-winning presentation is one of the controversial tale's most acclaimed and powerful interpretations to date.

The Merchant of Venice / Trevor Nunn, Royal National Theatre

The often volatile character of Shylock, a Jewish moneylender, is powerfully realized in Trevor Nunn's stylish film of Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, which uses theatrical sets but is shot as a movie. Shylock (played with fierce commitment by Henry Goodman) loans money to a man he despises, the merchant Antonio (David Bramber), only if a pound of Antonio's flesh will be due upon default. Antonio borrows the money so that his friend Bessanio (Alexander Hanson) can travel to woo the woman he loves, Portia (Derbhle Crotty), whose freedom to marry is bound up in a fairy-tale decree of her father's. The play's mixture of tragedy and comedy often baffles contemporary audiences; Nunn attempts to solve this problem by treating almost everything as seriously as possible. While his approach serves Shylock well, the play's conclusion--in which Portia tests her husband's commitment--could use a lighter touch. --Bret Fetzer

William Shakespeare's controversial classic comes to bristling life in this riveting production from theater legend Trevor Nunn. Relocated to Europe between the two world wars, the story follows the misadventures of young heiress Portia, who must don the disguise of a male lawyer to save the life of her love, and the financially obsessed Shylock (Notting Hill's Henry Goodman), determined to literally collect a pound of flesh in court. Trevor Nunn directed the landmark revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's Oklahoma! with Hugh Jackman as well as groundbreaking versions of Nicholas Nickleby, Othello, and Porgy & Bess. Originally presented to tremendous acclaim at the Royal National Theatre in June, 1999. Awards include: Olivier Awards - Best Actor (Henry Goodman) / Critics' Circle Theatre Awards - Best Actor (Henry Goodman)

Edward II / All Over Me / Twelfth Night (Triple Feature)

THREE CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED TALES OF SEX AND BETRAYAL!

Tilda Swinton (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)stars in the mesmerizing adaptation of the classic play EDWARD II, in which King Edward finds his throne in peril after he brings his lover, Gaveston (The Pianist's Andrew Tiernan), to court. Tara Subkoff (The Notorious Betty Page) and Allison Folland (Boys Don't Cry) are 15, best friends and in love in ALL OVER ME, a raw and real coming-of-age story. And critics applauded TWELFTH NIGHT, William Shakespeare's beloved comedy brought to the screen by an outstanding ensemble cast that includes Helena Bonham-Carter and Ben Kingsley.

Lady Jane

"I foresee a glittering future for your daughter," the conspiratorial Duke of Northumberland insidiously whispers to the mother of Lady Jane Grey, the woman who would be England's queen, albeit for only nine days. The same could be said for Helena Bonham Carter, who, in her screen debut, carries this historical drama with aplomb. Jane, a principled and precocious 15-year-old (she reads Plato in Greek) was a pawn in a plot to maintain Protestant rule in the wake of young King Edward's death. A dashing Cary Elwes, anticipating his swashbuckling role in The Princess Bride, costars as Northumberland's feckless, wastrel son, Guilford, whose arranged marriage to Jane unexpectedly blossoms into love and rebellion. Anglophiles will bask in this impeccably mounted production (featuring Patrick Stewart as Jane's bullying father), but swooning teens, too, may embrace these young lovers as did the youths who made Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 Romeo & Juliet a box-office smash in its day. --Donald Liebenson

Twelfth Night: Or What You Will [Region 2]