Categories Damian Lewis Music Personal and Family Life

Helen McCrory and Damian Lewis Attend LSO’s Genesis Suite & Bartok’s Concerto 

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An Evening at the LSO

by Gingersnap | damian-lewis.com | January 13, 2018

Source: Instagram @maxinekwokadams

Damian was in attendance at London Symphony Orchestra’s Music of Exile: Genesis Suite & Bartok’s Concerto for Orchestra on Saturday, January 13 at Barbican Centre’s Concert Hall in London, where Helen was one of the narrators. Rarely performed since its 1945 debut, the Genesis Suite was revived by the London Symphony Orchestra and conducted by Sir Simon Rattle, accompanied with visual projections conceived by creative director Gerard McBurney.

“It’s a fascinating work because it’s a very political gesture – it’s a Holocaust protest,” says McBurney. “The story focuses on Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel and the Tower of Babel, all of which are a series of broken promises. So, for me, this is a story about the lies that our leaders tell us.”

The piece is a composite suite by seven leading composers of the time, including rivals Arnold Schoenberg and Stravinsky, to bring together the “high art” composers in the US fleeing persecution with the popular culture of Hollywood scores.

Both Helen and Damian are seen pictured here with Maxine Kwok-Adams, violinist of the London Symphony.

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Categories Broadcast Media Damian Lewis Radio Voicework

Helen McCrory and Damian Lewis on BBC Radio 4

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Niccolo Machiavelli – The Prince

Tune in on iPlayer to hear Damian as Machiavelli and Helen as Defence on BBC Radio 4 Extra. The programme, originally broadcast in 2013, is one hour in length and there are currently 29 days left to listen.

A little about the audio play: Five hundred years after writing his most provocative political tract, Niccolo Machiavelli appears before an infernal court to appeal against the harsh treatment his works have received over time. Rather than being seen as a description of political cynicism and opportunism, he argues that “Machiavellian” should be a compliment and The Prince has in fact been an infallible guidebook followed closely by all successful leaders.

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Adapted by Jonathan Myerson

Produced and directed by Clive Brill
A Pacificus production for BBC Radio 4

Categories Interviews Peaky Blinders Print Media

Helen McCrory Talks Peaky Blinders Season Four

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Escaping The Gallows

December 11, 2017 | Tripwire

♦ Peaky Blinders season 4 began on 15 November and it has been a pretty eventful series so far. Here’s a chat with one of its cast members Helen McCrory, who plays Polly Gray, from the BBC themselves…

With Tommy’s actions landing members of the family in prison at the end of series three, where do we find Polly at the beginning of series four?

We open the series on Polly, Arthur, John and her son Michael being led to the gallows. In this moment, which is a real turning point for Polly, we see her believing that she’s going to die. She calls on the Virgin Mary to bring the spirits of her mum, her dad and her daughter to her. In that moment, she believes she sees her daughter’s face and from this moment on Polly believes that she’s living with the spirits constantly around her. Either she’s had some sort of mental breakdown and is unable to cope with reality or she really does see the spirit of her daughter and therefore has this newfound understanding of life. Once you take away the fear of death in someone, they have a sort of immortality. Her near death experience mirrors Tommy and Arthur’s time in the trenches. So these three characters are united in this fearless attitude towards life at the beginning of this series, which is what makes them so dangerous.

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