John Caird Archives - Helen McCrory

by Clara Bayley | July 3, 1994 | The Independent

When actors portray actors, or worse, actors acting, it can become an excuse for over-the-top self-indulgence. Chekhov’s The Seagull, which is previewing now at the National, features both the celebrated actress Arkadina (played by Judi Dench, right) and the youthful aspirant Nina, performing in Konstantin’s experimental play. How does director John Caird avoid predictable performances?

‘That can be true of any ill-considered portrayal of a theatrical or of any kind of character,’ he points out. ‘You might cast someone who is 75 years old to play an old person, and they start playing old. You have to tell them to play young then.’

The National has shown us precisely how it should be done

By Sheridan Morley | February 24, 1993 | International Herald Tribune

“Trelawny of the ‘Wells’ ” is one of those scripts that everyone hates except the public, and the actors who get to play it. After a 30-year absence from London, Pinero’s epitaph for the old actor-laddies has turned up twice, just before Christmas in a patchy all-star West End revival sadly lacking much direction, and now in a vastly better John Caird production for the open Olivier stage of the National.

The mystery, though, is why he didn’t go for the musical; Caird at his best (“Les Misérables”)and his worst (“Children of Eden”) is a director who, like his old partner Trevor Nunn, knows a very great deal about how to give classical dignity to song-and-dance shows.

Continue reading Trelawny of the Wells at the National Theatre – Review

Tag: John Caird

The Seagull at the National Theatre – Review

How does director John Caird avoid predictable performances?

by Clara Bayley | July 3, 1994 | The Independent

Trelawny of the Wells at the National Theatre – Review

The National has shown us precisely how it should be done