Infamous for their tumultuous love affair, which consisted of both marrying each other twice, Golden Globe winning actor Richard Burton CBE and Academy Award winning actress Elizabeth Taylor rise to prominence in the golden age of Hollywood. Burton going on to perform a record-breaking sell out run of Hamlet on Broadway directed by esteemed actor Sir John Gielgud. The Motive and the Cue – a line from the play Hamlet observes the run up to one of Burton’s greatest theatrical feats, now a play reflecting on this significant part of theatrical history.
The media shapes how we learn about the issues of the day and dictates how we all manoeuvre. A powerful tool that forms ways of thinking and how our societies run. Almost a century ago, the General Strike of 1926 would grind many industries to a halt, a dispute that would see union workers demand better pay conditions lasting just over a week – with this, only a couple of news outlets – The British Gazette led by soon to be UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and The BBC, led by John Reith operating at the time. With one ending that same year, and the other going on to influence many up until the today, parallels to the early 20th century couldn’t be clearer. Drawing on this particular part of British history, writer Jack Thorne presents When Winston Went to War with the Wireless to show at the Donmar Warehouse from the 2nd to 26th June. Ahead of the production, performer Ravin J Ganatra talks about starring as influential figures, the Archbishop of Canterbury and J.C.C. Davidson – a British civil servant and Conservative party politician.
