Theatre REVIEW: Sir Derek Jacobi in Conversation with Richard Clifford - ★★★★

Mix Up Theatre (Stewart)
2 days ago
3 min read

SIR DEREK JACOBI is an icon of stage and screen, known for his work at the Royal National Theatre, and has a BAFTA, Olivier, Emmy, Screen Guild and Tony Award. With peers such as Ian McKellen and Trevor Nunn, and as one of the founding members of the National Theatre, Derek is an enormous talent with Shakespeare running through his blood.

Six decades and so many favourites… such as ‘I, Claudius’, ‘Gladiator I’, ‘Gladiator II’, ‘Last Tango in Halifax’, ‘The Crown’, ‘The Day of the Jackal’, ‘Nanny McPhee’, ‘Gosford Park’, The King’s Speech’ and much inbetween.

His Shakespeare work is vast with notable performances in ‘Hamlet’ and ‘Othello’ to name a few. And not to forget, his audio book work as the narrator for the BBC children's series ‘In the Night Garden’. An incredible body of work.

Richard Clifford, Actor and Producer

Richard has been an actor since 1977, working all over the world including China, and starring in ‘Henry V’, ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ and ‘Loves Labours Lost’ directed by Kenneth Branagh.

For 20 years, Richard worked at the Folger Theatre in Washington, with directing credits including ‘She Stoops to Conquer’, ‘All’s Well that Ends Well’, ‘Amadeus’ and many musical concerts with Folger Consort.

With Richard in the driving seat for the evening, there will be incredible insights, joy of Shakespeare and so much more as he has also been Derek’s partner since the 1970’s.

Where?

Perth Theatre - Part of Perth Festival of the Arts

Olivia (Age 13) - ★★★★

"Attending the 'In Conversation with Sir Derek Jacobi and Richard Clifford' was an amazing experience and made for a spectacular night out.

He talked about his life when he was a child all the way to his recent projects and answered audience questions at the end too. He was extremely chatty and made jokes throughout.

Me and my friends even got the opportunity to meet him after the show and he was extremely kind and talked to us about acting and signed some flyers for us. I would rate it 4/5 stars as I was a little lost at some points when the conversation changed topics but overall definitely recommend!"

Stewart - ★★★★

"A fabulous night of delving into the career of a true great. Sir Derek Jaobi was a delightful subject and was very funny at times, a real class act and very well hosted by Richard Clifford. Perhaps a bit too much time was spent on the early days, because by the interval we had only got to the beginnings of the National Theatre. This meant the second half felt a bit too rushed as there's so many wonderful stories that we were invited in to hear about regarding Jacobi's time in the theatre and in film.

Highlights have to be Jacobi talking about Laurence Olivier, having a go at directing Kenneth Branagh, working with Ian McKellen on Vicious, his stint on Doctor Who and - he asked us not to say anything - but "a little word in the ear" is my only clue.

So it ran over quite a bit but it was still a fantastic night and it's not every day you get to meet a Sir!

Yes, we had the brilliant opportunity to meet Sir Derek afterwards and got an autograph. Marvellous!"