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Ben plays Richard Loeb
INFORMATION
play by John Logan
Playhouse Theatre, London
photo: londontheatre.co.uk
Cast & Crew
Ben Daniels, Denis O’Hare
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ARTICLES
John Logan`s `Never The Sinner` Opens To Mixed Reviews In London April 05, 1990|By Matt Wolf, Special to the Tribune chicagotribune.com
<<LONDON — John Logan`s “Never the Sinner“ has opened here to mixed-to-favorable notices at the Playhouse Theater, marking the West End debut of the prolific 28-year-old Chicago playwright.
Martin Hoyle, reviewing in The Financial Times, praised the play`s “fine performances, gripping story and wonderful ironic symmetry,“ adding that its move from the Northcott Theater in Exeter, where the play had a tryout run last summer, constituted “an intelligent import from the West Country to the West End.
The drama, written when Logan was a senior at Northwestern University and produced by the old Stormfield Theater in Chicago in 1985, tells the story of Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, the two University of Chicago students who, in 1924, bludgeoned to death 14-year-old Bobby Franks.
Denis O`Hare, reprising a part he originated in Chicago, is the prissy, fastidious Leopold opposite British actor Ben Daniels as Loeb, the blond golden boy whom Leopold adores.
Joss Ackland, most recently seen in the films “Lethal Weapon 2“ and “The Hunt for Red October, plays defense attorney Clarence Darrow, a role originally intended in this production for the late Sir Anthony Quayle. (A program note dedicates the staging to Quayle, who died last autumn.)
Julian Glover, from “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,“ co-stars as prosecuting attorney Robert Crowe.
Many critics responded more to the acting than to the play. While John Gross in The Sunday Telegraph said that “in psychological terms, the play doesn`t go very deep,“ he wrote that O`Hare and Daniels “give terrific performances.
Paul Taylor in The Independent praised the twosome`s “first-rate performances“ and said the entire evening was “superbly acted.“ Clive Hirschborn in The Sunday Express wrote, “The real pleasure and surprise of this absorbing evening are the outstanding performances of O`Hare and Daniels.
Others admired Ackland most. Charles Spencer in The Daily Telegraph wrote: “The chief glory of Geoff Bullen`s production, which would benefit greatly from a few judicious cuts, is the performance of Joss Ackland . . . (who is) magnificently commanding.“ The Evening Standard`s Peter Bradshaw believed the play “fails to do justice to its fascinating themes“
but admired Ackland`s “star performance.“
This observer would agree that Ackland`s marvelously tousled presence dominated the evening, from his initial entrance, seemingly weighed down by the contents of his briefcase, through his climactic, impassioned plea for mercy.
Glover, looking as angular and parched as Ackland seems large and fleshy, deserves praise for never allowing Crowe to become the simple-minded villain of the piece. The arguments for and against the death penalty are given an equally fair hearing.
Elsewhere, the play is overlong and unevenly acted. Daniels never suggests the kind of charisma that would goad the brilliant Leopold to participate in a shocking murder. And while Logan`s extensive research is impressive, the play teases more than it tells; even six decades on, this pair seems, in some fundamental way, unknowable.
The West End production marks Logan`s third airing in Britain.>>
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AWARDS & NOMINATIONS
Ben Daniels nominated as Best Supporting Actor at the 15th Laurence Olivier Awards (1991)
http://www.olivierawards.com/news/view/item98525/olivier-winners-1991/ Olivier Winners 1991 – First published: 24 Apr 2008 <<Nominees: Ben Daniels for Never The Sinner at the Playhouse>>
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LINKS & SOURCES
https://twitter.com/denisohare Denis O’Hare Twitter account
http://www.whatsonstage.com/west-end-theatre/news/04-2001/20-questions-withben-daniels_18330.html 20 Questions With…Ben Daniels: <<Favourite co-star: Dennis O’Hare, the American actor who was also in Never the Sinner. Our acting was very symbiotic. >>
http://gayfortoday.blogspot.it/2007/06/richard-loeb.html Gay For Today Richard Loeb
http://theatricalia.com/play/5qa/never-the-sinner/production/cg9 Never The Sinner on Theatricalia
http://books.google.co.uk/ refer to this production in the book “Blood on the Stage, 1975-2000: Milestone Plays of Crime, Mystery, and Detection” page 287
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Ben Daniels Online Source 