A Maverick in London
[105min, 2005] Feature documentary about the King’s Head Theatre in London. Directors: Jason Figgis & Stephanie Sinclaire, Producers: XI / Dragonfly
Between working on her short film, The Tell Tale Heart, and her feature, Silence Becomes You, I scored this feature documentary by Stephanie Sinclaire (with co-director Jason Figgis). Here is the blurb on the film:
Documentary about the late Dan Crawford, who founded the King’s Head Theatre above a pub in Islington and, against the odds, kept it afloat for 35 years, nurturing some of the finest British writing and acting talent on the way.
Contributors include Steven Berkoff, Alan Rickman, Prunella Scales, Susanna York, Anthony Sher, Victoria Wood, Victor Spinnetti & Tom Stoppard.
At 17, Dan Crawford was introduced to the world of the theatre by Robert Ludlam and never turned back. Over thirty years ago, he founded The King’s Head Theatre, London’s first pub theatre since the days of Shakespeare and the first dinner theatre in the UK. Over the years, the King’s Head faced financial troubles, architectural disasters, and imminent closure, but through it all Dan kept this amazing theatre alive.
Not only did he nurture and develop one of the most outstanding theatres in the country, he sought out and encouraged some of the greatest theatrical talents of the last thirty years. The actors whose careers were promoted, launched (or re-launched) at the King’s Head range from such theatrical luminaries as Kenneth Branagh, Steven Berkoff and Ben Kingsley, to popular stars such as Hugh Grant, Richard E. Grant, Alan Rickman and Joanna Lumley, and comedians Lily Savage, Ruby Wax and Mel Smith. Writers whose work has been showcased at the King’s Head include great playwrights such as Brian Friel, Patrick Marber and Tom Stoppard.
The contributions are by turns hilarious, moving and inspiring. Between the many interviewees, the documentary weaves a tapestry which colours in the fascinating history of a theatre kept alive by the sheer willpower and determination of an extraordinary artistic director. The inimitable Dan Crawford was as well-known and well-loved throughout the industry as the people whose careers he developed: the colourful, eccentric, energetic theatrical maverick whose personality was as big as the theatre itself.
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