The Leopard

Tomorrow, New Year's Day, Alex reads the first part of 'The Leopard' on BBC Radio 4.

On New Year’s Day on @BBCRadio4, reader Alex Jennings transports us to 19th century Sicily in Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s The Leopard, a tale of the Risorgimento: the unification of Italy pic.twitter.com/7LTjtSIWRC

— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) December 31, 2018

Dear Elizabeth

Alex will appear in "Dear Elizabeth" at the Gate Theatre in January/February. The play is based on the letters of Elizabeth Bishop and Robert Lowell. The parts will be played by different actors each night, the exact date(s) of Alex appearing have not been published.

More information at: London Theatre

Evening Standard Theatre Awards

Alex attended the Awards at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane last night:

More information and videos at: Evening Standard.

Reverie in Galway

Alex will appear with Lucy Parham in Reverie in Galway next week, 7 November. He was interviewed about the concert and some of his other work by the Galway Advertiser.

More information on the concert and tickets at Music for Galway.

Hansard

No dates set yet, but Alex is due to return to the National Theatre next year, appearing with Lindsay Duncan in the world premiere of Simon Woods’ debut play Hansard, directed by NT Associate Simon Godwin.

Gold Digger

Alex has joined the cast of new BBC series Gold Digger. The six-part series about a woman falling in love with a much younger man and the effect it has on her already damaged family. Julia Ormond plays the lead, Alex is her ex-husband.

More at Broadway World.

War Requiem

Alex will take part in a performance of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem by The Bach Choir on October 3rd at Westminster Cathedral.

For more information and tickets see Broadway World.

Sanjeev

Sanjeev Baskar posted a couple of behind the scenes pictures of Unforgotten on his Instagram page:

Alex with Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar

Kevin McNally and Alex

High Praise - With spoilers

The Telegraph has an article on Alex with a great many compliments:


"Lady In The Van director Nicholas Hytner, with whom Jennings has a longtime collaborative relationship, ranks Jennings among the pre-eminent actors of his generation and has hailed him as “a John Gielgud for the 21st century”.

With his greying curls, care-worn features and subversive twinkle, Jennings has a face that lends itself perfectly to period roles. He has also inhabited other real-life figures, including former US president George Bush Nazi architect Albert Speer, Dad’s Army actor John Le Mesurier and composer Benjamin Britten. He has said the key to playing such roles is to act, not impersonate becaue the characters “mustn’t become Spitting Image puppets”."

and

"Whether it’s on-stage or in supporting screen roles, Alex Jennings has spent more than three decades being consistently brilliant."

I can't quote more, the articles has spoilers of Unforgotten. If you still want to watch that and not know what happens, don't read this now!!

Full article (with Unforgotten spoilers) at The Telegraph.

Look At You Now

There is an exhibition on in the foyer of the National Theatre with pictures of actors and other theatre makers as children and adults in similar poses. Alex is there, of course. (Couldn't get a picture without those reflections, unfortunately).

The exhibition is free, more information at National Theatre website.

Frielfest Confession

A confession from Alex on his performance at Frielfest to Mark Lawson at the Guardian:

"And Friel, who spent two years as a young man studying for the priesthood before an eventual retreat from Catholicism, might have enjoyed the fact that Jennings became surely the first person to have spoken the F-word four times in that parish hall. The actor told me afterwards that he had also committed a mild acting sin; the text specifies that Teddy drinks pale ale while reminiscing and, for the first time, the actor supped real alcohol while acting, an experiment he does not plan to repeat, but which did not diminish his characteristic precision and intelligence."

Full piece on the performance at The Guardian.

Frielfest

Arts Over Borders: Tamsin Greig, Toby Jones, Alex Jennings and more perform Friel in rural Ireland https://t.co/vDV0sFhOaI pic.twitter.com/Nj9FEjTeRI

— WhatsOnStage (@WhatsOnStage) August 15, 2018

Review at WhatsOnStage.

Culture Fix

Alex talks about his cultural life in The Times. You can only read if you register but it's an interesting read. His favourite books, films, productions, music. I'm particularly pleased he picked "Nicholas Nickleby" as his favourite play, I've always loved that and loved Roger Rees in that. For the Cabin Pressure fans there is "Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines" apparently a big influence on Alex's acting...

I also liked this one:

"The play that I walked out of at the interval
One I was in. It was Present Laughter at the National and it was before the interval. The safety curtain got stuck, so we never really got going. Everyone went home and the theatre was shut for something like three days."

He can't have been very lucky with this production, when I met him after a performance he had hurt his foot on stage and had to be hurried off..

Spotlight

Alex, Imelda Staunton and Spotlight nominees and winners talk about preparing a monologue.



Article at Spotlight.

Ryedale

Alex appeared at the Pickering Parish Church for a poetry reading last Saturday night.

A joy to be back @ryedalefestival for a late-night, candle-lit Bach recital complete with poetry readings by the wonderful #AlexJennings The church of St Peter & St Paul in #Pickering makes a perfect setting with its breathtaking Medieval wall paintings. #Yorkshire pic.twitter.com/XWbS2KTsYz

— Charles Owen (@owenpiano) July 30, 2018

More Unforgotten

Alex talks about The Crown and Unforgotten, playing royals and more on Radio Times.

Allelujah!

Alex attended the opening night of Alan Bennett's new play Allelujah! at the Bridge Theatre this week.

Sunday Brunch

Alex appeared on Channel 4's Sunday Brunch last Sunday with Kevin McNally to talk about 'Unforgotten'.

Legends on the sofa today! Alex Jennings and @exkevinmcnally are talking about their new show #Unforgotten 🙌🙌 #SundayBrunch pic.twitter.com/5USyZddUh2

— Sunday Brunch (@SundayBrunchC4) July 15, 2018

Somewhere along the line they had an Alan Bennett competition:

Who do you think the better Alan Bennett is? 😂#AlexJennings and @exkevinmcnally went head to head on yesterday's show! pic.twitter.com/gGxQZfks7q

— Sunday Brunch (@SundayBrunchC4) July 16, 2018

Old Vic Bicentenary

Alex attended the Old Vic Bicentenary Ball on May 13.

Embed from Getty Images

Pictures of the event are at Getty Images.

Embed from Getty Images

Just the pictures of Alex are at this Getty Images page.

Hymn

There will be two performances of Alan Bennett's Hymn at the Ryedale Festival on 23 July. Alex will appear with the Heath Quartet and the Carducci Quartet. The performances will take place at Birdsall House.

More information and tickets on the Festival website.

Unforgotten

The new series of Unforgotten, featuring Alex as Dr Tim Finch, will be shown from this Sunday, 15 July, on ITV.

Alex describes his character on the BT website.

More on Alex and other cast members at Radio Times

More on the series at Radio Times.

And a longer interview with Nicola Walker and Sanjeev Bhaskar at Whatsontv

Faith Healer at Frielfest

Alex will be appearing as Teddy in a special production of Faith Healer by Brian Friel at the Frielfest in Donegal. There will be three performances over the weekend of 10 August. Tamsin Greig will play Grace.

More information and tickets at the festival website.

Unforgotten Trailer

The first footage of the series that is to be broadcast in July!

John Barton

Alex was one of the readers at the memorial service for John Barton in the Swan Theatre in Stratford on 27 May. John Barton directed Alex in Peer Gynt in 1994.

More Bessell

If you want more #AVeryEnglishScandal a wonderful conversation with the director of the drama Stephen Frears and Alex Jennings who played Peter Bessell (around 2 hours 22 mins in) https://t.co/QbAdJqTwoF

— Helena Lee (@BBCHelenaLee) June 4, 2018

Tea with Alex and Some People?

This is MASSIVE: we'd love you to join the (almost) Royal Family for tea. 7 Royals from The Crown, inc Claire Foy, Matt Smith and Vanessa Kirby, are in for tea and scones with 2 winners. $10 to enter, all donations to @RedNoseDayUSA, open to USA and UK https://t.co/UN2EVrSR9z pic.twitter.com/NQMxlIirdq

— emma freud 🔴 (@emmafreud) May 20, 2018

A Very English Scandal - Reviews

The reviews are in!

Praise for Alex in the Guardian:

"Alex Jennings, brilliant as a devotee with a shadow on his soul"

"The era’s moves to legalise homosexuality and the European and immigration concerns playing out in the background give the broader moment resonance, but it is the superlative work from Jennings, Whishaw and above all Grant’s tour de force that holds it together, humanises and makes sense of it all. Bravo et encore. Bunnies can and will go to the Baftas, I’m sure."

Full review at The Guardian.


Metro has this interesting one:

"A special mention to Alex Jennings who, while in familiar territory, is unmatched in the art of smarmy delivery."

Read more in: Metro.


The Telegraph also gives the show a good revie:

"The opening scene, featuring symbolically raw and succulent steak tartare, introduced a brace of Liberal MPs slyly at ease with saucy-postcard sexuality. (The other one was Peter Bessell, played with spiffing joie de vivre by Alex Jennings). Theirs was a world in which proud new labels – “gay” – rubbed up against furtive old euphemisms: “musical”, “on the spear side”."

Full review at Telegraph.

About Peter Bessell

“He was a serial bankrupt, and self-proclaimed promiscuous womaniser, a lot of secretaries I think” says Alex Jennings who plays Peter Bessell in Jeremy Thorpe TV drama

BBC1’s A Very English Scandal (Sunday 9pm) https://t.co/NP6vuY49bF pic.twitter.com/XpVMGyCAYz

— BBC Daily Politics and Sunday Politics (@daily_politics) May 18, 2018

And the BBC guide to the characters is at BBC One.

Old Vic 200

Alex is one of the ambassadors for the Old Vic 200 celebrations. He is in good company, looking at the list on the Old Vic website.

He talked about the Old Vic when talking about his earliest theatre visits when he was interviewed with Nancy Carroll for the NT 50 celebrations. The interview is still available:

.

He also appeared in "The Liar" at the Old Vic.

Happy Birthday, Alex!

Peter Bessell

A little more information on the character Alex plays in A Very English Scandal at BT.

A Very English Scandal

"A Very English Scandal" will be broadcast by the BBC from 9 pm 20 May , and there will be three episodes. Alex plays the part of Peter Bessell. The series is based on a gay sex scandal involving Jeremy Thorpe, a liberal politician.

The trailer is available now on
.

More information at BBC Media Centre.

Reverie

Alex will perform Reverie, on the life of Debussy, with Lucy Parham at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds on Sunday October 28.

More information at Bury Free Press.

Samling Masterclass

On February 24 Alex gave a masterclass at the Sage in Gateshead together with mezzo soprano Ann Murray and vocal coach Caroline Dowdle.

More information at Samling Masterclass.

There are some pictures on the programme's Facebook Page.

Holt Festival

Alex is due to appear with Lucy Parham in the Rachmaninoff programme "Elègie" on July 22.

More information at the Festival website.

Unforgotten

Alex is joining the cast of ITV detective drama "Unforgotten". The third series of this drama has just started filming. Alex will be one of four friends, all suspects in the case. The other suspects are Neil Morrissey, Kevin McNally and James Fleet.

More information at Radiotimes.com or ITV.

Julius Caesar

Alex attended the opening night of The Bridge Theatre's production of Julius Caesar on 30 January. The Bridge posted pictures of the event on Facebook:

Charity Gala

Alex will appear at the Love Gala charity event at the Theatre Royal in Bury St Edmunds for the Every Heart Matters appeal on 25 March. It is to be a gala evening of cabaret, comedy, West End Show routines and celebrity guests. Tickets are available now and include a pre-show reception starting at 6.30pm. There will also be some tickets available for a post-show reception on stage where you will be able to meet the performers.

Here you find tickets for the show.

And here for the reception.