Ian McDiarmid | The Guardian (original) (raw)

June 2024

The Caretaker review – Pinter’s grim drama played more for laughs

Justin Audibert’s revival nails the playwright’s humour better than his despair while Ian McDiarmid brings a balletic grace to the stage

November 2021

Observer New Review Q&A
Ian McDiarmid: ‘As a kid, I always wanted to be the baddie’
The theatre and film actor on staging a pair of Julian Barnes stories, playing Emperor Palpatine, and finding peace in isolation

October 2021

The Lemon Table review – love and death with Julian Barnes

The Lemon Table review – Julian Barnes’ stories of mortality and musicality

June 2021

Ian McDiarmid to tour show based on Julian Barnes stories about ageing

Actor will perform two tales with a musical theme featuring characters confronting their mortality with defiance

December 2019

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker fan review with spoilers: 'The thrill is tangible'

The story isn’t perfect, the reanimated Leia is weird and the Emperor is a pantomime villain – but who cares when you’re skipping along at lightspeed?

October 2019

The Rise of Skywalker trailer – five things we learned

In the final Star Wars movie, Kylo Ren is devilish, Palpatine is spooky, C-3PO pegs out, Jannah leads the charge and Rey sparkles

March 2017

Faust x2 review – Ian McDiarmid's Goethe drama is a devil of a time

Adapted by and starring McDiarmid, this account of the Faustian pact features a fine Mephisto but doesn’t succeed in bringing the play into the 21st century

November 2016

What Shadows review – Enoch’s touch of terror

What Shadows review – Ian McDiarmid ignites portrait of Enoch Powell

October 2016

Back to the rivers of blood: Enoch Powell returns to a divided Britain

Theatre blog
Plan your week’s theatre: top tickets

June 2014

On my radar
On my radar: Ian McDiarmid's cultural highlights
The actor and director talks to Leah Harper about the Edinburgh festival, Matt Smith in American Psycho, Channel 4's Utopia and the importance of the London Review of Books

May 2014

Bakersfield Mist review – Kathleen Turner dazzles but art tale is no masterpiece

Kathleen Turner is great as a sweary, boozy working-class wit, but this tale of fakes – both people and paintings - fails to convince, writes Michael Billington

March 2014

Monologue: actors on acting
Ian McDiarmid on the Citizens theatre: 'a temple of Dionysian excess'
The Citizens theatre in the 1970s was revolutionary – I was playing Galileo at 27, which is ludicrous. But we were thrown in at the deep end and challenged not to sink, writes Ian McDiarmid

February 2013

A Life of Galileo – review

August 2010

Portrait of the artist
Portrait of the artist: Ian McDiarmid, actor
'If your reviews are good, you think, "Tonight I will go on repeating my brilliant performance." It's theatrical death'

April 2009

Theatre blog
How actors stole the director's chair
Sheffield Theatres' new head Daniel Evans follows in the footsteps of actor-directors from David Garrick to Cate Blanchett

February 2009

Charlotte Higgins on culture
Great novel, forgettable play: Andrew O'Hagan's Be Near Me
Charlotte Higgins: Ian McDiarmid has adapted Andrew O'Hagan's novel for the stage – but it would have been better left alone

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