7 h. ago The Choral review – Ralph Fiennes makes pleasant music in low

Toronto film festival: the actor is a reliably committed presence in this gentle Alan Bennett-scripted first world war tale which might have worked better on stageThere are simple Sunday afternoon pleasures to be had in the gentle comedy drama The Choral, the latest collaboration for Nicholas Hytner and Alan Bennett. Their last was 2015’s The Lady in the Van, a slight, mostly unmemorable film blessed by a spiky Maggie Smith performance but cursed with an uneven tone. Unlike that, and their previous two works together on screen, this wasn’t based on a play but it often feels like it and, at too many points, that it also maybe should have been one instead. There are moments of creaky comedy and some bluntly emotional dialogue that one can more easily picture in front of a specifically catered-to live audience.On a big screen, The Choral is a little out of place, its only moments of pure cinema courtesy of the spectacular Yorkshire scenery. Well, that and those when star Ralph Fiennes ...

Politics

2 w. ago As You Like It review – Ralph Fiennes’ sombre, stately directorial stage debut

Theatre Royal BathThe actor’s minimal staging of the Shakespeare comedy favours stillness and feeling over comic fizz, with moving performances from Gloria Obianyo and Amber JamesRalph Fiennes has proven himself to be a Shakespearean actor with gravitas over the decades. He brings that weight to his directorial stage debut of a Shakespeare play – and a comedy at that. Not exactly known for his comic chops (there is the odd Wes Anderson film in his oeuvre), Fiennes brings a depth to this pastoral about tyrant brothers and exiles that dares to venture into sombreness. It gives the drama a fuller body without taking away from its mischief.Played in modern dress, the court of Duke Frederick (Patrick Robinson) is less a kingdom than a suited and booted corporation. Although his usurped brother, Duke Senior (also played by Robinson) bears vestiges of the boardroom in his demeanour, he and his band of self-exiled dukes seem to have built an alternative community in the forest of Arden, inc...

Politics

3 w. ago Strictly Come Dancing's Alex Kingston's devastating four words after Ralph Fiennes left her

Before Alex Kingston found happiness with her current husband, the Doctor Who actress endured a painful split from an Oscar nominee after his affair with an older woman

Politics

3 w. ago Strictly star Alex Kingston's heartbreaking split from Oscar nominee after affair

Actress Alex Kingston has had a turbulent love life before joining Strictly Come Dancing as her marriage to actor Ralph Fiennes came to a heartbreaking end amid an affair

Politics

3 w. ago David Hare's Grace Pervades , Starring Ralph Fiennes, Headed to London's West End

David Hare's Grace Pervades , Starring Ralph Fiennes, Headed to London's West End  Playbill

Sport

3 w. ago David Hare play starring Ralph Fiennes transfers to the West End

The production, starring the Harry Potter actor and Spooks star Miranda Raison, played at the Theatre Royal Bath between June and July.

Sport