Lincoln Center, Malcolm McDowell Salute Lindsay Anderson

Lindsay Anderson (1923-1994) was a key figure in propelling British motion pictures into adventurous, surrealistic, WTF territory in the 1960s. His If.... (1968), which helped moved the British boarding school drama into the age of rock 'n' roll, was also the debut of Malcolm McDowell, whose edgy, proto-punk student Mick Travis was a forerunner of his character Alex in A Clockwork Orange.

Over the next fourteen years Anderson and McDowell brought back Mick Travis two more times, in O Lucky Man! (1973) and Britannia Hospital (1982). The resulting Mick Travis trilogy is rarely projected in New York City, but this month you have a chance at seeing all three in order as part of the Lindsay Anderson tribute at the Walter Reade Theater. As you can see, the key is catching O Lucky Man! on Saturday night.

Fri Aug 15 9:00pm If....
Sat Aug 16 4:00pm If....
Sat Aug 16 8:40pm O Lucky Man!
Tue Aug 19 8:45pm Britannia Hospital
Wed Aug 20 1:30pm Britannia Hospital
Thu Aug 21 12:30pm O Lucky Man!

The salute to Anderson also includes screenings of McDowell's stage tribute to the director, Never Apologize, with appearances by McDowell and producer-director Mike Kaplan at the following screenings:

Fri Aug 15 6:15pm
Sat Aug 16 6:15pm
Sun Aug 17 1:30pm
Sun Aug 17 6:15pm

The full schedule (including screenings of movies by Anderson's idol John Ford) can be found here.

And here's a taste of the freakiness of If.... The blend gets weirder in O Lucky Man! and Britannia Hospital!



Source (5:20)

CYMBELINE

I'm not sure if Trapezia could stand another day without my blogging about Lincoln Center's respectable production of Cymbeline, so I will break from my bad Blog About Town habit of procrastinating on reviews until a production is just about to close and encourage you, here and now, to consider attending this arguably underrated and certainly worthwhile play, which won't close until next year (January 6, 2008).

Before seeing the play myself, I had imagined that Cymbeline was a Hans Christian Andersen story about a little girl who emerges from a zil, but it turns out that it is actually Shakespeare drama of skulduggery during the reign of the English king Cymbeline. One of the last plays credited to Bacon...er, Shakespeare, Cymbeline has a lot in common with its more popular chronological counterparts The Tempest and, especially, the quirky The Winter's Tale. Directed by Mark Lamos and starring Michael Cerveris and Martha Plimpton, the play kicks off with crystal-clear explication, then gradually meanders along various plot threads, with some comic and grotesque surprises along the way, until reaching a memorable denouement that can make you wonder whether Shakespeare has been pulling your leg all along.

It turns out, in fact, that the character Cymbeline is not even one of the major roles in the play, but I concur with Roma Torre in admiring the versatile John Cullum's performance as the King as well as the widely liked John (Mad About You) Pankow's widely praised supporting turn as Pisanio. Playing Iachimo, Jonathan "Beef" Cake also qualifies as a contender for the Best Supporting Torso Tony of 2008.

Trapezia and I both noticed the eclectic production elements for the play, including some very strong suggestions of Star Trek, of all things. And it turns out we weren't alone, as per the likes of Newsday's Linda Winer, who wasn't won over as much as we were.