SLIM CHANCES AUDIOBOOK AVAILABLE TO DOWNLOAD

The audiobook of Edward’s Slim Chances is now available to download at CD Baby. Price: US $15.99 (£9.99).

You can also order the four-CD set (complete with illustrated booklet) direct from Edward’s website. Price: £14.99 plus postage.

Those of you with tickets to see Edward’s latest show My Perfect Mind, will have the chance to purchase copies of his CD and book (the latter at a specially discounted theatregoer’s price) in Liverpool, Salisbury and at London’s Young Vic Theatre.

STOPPARD’s original Guildenstern, a heartbreaking Newman Noggs and a definitive Lord Peter Wimsey, Edward Petherbridge is one of Britain’s finest and most highly respected actors. In a distinguished career spanning more than half a century he has proved equally at home in Greek tragedy and French farce, in Shakespeare and Chekhov, Moliere and O’Neill, Beckett and Bennett, Coward and Kurt Weill.

This limited-edition five-hour compilation features a glorious selection of prose and verse from Petherbridge’s book, Slim Chances and Unscheduled Appearances (published 2011), as well as new, never-before-published material. It includes snatches of the original music from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (NT, 1967) and Nicholas Nickleby (RSC, 1980), and Petherbridge singing a number from the Broadway musical Coco and two songs by Noël Coward, with Jason Carr at the piano. The final CD brings us right up to date as Petherbridge prepares to play King Lear in an imaginative two-man exploration with Paul Hunter, My Perfect Mind, which opens early in 2013.

Those who haven’t met Petherbridge or seen his work will sense, in his words here, what they are missing. Ian McKellen

The passages on the National under Olivier are priceless. Michael Coveney

Edward Petherbridge has produced a charming and insightful narrative, full of humour, theatrical lore and honesty. A must for anyone interested in 20th-century theatre. A. L. Kennedy

EDWARD INTERVIEWED ON BBC RADIO DEVON

Photo by Manuel Harlan

Hear a wonderful interview Edward did live on BBC Radio Devon this morning. He talks to Judi Spiers about My Perfect Mind in which he is currently appearing at Plymouth’s Drum Theatre.

Click to play interview.

The interview begins at 2:05:37 and ends at 2:29:36. There are six days left to listen.

FIRST REVIEWS OF MY PERFECT MIND

My Perfect Mind had its first performance in Plymouth on 14 February where it was warmly received and is already attracting golden reviews. Here are some excerpts:

Photo by Manuel Harlan

In turn funny, poignant, autobiographical and inventive, King Lear’s demons are unleashed and entwined with the actor Edward Petherbridge’s recovery from a major stroke. … In this two-hander the dramatic and comic potential in telling such a tale makes intriguing and entertaining theatre. Petherbridge plays himself as the consummate, classical actor - as much a suave performer off stage as he is in character, his modulated voice honed to perfection in this self-depiction. In the guise of Lear, Petherbridge is both fragile and volatile – a great actor feeling at home in a great part. As himself rehearsing or in other company he sustains an aura of professional vanity as if life itself is a performance. … This is a quirky, absorbing portrayal of a shattering event in one man’s life, his celebrity and survival. The Stage (Read full review)

Petherbridge clearly has fun playing himself straight and at his theatrical best. The straight Petherbridge can be both tragic and endearing. Memories of his childhood moments of fame and disappointments are told with great humour and honesty. The tragic story of his mother’s own stroke two days before Edward was born is told with great dignity and compassion. It is when the story moves on to Petherbridge’s theatrical life that the production is at its most humourous but also most devastating. The Public Reviews (Read full review)

Photo by Manuel Harlan

Petherbridge plays the consummate classical actor with aplomb, and Hunter is mesmerizing … My Perfect Mind manages to be both poignant and honest about ageing and illness, and the precarious nature of recovery. Alongside the withering put-downs and suave delivery, Petherbridge tips convincingly into fragile vulnerability, the tension created by dropped lines magnified by the raked stage and the open trapdoor – the ever-present danger of being pitched into the abyss. The recreation of the storm scene – a mix of Shakespeare’s text and Petherbridge’s treatment – evokes the blasted mental landscape post-stroke, with its loss and grief, fury and frustration. … It is the recreations of the actor’s childhood and family that resonate most poignantly. In particular, scenes in which Hunter plays Petherbridge’s mother – who suffered a stroke two days before the actor was born, and went on to walk again despite medical assurances that she never would – are touching in their revelatory intimacy, and perhaps hint at a source of his resolve. … It’s moments like this that make the piece sing, coupled with its inspiring depiction of recovery and its hugely appealing portrayal of a genuinely warm and creative collaboration. Exeunt Magazine (Read full review)

My Perfect Mind is a highly entertaining and absorbing portrayal of one man’s journey from the back streets of Bradford through the jaws of immobility to today. With not a hint of smugness or self-pity, suave, softly-spoken long-time luvvie Edward Petherbridge (RSC, the original Guildernstern in Rosencrantz and Guildernstern Are Dead, BBC’s Lord Peter Wimsey and many many more) tells a compelling tale of family life, burgeoning career, devastating illness and recovery all wrapped up in the broiling, brooding madness of Shakespeare’s King Lear. … This is so enjoyable I’m going back next week – intrigued to see how much is actually ad-libbed and how much carefully scripted. Whatsonstage (Read full review)

Paul Hunter and Edward Petherbridge in My Perfect Mind.
Photo by Manuel Harlan

The show continues in Plymouth until 2 March, before heading to Liverpool, Salisbury and London's Young Vic.

More reviews and photos will be posted in due course.

PRE-ORDER SLIM CHANCES, THE AUDIOBOOK

The special-edition 4-CD boxed set of Slim Chances with Additions and Afterthoughts is now available to pre-order on Peth’s Staging Post.

Visit the Merchandise page and pre-order a copy at the click of a button with PayPal.

The boxed set will be shipped to you immediately on its release (we hope in time for Christmas!). The audiobook will also be available soon as a download.

Watch the trailer for Slim Chances with Additions and Afterthoughts here.

AUDIO EDITION OF SLIM CHANCES

Slim Chances … with additions and afterthoughts

We’re delighted to announce the exciting news that a special audio edition of Edward’s book, Slim Chances and Unscheduled Appearances, is very soon to be released and will be available in time for Christmas.

The approximately five-hour compilation – necessarily only the tip of the iceberg – will include snatches of the original music from Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (NT, 1967) and Nicholas Nickleby (RSC, 1980), Edward’s song from the Broadway musical Coco, and two numbers by Noël Coward, with Jason Carr at the piano. It will also contain new, never-before-published spoken material.

This unique recording will be available in a limited box-set edition (4 CDs), with notes and illustrations, and as a download.

Stay tuned for more news of the release date and where to purchase.