THE CHRISTOPHERS

18 June 2026

I first saw Ian McKellan perform when I was a teenager. The ABC showed the Prospect Theatre productions of Marlowe’s Edward II and Shakespeare’s Richard II in which he stared along with actors such as Timothy West and  James Laurenson. He’s nearly 15 years older than me so must have been in his early thirties when he performed so brilliantly in these plays.


What is amazing is that he’s still performing brilliantly, this time in the Steven Soderbergh film The Christophers. It’s close enough to a 4 hander with McKellan playing an ageing artist and the exquisite Michaela Coel as a forger hired by his children to work on some unfinished works as their inheritance. The children, who are rightly peeved by a father who’s been less than kind, are played by Jessica Gunning and James Corden. And I should mention the house. Or in fact two houses next to each other, one the artist's studio and the other where he lives, endlessly going up and down stairs. I wish my knees had the same flexibility as Sir Ian’s. It’s a clever film, full of twists, comments on art and the artist’s role in contemporary society, witty lines, brilliant monologues. Absolutely worth seeing.

PS You can also watch the original 1970 BBC recording of Edward II on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv3jnBCxCiw 

 

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