SIR IAN’S ON A GENEROUS SOLO TOUR
VETERAN actor Sir Ian McKellen will mark his 80th birthday by giving cash to a string of theatres. The Lord of the Rings star will donate profits and his wage from the 80-date one-man tour in 2019 to each theatre he visits.
And on the list in Wales are venues in Swansea, Aberystwyth, Newtown, Mold and Cardiff.
Ian McKellen On Stage will tour from January 25 to September 15 next year. He will perform in Swansea’s Grand Theatre on March 13, Aberystwyth Arts Centre on March 14-15, The Hafren in Newtown in March 16, and Mold’s Theatr Clwyd on March 18-19. He will perform at Cardiff’s New Theatre on June 27-28.
Tickets for all but Cardiff are already on sale. Cardiff tickets will be on sale at noon tomorrow. They range in price from £10 to £70.
The actor has suggested each space spends the money on whatever it needs, “whether it’s painting the dressing rooms or putting in new seats or supporting youth groups”.
Sir Ian, who was knighted in 1991, is best known for Shakespearean roles and as Gandalf in the Lord Of The Rings film series.
He said he first appeared at Cardiff’s New Theatre more than 50 years ago. “I was first at the New Theatre in 1966 with Judi Dench in The Promise,” he recalled. “Most recently Patrick Stewart and I were here in No Man’s Land. I’m delighted to be back with my new solo show.”
His act on the tour will encompass his career and include anecdotes, acting and audience participation.
He said: “They will expect to see Gandalf, they will. They probably will expect Shakespeare, and there will be a lot of that. There will be other stuff which will perhaps be more surprising.
“There will be a chance for me to tell a story or two and it will be different perhaps in each place I go to because my memories of the Edinburgh Festival will not be appropriate in Aberystwyth.”
Affordable tickets will be available at each show and Sir Ian said he hoped young people would be in the audiences.
Asked what advice he would give to those young actors, he replied: “I advise them to do what I do and watch other people acting, whether it is stage or on telly or on film, or on the Tube, or walking down the street.
“Everyone is always acting. All the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players.
“You can learn an awful lot by observing and trying to work out why someone is good on stage and someone else is not. You can do it for free.”
The 79-year-old star stressed the importance of local theatre companies, saying “the more theatre there is up and down the country, on tour or locally, the happier people will be”
Sir Ian, who was born in Bolton, Greater Manchester, said watching regional theatre had given him his first taste of the stage.
He added that he saw no reason why some parts of the country should remain under-served while larger cities and London receive the best productions.
He said: “If I had to have been dependent, when I was a boy, simply on a lot of wonderful theatre in London I would never have seen any theatre at all.
“I’ve never understood why if you live in Lancaster you shouldn’t have access to the best theatre going.
“I think it’s a pity if theatre becomes only something you do on high days and holidays, and spend a fortune seeing the long-running musical. “If that’s all the theatre-going you do then you are missing out. The more theatre there is up and down the country, on tour or locally, the happier people will be.
“The best way an actor can support regional theatre is by going to work in it.” Visit ianonstage.co.uk
for tickets. .