The Half

Photographs of actors preparing for the stage by Simon Annand
14th Mar > 25th Apr 2009

Whatever theatre actors do during the daytime, each evening they go on stage to give a performance as ‘somebody else’. When ‘The Half’ is called over the loudspeaker backstage, it signals the start of a 35 minute countdown to facing the audience, it is rare to see actors at this point in their work.

Over 25 years, photographer Simon Annand has been given unprecedented access to photograph this in-between world that the audience never sees.

‘Simon Annand is one of the most amazing photographers I have had the pleasure of working with in the theatre . . . He is an individualist with an eye for the unusual. The results speak for themselves.’ Judi Dench

Martin Sheen

This exhibition of over 100 black and white photographs by Simon Annand shows many of the most celebrated actors including Vanessa Redgrave, Gillian Anderson, Jim Broadbent, Martin Sheen, Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Krinstin Scott Thomas, Holly Hunter, Daniel Craig and Jude Law, in the intimacy of their dressing rooms.

The portraits have all been taken during the 30 minutes before curtain up, known as ‘the half’. The half is one of the most private times for an actor, a time for intense concentration to prepare for the performance ahead. It is a moment rarely captured on film.

Annand’s images document the many ways in which actors transform themselves into the fictional characters about to be played. They provide a glimpse into the backstage world of theatre and reveal a part of the acting process which the audience never sees.

The portraits capture 25 years of theatre history. On display will be photographs that record actors at the height of their powers, such as Eric Porter readying himself for King Lear in 1987; as well as young portraits of Kenneth Branagh, Anthony Hopkins, Colin Firth and Daniel Day Lewis in the 1980s, before they became household names.

Jim Broadbent

There is a photograph of John Gielgud at the Apollo just before the curtain rises on his last ever stage performance (1988) and Juliette Lewis warming-up for Fool for Love in the same theatre 25 years later (2006). The 2008 cast of Hairspray waiting in the wings will be shown alongside Daniel Radcliffe during his West End debut in Equus (2007) and Michael Gambon alone in his dressing room as he prepares to play Deeley in Pinter’s Old Times (1985).

Worcester City Art Gallery & Museum

2.00pm FREE Talk
Photographer Simon Annand will be giving a talk in the Art Gallery
Saturday 14th March at 11.30am

Refreshments will be served