Paul Newman died Friday after a long battle with cancer at his farmhouse near Westport, he was surrounded by his family and close friends.

In May, Newman had dropped plans to direct a theatre production of “Of Mice and Men,” citing unspecified health issues.

He got his start in theater during the 1950’s, and went on to become one of the world’s most enduring and popular film stars, a legend held in awe by his peers. He was nominated for Oscars 10 times, winning one regular award and two honorary ones, and had major roles in more than 50 motion pictures.

Newman worked with some of the greatest directors of the past half century, from Alfred Hitchcock and John Huston to Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese and Sam Mendes. His co-stars included Elizabeth Taylor, Lauren Bacall, Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks and, most famously, Robert Redford, his sidekick in “Butch Cassidy” and “The Sting.” He sometimes teamed with his wife and fellow Oscar winner, Joanne Woodward, with whom he had one of Hollywood’s rare long-term marriages.

An entrepreneur and humantarian he founded a food company ‘Newman’s Own’ from which Newman donated all profits and royalties to charity. As of May 2007, these donations have exceeded US$220 million. These included donations to Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London and The Texas Shakespeare Festival when shortsighted councillors withdrew funding.

edited review - please follow link for full review 

The bard would have been well pleased with the location for this most whimsical and light hearted play. The garden in Arundel Castle provided a magical and idyllic setting. The centrepiece Oberon’s Palace, a fantastic spectacle designed by Indigo Jones for Prince Henry’s Masque on New Year’s Day 1611 - just five years after A Midsummer Night’s Dream was first presented.

Shakespeare probably sums it up best, when one of the characters refers to “the pert and nimble spirit of mirth”

Brighton Argos 30.08.08

edited review - please follow link for full review

Shakespeare bounded back into Arundel Festival with an outstanding production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in the perfect setting of Arundel Castle’s new Collector Earl’s Garden.

Two sell-out nights, with audiences increased to 800 for each performance… a well-deserved reward for a fine staging of this mystical, magical comedy by the British Shakespeare Company.

Luminaries in the audience including Sir Trevor Nunn, Imogen Stubbs and Sir David Frost must have enjoyed their night beneath the West Sussex sky.

Wilder and Lake were particular strengths of a very good cast of 15. They lived the parts whether sharing the hopes and fears of young love, fighting and even hair-pulling as rivals or pouring out their hearts to the objects of their affection.

Barrie Palmer, Anthony Acosta, Robert J Williamson, Kevin Brannagan and Robert Crumpton were in fine form as the bumbling “rude mechanicals”, so much more than a mere comic interlude, Williamson’s attention to detail as director shining through in beautifully staged scenes.

The effects of the magical love potion dispensed by Puck were, mercifully for the mortals, short-lived, but the spell woven by this “Dream” will live long in the memories of those fortunate enough to witness it.

And the word is that both the castle and this excellent company are keen to mount a longer run next year to satisfy demand.

If you saw the show please leave a comment.