Three new images for the event section of the gallery. On Keir’s 80th birthday on the Keir Dullea Appreciation Society page on Facebook, Keir’s wife Mia told of how he spent his landmark day. While shooting in Poland on his new film VALLEY OF THE GODS, Keir was gifted with a cell of the film from director Lech Majewski. Keir plays the part of Ulim. No word yet on who his character is, but the film looks like it’s going to be amazing considering the cast.

• [003] EVENT IMAGES: 05/30/2016 – “Valley of the Gods” film photocall – Katowice, Poland

  

First of all a followup on a post I made a little bit ago about the second season order for THE PATH. According to Mia Dillon, Keir’s wife, Keir will continue in the role of Dr. Stephen Meyer. Considering what happened at the end of episode ten The Miracle, it’s nice to know he’ll be walking and talking, finally! Thank you to Mia for confirming that. The other thing I have for you are the screencaps from Keir’s final two episodes titled A Room of One’s Own and The Miracle. I’ll include one capture from the final episode to let you know what I mean about the above “walking and talking” thing…. Also I wanted to let you know that I’m in the process of collecting some scans of Keir to go in the gallery. Stay tuned.

• [087] SCREENCAPS: THE PATH – E1X09 A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN
• [095] SCREENCAPS: THE PATH – E1X10 THE MIRACLE

Well not the state, but the playwright. Keir and Mia are planning to take the stage to bring power to the words of Tennessee Williams in a reading of his works. More below.

Keir Dullea & Mia Dillon Plan Tennessee Williams Theater Fest Return

In YEAR TENN: A Decade of Tennessee Williams in Provincetown, the TW Fest celebrates its 10th Anniversary in grand style by bringing back popular Festival actors to take part in a special reading of excerpts from the 11 Tennessee Williams’ premieres presented over the last decade.

“This event brings the power and beauty of Williams’ words front and center,” says Executive Director Jef Hall-Flavin who has adapted the excerpts to flow in this ensemble presentation. “The words Tennessee Williams wrote have the power to transform. Heard together in one evening, ten years of transformations unfold, resonating from play to play.”

Festival Curator David Kaplan added, “We are paying homage not just to the plays that have premiered here, but also to a decade of hard work, belief, passion, and love for this Festival.”

Film and stage actors Keir Dullea and Mia Dillon starred as Big Daddy and Big Mama in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof at TW Fest 2013.

Joining them from past productions are Festival stars Irene Glezos, Beth Bartley and Brenda Currin (Orpheus Descending 2010-11; In the Summer House, 2013-14), with Lou Liberatore (Something Cloudy, Something Clear 2011), Jeremy Lawrence (The Traveling Companion 2007 & 2011, among many other productions 2006-13), and local Provincetown actors Jody O’Neil, Ben Berry, Adam Berry, Darlene van Alstyne, Ian Leahy, plus a special appearance by Miss Coney Island 2011, Lefty Lucy.

Among the plays at TENN @ Town Hall are this year’s curious Aimez-Vous Ionesco?, the sultry Green Eyes, the down and dirty Madame LeMonde, the heart-warming Parade, the bawdy Dog Enchanted by the Divine View, the mini-tragedy of The Enemy: Time, the road-tripping Once in a Lifetime, the heroic Sunburst, the revolutionary Pronoun “I”, the stylish Curtains for the Gentleman, and the myth-bending American Gothic.

Threaded throughout are plays inspired by Williams’ writing that have also been presented at past Festivals. Excerpts include Wendy Kesselman’sThe Shell Collection, along with Gift of an Orange by Charlene A. Donaghy and Rancho Pancho by Greg Barrios.

The celebration at Town Hall also features live music by George Maurer on piano and Ukumbwa Sauti on percussion. Composer Maurer adapted Williams’ poetry into Autumn Song at TW Fest 2011.

SOURCE

I have a review of Keir and Mia from their most recent production of ON GOLDEN POND from the perspective of a fan attending the performance. I was given permission to post this from Nichole Clay, a member of the Keir Dullea Appreciation Society Facebook Page.

The stage adaptation of Ernest Thompson’s “On Golden Pond” was a real treat at the legendary Bucks County Playhouse. The legendary drama takes place at a summer house near the pond in Maine where a older couple regularly vacations for four months.

Here, we are introduced Norman Thayer, portrayed by Keir Dullea, a retired English professor whose experiencing slightly memory loss and being fearless of approaching an untimely death. His wife, Ethel, played by Dullea’s real life wife and collaborator Mia Dillon is a cheerful, positive, and long-suffering wife who is honestly devoted to her pessimistic husband.

At beginning of the play when Keir enters the stage as Norman Thayer, the audience applauded. His Norman Thayer’s character come alive: his outspokenness, crankiness and especially his frequent sarcasm was out there. Everything from being lazy to fix the broken screen door to looking at the classifieds in the newspaper. And Dillon’s character Ethel was full of life with calm and sweetness, even with the scenes of her childhood doll named Elmer. The couple, who had been acting together for sixteen years on stage and occasionally in independent films, have a strong stage chemistry that I admire. They brought Norman and Ethel in their own way.

For the first time after closely rolling Keir Dullea’s acting career in film and television, especially legendary known as Commander David Bowman in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” and playing characters that are troubled, chauvinistic, devilish, earthly and mostly sophisticated, I ever seen him in a sarcastic and humor character, a range that he never given a chance in the film and TV media. Mia, for her role as Ethel was serene, positive and filled with devotion. I admired the reconciliation of Norman and his estranged daughter and enjoyed the new found relationship of Norman and his daughter’s stepson Billy Ray, Jr., one of my favorite scenes in the play. Norman ends up becoming close to his new stepson, even picking up slangs from the teen boy.The ending was very touching between Keir and Mia’s characters when the main character encounters a “false” health scare, even they share a kiss before going outside to look at the pond at their summer home.

From the beginning to the end, “On Golden Pond” was a marvelous play with a excellent direction, a great cast and a fantastic stage that brought to life.

Nichole

Thank you Nichole for such a wonderful review and experience.

Another article where Keir talks about the aspects of theatre.

Real-life couple brings ‘On Golden Pond’ to the stage

By Rita Charleston

A real-life married couple since 1999, Keir Dullea and Mia Dillon have worked together several times before on stage, sometimes playing spouses, sometimes not. Now they’re taking on another husband/wife role as Norman Thayer and Ethel Thayer in Ernest Thompson’s “On Golden Pond,” playing at the Bucks County Playhouse now through Aug. 2.

The play begins as summer warms Golden Pond, the beautiful lake where Ethel and Norman have spent 48 summers. This year, their tranquil plans are turned upside down when their daughter and her new boyfriend arrive to drop his teenage son off for the summer. This play is all about growing up, growing older and learning to manage the ties that bind.

“This is about the eighth time Mia and I have worked together and we love it,” says Dullea. “Because we are husband and wife, as actors we have much more to draw on because we already have that relationship. The last time we played husband and wife was when we did Big Daddy and Big Mamma in ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.’ ”

And now the duo, both with ties to our area, ( Dullea attended The George School in Newtown, Bucks County, and Dillon went to high school in Newtown Square, Delaware County) are gearing up for this iconic play.

In the 1981 film, Henry Fonda played the role of Norman Thayer., but Dullea prefers to be his own man in the role. “I saw the film when it originally came out, but I prefer to find my own way, and do what I feel is right for the role. I think the temptation is to go a bit soft with the character because on the surface Norman comes across as a bit grouchy. But actually he’s a very pleasant man, a retired professor, and has a lot of things going for him which makes him very interesting.”

Dullea himself has a very interesting past. Raised in New York City where his parents ran a bookstore, he attended Rutgers University and San Francisco State University before deciding to pursue an acting career.

Since 1957, he has appeared in more than 25 feature films, including “David and Lisa” (winner of the 1963 Golden Globe award: “New Star of the Year”) and “2001 A Space Odyssey” among others. He has made more than 50 guest appearances on television series, appeared on Broadway and London’s West End, as well as numerous regional theaters.

“I love exploring a role, and each time you do it you have the opportunity to get it just right, although you never arrive at the place where you think you’ve got it just right, where you feel confident. But, as actors, we keep trying.”

Bucks County Playhouse is on South Main Street in New Hope. For tickets, call 215-862-2121 or check www.bcptheater.org.

SOURCE