Being Mark Rylance 2

Being Mark Rylance 2

by Pete Clemons

Artist Nicky Cure and musician annA rydeR, spelt as such to presumably distinguish herself from the interior designer and TV personality, are collectively known as Radar Birds.

Together, the Radar Birds have developed a penchant for Oscar winning actor Mark Rylance. And additionally, they have directed and produced a couple of short films that extenuates Mark’s non emotive style and acting personality.

The first episode of Being Mark Rylance has actually been viewed by the man himself. And at Marks own request he challenged the Radar Birds to come up with another spoof. This time though, using his character from the multi award winning film, Bridge of Spies.

With task accepted Radar Birds set about achieving it. And the resulting efforts were recently premiered at the incredibly comfortable Everyman Theatre, Stratford upon Avon. And I was honoured to be present.

To ease you into the theme of what was to come you are gently transported back in time by way of a public information film and a couple of adverts that brought the era of ‘Pearl and Dean’ to mind.

Hot on the heels of that opening sequence you are treated to the main event. Thirty minutes of pure escapism that, in addition to the Radar Birds, also features the talents of musicians Sally Barker and Marion Fleetwood. This silent film, set at the time of the 1960s cold war with the Soviet Union, is essentially the story of a spy swap and release. The plot here is an adaptation of the scene showing secret information being typed up and which is then carefully removed from a fake coin. With the vital information in hand it is exchanged on a bridge, suspiciously with a backdrop very similar to one of those in Jephson Gardens, Leamington Spa. The film is also embellished by an avant-garde jazz soundtrack……….or so you think until you see the making of the soundtrack tagged on as an extra at the end.

After viewing MR2 - Bridge of Spies, Mark Rylance was compelled to reply again. ‘Once again I am undone. Both Steven Spielberg and I watched and enjoyed it immensely’.

On a personal note, I truly enjoyed it all, and at the end my immediate thought was that, the other Anna Ryder needs to watch out. She could be next. Would it help?

Radar Birds enjoy laughing a lot. It’s infectious and, presumably they enjoy making others laugh too. And with their brand of humour they certainly achieve this plentifully. The work Radar Birds produce may be light hearted, but both Nicky and annA are right to be proud of their achievements. For further information, a Radar Birds website exists and both films, as I understand, are up on YouTube and well worth checking out.