STEVE'S ROLE IN "A JUBILEE FOR ANTON CHEKHOV", HAMPSTEAD THEATRE
Hampstead Theatre is staging a week-long Jubilee for Anton Chekhov in order to celebrate the Russian playwright's 150th birthday and raise money to restore the White Dacha, the house in Yalta where he wrote some of his best-known plays. Hosted by Michael Pennington and leading Chekhov specialist Rosamund Bartlett...Special guests participating in the celebration include: Eileen Atkins, Simon Russell Beale, William Boyd, Richard Eyre, William Fiennes, Michael Frayn, David Hare, David Horovitch, Steve McNeil, Miriam Margolyes, Rosamund Pike, Lynne Truss and Penelope Wilton.
What's On Stage, 02/12/2009
The event on Monday evening includes a rare thing indeed: a Chekhov world premiere. Michael Frayn, playwright and Chekhov translator, will present...Plots, which [he] has adapted from a short story. This will be performed professionally for the first time by Steve McNeil as an inept physician.
The Times, 13/01/2010
Plots, the fantasies of a doctor...is vividly performed by Steve McNeil. Frayn, who translated the pieces, presides over the evening. It offers the perfect curtain-raiser to a stellar week by reminding us that, even in farcical trifles, Chekhov intimated his genius.
Michael Billington, The Guardian, 19/01/2010
PRAISE FOR HIS ROLE IN THE PETER HALL COMPANY'S PRODUCTION OF "BALMORAL"
- www.whatsonstage.com
"Steve took over one of the leading parts in my play Balmoral at about two days notice, when Rik Mayall had to withdraw, was instantly on top of it, and gave a terrific performance which I found completely convincing. And I know that the director and everyone in the company found him a great pleasure to work with." Michael Frayn
A first rate cast.1 Rik Mayall was supposed to play Skinner, the warden of the house, and was ably replaced by Steve McNeil.2 McNeil perfectly portrays a pernickety little civil servant. I'm sure we had a more balanced ensemble as a result. His panic is deliciously palpable.3
As the misunderstandings multiply, the cast show what ensemble acting can achieve, even without a star name in the cast. As Skinner, McNeil gives a very good performance as a man who wants to play by the rules, even if he's not quite clear what they are. It's all great fun.4
The cast is first class...Steve McNeil plays the somewhat mealy mouthed Skinner with just the right amount of nitpicking attention to detail...As reported in the Press, unfortunately Rik Mayall had to pull out of the production through illness and if you are a particular fan of his you might think of not coming along. Well, don't, because you will miss a very funny play and great evening.5
1. Bath Chronicle - 10/08/09
2. Conor F Ryan (occasional writer for Guardian/Independent)
3. Wiltshire Times - 10/08/09
4. www.whatsonstage.com - 25/08/09
5. What's On (Bristol) - August '09
PRAISE FOR HIS CO-WRITTEN SIT-COM, "END TO END"
Winner of the Sitcom Trials Grand Final 2009, Leicester Square Theatre
I think the best sitcom won tonight which was, of course...End to End, which was by far the most professional and had a good ratio of character to gags...brought you in, very good, wasn't too cluttered by jokes but it wasn't joke free as a lot of sitcoms tend to be these days. A very tight little piece.
Nev Fountain (Writer: Dead Ringers, Have I Got News For You)
PRAISE FOR HIS ROLE IN "BRENDON BURNS: SO I SUPPOSE THIS IS OFFENSIVE NOW?"
Winner of the IF.Comedy (formerly The 'Perrier' Award) Best Show, 2007
Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Glasgow Comedy Festival, London West-End Run and Montreal "Just For Laughs" Festival
Steve McNeil's restrained, authentic and provocative performance is the key turn in a
hilarious comedy which unveils itself to be rich, powerful and challenging theatre.1 The finale to the show was absolutely brilliant: A comedy masterpiece,2 a fascinating moment of moral tension,3 a psycho-comedic orgasm! 4
"No matter how many women hit him or cried for his welfare as he shed real tears, he kept on going. There's playing to the back of the room and then there's convincing someone sitting right next to you that what is happening is real and whether it was 200 or a thousand-seater venue, Steve did that night in and night out.
Steve has comic timing and instincts that cannot be taught. I say this with no hyperbole: I could not have won the award without him." 5
1. Paul Provenza, Director, Comedy-Documentary 'The Aristocrats' (Grand Jury Prize
nominee, 2005 Sundance Film Festival)
2. The Stage, 13/08/2007
3. The Telegraph, 24/08/2007
4. The Scotsman, 06/08/2007
5. Brendon Burns, Winner of the IF.Comedy (formerly The 'Perrier' Award) Best Show, 2007
REVIEWS FOR THE MUSICAL, "FAILED STATES"
British Theatre Guide
Financial Times
The Scotsman
The Guardian
"A beautifully played scene between CIA agent William (Steve McNeil) and MI5 agent Frank."
BroadwayBaby.com
"Marcus Ellard and Steve McNeil give Joseph's tormentors a surprising level of depth."
ViewFromTheStalls.com