Matthew Tennyson
{{Short description|English actor}}
{{BLP sources|date=September 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2016}}
Matthew Tennyson is an English actor of stage and screen. He won the Evening Standard Award for Outstanding Newcomer in 2012.
Early life
Tennyson was born in Stoke Newington, London, the son of Jonathan Tennyson, a physics professor, and a nurse. He is a great-great-great-grandson of poet laureate Alfred, Lord Tennyson.
Education
Tennyson was educated at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), from which he graduated in 2011.Curtis, Nick, 'Bright Young Things', London Evening Standard, 20 November 2012
Career
Tennyson made his professional stage debut in 2011 under the direction of Trevor Nunn in the role of Percy in Flare Path at the Theatre Royal Haymarket,Vale, Paul, 'Flare Path review at Theatre Royal Haymarket London', The Stage, https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2011/flare-path-review-at-theatre-royal-haymarket-london/ published 14 March 2011 accessed 11 February 2018{{Cite web |title=Flare Path, Theatre Royal Haymarket, London {{!}} Financial Times |url=https://www.ft.com/content/2f8548a8-4e66-11e0-98eb-00144feab49a |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=www.ft.com}} followed by Jamie in Beautiful Thing at The Royal Exchange{{Cite web |date=2011-11-15 |title=Beautiful Thing, Royal Exchange, Manchester |url=https://theartsdesk.com/theatre/beautiful-thing-royal-exchange-manchester |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=theartsdesk.com |language=en}} for which he received the Best Newcomer award at the 2011 Manchester Theatre Awards.{{Cite web |title=Gaming bill storm boosts Blackpool's Vegas hopes |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/gaming-bill-storm-boosts-blackpools-vegas-hopes |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=The Stage |language=En}} The following year he was the recipient of the 2012 Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer at the Evening Standard Awards{{Cite magazine |date=2012-11-26 |title=London Evening Standard Theatre Awards – the winners |url=https://www.harpersbazaar.com/uk/fashion/fashion-news/news/a6875/london-evening-standard-theatre-awards-the-winners/ |access-date=2023-04-06 |magazine=Harper's BAZAAR |language=en-gb}} for his performance as Eric in Making Noise Quietly at the Donmar Warehouse.Hitchings, Henry, 'Making Noise Quietly - Donmar Warehouse review', London Evening Standard, 24 April 2012 In 2013 he played Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream,Spencer, Charles, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare's Globe, Review', The Telegraph, 31 May 2013 at Shakespeare's Globe.
His television roles{{Cite web |title=Matthew Tennyson {{!}} Actor |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm2046894/ |access-date=2023-08-15 |website=IMDb |language=en-US}} include Clarence in The Hollow Crown (Henry IV Parts I and II), Ottaviano Riario in Borgia. Lysander in the Russell T Davies television adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream. He has also appeared in the ITV detective dramas Midsomer Murders and Grantchester, and the BBC period drama Father Brown.
On radio, Tennyson played "Jonesy" in Radio 4 play "Jonesy" by Tom Wells broadcast in February 2014. He featured in the film Pride, directed by Matthew Warchus.
In 2017 Tennyson played the title role in the Royal Shakespeare Company's gender-fluid 2017 production of Oscar Wilde's Salomé.{{Cite web |title=Male actor to play Salomé in RSC's upcoming production {{!}} WhatsOnStage |url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/stratford-upon-avon-theatre/news/matthew-tennyson-royal-shakespeares-salome_43118.html |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=www.whatsonstage.com |date=14 March 2017 |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=Matthew Tennyson: 'I hope gender fluid casting is the future of theatre' {{!}} WhatsOnStage |url=https://www.whatsonstage.com/stratford-upon-avon-theatre/news/matthew-tennyson-gender-fluid-casting-salome_43869.html |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=www.whatsonstage.com |date=15 June 2017 |language=en-GB}}
He is a frequent collaborator with the playwright Robert Holman since appearing in the Donmar Warehouse production of his play Making Noise Quietly. Holman went on to write A Breakfast of Eels and The Lodger with parts written specifically for Tennyson.
He was the lead in the Olivier Award winning A Monster Calls at The Old Vic, for which he received critical acclaim.
Tennyson played the war poet Wilfred Owen in Terence Davies film biopic of Siegfried Sassoon, Benediction.
In 2023, it was announced that Tennyson would be joining the cast of The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh at The Duke of York's Theatre from June 2023.
In 2024 Tennyson played Edgar in King Lear at the Almeida Theatre directed by Yaël Farber.
References
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External links
- {{IMDb name}}
{{Evening Standard Theatre Award for Outstanding Newcomer}}
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Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
Category:English male stage actors
Category:English male television actors
Category:Male actors from London
Category:People educated at Sevenoaks School