From stage to Star Wars – the Oscar winning actor unveils the origins of his success.
Sir Alec Guinness’ commanding performance as Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars secured his fame for future generations.
Yet after a distinguished career as one of Britain’s greatest actors, the double-Oscar-winning star of over 70 films feared he would only be remembered as a Jedi Knight.
Two Halves of Guinness reveals a mysterious life story worthy of the darkest Ealing Comedies, revisiting his most memorable characters and encountering a galaxy of stars along the way.
Zeb Soanes (Classic FM, BBC Radio 4) stars as Alec Guinness in a play written by Mark Burgess and directed by Selina Cadell (Eddie Izzard’s Great Expectations, Hamlet; Miles Jupp in The Life I Lead).
This production of Two Halves of Guinness marks the 25th anniversary of Sir Alec Guinness’ death.
Review by Stephen Gilchrist
I always rather thought of Sir Alec Guinness as akin to Stephen Sondhein’s imagery of George Seurat’s ‘blank canvas’- a bland, unmemorable and somewhat secret man- a blank canvas- who hid himself behind a lifetime of colourful, incisive, and masterful characterisations. He was never truly a ‘leading man’ (although of course he played leading roles on stage, movies and television) rather a character actor.
Mark Burgess has written a solo show for Zeb Soanes, directed by Selina Cadell which tries to tear away the mask to reveal the enigma behind it. The theme of the piece is ‘Who Am I’. He poses the question to the audience and himself. His paternity was uncertain, his mother a drunk, barmaid and his private education funded by a toff who may or may not have been his dad.
A two-hour solo show is often difficult to sustain, but not this one Taking us through the narrative of a life well led, with gossip, and anecdotes about Gielgud, Olivier, Coward, Martita Hunt, Edith Evans and a couple of dozen more, Soanes impersonates Guinness and all those who cross his path with uncanny accuracy and wit. Direction and movement (the latter by Didi Hopkins), design by Lee Newby- some simple props and diagonal drapes, shaped a show that was a masterclass in acting and production.
The writing is witty perceptive, knowing, and the narrative always interesting. As Guinness moves adroitly from one movie performance to the next, recreating his well-known characters, Fagin, the brave, delusional Colonel Nicholson in ‘River Kwai’, Colonel Jock Sinclair in ‘Tunes of Glory’ I realised that I had seen all of the films he referenced, and that they formed part of my all-time list of favourite films. He is less than graceful about some of the characters he encountered, particularly the director David Lean who gave him his first breaks but with whom he later fell out of love after being persuaded to appear in Dr. Zhivago.
Burgess presents a man who seems ultimately disappointed by his life, despite winning both academy awards- and riches -from his two and a quarter percentage point of the profits from Star Wars – and always seeking approbation from a deceased father he never knew.
The paly ends as Guinness seeks to create and dress in the role of George Smiley for the television production of John Le Carree’s ‘Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy’ a part, as we discover, that suited the Guinness persona, down to the ground, bespectacled, polite, self-effacing and-yes- enigmatic.
It was glitzy first night and it would be hyperbolic to suggest I was the only person in the house that I had never heard of, but sometimes it seemed like that. Luminaries, led my Sir Ian McKellen, lined up to salute this masterful performance and I loved every minute of it.
‘Two Halves of Guinness’ was one of those shows that almost make you cry with pleasure at the privilege of witnessing a production with such creative brilliance in performance and production. Soanes is sensational.
Photo credit: Danny Kaan
Tour Dates
29th – 31st January 2026 Watermill Theatre, Bagnor, Newbury, RG20 8AE
21st February 2026 Mercury Theatre, Balkerne Gate, Colchester, CO1 1PT
25th February 2026 Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Millbrook, Guildford, GU1 3UX
19th – 21st March 2026 Theatre Royal Bath, Ustinov Studio, Sawclose, Bath, BA1 1ET
18th April 2026 Norwich Playhouse, 42-58 St Georges Street, Norwich, NR3 1AB
20th April – 2nd May 2026 Park Theatre, 13 Clifton Terrace, Finsbury Park, London, N4 3JP
Running Time 2 hours
Cast
Sir Alec Guinness Zeb Soanes
Writer Mark Burgess
Director Selina Cadell
Music Eliza Thompson
Designer Lee Newby
Producer Julian Bird for Green Room Ents
Guidance 14+
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