The
Los Angeles Times, May 19, 1997
by Laurie Winer, Times Theater Critic
Ian McKellen, that wonderfully elegant, frequently Shakespearean actor,
proves the cliché that we would happily watch a good actor read
from the phone book. Although in this case, Sir Ian recites the Beaufort
scale.
The Beaufort scale is a meteorological chart describing the effects
of wind force, from zero (calm) to 12 (hurricane). McKellen enacts the
scale as the encore to his one-man show "A Knight Out in Los Angeles"
. . . Sir Ian starts off serenely with the early stages of wind disturbance.
"Two. Light breeze. Wind felt on face," he says, eyes half
closed, apparently enjoying a gentle breeze on his cheek. By the time he
gets to 10 ("Who-oole gale! Trees uprooted!"), he is King
Lear, howling in the storm, his terrified eyes seeming to follow oaks that
are taking flight before him.
The Beaufort scale has never been so entertaining. . . .
Most of the show, though, stays focused on McKellen's theme, a literary
plea for an empathetic understanding of homosexuality, intertwined with
the actor's own autobiography. . . .
McKellen makes us aware of the vast and powerful intolerance outside
the comfortable walls of the theater. Endowed with a rare technique, he
is a natural storyteller, an admirable human being and a hands-on activist.
Copyright 1997 Los Angeles Times
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