Taking peripheral to a new level

• Firstly, the lovely Martha Plimpton is this week's Q&A subject for Broadway.com.

There is some mention of Utopia for comparative purposes:

Imogen is a big role, and The Coast of Utopia was gigantic. Is memorization of all that text an issue?

It wasn't so bad for me in Coast of Utopia. The guys had it much worse in terms of having to memorize long speeches and tons of history, much of it very abstract. There's a lot in Cymbeline to memorize, so you do your best to excavate the text so that it has internal meaning for you. It's important to have a sense of the architecture not just of the play but of the person you're playing and the individual scenes. It's much harder to learn if it isn't tied to internal meaning.

On your MySpace page, you talk about how close everyone in The Coast of Utopia grew due to the scope of the plays and the length of the run.

Utopia was special and different. That would go without saying. There was nothing like it and probably won't be again for many years. We were all extremely lucky to be a part of it. It was one of those rare instances in which the circumstances of your life get to meet up with the circumstances of your art. That never happens, believe me. And when it does, it can really be life-changing.

On awards and whether they matter:

They certainly mattered in the case of Utopia. But in another sense, they were just the cherry on top of the experience. Still, it's lovely to feel like you're being appreciated. ... All the attendant stuff around the Tonys in terms of Utopia was nice on a lot of levels—historically, and for a straight play to be recognized in such a way. The awards also meant that the cast could spend more time together.

And lastly:

During Coast of Utopia's run, you and Jennifer Ehle were hilarious together. You guys are buddies?

Yes. You thought that was calculated?

See the rest of the article for lots of other interesting questions about her current role as Imogen in Cymbeline as well as an in-costume photo.

• Ethan Hawke talks to The Independent (Eastern US, not British!) about his and Rosemary Harris' latest film, Before The Devil Knows You're Dead.

There is a slight expansion on previous info in terms of plot:

[...] As financially strapped brothers, the two plot to rob their parents' Queens, N.Y. jewelry store. ... Hoffman's overbearing character Andy can replace the embezzled funds from his employer before a scheduled audit. Hawke's weak-willed Hank can play catch-up on those late child-support payments, while mom and dad get reimbursed for their losses from the insurance company. Exacerbating the siblings' love-hate relationship is Hank's clandestine affair with Andy's trophy wife (Marisa Tomei).The perfect crime quickly turns into a colossal screw-up. The body count mounts as the vengeful family patriarch (Albert Finney) pursues justice. He's unaware the real culprits are his own sons. [...]

About the character of Hank, Hawke says:

[...] "I've never played a character that was so dumb," Ethan Hawke laughed."That's assuming that I'm smart. I'm not, but it's hard to play someone that hates himself that much. It's like a classic Greek tragedy where the protagonists always do these horrible things, unforgivable actions, but it's interesting." [...]

Lastly, the 'Actor' blog argues that mainstream theater is too intellectualised, and briefly mentions Utopia in its discussion. Gulfnews meanwhile has an article we seem to have missed regarding the DIFF and Before the Rains' involvement in it, but gives no new information.