As Mark Burgess’s play Two Halves of Guinness, first performed in 2010, returns to the stage (at the Park Theatre in London), it falls to Zeb Soanes to embody the persona of the actor who feared he would only be remembered for his role in Star Wars.
Alec Guinness was the illegitimate son of a woman whose long life descended into drink and debt. We first meet him acting out the tale of asking a young boy never to watch him as Obi Wan Kenobi again, before breaking the fourth wall to ask what else we, the audience, have seen him in.
Oscar-winner, theatrical Knight, and screen chameleon, Guinness was the perfect example of the actor who succeeded by looking as if he was doing nothing – a rare gift granted to only a handful.
In the play, he talks of growing up without a father, of finding a passion for the stage, for his moments of good luck – finding John Gielgud in the phone book, acting lessons from Martita Hunt, a scholarship with Fay Compton’s acting school, funding from Edith Evans.
Burgess brings out both Guinness’s religious beliefs and his indiscretions, without offering judgement or condescention. The character Soanes and director Selina Cadell have shaped is more than mere imitation – although the voice is spot on.
This is a man who was child, husband, father, colleague, adventurer, and officer. The play gives room for Soanes to capture other voices: Gielgud, Olivier, Coward, Lean, Evans, George Lucas.
His wife, Merula, is firmly off-stage, a forever presence whose appearance is criticised and her career ambitions crushed. Guinness is driven by money and ambition more than the art, acknowledging that after his run of Ealing Comedies and war films his judgement let him language in character parts.
It’s a simple set, with a stage curtain, and limited props like a travelling trunk and a few key pieces of clothing. If you have seen his interviews, you will know Guinness was ever the raconteur, curating an image of himself for the public.
He died 26 years ago in 2000, and was born in 1914. His numerous stage and screen credits include 61 film and TV appearances over 50 years, and stage work going back to 1934. Two Halves of Guinness covers the period up to his defining role for many, as George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
Soanes’s performance is sprightly and good-natured, while retaining a sharp wit and a resigned shrug at fate. Always seeking to please his father – whoever he may have been – this version of Guinness draws parallels with Hamlet, with the protagonist in Kind Hearts and Coronets, and in Pip of Great Expectations.
Two Halves of Guinness is an assured one-man show delivered with empathy and respect. It might have been tempting to veer into a comic depiction of the actor, but instead it bubbles slowly and quietly into an affectionate portrayal of a man who was far more than a light saber.
4 stars.
Two Halves of Guinness is at Park Theatre until 2 May 2026: details here.
Photo credit: Danny Kaan