Leeds Telegraph
 

"Hannah books her stage hero"
 
"...he has been touring the world with the sell-out show. Marcus can do nothing but wow the audience. His act is one I have long waited to see performed and I am thrilled that we will have the opportunity to see this fine actor in action."
 

 

"Wise Guy"
by Simon Round
2nd May 2000
 

"If you think the prospect of taking to the stage to perform a one-man play about a Jewish king sounds daunting, imagine you are doing it in Columbia to a Spanish-speaking, overwhelmingly non-Jewish audience...at high altitude.

This was the scary prospect for North London actor Marcus J Freed as he took his play Solomon on the first leg of a world tour. But despite his understandable trepidation, he was delighted with his reception.

"I played in a stone amphitheatre on the slopes of the Andes mountains to a crowd of Catholic students. The seemed to get most of the jokes and were actually far warmer and more receptive than many audiences I’ve played to in the past," says Marcus.

The play, which he co-wrote with Raphael Zarum, proved that Solomon’s life was filled was filled with dramatic possibilities. “His character was diverse and dynamic. He wrote astounding literature of a highly philosophical and religious nature and yet he also worked his way though 700 wives and 300 concumbies, as well as finding time to build the first Temple."

Action-packed as Solomon’s life may have been, it was still not easy to dramatise. The dialogue was tricky, but Marcus eventually found the right tone, with a little bit of help of a female friend for the part of the Queen of Sheba.

 
"Marcus’s globe-trotting continues this week as he heads for dates in South Africa and Hungary, where he will perform with the help of a translation in the programme and a Hungarian phrase-book. He just hopes the Austin Powers references in ‘Solomon’ will go down as well in Budapest as they did in Bogota."
 

"Dramatising the Bible’s most charismatic monarch"
by Niki Austin
7th April 2000.
 

There was once a man who had 700 wives. He also happened to be a dab hand at constructing temples and had three books in the Bible written by him. But even thorough the Book of Kings refers to his "seven hundred wives, princesses and three hundred concubines," lechery was far from being his only ‘virtue’.

King Solomon has become a dramatist’s dream.

Playwright Marcus Freed may not be the first to realise this, but his play - unsurprisingly titled Solomon - uniquely encapsulates the erotic longing, architectural prowess and wise commentary of the son of David.

"It is a biblical romp," explains 25-year-old Marcus, from Watford. "It humanises Solomon and is full of innuendo. It takes the audience on a whirlwind journey to ancient Jerusalem, where the King is building his fame and reputation. It follows the madcap quests of Solomon and his manservant Benayah, who meet beautiful princesses, dancing eunuchs and the Queneen of Sheba.

"There are also a lot of associations built into it which means people can disagree with it. It dares to explore what the Bible doesn’t say."

Co-written by Raphael Zarum, Solomon was originally commissioned by Limmud for their 1999 Conference.

But there is more to the King than meets the eye. "I wanted to get to the heart of the character," continues Marcus. "He is a drama waiting to happen. The book of Kings wrote about how his love of foreign women led him away from God and how he was punished for this. At the same time he builds a temple which was one of the most important events for the Jewish people."

"The play focuses on how so many aspects of his life co-exist with one another, but often end up clashing."

The first performance of the play at Limmud received a standing ovation from the 350-strong audience. A week later, Marcus found himself in Israel at a conference for the World Union of Jewish Students and received another standing ovation for the play. Offers began flooding in from all over the world.

Solomon, however, is not Marcus’ only interest. He is also concerned with developing his mainstream acting career. Last year he took the lead in the world premier of Eroica at The Tabernacle Theatre in Notting Hill, playing the part of Beethoven.

Now Solomon is to embark on a world tour, funded by the NJL foundation, a supporter of artistic Jewish projects.

The first stop is South America and this Sunday Marcus will be performing in Bogota in Columbia, followed by Mexico and, later this year, South Africa, America and Hungary.

"This tour is simply terrific," he enthuses. "Nothing compares to the buzz of live theatre and Solomon is immense fun to perform.

"The biggest Challenge," he adds, "will be the language barrier to South America - it will be performed in English - but that will just inspire me to work harder."

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