Poster Boys Gatiss & Flynn Act Up in the West End
A lovely commission to shoot the poster & portraits for the West End transfer of The Motive and The Cue starring Mark Gatiss, Johnny Flynn & Tuppence Middleton.
![The cast of The Motive and The Cue The cast of The Motive and The Cue, the hit National Theatre show](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/motive-cue-mark-gatiss-johhny-flynn-theatre-portrait-musician-photography-poster-key-art-film-theatre-michael-wharley-2.jpg)
Transferring from a hit National Theatre run, The Motive and The Cue – from writer Jack Thorne & director Sam Mendes’ Neal Street Productions – explores the meeting of acting greats Richard Burton, John Gielgud & Elizabeth Taylor, through the prism of rehearsals for their acclaimed Hamlet.
Poster Boys
For the transfer, Scott Skelton & the NT team, working with AKA, asked me to shoot the poster imagery with Johnny Flynn (Burton) & Mark Gatiss (Gielgud) & portraits of the central trio in character & costume, with Tuppence Middleton as Taylor.
With a narrow shoot 1.5 hr shoot window & a small room at the theatre to shoot in, the poster imagery, which had been based on contemporary 60s rehearsal photography, was relatively straightforward to recreate.
![](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/the-motive-and-the-cue-large.jpg)
![](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/motive-cue-mark-gatiss-johhny-flynn-theatre-portrait-musician-photography-poster-key-art-film-theatre-michael-wharley-1-1-edited.jpg)
60s Portrait Vibes
![The cast of The Motive and The Cue The cast of The Motive and The Cue, the hit National Theatre show](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/web_MC_Portraits_Johnny_Solo_12042_Michael_Wharley_2023-1.jpg)
The portraits needed a theme, so I chose to shoot in a contemporaneous style, echoing both earlier High Hollywood portraiture & the 60s styles that followed. See the moodboards below for some contemporary shots of the actors that we used as reference points & to explain the concepts.
In about 10 minutes with each actor, we got the images we needed shooting with super-shallow depth of field & very directional light.
A careful B&W edit with plenty of grain helped finish the images.
![](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2023-12-21-at-13.48.38-edited.png)
![](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2023-12-21-at-13.48.53.png)
![](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/Screenshot-2023-12-21-at-13.48.45.png)
![The cast of The Motive and The Cue, the hit National Theatre show](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/web_MC_Portraits_Tuppence_Solo_12244_Michael_Wharley_2023-1.jpg)
![The cast of The Motive and The Cue, the hit National Theatre show](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/web_MC_Portraits_Mark-Solo_12430_Michael_Wharley_2023-1.jpg)
![](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/web_MC_Portraits_Johnny_Solo_12039_Michael_Wharley_2023-1.jpg)
![The cast of The Motive and The Cue, the hit National Theatre show](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/web_MC_Portraits_Mark-Solo_12402_Michael_Wharley_2023-1.jpg)
![](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/web_MC_Portraits_Tuppence_Solo_12259_Michael_Wharley_2023-1.jpg)
The pleasure of working with actors on a transfer is that they are deep in their characters, so what might be uncomfortable months before a show even starts rehearsals, becomes a game of easy expression & exploration.
BTS & In Print
![](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/IMG-20240118-WA0016.jpg)
![](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/PXL_20240117_082016894.jpg)
![](https://michaelwharley.com/wp-content/uploads/PXL_20231208_102624006-1.jpg)
Shoot Team
Art direction: me, @benpinwill & @nsbjj_keef at AKA
Hair, makeup/ costume: show team led by @georgia_nosal_wham
Assistant/digi: @emmapottinger
Edit: poster: AKA, portraits: me.
Backdrop by @hapacastudio