"Colin Firth and star-studded cast deliver a British history lesson" by Richard Rogers and Vanessa Thorpe (The Guardian)

An American theatrical phenomenon is staking its first claim on London's west end today in a performance in which all of the many actors involved, from Colin Firth to Juliet Stevenson, Sir Ben Kingsley and Sir Ian McKellen, will be happily upstaged by an unlikely rival – British history.

Firth is leading a host of talented names on stage at the Prince of Wales Theatre in the first British version of The People Speak, a show that aims to breath new life into the past by bringing audiences some of the most significant passages from recorded history.
Stars of the stage and screen will be joined by actresses Kelly Macdonald and Saffron Burrows, poet Benjamin Zephaniah, novelist Arundhati Roy and comedians Omid Djalili and Mark Steel, as Firth tests out the British appetite for a brand that has become as important to popular history in America as the BBC's television series Who Do You Think You Are?

"The People Speak is the perfect response to the abject misery of my history class as a schoolboy," said Firth. "Considering the immense riches that history offers us in terms of the best and worst of human behaviour – corruption, sexual deviation, rebellion and the struggle for power – there is no reason why history should be dry.'
The performance, which will be filmed by the History Channel..MORE

Interview: "Amanda, Colin and the word "Minge"

Amanda Seyfried has a tattoo of the word 'Minge' on her foot because Colin Firth used to say it to make her laugh.

The American actress decided to get the etching - which is a British slang term for vagina - after her 'Mamma Mia!' co-star Colin Firth used the word repeatedly while filming and found it hilarious when she discovered what it meant.

She told Britain's Glamour magazine: "My and my best friend Rachel McDowell, who was in 'Mamma Mia!' with me, have matching tattoos, which say 'Minge'. I've never really been a fan of tattoos, but I wanted to see what it felt like. Rachel has a lot of them.

"Anyway, Colin Firth used to say that word on the set and Rachel had to explain to me what it meant. So it's on my foot. It's to make me laugh, and every time I look at it, I do."