Sleepy Hollow

It should’ve been stupid. It certainly was silly. And it worked because Sleepy Hollow went all in on two unknowns. As Crane, Tom Mison is a constant revelation. As a man imported into our time from the American Revolution, Mison always plays the show’s stranger-in-a-strange-land humor at just the right pitch. Jokes about answering machines and skinny jeans shouldn’t work, but Mison makes them sing. His Crane isn’t freaked out by the future: He’s mildly amused about, really, as if our post-industrial post-digital future were a spot of bad weather. Entertainment Weekly February 2014
 
Like the Headless Horseman, Ichabod Crane does not feel refreshed from his epic nap, and I have to hand it to Tom Mison: He plays Crane's confusion, urgency, anger and bemusement note perfectly. Most characters in "Sleepy Hollow" comment on how nuts Crane sounds (telling people that your boss is George Washington will cause them to look at you funny), but Crane is very aware of how implausible his claims are. The fact that Mison -- and the show -- give the character a measure of dignity goes a long way toward making the whole enterprise work.
 
If Crane didn't come off as a real human being, it'd be very hard to care at all about his quest to stop the Horseman. As a side benefit, the way Mison bites off his dryest lines ("This day continues to bear gifts!") is, simply put, fun.  The Huffington Post Sept 2013
 
Mison and Beharie, both relative unknowns, shine in their roles and show a promising chemistry, Mison especially. As the displaced-in-time Ichabod, he sells the wonder and confusion over the modern day (and why he's there) convincingly, while Beharie's exasperation and bemusement over this possibly insane man brings the winking humor necessary with such an insane central plot. Zap2it.com Sept 2013
 
Tom Mison, an English theatre actor and writer, plays Ichabod Crane with a beguiling combination of bewilderment and British charm  Canada.com Oct 2013
 
A show with a concept as bonkers as Sleepy Hollow's could have easily gone off the rails in its freshman season, but Tom Mison's deft lead performance as Ichabod Crane has kept the supernatural suspense series steaming confidently along in its first ten episodes, offering humor and heart in equal measure.
 
As the charismatic Crane — a Revolutionary War hero transported to the present day to help avert the apocalypse — Mison is a swashbuckling Sherlock Holmes-type whose displacement positions him to comment on the traditions we've forgotten and the conveniences we take for granted. Mison's acerbic delivery makes him an undeniable scene-stealer, but it's the humanity that we see in Crane's quieter moments — mourning the life he lost or bonding with his equally compelling partner Abbie Mills (Nicole Beharie) — that makes Sleepy Hollow truly unmissable. The Week, December 2013 ("The Best Performances We Saw in 2013")
 
Mison’s Ichabod is delightful creature of pure, stubborn elegance: a man of old world manners in a new world that for the most part has none. Turning traitor on the English during the American Civil War and defecting to Washington’s guard; offering up his life so earnestly to kill the mysterious Horseman who fights as a masked Hessian soldier for the British forces; his willingness to act upon a conscience in crisis: his entire back story is one of honor, courage and loyalty. And yet warring with that is his absolute lack of lofty attitude in light of these things, and a quietly simmering emotional vulnerability that seems to poke daily and incessantly at his penchant for addressing his ridiculous situation as dispassionately as possible. TVAfterDarkOnline.com January 2014

 

Posh 2012

"Wade has written a brilliant ensemble piece and the rapport between the cast is considerable. Leo Bill stands out as the odious Alistair Ryle whose hatred of the poor swiftly translates into violent malevolence against anyone he considers his inferior and Tom Mison also makes an impression as the Riot Club’s president, one of the few to retain a shred of decency during the resulting mayhem."  Exeunt Magazine

 

Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2

"But the complexity of the Hal-Falstaff relationship is enhanced by Tom Mison's admirable Prince. In the great, role-playing tavern scene where Hal assumes his father's identity, Mison gives due warning of his intentions. "Banish plump Jack and banish all the world," cries Falstaff, to which Mison replies, "I do" in the voice of his father and then "I will" in his own steely register.

You feel Mison is constantly trying to tell Falstaff that things can't last; yet, on the battlefield at Shrewsbury, he tenderly kisses the supposedly dead knight. And when Mison assumes power as Henry V, he implies that the dismissal of Falstaff exacts its own personal cost."  Guardian July 2011

Both Mison and Mansfield are particularly effective in the stunningly staged Battle of Shrewsbury scene, and the air of constant threat to the monarchy is powerfully driven home by, among others, Robert East, who doubles Northumberland with Owen Glendower, and Philip Voss as a noble Worcester. The Stage July 2011

Tom Mison, as Prince Hal, seems to recognise this and never looks fully at home in the fat knight's company. The scene in which he plays his father and pours insults on Falstaff is brilliantly executed by both actors.  The Independent August 2011

 

Posh

"With ten characters in the mix, playwright Laura Wade, by necessity, has chosen only a handful on whom to concentrate. And while each has his revelatory moments, a  few, such as Tom Mison, as James, the Riot Club’s president, David Dawson as their resident gay poet (deliciously named Hugo Fraser-Tyrwhitt), Henry Lloyd-Hughes as Dimitri, a Greek by name but an English toff by nature, and most memorable of all, Leo Bill as the group’s repellently outspoken (and violent) member Alastair, make the most impact."  Westendtheatre.com April 2010

 

When The Rain Stops Falling

"There are glowing performances from Tom Mison as Gabriel, Phoebe Nicholls and Lisa Dillon as his mother's older and younger selves and Jonathan Cullen as the disappearing father."  Guardian Feb 2009

 

Hedda

"Even better is Mison, whose every awkward, well-meaning move shows a man destined for permanent unease in his own home. He is rapidly emerging as one of the finest young actors around."  Evening Standard Sept 2008

"Among the supporting cast, Tom Mison memorably captures the fussy, second-rate nature of Hedda's despised husband"  Telegraph Sept 2008

"Horgan is backed by a superb cast. Tom Mison is excellent, in what is a particularly difficult role, as George, Hedda's husband. He is amiably nerdy and clearly in thrall to his new wife but not completely passive and you can see why she may once have been, briefly, drawn to him."  MusicOMH Sept 2008

Tom Mison’s ingenuous, bumbling George is excellent too, and often funny. His straightforward cheerfulness is ridiculous whenever Hedda is around and he has thought up some hilarious body language to make the most of this.  Notes from the Underground

 

The Unknown Soldier

"Tom Mison inhabits the soldier first and with the greatest success: the contrast between Mison’s scared but compelling soldier and his robust reporter only strengthens his performance. He acts with a permanent twinkle and is quick to charm his audience – a trick the other actors would do well to take on."  Culture Wars Feb 2008

"Tom Mison is dashingly droll as the journalist who turns the unknown soldier into a careerist campaign, and then, having shown no interest in the truth, comes close to identifying him." Independent Feb 2008

"Tom Mison is terrific as the ambitious and almost mischievous journalist more interested, at least initially, in how the soldier's story can advance his career."  British Theatre Guide Feb 2008

 

Les Enfants du Paradis

"Tom Mison has great fun as the irrepressible Frédérick, who views donning a lion costume as just another step en route to his rightful starring role as the Moor. His turn as a jaunty harlequin in ridiculous black tights is particularly memorable. This is an actor we'll be hearing of again." Evening Standard Dec 2006

"As her (thematically) rival suitors, the handsome and talented Tom Mison is both wittily narcissistic and movingly honest in the role of the philandering star of melodrama" Independent Dec 2006

"Most striking of the bunch is Tom Mison, playing the peacockish lothario and would-be giant of the stage Frédérick Lemaître, and seizing with relish the opportunities for stagey melodramatic excess."  Telegraph Dec 2006