Every year the BBC Carleton Hobbs bursary is given to one of them in memory of the distinguished radio actor; the roll call of previous winners is exceptional, and includes many of my favourite actors (Charles Kay, Patrick Godfrey, Jeremy Kemp, Ros Shanks, Richard Griffiths, Stephen Tompkinson, Angus Wright, Julian Rhind-Tutt, Emma Fielding, Simon Trinder, etc). All these people have the qualities that make an actor most employable – the ability to work in different styles quickly and truthfully, to change yourself the better to serve the play, and to be sincere when you can’t use your eyes or your body to help you. We should celebrate them, and their faith in a great medium. – Actor and director Sam West in The Guardian
It’s only when Simon Trinder’s Pompey appears and brings the stage to life that you are reminded how much you are missing elsewhere – Sunday Telegraph
Simon Trinder gives the most brilliant performance in the production, a wide eyed young actor who speaks Shakespeare’s prose as if it had been written expressly for him – Financial Times
‘The talented pint-sized Simon Trinder pops up larger than life as Pompey- he’s an actor who has the great ability to make it all look so effortless – Reviewsgate
Simon Trinder has rather cornered the RSC market in comic manservants in the past year or two but never has he worked a text or an audience with such mastery – Financial Times
Simon Trinder steals the show’ – Sunday Times
In one scene a male servant named Castaño sent on a dangerous mission by his master decides that his best hope lies in dressing up as a woman. It’s something of a theatrical cliché of course. But on this occasion Simon Trinder converted what was probably little more than a stage direction in the original play into ten minutes of mounting hilarity. At Stratford’s splendid Swan Theatre seating surrounds the stage on three sides. Trinder made the most of it swooping on members of the audience and dragging them into his masquerade. His lines appeared to be mere improvisation and the length of his solo probably does vary according to how well the laughs are flowing. He fills the stage with complete assurance. – Michael Portillo
And shining brightest is the wonderful Simon Trinder, Trinder is an inventive comic, improvising to take advantage of specific people and theatre decor: in female garb he wickedly apes a gilded bare-breasted Muse. – Whats On Stage
There is a 20-minute sequence in the second half which sees the manservant disguising himself in a skirt. It may well be the funniest drag routine I’ve ever seen. Simon Trinder has emerged as a gifted comedian in recent RSC shows, but this lifts him onto another plane entirely. – Shutters Reviews
There is an old stage adage that you should never act with animals or children. At the RSC, this might be extended to Simon Trinder. He is making a habit of playing rascally servants that steal the show. He can effortlessly upstage the finest actors and delight an audience as he does so. – British Theatre Guide
I make no apology, though, for picking out pint-sized Simon Trinder. With a face that at times might serve as a Botticelli cherub he is perfect as Teodoro’s cunning servant, Tristan. Servant’s nimble wit is matched by actor’s nimble physicality. Trinder earns a well deserved round with his preposterous invention of a Greek merchant who seems to owe much to the Turkish community in Liverpool. – Reviewsgate
This terrifyingly pragmatic play is also very funny, with the loudest laughs of the night supplied by Simon Trinder’s conniving servant, Tristan – he’s transcendently ugly: a malignant piglet with a contagious, snaggletoothed smile, and the undisputed star of the RSC’s Spanish Golden Age season. – London Evening Standard
Dog’s sense of an ending is dependent upon the invention of a noble lineage for the lower-class secretary Teodoro (Joseph Millson), concocted by his own lackey Tristan (played brilliantly with commedia dell’arte timing and physicality by the RSC’s up-and-coming comic star, Simon Trinder). – Questia.com
Here the two genius performances are Trinder’s Gwendolen and Chance’s Cecily. Just as you laugh to see how they act femininity to hilarious perfection, they turn on masculine force, not least over such vital matters as a teacup full of sugar. You laugh partly because they play it with such glee, such moment-by-moment delight in the inventiveness of acting itself. – Financial Times
And where are the women? That naughty Fielding has put blokes in dresses – including the ever-delightful Simon Trinder – The Daily Telegraph
However, their thunder is stolen when Gwendolen, played by Simon Trinder, appears on stage. In a severe pinstripe frock, with a miniscule hat perched on his head, Trinder’s Gwendolen is brazen and forthright, and creates a marvellously strong, masculine woman. Every gesture, every inflection, is spot on and he captivates the audience. – Theatre BA Reviews
Simon Trinder, one of the best young comic actors in the UK today, proves his versatility with an equally touching portrait of Fadi, the Arab teenager, who is convinced acts of kindness across the divide can defeat terrorism. – Jewish Theatre
A youthful voice of hope comes from Fadi, an Arab studying law and medicine, played with impressive freshness by Simon Trinder, his character damaged by what is happening around him but remaining positive about the future – The Stage
The Snowy problem is ingeniously solved by sharing the gr-r-role between a real dog and the ingenious Simon Trinder. – The Guardian
Simon Trinder gives the truest star performance as a fey, young, yellow bearded slender. Artless, heart-catching, riveting in every movement, every utterance and Judi Dench, the biggest star, proves herself the truest team player. – Financial Times
The cast includes Judi Dench, Alistair McGowan, Simon Callow and one of the best young comic actors going, Simon Trinder – Daily Mail
Who can complain when that fine comic actor Simon Trinder, playing the gormless swain Slender is swigging back booze in an energetically sung, cheerily choreographed, thoroughly Christmassy salute to sack – The Times
The pre-publicity hype about Pete Postlethwaite’s Prospero was worthy. He didn’t fail to deliver and with some exceptional supporting roles, namely from Simon Trinder as Caliban. – BBC online
Simon Trinder played the ‘slave’ with great physical presence and an engaging ineffectualness that softened his lewdness towards Miranda and his violence towards Postlethwaites Prospero. – The Guardian
Simon Trinder’s fabulously athletic Caliban – Dominic Cavendish, The Daily Telegraph
As Caliban, Simon Trinder is slightly feral, very bitter, apparently ill-treated with signs of self-harm and he manages to bring a great deal of sympathy for a character that can be difficult to know how to play in the modern world. – The Guardian
Plaudits to Simon Trinder, who combines good verse-speaking with a sympathetic Macduff. – Whats On Stage
Macduff is given a modern-day sensitive hero image by Simon Trinder in a strong performance as this Scottish nobleman. – British Theatre Guide
From David Suchet’s perfectly balanced presentation of the Duke of York to David Morrissey’s malevolently calculating Northumberland, from Clémence Poésy’s finely tuned fragility as Isabelle to David Bradley’s and Simon Trinder’s colloquial but succinct conversation as the gardeners, this production scores a 100 in the acting category.