Shakespeare On Stage

From Text to Performance: Shakespeare's Stagecraft

See how the greatest plays in English come alive in performance

About the Ebook

Thirteen leading actors take us behind the scenes, each recreating in detail a memorable performance in one of Shakespeare's major roles.

* Brian Cox on Titus Andronicus in Deborah Warner's visceral RSC production
* Judi Dench on being directed by Franco Zeffirelli as a twenty-three-year-old Juliet
* Ralph Fiennes on Shakespeare's least sympathetic hero Coriolanus
* Rebecca Hall on Rosalind in As You Like It, directed by her father, Sir Peter
* Derek Jacobi on his hilariously poker-backed Malvolio for Michael Grandage
* Jude Law on his Hamlet, a palpable hit in the West End and on Broadway
* Adrian Lester on a modern-dress Henry V at the National, during the invasion of Iraq
* Ian McKellen on his Macbeth, opposite Judi Dench in Trevor Nunn's RSC production
* Helen Mirren on a role she was born for, and has played three times: Cleopatra
* Tim Pigott-Smith on Leontes in Peter Hall's Restoration Winter's Tale at the National
* Kevin Spacey on his high-tech, modern-dress Richard II
* Patrick Stewart on Prospero in Rupert Goold's arctic Tempest for the RSC
* Penelope Wilton on Isabella in Jonathan Miller's 'chamber' Measure for Measure

The actors discuss their characters, working through the play scene by scene, with refreshing candour and in forensic detail. The result is a masterclass on playing each role, invaluable for other actors and directors, as well as students of Shakespeare – and fascinating for audiences of the plays.

Together, the interviews give one of the most comprehensive pictures yet of these characters in performance, and of the choices that these great actors have made in bringing them thrillingly to life.

'These passages of times remembered contribute vividly to the sense of a teemingly creative period when Shakespeare seemed to have been rediscovered.' Trevor Nunn, from his Foreword

Why You'll Love This Ebook

• Understand how to translate Shakespeare's language into living theatre
• Explore staging choices that bring meaning and clarity to complex texts
• Learn directorial approaches to making Shakespeare relevant and powerful
• Gain production insights from Nick Hern Books' theatre practitioners

About the Author

Julian Curry (1937-2020) was a writer and actor who appeared in many of Shakespeare's plays. His extensive stage credits include leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and in London's West End.

He was also well known as Claude Erskine-Brown in the popular television series Rumpole of the Bailey. Numerous other TV credits include Inspector Morse, Sherlock Holmes, The Misanthrope, King Lear, Kavanagh QC, The Wyvern Mystery, A Fine Romance and Midsomer Murders. Among many movies are The Missionary, Fall from Grace, Rasputin, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Escape to Victory (starring Pelé).

His one-man entertainment Hic! or The Entire History of Wine (abridged) was performed over a hundred and fifty times, from Hong Kong to Bermuda to San Francisco, and sold out as a cartoon-illustrated book. He also wrote and recorded A Guide to Wine for Naxos Audiobooks.

His books, Shakespeare On Stage and Shakespeare On Stage: Volume 2, were both shortlisted for the Theatre Book Prize, and are published by Nick Hern Books.

Publication Details

ISBN (EPUB): 9781780011813
Publication Date: 23 May 2013
Pages: 272
Format: Ebook (EPUB)
Publisher: Nick Hern Books

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