Performing Shakespeare's Tragedies Today
The Actor's Perspective

A collection of essays by major Shakespearean actors on playing particular roles in Shakespeare's tragedies.

Michael Dobson (Edited by)

9780521855099, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 30 November 2006

154 pages, 10 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.1 cm, 0.383 kg

'All of the contributors are talented and well-informed raconteurs.' Journal of NTQ

What does it mean to perform Shakespeare's Elizabethan and Jacobean tragedies in the modern theatre? This book brings together the reflections of a number of major classical actors on how these works can most powerfully be realized for today's audiences. Concentrating on the 'great' tragedies - Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth and King Lear - the actors offer unique insights into some of the most demanding and rewarding roles in world drama, by showing what it is like to play them on stage. Ten perceptive and articulate performers reflect on their experiences of ten major roles: the Ghost, Gertrude and Hamlet; Iago, Emilia and Othello; Lady Macbeth and Macbeth; Lear's Fool, and King Lear. Together, these essays provide a peculiarly intimate set of trade secrets about what techniques, ideas and memories actors may use when approaching tragic roles in Shakespeare's most challenging plays.

Introduction Michael Dobson
Hamlet: The Ghost Greg Hicks
Gertrude Imogen Stubbs
Hamlet Samuel West
Othello: Iago Sir Antony Sher
Emilia Amanda Harris
Othello Nonso Anozie
Macbeth: Lady Macbeth Sian Thomas
Macbeth Simon Russell Beale
King Lear: Lear's Fool John Normington
King Lear David Warner.

Subject Areas: Shakespeare plays [DDS], Theatre studies [AN]