Players of Shakespeare 6
Essays in the Performance of Shakespeare's History Plays

The sixth volume in this popular series of essays by well-known Shakespearean actors.

Robert Smallwood (Edited by)

9780521711821, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 13 September 2007

236 pages, 25 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.4 cm, 0.35 kg

'The best efforts in this series are first rate.' Contemporary Review

This sixth volume of essays by members of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre is the first to focus on a single group of Shakespeare's plays. To celebrate the arrival of the new millennium the RSC presented productions of all eight of the history plays of the first and second Lancastrian tetralogies. Half of the twelve essays in this volume accordingly come from this important and historic cycle. Of the other six essays, from later productions, three are from the rarely performed King John, one from the even more rarely performed Edward III and the remaining two deal with the best-known title roles among the history plays, in two major recent independent productions of Henry V and Richard III. The contributors are Guy Henry, Kelly Hunter, Jo Stone-Fewings, David Rintoul, Samuel West, David Troughton, Nancy Carroll, Desmond Barrit, Adrian Lester, Fiona Bell, Richard Cordery, and Henry Goodman.

Preface
Introduction Robert Smallwood
King John Guy Henry
Constance in King John Kelly Hunter
The Bastard in King John Jo Stone-Fewings
King Edward the Third David Rintoul
King Richard the Second Samuel West
Bolingbroke in Richard the Second and King Henry the Fourth David Troughton
Lady Percy in Parts 1 and 2 of Henry the Fourth Nancy Carroll
Falstaff in Parts 1 and 2 of Henry the Fourth Desmond Barrit
King Henry the Fifth Adrian Lester
Joan of Arc in Part 1 of Henry the Sixth and Margaret of Anjou in Parts 1, 2, and 3 of Henry the Sixth and in Richard the Third Fiona Bell
Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in Parts 1 and 2 of Henry the Sixth and Buckingham in Richard the Third Richard Cordery
King Richard the Third Henry Goodman.

Subject Areas: Individual actors & performers [APB], Acting techniques [ANC]