CHAPTER 43
Bibliography
Following are selected lists of (1) successful and unsuccessful examples of acting Shakespeare on film and video, (2) books for further study, (3) books on acting Shakespeare, and (4) books on acting realism.
1A. SELECTED VIDEO AND FILM PERFORMANCES
Hamlet
2009—BBC presentation of a Royal Shakespeare Company production, directed by Gregroy Doran, with David Tennant as Hamlet and Patrick Stewart as Claudius.
1996—Kenneth Branagh’s film of the uncut text. Superb cast and production values, with wonderful performances in the leading roles. Great clarity of plot and character, without loss of language. Verse handled especially well by Branagh (Hamlet), Derek Jacobi (Claudius), Julie Christie (Gertrude), and Nicholas Farrell (Horatio). Marred only by a few whispering scenes and occasional loud background effects that bury the words. Exchanges between Branagh and Jacobi are especially fine to study.
1990—Franco Zeffirelli’s film, starring Mel Gibson (Hamlet), who is attractive and usually comfortable with the language (much of which has been cut) and the role. The strong supporting cast of Glenn Close (Gertrude), Alan Bates (Claudius), Paul Scofield (Ghost), Helena Bonham Carter (Ophelia), Ian Holm (Polonius), and Stephen Dillane (Horatio) handle the verse beautifully. Listen especially to Scofield’s Ghost speeches.
1990—New York Shakespeare Festival production produced for video by Kimberly Myers, directed by Kevin Kline with Kirk Browning; with Kline (Hamlet), Peter Francis James (Horatio), Robert Murch (Ghost), Brian Murray (King), Dana Ivey (Queen), Michael Cumpsty (Laertes), Josef Sommer (Polonius), Diane Verona (Ophelia), and Clement Fowler (Player King). The modern dress and very drab production plays like a melodrama, with considerable “over-the-top” acting. The design and acting style may have worked better in the original stage production, but did not translate well to video. Kline’s Hamlet is very watery-eyed and often ineffective. Exceptions include the Hamlet/Ophelia confrontation scene, which has a wonderful interpretation, and Hamlet’s relaxed, and yet commanding advice to the players.
1948—Laurence Olivier’s black-and-white film, starring Olivier (Hamlet), Jean Simmons (Ophelia), Eileen Herlie (Gertrude), Basil Syndey (Claudius), Felix Aylmer (Polonius), Norman Wooland (Horatio), and Stanley Hollaway (First Gravedigger). Effective performance in many ways, and a solid reading of the text. The technique of soliloquies as voice-overs mixed with live dialogue doesn’t quite work, and some scenes are melodramatic. Watch especially Aylmer and Hollaway, who offer classic interpretations of their characters.
Henry V
1989—Kenneth Branagh’s film, starring Branagh as the King. Superb cast and production. For the American ear, some articulation problems in the first scene (unintelligible whispering) and with Ian Holm’s accent for the Welshman, Fluellen. Paul Scofield is brilliant as the French king, as are Emma Thompson as his daughter, Brian Blessed as Exeter, and Derek Jacobi as Chorus. Branagh’s St. Crispan’s speech is perfection, as is Blessed’s charge to the French king.
1944—Laurence Olivier’s film, starring Olivier as the King. The acting style may seem a little rhetorical today, but the film still contains some brilliant work. The opening scene is especially useful to students, as it is Olivier’s version of what it was like backstage at the Globe during Shakespeare’s day.
Romeo and Juliet
2013—Carlo Carlei directed a combined England, Italy, and USA cast starring Douglas Booth as Romeo and Hailee Steinfeld as Juliet. Damian Lewis and Paul Giamatti are cast.
1996—Baz Luhrmann’s high energy film, set in modern Los Angeles, with Leonardo DiCaprio (Romeo), Claire Danes (Juliet), Dash Mihok (Benvolio), John Leguizamo (Tybalt), Paul Sorvino (Capulet), Brian Dennehy (Montague), and Harold Perrineau, Jr. (Mercutio). An original adaptation that works as the action film it is intended to be. Effects, however, and a restless camera dominate what little language is retained. The older actors do well, but many of the attractive young actors needed much more vocal work and didn’t get it. Some excellent examples of reading lines with full stops, a technique (or lack of) that kills the rhythm and the thought within the verse.
1993—The Stratford Festival of Canada created a lovely production starring Megan Porter Follows, Antoni Cimolino, Colm Feore, Barbara Byrne and Bernard Hopkins, and directed by Richard Monette.
1968—Franco Zeffirelli’s wonderful film is almost a classic today. Excellent adaptation of a play to film—with very little dialogue left. Fine language coaching of the young actors, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting. Beautiful visual production.
Richard III
2007—Scott Anderson directed and played Richard in a USA film that also starred David Carradine and Sally Kirkland.
1996—Al Pacino’s film, Looking for Richard, presents scenes from the play, together with improvisation. With Pacino (Richard), Alec Baldwin (Clarence), Kevin Conway (Hastings), Harris Yulin (Edward IV), Penelope Allen (Queen Elizabeth), Kevin Spacey (Buckingham), Winona Ryder (Lady Anne), Estelle Parsons (Queen Margaret), Aidan Quinn (Richmond), and includes comments on Shakespeare from Kevin Kline, Kenneth Branagh, James Earl Jones, Rosemary Harris, Peter Brook, Derek Jacobi, John Gielgud, and Vanessa Redgrave. A successful documentary film containing both comments and acted scenes. Pacino’s untrained voice creates a breathy acting style that seems indulgent. This and Baldwin’s subtextual style are the direct opposites of Conway and Allen, plus some of the others, who play the heightened text extremely well. Good opportunity to compare acting styles.
1995—Richard Loncraine’s film, starring Ian McKellen (Richard), Annette Bening (Elizabeth), Nigel Hawthorne (Clarence), Robert Downey, Jr. (Rivers), Jim Broadbent (Buckingham), Maggie Smith (Duchess of York), John Wood (King Edward), and Kristin Scott Thomas (Lady Anne). This original and compelling adaptation sets the story in the fascist 1930s. The locale mostly works, and the characters are real. McKellen is outstanding in the title role, having adjusted his performance from the original stage production to film without a hitch. Superb example of character and language in harmony.
1955—Laurence Olivier’s film, starring Olivier (Richard), Ralph Richardson (Buckingham), Claire Bloom (Lady Anne), and John Gielgud (Clarence). Olivier changed the soliloquy technique used in his earlier Hamlet and now speaks directly into the camera, with marvelous effect and brilliant characterization. A superb accomplishment. Watch especially the soliloquies, and note the superior example of how to hold a thought for forty-one lines in a Shakespearean speech. Olivier does this in his opening soliloquy.
Othello
1996—Oliver Parker’s film, starring Laurence Fishburne (Othello), Kenneth Branagh (Iago), and Irene Jacob (Desdemona). Some wonderful acting and directing, but marred by an overdose of breathy whispering, which makes various scenes unintelligible and irritating.
1965—BHE Production from the National Theatre of Great Britain. Stuart Burge’s film starring Laurence Olivier (Othello), Frank Finlay (Iago), Maggie Smith (Desdemona), Joyce Redman (Emelia), and Derek Jacobi (Cassio). Originally directed for the stage by John Dexter. Excellent example of an actor (Olivier) developing a voice for a character, and the language is handled beautifully. Smith creates a “mature,” but effective Desdemona. Jacobi and Finlay are both excellent.
Macbeth
2015—USA film directed by Justin Kurzel, starring Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, which should have been a winner in more ways than just atmosphere. The language is almost unintelligible, and not because of any lack of talent from the actors.
2010—BBC released a Chichester Festival Theatre production directed by Rupert Goold and starring Patrick Stewart and Kate Fleetwood.
1978—Thames Television Video Stage taping of Trevor Nunn’s 1976 Royal Shakespeare Company production, produced by Nunn, starring Ian McKellen (Macbeth), Judi Dench (Lady Macbeth), John Woodvine (Banquo), Griffith James (Duncan), Roger Rees (Malcolm), and Bob Peck (Macduff). With a “black-and-white” design scheme, the play is presented by only sixteen actors and limited props and sets. Each scene is played against a black background. The camera is always tight, and soliloquies are into the lens. The production values, which probably worked better on stage, become dull on tape—more like a formal reading than a stage production. But the language is handled beautifully.
1976—Roman Polanski’s film, starring Jon Finch (Macbeth) and Francesca Annis (Lady Macbeth). An excellent film, with fine acting and beautiful production values. Only the voice-over soliloquies become tiresome.
1957—Akira Kurosawa’s adaptation of the story for his film, entitled Throne of Blood, follows the plot with “Lady Macbeth” given new motivations. Toshiro Mifune and Isuzu Yamada star. Beautiful black-and-white photography. In Japanese with subtitles.
1948—Orson Welles’s eighty-nine–minute film adaptation, with effective black-and-white photography. The soliloquies, all voice-overs, are melodramatic, but Welles is commanding as Macbeth, and Jeanette Nolan’s Lady Macbeth is engaging, despite an acting style more suited to the stage. The film was low budget and shot in twenty-three days.
King Lear
2008—Ian McKellen played Lear for a TV presentation of a Royal Shakespeare Company production, originally staged at the New London Theatre in 2007. Both the film and stage presentations were directed by Trevor Nunn.
1997—BBC/WGBN video of a Royal National Theatre production, directed by Richard Eyre, with Ian Holm (Lear), Michael Bryant (Fool), David Burke (Kent), Barbara Flynn (Goneril), Amanda Redman (Regan), Victoria Hamilton (Cordelia), and Timothy West (Gloucester). Clear and easy-to-follow production, with Holm strong as Lear. The cast is wonderful, and the language is read beautifully.
1985—Japanese director Akira Kurosawa’s film is roughly based on Shakespeare’s story of King Lear. Entitled Ran, Japanese for “chaos.” Magnificent visual and spoken production. In Japanese with English subtitles.
1984—Michael Elliott’s film, starring Laurence Olivier (Lear), Colin Blakely (Kent), Anna Calder-Marshall (Cordelia), Dorothy Tutin (Goneril), Diana Rigg (Regan), and John Hurt (Fool). Wonderful film, with excellent scenes for study, especially between Lear/Fool and Lear/Kent. Olivier’s frail, real-life condition helps to creates marvelous empathy for Lear (or Lear/Olivier). The actor’s last film.
1971—Grigori Kozintsev’s film, with screenplay by Boris Pasternak. Beautifully filmed in black-and-white. Wonderful costume, prop, and setting design, probably the twelfth or thirteenth century (soldiers have cannon, but no muskets), with a revealing look at Lear’s retinue, an entourage that would discourage any potential host. Starring Yuri Jarvet (Lear), E. Radzins (Goneril), G. Volcher (Regan), V. Shendrikova (Cordelia), O. Dal (Fool), K. Sebris (Glouster) [sic], and E. Melyandov (Kent). Production has many nice touches, like Cordelia’s wedding scene, and follows the original story quite closely. Translated from verse to Russian, then translated back for the subtitles, the language now reads like heightened prose, with very few of the original lines intact.
1970—Royal Shakespeare Company film, directed by Peter Brook, in black-and-white photography, starring Paul Scofield (Lear) and Irene Worth (Goneril). Example of a “heavy” approach to Shakespeare—slow and ponderous; yet some wonderful scenes and characterizations, if you are willing to wait. This production certainly worked better on stage, but did not translate well to film.
Julius Caesar
2012—BBC presented a Royal Shakespeare Company production directed by Gregory Doran.
1970—Stuart Burge’s film, starring John Gielgud (Caesar), Charlton Heston (Antony), Jason Robards (Brutus), and Richard Johnson (Cassius). Gielgud’s strong performance of Caesar is overthrown by a few weak ones, notably Robards’ subtextual acting style, which kills the verse. Among the Americans, Heston and Robert Vaughn (Casca) fare better.
1953—John Houseman’s and Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s film, starring Marlon Brando (Antony), James Mason (Brutus), John Gielgud (Cassius), and Louis Calhern (Caesar). Gielgud’s Cassius and Mason’s Brutus are classics. Brando learned to handle the verse and does not rely entirely on subtext, thus offering an effective performance. However, the acting styles are an exercise in contrast. Worth studying for this interesting variety.
The Taming of the Shrew
1986—Stratford Shakespeare Festival (Canada) video of a live performance, directed by Peter Dews, starring Len Cariou (Petruchio). Superb production, probably the best of this play on tape or film. Cariou’s and Sharry Flett’s (Kate) wooing scene the best ever. Magnificent handling of the language and marvelous characters throughout. Worth studying everything Cariou does.
1975—Video of an American Conservatory Theatre production, directed by William Ball and starring Marc Singer (Petruchio), Fredi Olster (Kate), and William Paterson (Baptista). Ball elects to shape the play as Commedia dell’arte, and the actors are marvelous at playing the lazzi in this very lovely production. However, the style begins to dominate the language and the play itself, and one looks forward to the “quiet” moments. The “wooing scene” and Kate’s final scene are especially fine, because the actors abandon the “style” and play the language and situation, sans effects. Excellent example of applying a preconceived physicalization to heightened text with mixed results.
1966—Franco Zeffirelli’s film, starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor. Beautiful visual production. Burton strong, if a little old for the role. Excellent example of an American actress, Taylor, in a gutsy effort, successful in many ways, while working with limited vocal power.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
1999—Michael Hoffman’s film (director and screenplay), with a cast of American, British, and French actors, including Kevin Kline (Bottom), Rupert Everett (Oberon), Michelle Pfeiffer (Titania), Stanley Tucci (Puck), Calista Flockhart (Helena), Anna Friel (Hermia), Christian Bale (Demetrious), Dominic West (Lysander), Roger Rees (Peter Quince), David Strathairn (Theseus), and Sophie Marceau (Hippolyta). A visually beautiful film (Gabriella Pescucci, costume design, and Luciana Arrighi, production design), with a gorgeous musical score, selected mostly from Italian operas. A serious effort to capture the play on film. Yet the film bogs down in indulgent acting, especially from Pfeiffer and Everett, and uncertainty how to handle the lovers, who are beautiful and capable with the language, but just get boring. Kline, cast against type, takes getting used to as Bottom. But together with Tucci and Rees, he handles Shakespeare’s language as it should be spoken, and his dream speech is the highlight of the film. The final-act play offered by the mechanicals almost salvages the film. Worth viewing for both strengths and weaknesses.
1996—RSC video of an Adrian Noble production, with Stella Gonet (Hippolyta/Titania), Alex Jennings (Theseus/Oberon), Desmond Barrit (Bottom), Barry Lynch (Puck/Philostrate), Monica Doan (Hermia), and Hayden Gwyne (Helena). Workers and fairies also doubled in this colorful modern-dress production. The mechanicals are especially fine, and all the language is beautifully read.
1969—Royal Shakespeare Company film, directed by Peter Hall, with Diana Rigg (Helena), Helen Mirren (Hermia), David Warner (Lysander), Michael Jayston (Demetrius), Ian Richardson (Oberon), Judi Dench (Titania), and Ian Holm (Puck). Excellent examples of language handled to near perfection, while offering honest characters. Clear script without too much cutting.
Twelfth Night
1998—Video of a “Live from Lincoln Center” production, directed by Nicholas Hytner, starring Helen Hunt (Viola), Philip Bosco (Malvolio), Kyra Sedgwick (Olivia), Brian Murray (Sir Toby), Max Wright (Sir Andrew), Paul Rudd (Orsino), and Amy Hill (Maria). Wonderful production, with excellent examples of American actors handling Shakespeare’s verse with confidence, a credit to the director’s superb sense of language.
1996—BBC film, adapted and directed by Trevor Nunn, starring Ben Kingsley (Feste), Imogen Stubbs (Viola), Helena Bohnam Carter (Olivia), Nigel Hawthorne (Malvolio), Toby Stephens (Orsino), Mel Smith (Sir Toby), and Richard E. Grant (Sir Andrew). Excellent film in all ways. Some fascinating scenes of simultaneous action. Superb cast. Marred only by heavy whispering in places, which kills the dialogue. Probably as good a production of the play on film as will be seen in a long time.
Much Ado About Nothing
1993—Kenneth Branagh’s film, starring Branagh (Benedick) and Emma Thompson (Beatrice). Wonderful film, especially the scenes between the two outstanding leads. Marred only by a few American film actors who attempt to force character on the language and struggle with the verse. Worth studying for both examples.
1973—Video of a New York Shakespeare Festival and CBS Television production, brilliantly directed by A. J. Antoon with Nick Havinga. Wonderful and colorful 1900 American design by Tom John and Theoni V. Aldredge, with a sparkling musical score by Peter Link. The American actors handle the language extremely well, led by Kathleen Widdoes (Beatrice), Sam Waterston (Benedick), Glenn Walken (Claudio), April Shawhan (Hero), Douglas Watson (Don Pedro), and Barnard Hughes (Dogberry). May be viewed at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
As You Like It
2010—BBC presented a filming of a performance at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, directed by Thea Sharrock.
2006—A production of the Shakespeare Film Company in partnership with HBO Films, this Kenneth Branagh–directed version transports the play from medieval France to late–nineteenth century Japan. The cast includes Romolai Garai, Bryce Dallas Howard, Kevin Kline, and David Oyelowo.
1986—Stratford Shakespeare Festival (Canada) video of a live performance, directed by John Hirsch. Wonderful taping of a stage production, with a strong cast and first-class production values. The verse is spoken beautifully by Roberta Maxwell (Rosalind), Andrew Gillies (Orlando), Rosemary Dunsmore (Celia), Nicholas Pennell (Jaques), Lewis Gordon (Touchstone), and most of the others.
All’s Well That Ends Well
1978—Video of a New York Shakespeare Festival production, skillfully directed by Wilford Leach with fabulous music by Richard Weinstock. Beautiful production designed by Wilford Leach (sets), Jennifer Tipton (lights), and Carol Oditz (costumes), starring Pamela Reed (Helena), Mark Linn Baker (Bertram), Elizabeth Wilson (Countess), Remak Ramsay (King of France), Frances Conroy (Diana), John Ferraro (Levatch), and Larry Pine (Parolles). Excellent direction that brings out all the humor—the actors occasionally break into song. First class in every way, with American actors correctly handling the verse. May be viewed at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
The Merchant of Venice
2004—SONY pictures released a fine motion picture version of the play starring Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Finnes, and Lynn Collins, and directed by Michael Radford. Beautiful productions values and the language is handled well by everyone. Caution for school use; film shows prostitutes partly nude. On DVD.
1999—Fine RSC production with Anthony Sher and Alexandra Gilbreath, directed by Gregory Doran. Available on DVD.
1973—John Sichel’s video of Jonathan Miller’s 1970 National Theatre Company stage production, starring Laurence Olivier (Shylock), Joan Plowright (Portia), Jeremy Brett (Bassanio), and Michael Jayston (Gratiano). The video recaptures the stage production and adds a few more settings. Excellent handling of the verse and wonderful examples of playing subtext without indulging in character or sacrificing the rhythm of the language. Very bold acting, which may seem “large” for film.
The Tempest
2014—BBC presented a film directed by Jeremy Herrin from a production at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London, starring Roger Allam as Prospero.
2010—Julie Taymor directed Helen Mirren as Prospero in a gender-switch version for American film.
2010—CBC presented the filmed version of a Stratford Shakespeare Festival production directed by Des McAnuff, starring Christopher Plummer as Prospero.
1960—George Schaefer directed the play for the Hallmark Hall of Fame, casting Maurice Evans as Prospero, Richard Burton as Caliban, with Lee Remick and Roddy McDowell.
1B. OTHER FILMS AND VIDEOS
2017—The Folger Shakespeare Library made available one hundred episodes of “Shakespeare Unlimited,” videos on numerous media platforms.
2017—Magnussen Media Group, USA, produced a single-season TV series of The Scottish Play.
2016—The Folger Shakespeare Library presented three one-hour video episodes of “Shakespeare in American Life,” archived on www.shakespeareinamericanlife.org
2016—PBS offered two seasons of BBC’s The Hollow Crown, seven plays in seven complete episodes of about two hours each, produced by Sam Mendes with strong casts that included Judi Dench, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jeremy Irons, Tom Hiddleston, Ben Whishaw, and David Suchet.
2016—BBC began two seasons, six episodes each, of Upstart Crow, following the early years of Shakespeare’s career. Directed by Matt Lipsey with David Mitchell, Harry Enfield, and Liza Tarbuck.
2015—Lucasfilms (USA) released the computer-animated film Strange Magic, based on A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with Kristin Chenoweth, Evan Rachel Wood, Alan Cumming, Maya Rudolph, and others voicing the roles.
2015—Julie Taymor’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Polonsky Shakespeare Center in Brooklyn, New York, was filmed for release.
2015—BBC presented The Life and Times of William Shakespeare on video, featuring William Dale. Fifty-eight minutes.
2015—PBS produced the NEA-funded Shakespeare Uncovered series, part II, six plays, including Romeo & Juliet hosted by Joseph Fiennes, A Midsummer Night’s Dream hosted by Hugh Bonneville and Ralph Fiennes, King Lear hosted by Christopher Plummer, Antony & Cleopatra hosted by Kim Cattrall, Othello hosted by David Harewood, and The Taming of the Shrew hosted by Morgan Freeman.
2013—PBS produced the NEA-funded Shakespeare Uncovered series, part I, five plays plus comedies, including Macbeth hosted by Ethan Hawke, “The Comedies” hosted by Joely Richardson, Richard II hosted by Derek Jacobi, Henry IV and Henry V hosted by Jeremy Irons, and Hamlet hosted by David Tennant.
2012—Joss Whedon produced and directed a black-and-white “at-home,” modern setting production of Much Ado About Nothing. Useful for high school and college.
2012—BBC video offered Shakespeare: The King’s Man, a three-part lecture series by James Shapiro.
2003–2006—CBC presented the series Slings and Arrows, a comedic backstage look at activities at a Shakespearean Festival, featuring scenes form Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear. Starring Paul Gross, Rachel McAdams, and Mark McKinney. Exceptionally delightful.
2003—PBS showed a BBC four-part, eight-hour, video series on Shakespeare’s life and times called In Search of Shakespeare, Michael Wood, Host, and based on his book, Shakespeare. New York: Perseus, 2003; produced my Maya Vision and BBC, 2003. Excellent to own and for school use. Available from PBS.
1999—The Working Shakespeare Video Library. Applause Books’ workshop series, produced by Glenn Young, hosted by Jeremy Irons, and taught by Cicely Berry and Andrew Wade. A six-video series similar to John Barton’s Playing Shakespeare, but more current and featuring a combination of American and British actors, including Claire Danes, Blythe Danner, Lindsay Duncan, Samuel L. Jackson, Victor Garber, Helen Hunt, Robert Sean Leonard, Toby Stephens, Diane Venora, and Emily Watson. Wonderful demonstrations of the techniques of handling Shakespeare’s language.
1999—Shakespeare in Love. Miramax Film, directed by John Madden, written by Tom Stoppard and Mark Norman, with Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow, Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Ben Affleck, Judi Dench, and Rupert Everett. Exquisite film, set in sixteenth century England. Madden and his writers create a fictional, and comic, background for the young Shakespeare to create Romeo and Juliet. Verse from the play and the non-stage language are handled beautifully by this company of mostly RSC actors. First class in every way.
1992—Shakespeare: the Animated Tales. Random House Home Video adapted six of the plays to thirty-minute animation treatment for the child audience. Primarily animated characters with narration. Tapes are available for Hamlet, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, and Twelfth Night.
1991—Prospero’s Books. A Miramax Film. Peter Greenaway’s version of The Tempest, with John Gielgud speaking most of the dialogue for all characters. Beautifully designed production, with engaging special effects. However, unless you are very familiar with the source, much of this story will be confusing. The narrative approach, with visuals inserted, becomes tedious and creates a split focus. Quite erotic.
1984—Playing Shakespeare. The Royal Shakespeare Company series of video workshops on the techniques and problems of acting Shakespeare. Host John Barton is accompanied by a dozen actors from the RSC. Excellent examples. A must for all acting programs. Barton’s text of the same title is a transcription of the workshops.
1982—Acting Shakespeare: Ian McKellen on Broadway. CBS Broadcast Center Video of McKellen’s one-man show, taped live. Stage production directed by Sean Mathias, produced by Andrew Susskind, directed for television by Kirk Browning. McKellen talks about Shakespeare and performs a dozen or so monologues quite successfully. One of the world’s best Shakespearean actors, McKellen is especially good at blending language with character. For actors new to Shakespeare, he offers an informative section on character (Macbeth) and verse analysis, then performs it.
1966—Chimes at Midnight (Falstaff). An International and Société des Films Sirius, Harry Saltzman film, conceived and directed by Orson Welles, with Welles (Falstaff), John Gielgud, Norman Rodway, Margaret Rutherford, Jeanne Moreau, and Keith Baxter, narrated by Ralph Richardson. A lovely collection of the Falstaff scenes from (mostly) Henry IV (both parts), with Welles a remarkable Sir John. Beautifully acted, wonderful scenes to study.
Productions of all of Shakespeare’s plays were taped for the BBC Shakespeare Series between 1979 and 1984 and are available in most libraries. Quality is mixed, but overall, the series is a remarkable achievement, valued by everyone who enjoys the plays.
In 1989, shortly before the end of its theatrical existence, the English Shakespeare Company, with Michael Pennington as artistic director, taped live performances of seven of the history plays in a series called The Wars of the Roses. The plays were produced in modern or “eclectic” dress. Sound quality is a problem. The videos are available online from Facets Video at www.facets.org.
A few thousand films or videos of Shakespeare’s plays are currently available (that number being 450 in 1999), dating back to Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s direction of an 1899 silent film version of King John, in which Beerbohm Tree also starred. Most productions now are being taped for archives and can be accessed with a little research.
There are hundreds of websites that will guide you to films and books on Shakespeare or his plays. Good places to begin include: Shakespeare.com; Wikipedia (see “Films on Works by Shakespeare,” “TV Programs Based on Plays,” “Films Based on Plays,” etc.); the Avery Fisher Center for Music and Media database; BBC Shakespeare Video Collection; PBS Shakespeare Series; the Globe Production Series; New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the Folger Shakespeare Library; National Theatre (London) Archives; Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive at Stratford-upon-Avon, UK; there is no end.
2. BOOKS FOR FURTHER STUDY
This list includes all works consulted for this book, some of which are mentioned in the text, and some other books useful to the actor.
Ackroyd, Peter. Shakespeare: A Biography. New York: Doubleday, 2004
Bartlett, John, ed. A Complete Concordance to Shakespeare. 18th ed. New York: St. Martin’s, 1984.
Barton, John. Playing Shakespeare. London: Methuen, 1984.
Berry, Cicely. The Actor and the Text. New York: Scribner’s, 1988.
Berry, Ralph. The Shakespearean Metaphor: Studies in Language and Form. Totowa, N.J.: Rawmon and Littlefield, 1978.
Bevington, David, ed. The Complete Works of Shakespeare. 4th ed. New York: HarperCollins, 1992.
———. This Wide and Universal Theater. Chicago: University Press, 2007.
Bloom, Harold. Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human. New York: Riverhead Books, 1998.
Boorstin, Daniel J. The Americans: The National Experience. New York: Random House, 1965.
Booth, Stephen. Shakespeare’s Sonnets. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1977.
Bosco, Philip. Philip Bosco speaks out. In Theatre. 7 August 1998, 23–25.
Brook, Peter. The Empty Space. New York: Atheneum, 1968.
———. Evoking Shakespeare. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1998.
Brown, John Russell. Discovering Shakespeare. New York: Columbia University Press, 1981.
———. Free Shakespeare. London: Heinemann, 1974.
———. Shakespeare’s Dramatic Style. London: Heinemann, 1970.
———. Shakespeare’s Plays in Performance. Revised Edition. New York: Applause, 1993.
———. William Shakespeare: Writing for Performance. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996.
Bryson, Bill. Shakespeare: The World as Stage. New York: HarperCollins, 2016.
Bulman, James C. Shakespeare, Theory, and Performance. London and New York: Routledge, 1966.
Burson, Linda. Play with Shakespeare. Charlottesville, Va.: New Plays Books, 1992.
Cercignani, Fausto. Shakespeare’s Words and Elizabethan Pronunciation. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981.
Cohen, Ralph Alan. Shakesfear and How to Cure It. Clayton, DE: Prestwick House, 2007.
Davis, James E. and Ronald Salomone, eds. Teaching Shakespeare Today. Urbana, Il.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1993.
———. Teaching Shakespeare into the Twenty-First Century. Urbana, Il.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1997.
Doyle, John and Roy Lischner. Shakespeare for Dummies. Foster City, CA: IDG Books, 1999.
Epstein, Morrie. The Friendly Shakespeare. New York: Viking Penguin, 1993.
Freeman, Neil, ed. Applause First Folio Editions. New York: Applause, 1998 and on. (Shakespeare’s thirty-six plays in modern print, available individually).
———. The Applause First Folio of Shakespeare: in Modern Type. New York: Applause, 2000.
———. Folio Scripts: Shakespeare’s First Texts. 2nd ed. Vancouver: Self-published, distributed by Applause Books, 1999.
Garber, Marjorie. Shakespeare After All. New York: Pantheon, 2004.
Garfield, Leon and Michael Foreman (illustrator). Shakespeare Stories (Series for Children). New York: New York Review of Books, 1971–2015.
Gielgud, John. Backward Glances. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1989.
———and John Miller. Acting Shakespeare. New York: Scribner’s, 1991.
Goodland, Katharine and John O’Connor. A Directory of Shakespeare in Performance Since 1991: Volume 3, USA and Canada. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
Granville-Barker, Harley. Prefaces to Shakespeare. 4 vols. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1946.
———and G. B. Harrison. A Companion to Shakespeare Studies. New York: Doubleday, 1960.
Greenblatt, Stephen. Will in the World: How Shakespeare Became Shakespeare. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004.
Guthrie, Tyrone. A Life in the Theatre. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1959.
———. In Various Directions: A View of the Theatre. New York: Macmillan, 1965.
Halio, Jay L. Understanding Shakespeare’s Plays in Performance. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1988.
Hall, Peter. Peter Hall’s Diaries. Ed. John Goodwin. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1983.
Harbage, Alfred, ed. William Shakespeare: The Complete Works. Revised Edition. The Complete Pelican Shakespeare. New York: Viking Penguin, 1977.
Hinman, Charlton, ed. The First Folio of Shakespeare: The Norton Facsimile. New York: W.W. Norton, 1968.
Joseph, Miriam. Shakespeare’s Use of the Arts of Language. New York: Hafner, 1947.
Kerrigan, John, ed. William Shakespeare: The Sonnets and A Lover’s Complaint. New York: Viking Penguin, 1986.
Leach, Robert. Theatre Studies:The Basics. London: Routledge, 2008.
Mahood, M. M. Playing Bit Parts in Shakespeare. New York: Routledge, 1998.
Mamet, David. True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor. New York: Pantheon, 1997.
Martin, Jacqueline. Voice in Modern Theatre. New York: Routledge, 1991.
Mayer, Mary Z. Actors Talk About Shakespeare. Montclair, NJ: Limelight Editions, 2009.
McCrum, Robert, William Cran, and Robert MacNeil. The Story of English. New York: Viking, 1986.
McQuain, Jeffrey and Stanley Malless. Coined by Shakespeare. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, 1998.
Michaels, Wendy. Playbuilding Shakespeare. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996
Miller, Arthur. A View From the Bridge. In Drama: An Introductory Anthology, Otto Reinert ed. Boston: Little, Brown, 1961.
Moore, Sonia. The Stanislavski System. Revised Edition. New York: Viking, 1965.
O’Brian, Peggy, ed. Shakespeare Set Free. Series of three books. New York: Washington Square Press, 1993.
Olivier, Laurence. On Acting. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1986.
Onions, C. T. A. Shakespeare Glossary. 3rd ed. Revised. Robert D. Eagleson. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1986.
Parsons, Keith and Pamela Mason, eds. Shakespeare in Performance. London: Salamander Books, 1995.
Potter, Lois. The Life of William Shakespeare. West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2012.
Proudfit, Scott. Genius in exile. Back Stage West, 10 June 1999, 6.
Quealy, Gerit and Sumié Hasegawa-Collins (illustrator). Botanical Shakespeare. New York: HarperCollins, 2017.
Rackin, Phyllis. Shakespeare and Women. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Rees, Mandy, ed. Shakespeare Around the Globe: and other contemporary issues in professional voice and speech training presented by the Voice and Speech Review. Cincinnati, OH: Voice and Speech Trainers Assn, 2005.
Reynolds, Peter. Teaching Shakespeare. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.
Robinson, Randal. Unlocking Shakespeare’s Language. Urbana, Il.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1988.
Rowse, A. L. The England of Elizabeth. New York: Macmillan, 1950.
Rozett, Martha Tuck. Talking Back to Shakespeare. Urbana, Il.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1994.
Rygiel, Mary Ann. Shakespeare Among School Children. Urbana, Il.: National Council of Teachers of English, 1992.
Schmidt, Alexander. The Shakespeare Lexicon: A Complete Dictionary of the English Words, Phrases and Construction in the Works of the Poet. 3rd ed. Revised by Gregor Sarrazin. 2 vols. Berlin: G. Reimer, 1902.
Shakespeare, William. “Writer Filmography.” Online. Available from Internet Movie Database, 1999, at http://us.imdb.com/name?Shakespeare,+william.
Shapiro, James. A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599. New York: Harper Collins, 2005.
———. Contested Will. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2010.
———. The Year of Lear: Shakespeare in 1606. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2015.
———, ed. Shakespeare in America: An Anthology from the Revolution to Now. New York: The Library of America, 2014.
Shaw, George Bernard. Man and Superman. In Seven Plays by Bernard Shaw. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1951.
Smith, Bob. Hamlet’s Dresser. New York: Schribner, 2002.
Spain, Delbert. Shakespeare Sounded Soundly: The Verse Structure and the Language. Santa Barbara, CA: Capra, 1988.
Spurgeon, Caroline F. E. Shakespeare’s Imagery and What It Tells Us. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1935.
Tillyard, E. M. W. The Elizabethan World Picture. New York: Vintage, 1941.
Toropov, Brandon. Shakespeare for Beginners. New York: Writers and Readers, 1997.
Vendler, Helen Hennessy. The Art of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1997.
Whitney, Craig R. Hoffman as Shylock: London critics cool. New York Times, 3 June 1989, A13.
3. BOOKS ON ACTING SHAKESPEARE
The bibliography of books about the skills required to act Shakespeare is slim. Many of the useful books are actually voice studies. But each book listed here is helpful to the actor in one way or another.
Barton, John. Playing Shakespeare. London: Methuen, 1984.
Berry, Cicely. The Actor and the Text. New York: Scribner’s, 1988.
———. Voice and the Actor. New York: Macmillan, 1973.
Berry, Ralph. On Directing Shakespeare: Interviews with Contemporary Directors. London: Hamish Hamilton, 1989.
Bevington, David. Acting is Eloquence: Shakespeare’s Language of Gesture. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1984.
Brine, Adrian and Michael York. A Shakespearean Actor Prepares. North Stratford, NH: Smith and Kraus, 1999.
Brockbank, Philip, ed. Players of Shakespeare: Essays in Shakespearean Performance by Twelve Players with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985.
Brown, John Russell, ed. Shakescenes: Shakespeare for Two. New York: Applause Books, 1992.
Brubaker, Edward S. Shakespeare Aloud: A Guide to His Verse on Stage. Lancaster, Pa.: Author, 1976.
Cohen, Robert. Acting in Shakespeare. Mountain View, Ca.: Mayfield, 1991.
Daw, Kurt. Acting Shakespeare & His Contemporaries. Portsmouth, N.H.: Heinemann, 1998.
Guthrie, Tyrone. Tyrone Guthrie on Acting. New York: Viking, 1971.
Hall, Peter. Shakespeare’s Advice to the Players. 2nd ed. London: Oberon Books, 2009.
Jackson, Russell and Robert Smallwood, eds. Players of Shakespeare 2: Further Essays in Shakespearean Performance by Players with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
Joseph, Bertram. Acting Shakespeare. Revised Edition. New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1969.
———. A Shakespeare Workbook. 2 vols. New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1980.
Kaiser, Scott. Mastering Shakespeare. New York: Allworth, 2003.
Kermode, Frank. Shakespeare’s Language. New York: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, 2000.
Linklater, Kristin. Freeing Shakespeare’s Voice. New York: Theatre Communications Group, 1992.
Rodenburg, Patsy. The Actor Speaks: Voice and the Performer. London: Methuen, 1998.
———. The Need for Words. New York: Routledge, 1993.
———. The Right to Speak. New York: Routledge, 1992.
Scheeder, Louis and Shane Ann Younts. All the Words on Stage. Hanover, N.H.: Smith and Krause, 2002.
Sher, Antony. Year of the King. New York: Limelight Editions, 1986.
Silverbush, Rhona and Sami Plotkin. Speak the Speech! Shakespeare’s Monologues Illuminated. New York: Faber and Faber, 2002.
Spain, Delbert. Shakespeare Sounded Soundly: The Verse Structure and the Language. Santa Barbara, Ca.: Capra Press, 1988.
Suzman, Janet. Acting with Shakespeare: Three Comedies. New York: Applause Books, 1996.
Tucker, Patrick. Secrets of Acting Shakespeare: The Original Approach. New York: Routledge, 2002.
Van Tassel, Wesley. Clues to Acting Shakespeare. 3rd ed. New York: Allworth Press, 2018.
Woods, Leigh. On Playing Shakespeare: Advice and Commentary from Actors and Actresses of the Past. New York: Greenwood, 1991.
4. BOOKS ON ACTING REALISM
Most of the classic books on acting, and the better new ones, are not concerned with playing verse. Shakespeare is rarely mentioned. Yet, these are excellent books that deal with acting primarily as it relates to modern text for stage or film.
Adler, Stella. The Technique of Acting. New York: Bantam, 1988.
Barton, Robert. Style for Actors. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2009.
Boleslavsky, Richard. Acting: The First Six Lessons. New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1933.
Bruder, Melissa, et al. A Practical Handbook for the Actor. New York: Vintage, 1986.
Chekhov, Michael. On the Technique of Acting. New York: HarperCollins, 1991; reprint and revised, To the Actor. New York: Barnes and Noble, 1985.
Guskin, Harold and Keven Kline. How to Stop Acting. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2003.
Hagen, Uta. A Challenge for the Actor. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1991.
———and Haskel Frankel. Respect for Acting. New York: Macmillan, 1973.
Mamet, David. True or False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor. New York: Pantheon, 1997.
Meisner, Sanford and Dennis Longwell. Sanford Meisner on Acting. New York: Random House, 1987.
Moore, Sonia. The Stanislavski System. Revised Edition. New York: Viking, 1965.
———. Training an Actor. New York: Viking, 1968.
Shapiro, Mel. An Actor Performs. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace, 1997.
Silverberg, Larry. The Sanford Meisner Approach. 2 vols. Lynn, NH: Smith and Kraus, 1994 (Vol 1), 1997 (Vol 2). Two more volumes are in preparation.
Stanislavski, Constantin. An Actor Prepares. Trans. Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood. New York: Routledge, 1936.
———. My Life in Art. Trans. J. J. Robbins. New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1924, reprint, New York: Little, Brown, 1948.
———. Building a Character. Trans. Elizabeth Reynolds Hapgood. New York: Theatre Arts Books, 1949.