My friend Jacob spotted Brutus and Other Heroines: Playing Shakespeare’s Roles for Women, by Harriet Walter, at a bookstore and snagged it for me. I hadn’t heard of it, although I have been following Walter’s recent work with much interest, particularly her trilogy of all-female productions of Shakespeare. This book is less a retrospective memoir […]
Recently, I was talking with an actor about another play entirely, and he happened to mention rather out of nowhere that there existed a sort of performance diary book about the Peter Hall production of Antony and Cleopatra. The one with Dame Judi Dench and Anthony Hopkins. I hadn’t ever heard of this book–although the […]
I’ve been reading a lot of books and articles about Antony and Cleopatra lately, getting ready for the remount. One thing that comes up over and over is people saying that the title characters are older, they’re jaded, their love is real, but tempered with a certain utilitarianism. They need each other, politically. Their love […]
Before I started rehearsals for Richard III, I was very nervous about the Skype plan. I talked about it with everyone I could think of, hoping someone would say, “Oh, I always rehearse that way, it’s not a big deal at all.” Nobody quite said that, but I did get a few helpful hints. I […]
I’ve just finished Year of the King, by Antony Sher. It’s his diary/sketchbook from the year when he was working on Richard III at the Royal Shakespeare Company. It’s been on my to-read list for ages, so long, in fact, that I can’t recall who recommended it to me. It’s a fascinating look into his process as […]