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filkertom... the Ides of March, of course.
Who are your favorite Shakespearean actors? I am continually amazed by Peter Donaldson and Lucy Peacock every time I go to Stratford, and Christopher Plummer is practically a gimme anyway. I have to look for any video that might exist of Kevin Kline's turn as Falstaff a few years ago, and think Sir Ian McKellan would be amazing as Prospero in The Tempest.
Who are your favorite Shakespearean actors? I am continually amazed by Peter Donaldson and Lucy Peacock every time I go to Stratford, and Christopher Plummer is practically a gimme anyway. I have to look for any video that might exist of Kevin Kline's turn as Falstaff a few years ago, and think Sir Ian McKellan would be amazing as Prospero in The Tempest.
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 01:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 01:23 pm (UTC)performanceproduction. (Tennant was also startlingly convincing as a gawky teen. Gawky's not surprising; that he could play 18-19 realistically is, somewhat.)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 01:34 pm (UTC)The movie version was so amazing, set in a WWII era England. If you haven't seen it, GO NOW! Find a copy.
One of my all time favorite Shakespearean performances was at Stratford several years ago. Scott Wentworth ( http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0921137/ ) performance as Macbeth, or as we subtitled it "The Macbeth's invite you to an evening of their journey to Big Shit Crazy". It was such a strong and creepy performance.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 01:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 01:46 pm (UTC)Also enjoy:
Kevin Kline in Midsummer Nights Dream.
Elizabeth Taylor and Rickard Burton in "The Taming of the Shrew"
Charlton Heston in several roles
I was enjoyed Orson Wells production of "Othello", course this might be because it was the first time I saw that play.
And favorite adaptation of Shakespeare has to be "Kiss me Kate" =p
I have not been lucky enough to see any performances on stage... yet.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 01:49 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 02:06 pm (UTC)And then there's Branagh... whose Henry V put Sir Larry to shame... and the sparks flying between him and Emma Thompson in Much Ado.. priceless.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 02:08 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 02:13 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 02:17 pm (UTC)And I have to admit to an obsession with Kenneth Brannagh's "Henry V" - Kenneth Brannagh, Emma Thompson, Derek Jacobi, Judi Dench, Brian Blessed, Iam Holm, Robbie Coltrain . . . I had no chance!!!
I was wonderfully surprised to find John Cleese as Petruchio in "Taming of the Shrew", and David Dixon (Ford Prefect from the original HHGG) as Ariel in "The Tempest" with Michael Hordern as Propsero.
I also developed a crush on an actor I saw live in Stratford on Avon back in 1988 who I've only seen in one DVD - Anton Lesser.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 02:18 pm (UTC)Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson immediately come to mind. I am impatiently awaiting availability in the U.S. of the Tennant/Stewart Hamlet.
My favorite movie adaptations: Zefferelli's Rome and Juliet; the 1968 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream with Diana Rigg as Helena; Branagh/Thompson in Much Ado About Nothing; Ian McKellan's Richard III.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 02:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 02:21 pm (UTC)Drzarron's description of Scott Wentworth's Macbeth has pricked up my ears. I want to go find of copies of that and the McKellan's Richard.
Also both Mr.Libra and I liked the version of " Titus " that starred Anthony Hopkins. It reminded me of an old war dog in the last days of his reign. I know the Baz Luhrmann stlye of it really threw a lot of folks, but so much of it was well done. Great cinematography.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 02:24 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 02:33 pm (UTC)Does liking the Shakespeare episode of Doctor Who count?? What about "George Lucas in Love?"
This date also holds special personal meaning for me - it was my late mother's birthday. She died of cancer back in January of 1998. She would have been 75 today had she lived.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 02:47 pm (UTC)Which is miracle enough. The film was made on less than a shoestring. But Welles managed to create one of the great movie battle scenes of all time (one that Branagh clearly learend from), and his performance as Falstaff is terrific.
It's very difficult to acquire in the States, and I wish that Criterion'd give us a cleaned-up and well-documented edition.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 03:07 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 03:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 03:18 pm (UTC)The Cleese 'Shrew' is the best thing about the 1980s BBC TV Bardathon. And I can recommend the RSC's 'Essential Shakespeare Live' CD which imortalises Paul Scofield's Lear, Anthony Sher's Gloucester (Richard III) and Alan Rickman's Jaques (As You Like It).
But really it's extremely difficult for a competant cast to ruin Shakespeare.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 03:25 pm (UTC)It's also available via torrent, if it had been out of print and unavailable (those being my criteria for when it's ethical to download something I haven't bought).
Shakespeare Smorgasbord
Date: 2010-03-15 04:52 pm (UTC)As to favorite performances -- the BBC version of "Midsummer" shown on PBS years ago with Helen Mirren as Titania and the Kenneth Branagh "Much Ado", which is my go-to DVD for cheering me up when needed.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 05:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 05:33 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 05:49 pm (UTC)I'd like to see Alan Rickman play Iago.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 06:01 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 06:11 pm (UTC)I saw the play in its original run at the Ashland Shakespeare festival. It moved to Seattle for a few weeks, so I saw it again there. Other companies are starting to produce it, so see it if you ever have the chance.
*Ahem* Sorry, I can't help raving about this play. :)
As for Shakespearean actors...the stage productions I've seen tend to be better overall than their film/TV equivalents - with one huge exception. I saw the RSC production of Hamlet starring David Tennant on both stage and screen. First, the tv version is just as good as the staged one and adds some very effective thematic elements which were difficult to convey on the stage. Second, it's not just Tennant - the entire cast was spectacular. I've lost track of how many different Hamlets I've seen over the years, but when I sat in that theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, I felt like I was seeing it for the first time. Wow - just, wow.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 09:32 pm (UTC)I'll also vote for the David Tennant/Patrick Stewart Hamlet. Seeing it live in London was truly one of the high points of my theatre experiences, and both gentlemen were very gracious and kind afterwards when they came out of the stage door and were signing autographs.
I think the most /magical/ theatre experience I've had was seeing A Midsummer Night's Dream in Oxford, in the New College grounds, under two ancient trees, open to the air. There was no stage, no curtain, just rows of chairs and a scaffold of lights. The play was run at dusk, so that as the lights were turned on, bugs flying around were illuminated and seemed to be like fairies or pixie dust wafting around. Definitely added to the atmosphere of the play.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-15 11:16 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-17 01:05 pm (UTC)