PLAYING SHAKESPEARE: PASSION AND COOLNESS {SHOW #06} (TV)
Summary
One in this miniseries of "master classes" hosted by John Barton and featuring members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, exploring the techniques and styles used by actors in performing the works of the Bard. In this installment, Donald Sinden opens with King Lear's stormy "blow, winds" monologue. Barton explains that one needs to consider the balance of the emotional and intellectual demands of the text when performing Shakespeare, considering how the character is feeling while simultaneously remembering to "speak the speech." He notes that there are often "deliberate and striking inconsistencies" in a character's demeanor in order to depict their conflicted feelings, and Ben Kingsley recites several sections of Brutus' speech from Act 2, Scene 1 of "Julius Caesar," in which he ponders and tries to justify the murder of his good friend. Barton points out how Brutus runs both "hot and cool" over the course of the scene, with his "humane" and politician sides colliding. Susan Fleetwood performs Sonnet 129, a caution against lust, in numerous different styles, emphasizing first pride, then disgust at her actions. Barton warns the actors against getting "too carried away" with the emotions of a scene, and Mike Gwilym and Michael Pennington perform a scene from "1 Henry IV" in which Hal fatally wounds Hotspur, with Gwilym delivering the lines in realistic dying agony. Barton observes that the emotional dramatics get in the way of the texts, and Gwilym repeats the scene in a more restrained manner, which proves to be more moving.
Barbara Leigh-Hunt then recites a scene from "Hamlet" in which Gertrude reports Ophelia's death in vague, descriptive terms, and she analyzes the queen's conflicted feelings of sorrow and guilt. In a scene from "The Life and Death of King John," Fleetwood portrays Constance as she laments the death of her son Arthur, and Barton encourages her to play the scene as though Constance enjoys the "release" of her sadness. Sinden performs Lear's tempestuous monologue again with gusto, but Barton advises him to "just breathe it," though Sinden suggests that Lear is asking for a storm rather than commenting on one that is happening, and he repeats it more quietly. Next, Sheila Hancock and Tony Church take on the scene from "Henry V" in which Mistress Quickly comments on the death of Falstaff, trying it a second time with Quickly attempting to hold in her feelings. They discuss the true meaning of the scene and how it says as much about the speaker as it does about Falstaff himself.
Barton clarifies that he thinks actors sometimes "overdo" scenes not out of self-indulgence, but out of a need to "fill" the physical space in a large theatre, contrasted with a smaller rehearsal space. Lisa Harrow performs Portia's "green-eyed jealousy" speech from "The Merchant of Venice," first in a "big" style and then more subtly, explaining her reasoning and deciding that she too prefers acting in a smaller space. Barton acknowledges that he prefers a "cool" performance to something "hot," suggesting the emotions are more honest when less exaggerated and pointing to Hamlet as the primary character who exemplifies a balance of feeling and thought. Michael Pennington, who portrayed the Dane onstage in 1980, performs part of the "spur my dull revenge" speech from Act 4, Scene 4, and then discusses how it is Hamlet's last-ditch attempt to repair his out-of-control life by employing reason, much like the actor needs to control the character's emotion through the language. The program closes as Patrick Stewart, Hancock and Harrow perform the emotional final scene of "The Winter's Tale" in which Leontes is reunited with his wife Hermione, previously thought to be dead and now posing as a statue. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: WNYC-TV (New York, NY) / Public TV (AAPB)
- DATE: September 2, 1984
- RUNNING TIME: 0:52:32
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:19482
- GENRE: Documentary
- SUBJECT HEADING: International Collection - United Kingdom; Documentary; Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616; Miniseries
- SERIES RUN: N/A
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - "Playing Shakespeare" companion book
CREDITS
- Melvyn Bragg … Executive Producer
- Nick Evans … Executive Producer
- Andrew Snell … Producer
- John Barton … Writer, Host
- John Carlaw … Director
- Guy Woolfenden … Music by
- Tony Church … Performer
- Susan Fleetwood … Performer
- Mike Gwilym … Performer
- Sheila Hancock … Performer
- Lisa Harrow … Performer
- Ben Kingsley … Performer
- Barbara Leigh-Hunt … Performer
- Michael Pennington … Performer
- Donald Sinden … Performer
- Patrick Stewart … Performer
- William Shakespeare