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Topic:
The Shakespeare Discussion Thread
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
3/20/07 1:29pm
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Kevin Kline as King Lear?
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He should do very well indeed...looks the part...got the acting chops...right age.
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JediNemesis
Registered:
Mar '03
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Date Posted:
3/20/07 1:43pm
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Kevin Kline as King Lear?
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All the omens are good, in other words.
I'll be sure to report back . . .
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Rogue1-and-a-half
Title: Manager: Amphitheatre
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
3/23/07 7:40pm
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Kevin Kline as King Lear?
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I think McKellan will make a great Lear; he can play dotty well enough and all he has to do is take that a step farther into straight up harmless madness and he's got it in the bag.
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I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
Without having ever felt sorry for itself.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
3/24/07 7:38pm
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Kevin Kline as King Lear?
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I agree... 
This is very unusual.
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darkmole
Registered:
Jul '00
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Date Posted:
3/26/07 2:00am
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Ian McKellan as King Lear?
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IM should be good. But Lear has destroyed good actors in the past - Nigel Hawthorne supposedly never recovered from the critical mauling he got for his RSC performance.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
3/26/07 6:48am
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Ian McKellan as King Lear?
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And I would have thought Hawthorne ideal. What went wrong?
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darkmole
Registered:
Jul '00
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Date Posted:
3/27/07 4:45am
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Ian McKellan as King Lear?
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I don't know, I didn't see it - I had organised a trip to it, which went ahead, but had to duck out for a job interview. It was an unusual production as it was directed by the feted Japanese director Ninagawa, but this was the first time he had worked with the RSC and with English actors, so there mught have been a bit of a culture clash. Lear is a famously difficult role. In the 19th Century, Hazlitt and Lamb were convinced that it was unperformable. In recent times, any number of actors have died in the role - one I did see was Anthony Hopkins, who stunk. But the bad reviews apparently affected Hawthorne a lot - Lear should have been a glorious end to his career, which makes it particularly sad as he was a fine actor.
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darth_frared
Registered:
Jun '05
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Date Posted:
3/27/07 8:28am
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Ian McKellan as King Lear?
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interesting thread here on topic.
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illegalise stupidity.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
3/27/07 11:50am
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Ian McKellan as King Lear?
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If you say so....
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Rogue1-and-a-half
Title: Manager: Amphitheatre
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
3/29/07 7:47pm
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Ian McKellan as King Lear?
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Lear is, I would argue, the most difficult of Shakespeare's characters to perform. At least with most of his others, you know where perception begins and ends. Lear is, I think, still the most difficult of his plays full stop. Whole scenes there where no one actually says anything that isn't filtered through the lens of madness.
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I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
Without having ever felt sorry for itself.
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JediNemesis
Registered:
Mar '03
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Date Posted:
3/30/07 5:50am
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Ian McKellan as King Lear?
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McKellen was on Radio 4's Today program today (?) talking about Lear. The production's currently doing 'audience previews' - basically cheapie pre-press nights for the director & cast to sort out any last little niggles - and officially opens on Monday.
Couple of interesting things came up: firstly, an anecdote about somebody (Michael Gambon?) about to play Lear asking John Gielgud (who'd already done it) for advice. Gielgud's words of wisdom? "Make sure you get a small Cordelia." Apparently the scene where Lear has to carry his daughter has proved something of a difficulty for elderly actors . . .
McKellen also said that most actors can only really do three things. His own three, he claims, are "northern lad", "high camp", and "elderly gravitas". He claims to be going for the third one. 
This production's actually got a hell of a cast; I only looked it up this morning, but it's certainly very strong.
Lear . . . . . . . . . . . Ian McKellen
The Fool . . . . . . . . . Sylvester McCoy (ex Doctor Who)
Gloucester . . . . . . . . William Gaunt
Kent . . . . . . . . . . . Jonathan Hyde
Cordelia . . . . . . . . . Romola Garai
Goneril . . . . . . . . . Frances Barber
I read somewhere that it's Romola Garai's first Shakespearean role. Talk about jumping in at the deep end . . .
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
3/30/07 9:47am
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Ian McKellan as King Lear?
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'Tis true that Lear is a very difficult part in a very difficult play, and a lot a famous actors have come a cropper on it.
Shakespeare himself had two daughters, one of whom he appeared to be estranged from at his death.
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JediNemesis
Registered:
Mar '03
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Date Posted:
3/31/07 3:34pm
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Ian McKellan as King Lear?
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Judith and Susanna, yes.
I was poking around the RSC website just now and came across a subsite I haven't seen before - it has galleries, audio interviews, and (best) video clips from a number of recent productions. The video sounds as though it was recorded in rehearsal or done specially in-studio rather than live; the echoes are a bit intrusive. But it's cool, nonetheless.
The page for the production of Richard III that I saw in February is here. I'd be interested to see what our transatlantic friends think, always assuming the site will work for non-UK access 
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
4/2/07 9:48pm
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Ian McKellan as King Lear?
- Date Edited:
4/2/07 9:51pm (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Zaz
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The first clip was very interesting. The actor doesn't look like the historical Richard, and perhaps doesn't have enough weight (I'm talking about presence here, not fat) but he speaks the verse well. I wasn't too sure about the napkin, but I did see the point when he used it as a hangman's covering. Nasty.
The paper crown Edward wears is just a little bit obvious.
Second one tomorrow.
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JediNemesis
Registered:
Mar '03
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Date Posted:
4/3/07 11:07am
Subject:
RE: The Shakespeare Thread: Now Disc. Clips from the Royal Shakespeare's production of Richard III
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Meh. I don't think you can really require a likeness to the historical Richard - the character doesn't bear all that much of a resemblance to the original, either. 
The paper crown was a motif they used right through the Henry VI production as well - Edmund Mortimer wears one, then little Rutland is wearing one when he gets murdered, which his murderer (Clifford) then forces Richard of York to wear. *shrug* Worked well enough.
The napkin business was a direct follow-on from the end of 3 Henry VI, where Richard of Gloucester is left holding the baby, little Edward. You got the feeling he wasn't going to be the world's best babysitter. As the lights went down on 3H6, Richard looked up and said "Now -" and everything went black.
They really went all-out for the 'unified' business - to the extent that I found myself wondering how on earth you'd understand Richard III without having seen the Henry VIs beforehand.
Awesome production, although it definitely loses a little of the magic on video. I guess it can't be as comfortable for the cast just acting to camera, rather than an audience.
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