Playing Shakespeare

1984

Seasons & Episodes

  • 1
  • 0

9.4| 0h30m| TV-G| en
Synopsis

John Barton holds a master class in how to play Shakespeare, using members of the RSC doing scenes, sonnets, and commentary as prime examples.

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Reviews

Evengyny Thanks for the memories!
Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable
Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.
Andrew Schneider I had the opportunity to see this series when I was in college. I was rehearsing a production of Julius Caesar, and my director hosted a get together at his apartment, where we watched several episodes that he had taped. Since then, I've been waiting in vain for the opportunity to watch the entire series. I have yet to find another book or documentary that equals this series as a guide either to performing Shakespeare or to acting in general. Having such high-caliber Royal Shakespeare Company talent as Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Ben Kingsley, Dame Peggy Ashcroft, Dame Judi Dench, Patrick Stewart and David Suchet performing the Bard's work ensures that the series is highly entertaining as well as instructive.
richlandwoman Incredibly informative and interesting. I especially liked the dueling Shylocks episode, in which Suchet and Stewart play the same scenes back to back and explain why they made their different choices. Also very interesting is the episode in which each actor does a brief speech from Troilus and Cressida, then gets direction from Barton and redoes it, usually for the better.You also learn a little about the actors as people. For instance, Patrick Stewart is a bit of a ham. Ben Kingsley is soft-spoken and quick to admit what he sees as faults in his acting style. Ian McKellen is rather teacherly, expounding at length whenever he's given the chance.Highly recommended!
murphya If you love Shakespeare, or acting, or any of these great actors - or if you love all of these - the series is indescribeable. Actors taking speeches, working on them, improving them. Just great. Kingseley, Stewart, Howard, Dench, etc
pageiv My Reading and Acting Shakespeare teacher played snippets of this video to help convey that Shakespeare was more than the words on the page. The presentation, though old, is fun and extremely informative. I got a kick out of seeing Ian McKellen looking young and dapper with Patrick Steward looking like he just stepped off of the bridge of the Enterprise(to quote Mary Mcfly in Back to the Future "Didnt that man ever have hair?).To the point, I learned more watching this video than I have so far in class. All students of Shakespeare should see it.