And one man in his time plays many parts
January 28, 2014 10:36 AM   Subscribe

Ian McKellen: Acting Shakespeare (SLVimeo) a one-man show of Shakespearean monologues from 1982
posted by fearfulsymmetry (8 comments total) 31 users marked this as a favorite
 
He's also given excellent acting advice.
posted by Ghostride The Whip at 10:42 AM on January 28, 2014


Ghostride The Whip - a cheeky nod to Lawrence Olivier's notorious and oft-quoted dislike of method acting.

It's still a not so subtle snobbery towards (normally young, male American) method actors for classically trained British actors to play down the skill required to act and wave it off as all just pretending.
posted by MuffinMan at 10:58 AM on January 28, 2014 [1 favorite]


Not to be confused with Playing Shakespeare also from ’82. Essentially a master class lead by John Barton with, in addition to McKellan, David Suchet, Ben Kingsley, Patrick Stewart, Judi Dench….
posted by Quinbus Flestrin at 11:42 AM on January 28, 2014


Ha! I saw this on Broadway. It doesn't quite make up for my face-palm failure to take in Liz and Dick in Private Lives, but it helps. (Ticket prices, I expect.)
posted by BWA at 12:03 PM on January 28, 2014





I dug Sir Ian as a fire and brimstone preacher in Cold Comfort Farm,
In which he does a fine West of England brogue. I'm always gratified when an English actor can speak English.
posted by Abinadab at 3:12 PM on January 28, 2014 [1 favorite]


Abinadab, what you should try to find is the 1968 version with Alastair Sim playing the part of Amos Starkadder. (Added bonus: a young Brian Blessed playing Reuben Starkadder.) Even with Sir Ian, who can do no wrong, the 1995 rendition is thin gruel in comparison; Ms Beckinsale was simply miscast.
posted by IndigoJones at 4:06 PM on January 28, 2014


Delightful...
posted by jim in austin at 7:58 PM on January 28, 2014


« Older In Velox Libertas!   |   Now drop and give me 12 Wolverines Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments