The Bard – a man of
mystery
The
Whether you love
him or hate him, he’s a man with a lot of mystery about him who continues to
fascinate – William Shakespeare.
Classical actor Michael
Pennington hopes to cash in on our curiosity about the world-famous playwright
with his new original one-man show Sweet
William at the Chester Gateway on Sunday, part of the city’s Literature
Festival.
It’s a unique look
at the playwright’s work never performed before- a debut coup for the theatre
and the festival.
Said
Pennington: “It occurred to me that I have spent 42 years of my life with
Shakespeare and perhaps could make an account of all that experience. And suddenly there seems to be more curiosity
than ever about him.
“There have been
several biographies this year; an exhibition of portraits and the festival of
all his works in
He decided to
connect the playwright’s words, including some of the greatest speeches, to
events in his life. Within this structure he will also add discussion of the
plays from the actor’s perspective.
He said: “I have
chosen pieces that do give clues to his life and will be talking of ways actors
tackle their roles and how styles and audiences have changed over the years.
“So it will be a
narrative, not just a daisy chain of speeches, and I hope to vary to according
to audience response. One thing I am discovering: it’s as hard to learn your
own words as Shakespeare’s!”
Pennington has
worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre
and he was co-founder of the English Shakespeare Company in 1986 which
performed regularly in
His long career has
also taken in film and television – though he was turned down for a role in Crossroads in 1965 – and most recently
he was in the hit TV series Holby City.
He has played most
of Shakespeare’s great roles, not Romeo sadly, he says, and Lear is still to
come. But he thinks Sweet William
will have to be “the biggest performance of my life because it is giving a
version of myself.”
Now he hopes the
show will be on-going. He already has dates for other literature festivals and
is exploring the possibility of taking it into schools and colleges.
“As an actor you
are often at another’s beck and call,” he said, “So the appeal of all this is
the chance to take control of your own life.”
That said, he will be
running the show along some serious acting commitments: playing Robert Maxwell
in the stage lay of The Bargain and
acting in a murder trial in the TV Trial
and Retribution series.
Last on stage in