Coventry Evening
Telegraph, ’78 Extra
Unlike many fellow actors, Michael Pennington did not have a burning ambition to join the Royal Shakespeare Company.
But he is quick to admit that in the last four
years thinks have gone well for him. He has had good parts and enjoyed doing
them and regards his current role as the Duke in ‘Measure for Measure’ as a
stimulating task for an actor.
“He has been played in so many different ways that it is very difficult to find your own definitive version,” he says.
Michael was one of a group of performers, including
Francesca Annis and Richard Griffiths, who were brought into the RSC by outside
directors in 1974. He was invited to return for the 1976 season and remembers
it as a happy time, with a new company and lots of enthusiasm.
He first appeared in the West End in 1967 in ‘The Judge’ by John Mortimer and two
years later played Laertes in Tony Richardson’s production of ‘Hamlet’ with Nicol Williamson.
Foreign travels have figured a great deal in
Michael’s career and last year he published a book ‘Rossya,’
recounting a train journey he made through Siberia.
“To many people, I suppose, the prospect of eight
days in a train would be totally boring. To me in these circumstances, it was a
marvellous experience. I knew a bit about publishing so I produced the book
myself and now it’s beginning to break even, which is very satisfying.”