DVD Review: Playing Shakespeare: John Barton, David Suchet, Alan Howard, Michael Pennington, Patrick Stewart, Lisa Harrow, Jane Lapotaire, Ian McKellen, Ben Kingsley, Sheila Hancock, Tony Church, Sinéad Cusack: Movies & TV

Jun02

DVD Review: Playing Shakespeare: John Barton, David Suchet, Alan Howard, Michael Pennington, Patrick Stewart, Lisa Harrow, Jane Lapotaire, Ian McKellen, Ben Kingsley, Sheila Hancock, Tony Church, Sinéad Cusack: Movies & TV

Posted by admin | on 2 June, 07:21 AM

Amazon.com

The Royal Shakespeare Company founder John Barton holds a master class featuring…
JUDI DENCH
IAN MCKELLEN
PATRICK STEWART
BEN KINGSLEY
DAVID SUCHET

Sit in on nine intensive acting workshops conducted by the legendary John Barton of the Royal Shakespeare Company. How does this world-renowned troupe make classic plays accessible to modern audiences, without compromising the text’s integrity? How do actors search Shakespeare’s verse for hidden clues to their characters’ motivations? How do they balance intellect and passion to make theatre’s most famous soliloquies seem fresh?

The answers come from Barton and 21 of Britain’s finest actors, including Oscar&reg winners Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love, Iris), Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler’s List), and Peggy Ashcroft (A Passage to India), Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings, Gods and Monsters), Patrick Stewart (X-Men, Star Trek: The Next Generation), and David Suchet (Agatha Christie’s Poirot).

Also starring Sinéad Cusack, Susan Fleetwood, Sheila Hancock, Alan Howard, Donald Sinden, Michael Williams, and more.

BONUS FEATURES

20-page viewer’s guide includes key points, discussion questions, avenues for further learning, a history of the RSC, and “Vocabulary of Verse and Stage.”

Actor biographies and RSC stage credits

Exclusive web extras

Cofounder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, John Barton directed productions there for over 40 years. In 2001, he received the Sam Wanamaker Award from Shakespeare’s Globe for his pioneering contributions to Shakespearean performance.

View an Excerpt from the Guide Included with Playing Shakespeare

Is This The Real One,

By Robert Franklin (Belmont, MA USA) -

I hope this is the original program with John Barton. If it is, it is a must for anyone interested in Shakespeare. Actors such as Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, and others are here. Many of us have waited years for this to be available. Until now it could only be purchased in a licensed edition for educational instsitutes. Let’s hope this is the real one and that it is put out in an edition that does it justice.

Finally!,

By L. A Leporati (Brooklyn, NY) -

I watched this series on a local PBS station back in 1984 and taped it as well. If you are interested in Shakespeare and performing Shakespeare, this series is for you. Just about every great British Shakespearian actor/actress is accounted for here acting in various scenes from the plays and discussing/analyzing them at length. Fascinating and informative. I never thought this would come out on DVD. My copy on VHS is practically disintegrating! I’m thrilled beyond words!

5-stars, or not 5-stars, that is the question. FIRST REVIEW OF THE ATHENA DVD RELEASE,

By Harold Wolf “Doc” (Wells, IN United States) -
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

The actual DVD set is being reviewed. I didn’t see the book or TV in 1984.
This series of 9 episodes (Or should we call them “instructions” in Shakespeare acting?) seem like they were shot yesterday. They are timeless. What, if anything is staged? What is entirely impromptu? It’s hard to say, nay, impossible. It’s that well done. The wealth within this educational, academic experience is difficult to quickly review, but we’ll give it a go.

“Playing SHAKESPEARE” is the DVD presentation of acting workshops, done like a play rehearsal underway, shot in 1982, led by John Barton, who is himself entertaining, plus an encyclopedia on Shakespearean acting. He directed over 50 plays by the (RSC) Royal Shakespeare Company. A Cambridge professor. His main interest in this series is teaching toward the marriage of the Elizabethan acting tradition and modern times or style. It is instruction dedicated to the actor–but it is of interest to so many more.

Through detailed Shakespeare direction, Barton has provided a series that will delight all lovers of the celebrated playwright. Additionally it will encourage the viewer who is newly attempting appreciation of Shakespeare and his works. Novice Shakespearean audiences will want for more, want for a complete play to view.

Much of the success of this series is the famous & talented actors being instructed. The top of the U.K. entertainers, both within the RSC and out. The BONUS FEATURES of this DVD set includes several of their bios and RSC credits. Some, not all as there are over 20, are:
Peggy Ashcorft, 1907-1991, having at some time performed near all Shakespeare’s female roles.
Judi Dench, UK Superstar, fantastic in “As Time Goes By”
Ben Kingsley, “Gandhi” and “Schindler’s List” to name but 2
Ian McKellan, “The Lord of the Rings” fans will remember
Patrick Stewart, would you believe “Star Trek: The Next Generation”
David Sachet, “Poirot”, need more be said–yes–”The Way We Live Now”
Shakespeare wrote, “Our revels now are ended.” Nay, Nay.

Here’s the list of Episodes (Learning bits)
1 THE TWO TRADITIONS . . . . . . .2 USING THE VERSE
3 LANGUAGE AND CHARACTER . . . . .4 EXPLORING A CHARACTER
5 SET SPEECHES AND SOLILOQUIES . .6 IRONY AND AMBIGUITY
7 PASSION AND COOLNESS . . . . . .8 REHEARSING THE TEXT
9 POETRY AND HIDDEN POETRY
Each is a to-die-for opportunity for the student or the follower of Shakespeare. Not a full play or dramatic film, but an academic experience set in a working studio using excerpts.

In #3 language and words are discussed like Shakespeare’s double syllable use of the word Ti-ime. And his often capitalization of the word, even when it’s not the beginning word in the sentence. By watching another fine educational DVD series, “The Adventure of English”, one can learn Shakespeare invented over 2000 words.
___Also in this segment, John Barton is coaxed into performing a bit of Shakespeare, which he does twice again during episode 9.
___#4 is outstanding when Shylock (The Merchant of Venice) is performed by Suchet (who is Jewish) and Stewart. Both have played the role in RSC under Barton’s direction. The 3 demonstrate how Shakespeare characters can be played in different ways, all being good. Suchet also suggests to view this play, not as anti-Semitic, but without the 20th century Holocaust prejudice.

Other bonus extras include a trailer for “Slings & Arrows” and the much valuable SUBTITLES, recommended to be used by all, to catch the full value of the Shakespeare words.

This DVD set makes me thirst for a Shakespeare play–a Shakespearean Sundae.

If you are a William Shakespeare lover–BUY.
If you are an actor, or student of theatre–BUY.
If you are curious of those often talked about plays–BUY.

More elaboration on this would take as long as the 400+ minutes of the set. Instead, in Shakespeare’s own words: “So to him we leave it.”
Search Playing Shakespeare: John Barton, David Suchet, Alan Howard, Michael Pennington, Patrick Stewart, Lisa Harrow, Jane Lapotaire, Ian McKellen, Ben Kingsley, Sheila Hancock, Tony Church, Sinéad Cusack: Movies & TV from AmAzon

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