Sweet William: Twenty Thousand Hours with Shakespeare

by Michael Pennington

Overview

A unique, personal guide to William Shakespeare's life and plays told through the experience of a leading classical actor. Michael Pennington illuminates each of Shakespeare's plays with his own considerable understanding of the theater then and now, and the result is an insightful examination of the man and his work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781854595683
Publisher:	Theatre Communications Group
Publication date:	08/28/2012
Series:	Nick Hern Books
Pages:	362
Product dimensions:	9.30(w) x 6.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Michael Pennington has played many leading roles in the West End, for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre and the English Shakespeare Company, of which he was co-founder and joint Artistic Director from 1986–1992. He has also directed several productions of Shakespeare’s plays, including Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Introduction 1

1 The Rose of Youth 10

Sweet William

Poor Inches of Nature

William Page

Moth

Arthur

Marina

Perdita and Mamillius

2 The Only Shake-Scene 32

John Shakespeare

Marriage and Flight

A Motley to the View

London

The Two Gentlemen of Verona

The Comedy of Errors

An Upstart Crow

Henry VI

The Rose

3 Myself Alone 63

The Soloists

Richard III

King John 63

4 The Tide of Blood 76

Henry IV Part One

Henry IV Part Two

Henry V

5 Love, Love, Nothing But Love, Sweet Love 114

Fools for Love

Love's Labour's Lost

The Merchant of Venice

The Taming of the Shrew

Much Ado About Nothing

Romeo and Juliet

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Interval: The State We're In (Part One) 138

6 The Great Globe Itself 157

Hong Kong

The Globe

Hamlet

As You Like It

Measure for Measure

Julius Caesar

The Merry Wives of Windsor

Othello

7 The Time's Plague 187

The Wisest Fool in Christendom

Macbeth

Timon of Athens

King Lear

8 Your Actions are My Dreams 219

The Conscience of the King

The Winter's Tale

Cymbeline

9 Love is Merely a Madness 245

Antony and Cleopatra

Helena

Troilus and Cressida

Coriolanus

10 Let's Bear Us Like the Time 270

Ice and Fire

The Tempest

Henry VIII

The Two Noble Kinsmen

The End of All

Conclusion: The State We're In (Part Two) 296

Index 317