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Post by Jan on Aug 17, 2017 9:58:00 GMT
Off topic but I saw an interview with SRB where he spoke about wanting to play Richard II but he might be too old. Well, he might be. It is very strange he hasn't played it, if you were making a list of Shakespeare roles suitable for him it would be near the top.
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Post by peggs on Aug 17, 2017 11:05:02 GMT
Off topic but I saw an interview with SRB where he spoke about wanting to play Richard II but he might be too old. Well, he might be. It is very strange he hasn't played it, if you were making a list of Shakespeare roles suitable for him it would be near the top. Yes you would think it would be an obvious fit really wouldn't you. I'd rather assumed he'd kind of run out of Shakespeare roles now unless he did more minor ones, I do hope to be wrong. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2017 12:18:39 GMT
Off topic but I saw an interview with SRB where he spoke about wanting to play Richard II but he might be too old. Well, he might be. It is very strange he hasn't played it, if you were making a list of Shakespeare roles suitable for him it would be near the top. Yes you would think it would be an obvious fit really wouldn't you. I'd rather assumed he'd kind of run out of Shakespeare roles now unless he did more minor ones, I do hope to be wrong. I'm sure I read an interview somewhere (perhaps after he did King Lear) where he said that Prospero was probably one of the few roles left for him now and at the time he wasn't keen because he's never really 'got' the play. Obviously he changed his mind there. |
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Post by crowblack on Aug 17, 2017 12:29:10 GMT
because he's never really 'got' the play Interesting comment - I saw it this week and, while there was lots to enjoy in the production, I was disappointed that both it and his version of Prospero didn't really seem to add anything to any of the others I've seen - in fact it seemed a bit lacking. I didn't, for example, get much of a sense of power relinquished, of the sort of man who'd have commanded graves to open, more like someone at the dog-end of life - you got the feeling if the ship had appeared a year later he maybe wouldn't have bothered at all. |
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Post by bordeaux on Aug 17, 2017 12:29:10 GMT
Off topic but I saw an interview with SRB where he spoke about wanting to play Richard II but he might be too old. Well, he might be. It is very strange he hasn't played it, if you were making a list of Shakespeare roles suitable for him it would be near the top. Yes you would think it would be an obvious fit really wouldn't you. I'd rather assumed he'd kind of run out of Shakespeare roles now unless he did more minor ones, I do hope to be wrong. There's always radio of course.... Angelo in Measure for Measure is another one I always saw him as ideal for; he has done that for CD. There's Cymbeline and Julius Caesar as title roles; I wonder if he could be tempted to do Falstaff on stage in the right production. A Merry Wives, if not the full Henry IVs. What about Shylock? We know he's in the play about Bach for Hytner's new theatre next year. I'm sure he could fit in another big Shakespeare or two - what about another RSC season with him as Shylock and as Falstaff in the Merry Wives?! |
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Post by crowblack on Aug 17, 2017 12:32:51 GMT
We know he's in the play about Bach for Hytner's new theatre He was in one on Radio 4 recently, too - I only caught a bit of it so not sure if they tie in. |
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Post by martin1965 on Aug 17, 2017 12:50:05 GMT
Yes you would think it would be an obvious fit really wouldn't you. I'd rather assumed he'd kind of run out of Shakespeare roles now unless he did more minor ones, I do hope to be wrong. There's always radio of course.... Angelo in Measure for Measure is another one I always saw him as ideal for; he has done that for CD. There's Cymbeline and Julius Caesar as title roles; I wonder if he could be tempted to do Falstaff on stage in the right production. A Merry Wives, if not the full Henry IVs. What about Shylock? We know he's in the play about Bach for Hytner's new theatre next year. I'm sure he could fit in another big Shakespeare or two - what about another RSC season with him as Shylock and as Falstaff in the Merry Wives?! Angelo does seem an obvious one for him. Though i love the idea of Shylock/Falstaff. He has spoken about poss doing Shylock. Surely R2 is gone now? |
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Post by Jan on Aug 17, 2017 13:31:13 GMT
There's always radio of course.... Angelo in Measure for Measure is another one I always saw him as ideal for; he has done that for CD. There's Cymbeline and Julius Caesar as title roles; I wonder if he could be tempted to do Falstaff on stage in the right production. A Merry Wives, if not the full Henry IVs. What about Shylock? We know he's in the play about Bach for Hytner's new theatre next year. I'm sure he could fit in another big Shakespeare or two - what about another RSC season with him as Shylock and as Falstaff in the Merry Wives?! Angelo does seem an obvious one for him. Though i love the idea of Shylock/Falstaff. He has spoken about poss doing Shylock. Surely R2 is gone now? Not sure on R-II, it would depend on the production. Spacey was good in the role and he was middle-aged, but probably yes, late 50s is too old. Angelo or Duke in Measure for Measure would be feasible. He's a character actor rather than a leading actor really, several of the leading Shakespeare roles have been (or would have been) entirely unsuitable for him: Macbeth, Henry V, Coriolanus, Titus Andronicus, Antony. He is a great comic actor, could do Bottom in an unconventional way maybe. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2017 14:03:07 GMT
If you go the Maria Aberg route, present Richard II as a tragedy about a character who is a king rather than a history play about a real historical king, there's no reason why Richard would therefore have to be played by a maximum 33 year old.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2017 14:45:39 GMT
could do Bottom in an unconventional way maybe. Quite. |
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Post by Jan on Aug 17, 2017 14:59:14 GMT
could do Bottom in an unconventional way maybe. Quite. I didn't see it but critics say that Richard Griffiths was great in the role playing Bottom as a controlled, quiet man with small precise gestures - you sort of imagine gestures like Oliver Hardy - and none of the usual broad slapstick and coarseness. You could imagine SRB finding a similarly novel way to play it. |
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Post by tributary on Aug 23, 2017 18:58:20 GMT
SRB is far better in comedy than in drama. His best recent performance by some margin was Hytner's London Assurance. I didn't rate his Hamlet at all though his poison toad Richard 3rd was rather good. I could imagine him being rather operatic as Richard II.
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Post by Jan on Aug 23, 2017 19:39:01 GMT
SRB is far better in comedy than in drama. His best recent performance by some margin was Hytner's London Assurance. I didn't rate his Hamlet at all though his poison toad Richard 3rd was rather good. I could imagine him being rather operatic as Richard II. Yes, for me the high point of his career was that very early season of fops he played for the RSC, he is unsurpassed in that class of material, very good in London Assurance as you say. His Macbeth was terrible, shouldn't have been cast. |
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Post by martin1965 on Aug 23, 2017 20:28:52 GMT
SRB is far better in comedy than in drama. His best recent performance by some margin was Hytner's London Assurance. I didn't rate his Hamlet at all though his poison toad Richard 3rd was rather good. I could imagine him being rather operatic as Richard II. Yes, for me the high point of his career was that very early season of fops he played for the RSC, he is unsurpassed in that class of material, very good in London Assurance as you say. His Macbeth was terrible, shouldn't have been cast. Indeed, that Swan season was 30 years ago!!! |
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