Ian McKellen on Macbeth: Performing Shakespeare

by Ian McKellen, Julian Curry

Overview

Ian McKellen discusses playing Macbeth, in this ebook taken from Shakespeare On Stage: Thirteen Leading Actors on Thirteen Key Roles.

In each volume of the Shakespeare On Stage series, a leading actor takes us behind the scenes, recreating in detail a memorable performance in one of Shakespeare's major roles. They discuss their character, working through the play scene by scene, with refreshing candour and in forensic detail. The result is a masterclass on playing the role, invaluable for other actors and directors, as well as students of Shakespeare – and fascinating for audiences of the play.

In this volume, Ian McKellen discusses playing the title role in Macbeth opposite Judi Dench in Trevor Nunn's 1976 production for the Royal Shakespeare Company.

This interview, together with the others in the series (with actors such as Derek Jacobi, Jude Law and Patrick Stewart), is also available in the collection Shakespeare On Stage: Thirteen Leading Actors on Thirteen Key Roles by Julian Curry, with a foreword by Trevor Nunn.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781780012049
Publisher:	Hern, Nick Books
Publication date:	05/23/2013
Series:	Shakespeare on Stage , #8
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	329 KB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Ian McKellen is an acclaimed British actor. Initially a renowned stage actor, he is more recently known for screen work such as The Lord of the Rings, X-Men and The Da Vinci Code. On stage, he has won a Tony, two Evening Standard and two Olivier Awards.

Julian Curry is a writer and actor, perhaps best known for playing Claude Erskine-Brown in Rumpole of the Bailey on television. He has appeared in many of Shakespeare's plays, frequently with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Ian McKellen is an acclaimed British actor whose career spans genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is internationally known for his work on screen, including in The Lord of the Rings, X-Men and The Da Vinci Code. He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1979, was knighted in 1991 for services to the performing arts, and made a Companion of Honour for services to drama and to equality in 2008.

Julian Curry (1937-2020) was a writer and actor who appeared in many of Shakespeare's plays. His extensive stage credits include leading roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and in London's West End.

He was also well known as Claude Erskine-Brown in the popular television series Rumpole of the Bailey. Numerous other TV credits include Inspector Morse, Sherlock Holmes, The Misanthrope, King Lear, Kavanagh QC, The Wyvern Mystery, A Fine Romance and Midsomer Murders. Among many movies are The Missionary, Fall from Grace, Rasputin, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Escape to Victory (starring Pelé).

His one-man entertainment Hic! or The Entire History of Wine (abridged) was performed over a hundred and fifty times, from Hong Kong to Bermuda to San Francisco, and sold out as a cartoon-illustrated book. He also wrote and recorded A Guide to Wine for Naxos Audiobooks.

His books, Shakespeare On Stage and Shakespeare On Stage: Volume 2, were both shortlisted for the Theatre Book Prize, and are published by Nick Hern Books.