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Original poster

Anyone who enjoys Shakespeare

143 replies

EveryKneeShallBow · 29/12/2023 18:20

… who has been your greatest actor, and in which role?

For me (I live in the middle of nowhere so I watch YouTube and NT Online)

Adrian Lester as Othello, with Rory Kinnear as Iago
Andrew Scott as Hamlet
Tamsin Greig as Malvolio

OP posts:
SonicAllanKey · 29/12/2023 18:21

I saw Sir Ian McKellen play Prospero live and that really stuck with me.

I also loved Ralph Fiennes as Anthony in &C

JayAlfredPrufrock · 29/12/2023 18:24

Olivier as Hamlet

UnimaginableWindBird · 29/12/2023 18:27

Probably not the greatest performance ever, but Hammed Animashaun as Bottom in the the Bridge Theatre Midsummer Night's Dream made me see the character, and the play, in a whole different way, and gave such depth and emotion and tenderness to what is generally a bit of a slapstick role.

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NetballHoop · 29/12/2023 18:31

I do like Shakespeare a lot but struggle a bit with performances as I'm a quite insistent that they should follow the text with no variation which they never do.

I know this is a bit weird but it's me.

Favourite play is the Scottish one.

nocoolnamesleft · 29/12/2023 18:33

One of my favourites was the RSC production of Hamlet (quite) a few years ago that had David Tennant and Patrick Stewart. But do not ask what the tickets cost.

Purplecatshopaholic · 29/12/2023 18:36

Ooh, so many to choose from. Kenneth B’s Hamlet film is awesome - just love it.

notprincehamlet · 29/12/2023 18:36

Antony Sher as King Lear (and David Troughton as Gloucester) (RSC), Ralph Fiennes as Richard II (Gainsborough studios)

NeedWineNow · 29/12/2023 18:38

We saw Adrian Lester as Othello and Rory Kinnear as Iago at the National Theatre. It was absolutely spellbinding. For the last 30 mins you could have heard a pin drop in the theatre - I don't think I took a breath.

Amazing performances.

TheWillowTrees · 29/12/2023 18:38

UnimaginableWindBird · 29/12/2023 18:27

Probably not the greatest performance ever, but Hammed Animashaun as Bottom in the the Bridge Theatre Midsummer Night's Dream made me see the character, and the play, in a whole different way, and gave such depth and emotion and tenderness to what is generally a bit of a slapstick role.

Agreed, he was great.

Again, not claiming this is the best ever but I was amazed by Paul Ready (the wet dad from Motherland) as Macbeth at the Sam Wanamaker a few years ago. Such a good production and a properly coherent account of Macbeth’s decline and sense of the pull of fate.

Latewinter · 29/12/2023 18:38

Paterson Joseph as Brutus in Julius Caesar.

Original poster
EveryKneeShallBow · 29/12/2023 18:40

Isn’t it wonderful when you see someone who completely changes your understanding of the play, or shows you a new slant?

OP posts:
ReineMarieGamache · 29/12/2023 18:41

Simon Russell Beale as Richard III.

MerlinsBeard87 · 29/12/2023 18:45

Mark Rylance as Olivia in twelfth night at the globe

mynameiscalypso · 29/12/2023 18:49

Othello with David Harewood, Clare Skinner and Simon Russell Beale in 1997. I still think about it regularly despite it being over 25 years ago.

mynameiscalypso · 29/12/2023 18:50

Honourable mention to David Tennant in the current version of Macbeth. He's excellent in it.

punypower · 29/12/2023 18:51

Tamsin Greig as Beatrice in Much Ado. SO good that it was impossible to watch anyone else on stage.

Cappuccinfortwo · 29/12/2023 19:09

The only one I can actually remember is seeing Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet on a school trip to Stratford.

eddiemairswife · 29/12/2023 19:11

At one time the BBC put on classical plays on Sunday evening. I remember Troilus and Cressida

betterangels · 29/12/2023 19:14

Andrew Scott in Hamlet. Glenda Jackson in King Lear.

claracluck1978 · 29/12/2023 19:23

I saw Kenneth Branagh as Hamlet 30 odd years ago on a school trip. I fell in love with him and Shakespeare. Earlier this month I saw him again as King Lear.
I still love him, though I don't watch/read Shakespeare as much as I would like.

Nonplusultra · 29/12/2023 19:25

@UnimaginableWindBird agree.

Edward Bennet as Macduff. I think it was Polly Findlay’s production maybe 2018/19 and it had great concepts that didn’t quite carry. But the scene where Macduff hears that his family has been murdered was incredibly powerful and the contrast between Macduff and Macbeth on one hand and Malcolm on the other in that moment was everything.

Pebbles16 · 29/12/2023 19:26

Judi Dench as Cleopatra (Anthony Hopkins was Caesar but not as good). School A level trip.
James McAvoy as Macbeth.

theresnolimits · 29/12/2023 19:28

I saw that Adrian Lestor/Rory Kinnear Othello at the National. It was incredible.

No one has done Romeo as well as Leonardo Di Caprio in the film for me.

Ben Whishall was brilliant at Brutus in a recent Julius Caesar.

Gnomegarden32 · 29/12/2023 19:28

@TheWillowTrees Wow, that’s quite a range Paul Ready has!

PhotoDad · 29/12/2023 19:31

I somehow managed to see Derek Jacobi as Richard II, Mark Rylance as Hamlet, and Ian Mackellan as Richard III. They are performances which have all really stuck with me over the years!