Performing Hamlet

Jonathan Croall is a theatre historian and biographer, and author of Performing King Lear: Gielgud to Russell Beale (The Arden Shakespeare, 2016), John Gielgud: Matinee Idol to Movie Star (Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, 2011) and Buzz Buzz! Playwrights, Actors and Directors at the National Theatre (Methuen Drama, 2008).

• ContentsList of Illustrations AcknowledgementsReflectionsIntroduction Stage History1 The Fifties: Michael Redgrave 1 – Alec Guinness – Richard Burton – Paul Scofield –Michael Redgrave 2 2 The Sixties: Jeremy Brett – Peter O’Toole – David Warner – Nicol Williamson 3 The Seventies: Alan Howard – Ian McKellen – Albert Finney – Ben Kingsley – Derek Jacobi – Frances de la Tour 4 The Eighties: Jonathan Pryce – Michael Pennington – Anton Lesser – Roger Rees – Kenneth Branagh 1 – Mark Rylance 1 – Daniel Day-Lewis 5 The Nineties: Kenneth Branagh 2 – Alan Cumming – Stephen Dillane – Ralph Fiennes – Alex Jennings – Paul Rhys 6 The Noughties: Mark Rylance 2 – Adrian Lester – Samuel West – Michael Maloney – Ben Whishaw – Jamie Ballard – David Tennant – Jude Law 7 The Teens: Rory Kinnear – Michael Sheen – Jonathan Slinger – Maxine Peake – Benedict Cumberbatch – Paapa Essiedu – Andrew Scott 8 Simon Russell Beale, Hamlet Observed: The National Theatre at Work9 Hamlets at ElsinoreMain SourcesFurther ReadingBibliographyIndex

In Performing Hamlet Croall gives a glimpse into preparing and performing the role of Hamlet … Croall's examination is not purely academic: he enriches it with interviews of five actors and six directors engaged in productions of Hamlet. This makes the text much more appealing and applicable to the modern actor/director. Chapter 9 offers an extensive “day in the life” look at the 2000 National Theatre production with Simon Russell Beale as Hamlet. This chapter helps convey the fast-paced life of the professional actor in preparation, performance, and touring … This is a solid and fresh study for actors/directors and those researching the production history of Hamlet. Summing Up: Recommended.