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6%OFFHarriet Walter - Brutus and Other Heroines: Playing Shakespeare´s Roles for Women - 9781848422933 - V9781848422933
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Brutus and Other Heroines: Playing Shakespeare´s Roles for Women

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Description for Brutus and Other Heroines: Playing Shakespeare´s Roles for Women Paperback. Award-winning actress Dame Harriet Walter reflects on performing Shakespeare's most famous roles - both male and female. An exploration of the Shakespearean canon through the eyes of a self-identified 'feminist actor' - but, above all, a remarkable account of an acting career unconstrained by tradition or expectations. Num Pages: 224 pages. BIC Classification: AN; DSGS. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 141 x 217 x 19. Weight in Grams: 306.

'A part we have played is like a person we once met, grew to know, became intimately enmeshed with and finally moved away from. Some of these characters remain friends, others are like ex–lovers with whom we no longer have anything in common. All of them bring something out in us that will never go back in the box.'

In a varied and distinguished career, Harriet Walter has played almost all of Shakespeare's heroines, notably Ophelia, Helena, Portia, Viola, Imogen, Lady Macbeth, Beatrice and Cleopatra, mostly for the Royal Shakespeare Company. But where, she asks, does an actress go ... Read more

For Walter, the solution was to ignore the dictates of centuries of tradition, and to begin playing the mature male characters. Her Brutus in an all–female Julius Caesar at the Donmar Warehouse was widely acclaimed, and was soon followed by Henry IV. What, she asks, can an actress bring to these roles – and is there any fundamental difference in the way they must be played?

In Brutus and Other Heroines, Walter discusses each of these roles – both male and female – from the inside, explaining the particular choices she made in preparing and performing each character. Her extraordinarily perceptive and intimate accounts illuminate each play as a whole, offering a treasure trove of valuable insights for theatregoers, scholars and anyone interested in how the plays work on stage. Aspiring actors, too, will discover the many possibilities open to them in playing these magnificent roles.

The book is an exploration of the Shakespearean canon through the eyes of a self-identified 'feminist actor' – but, above all, a remarkable account of an acting career unconstrained by tradition or expectations. It concludes with an affectionate rebuke to her beloved Will: 'I cannot imagine a world without you. I just wish you had put more women at the centre of your world/stage… I would love you to come back and do some rewrites.'

'A glorious reminder that genuine diversity on stage offers astonishing creative benefits… Harriet Walter is mesmerising in one play after another, bringing her classical training to bear as a conflicted Brutus, then a Henry IV who wears his crown heavily, and finally a Prospero who knows that the steel bars of prison are resistant to all magic… this is genuinely art to enchant' The Guardian on the Donmar Warehouse's Shakespeare Trilogy

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Product Details

Publisher
Nick Hern Books
Format
Paperback
Publication date
2016
Condition
New
Number of Pages
224
Place of Publication
London, United Kingdom
ISBN
9781848422933
SKU
V9781848422933
Shipping Time
Usually ships in 4 to 8 working days
Ref
99-2

About Harriet Walter
Besides the Shakespearean characters listed in this book, Harriet Walter has played many other great classical stage roles, including the Duchess of Malfi (RSC), Hedda Gabler (Chichester and tour), Nina in Thomas Kilroy’s Irish version of Chekhov’s The Seagull with Anna Massey and Alan Rickman (Royal Court), Masha in Three Sisters (RSC; Olivier Award), Anna Petrovna in Ivanov with Ralph ... Read more

Reviews for Brutus and Other Heroines: Playing Shakespeare´s Roles for Women
'Intelligent, thoughtful… a strong combination of actor's guide to interpreting text and more general reflections on Shakespeare, but it's the book's element of female empowerment - whether through cross-casting or making judicious choices - which makes this such a potent read… an invaluable tool for actors, but more than that, this is a battle cry for us all to demand ... Read more

Goodreads reviews for Brutus and Other Heroines: Playing Shakespeare´s Roles for Women


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