Page 13 - Macbeth News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

At the other place, which was just a shed then. it's a theatre now, but it was just a shed. i always said that the sound was by god, because there was an enormous gust of wind under the door during the sleepwalking, and all i had was a candle. and the candle kind of would... it was very, very helpful! the candle did a lot of the acting for me during the sleepwalking. laughs here's the smell of the blood... ..still! all the perfumes of arabia will not sweeten this... ..little. .. ..hand.

Sobs, wheezes wails it was so exciting, though, because, you know, the audience was in there, as you are. mmm. so you had to be on the ball a bit. this is regarded as a landmark production now, directed by trevor nunn, and ian mckellen as macbeth. how much, when you when you take on a role like that, are you setting out to give a new fresh interpretation of lady macbeth? no, i think that would be fatal. you have to just think, "i'm going to play this "to the best of my ability, with the best of my "understanding," and of course, with trevor and with ian and with everybody else in the cast, it'...

British council. right. the british council said, would we go? because macbeth, twelfth night, and arms and the man were the set books for these young people, the children in nigeria, ghana, sierra leone. would we go and perform them? it was an experience i'll never, ever, everforget. ever. everything that rhymed made everybody laugh a lot. so "the thane of fife had a wife" used to bring the house down. absolutely... imean... oh, god. but that sort of performance, that sort of tour, taking it, as you say, to the people, i mean, it must give you a different insight into the power... of shakespe...

Long time ago, when my brother peter played duncan at st peter's school. macbeth. and i was taken... yeah. and he walked in and said, "what bloody man is that?" and i thought, "this is for me, this is absolutely for me." and then we went to stratford, when i was still bent on being a designer, and saw michael redgrave as lear. and it was the most incredible set, which was a great, huge, flat circle. and in the middle was a pile of stones which turned, so there could be a cave or a throne or anything else. so nobody had to come in with anything, and the action was completely continuous. and tha...

Mmm. and he was able to somehow say it in a way that we use today, colloquially. mmm. we don't know that we do it so often, i think. it's just occurred to me, i've said the word "macbeth" several times in your house. that's ok with you, is it? oh, yes. the next role that i'd like to talk about is another powerful, tragic woman — cleopatra in antony and cleopatra. and you played opposite anthony hopkins... idid. ..in a peter hall—directed production at the national theatre in 1987. i've read that you questioned peter hall's judgement when he cast you as cleopatra. idid. what was your worry?...