Michael

Pennington

Greetings!

This is the latest instalment of my introduction to the new-look website - with continued thanks to Mary Hunwicks; all the other links she’s started - Home, Introduction, Career, Articles, Contact - you can reach as always by going to one of the links on the left. There are also two new links now: One Man Shows and Books. And if you’ve any queries or comments on what I’m writing here, that’s where to reply to as well.

The main news is that the DVD of my solo Shakespeare show, SWEET WILLIAM, is now available. It goes under the title of SWEET WILLIAM - MY LIFE WITH SHAKESPEARE. It’s the entire performance, filmed with a live audience at LAMDA about a year ago with three cameras, and we’ve been editing it ever since.

At last I’m happy (I’ve produced as well as playing it); and now the stock’s arrived. At the moment it’s available from the National Theatre Bookshop for £12.99, at the RST Bookshop in Stratford at the same price; also online through both of them. It’s also available at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Bookshop in Stratford; and on Amazon.

And talking of SWEET WILLIAM, my book SWEET WILLIAM - TWENTY THOUSAND HOURS WITH SHAKESPEARE was nominated for the Theatre Book of the Year Award named after Sheridan Morley. The paperback should be available in the autumn, under a slightly new title, SWEET WILLIAM – A USER’S GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE.

I’m playing the Captain in Strindberg’s DANCES OF DEATH in a version by Howard Brenton, at the Gate Theatre in London from the end of May through to early July; then after a break I’ll go back to the RSC for the autumn and winter to play John of Gaunt in Richard II in Greg Doran’s opening production as Artistic Director with David Tennant. That plays at Stratford and then at the Barbican until early in the New Year.

The rest of the time I’ll be finishing a book for Faber about the actor’s life which is to be called LET ME PLAY THE LION TOO. (Do you know your Midsummer Night’s Dream?)

All the best and thanks for the interest.

Michael Pennington

April 2013

This site is maintained by Mary Hunwicks on behalf of Michael Pennington