As I have been reading Judi Dench’s Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent (a very enjoyable read) and just updated my list of favourite Shakespearean performances, here’s a shortlist of performances I wish to have seen:
- 17th century:
Richard Burbage as Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth (obviously, he worked directly with our man)
- 18th century:
Sarah Siddons as Lady Macbeth (because William Hazlitt calls her “Tragedy personified” and this is her most famous role)
- 19th century:
Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth (I mean, have you seen Sargent’s painting? I’ve also seen the dress in person)
Sarah Siddons as Hermione (because of some commentaries I’ve read in The Winter’s Tale Casebook)
- 20th century:
Vivien Leigh as Lady Macbeth (I’m curious about her performance) and Cleopatra (come on, she must have been great in the role)
Diana Rigg as Lady Macbeth (the best Regan I have seen, she would have been great as Lady Macbeth)
Ralph Richardson as Falstaff (he’s part of the trinity, and extraordinary in everything I’ve seen)
Judi Dench as Gertrude with Daniel Day-Lewis as Hamlet (come on, that sounds amazing, I also like Judi Dench’s analysis of Gertrude and the play)
Judi Dench as Isabella (I like her comments on the character)
- 21st century:
Frances Barber as Cleopatra (she is Cleopatra, I have heard her on audio and wish I had seen her onstage)
Give me your list.
That’s an easy one — Shakespeare playing the Ghost in Hamlet or any role actually, including the ones in Ben Jonson’s plays
ReplyDeleteThis is just about the roles in Shakespeare's plays though.
DeleteSo, you wouldn’t have liked to see him as the Ghost in Hamlet? Or the other roles he played in his own plays? (This is Susan by the way)
DeleteI'd like that, so I was cheating by saying Richard Burbage as Hamlet because I assumed Shakespeare to also be there.
DeleteGreat choices, some of which I wasn't aware of. I'd add (for me) Edmund Kean, not because of faithfulness to the roles but for what passed for popular in the day. A measurement and reflection of the tastes of the day, if you will.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure there are other actors across time that we could say the same, but Kean was the first that came to mind.
Yeah, of course, there have been lots of famous performances through history. It's just that these performances piqued my interest and curiosity for some reason.
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