Internet Shakespeare Editions

Shakespeare in Performance: Film

Peter Hall [on the Late Plays] (1989)

TitlePeter Hall [on the Late Plays]
Year1989
Release LocationsGB
MediumColor video
Length55 mins
Play ConnectionsCymbeline (scene(s))
The Tempest (scene(s))
The Winter's Tale (scene(s))

Description

"Features interviews with Peter Hall and actors Tim Pigott-Smith, Eileen Atkins, and Sarah Miles as they struggle to produce Cymbeline, The Winter's Tale, and Tempest for the May 1988 opening at the National Theatre. We get excellent rehearsal footage, particularly of the opening scene of WT and Iachimo's observation of Imogen and subsequent report to Posthumous. Particularly interesting are Hall's comments on the half line, where the actor must leave the line at a level that allows the second actor to pick it up, thus completing the line even if two voices speak it. The show [also] gives brief glimpses of Hall's great 1974 production: Denis Quilley and Arthur Lowe as Caliban and Stephano, and John Gielgud's 'This rough magic' speech (Coursen, H.R. "Recently Viewed on TV and Tape." SFNL 14.1 [Dec. 1989]: 7)

Description from Shakespeare on Screen : an International Filmography and Videography by Kenneth S. Rothwell and Annabelle Henkin Melzer. ©1990 Kenneth S. Rothwell. Cited by permission. — Added 2008-11-14

Cast Overview

CastJohn Gielgud
CastPeter Hall
CastArthur Low
CastSarah Miles
CastTim Pigott-Smith
CastDenis Quilley

Production information courtesy of: Kenneth Rothwell