King Lear in Brooklyn

By: Michael Pennington

Write A Review

eBook | 16 September 2020 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

ePUB
304 Pages

eBook

RRP $53.99

$48.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $12.25 with

or

Instant Digital Delivery to your Kobo Reader App

What is King Lear really thinking? What has made his daughters what they are? What does his mysterious Fool dream about? What really lies behind the familiar lines of Shakespeare's great tragedy?

Michael Pennington appeared triumphantly as King Lear in New York in 2014 and repeats the part in a major UK tour in 2016. As well as giving an enthralling account of the circumstances and fortunes of the New York production, he dispels the idea of this great play as something forbidding and remote by bringing its characters vividly into the present in their contemporary voices to explain their reactions, strategies, struggles and setbacks.

This counterpoint of Shakespeare's play seen from this point of view with the earthly story of the actor working in Brooklyn with real people is uncanny and beautiful. Pennington's account is also funny, highly personal and deeply illuminating, both honest and scholarly. Invaluable for theatre practitioners, theatregoers and all lovers of Shakespeare, KING LEAR IN BROOKLYN is the work of one of our very finest actor-writers at the top of his game.

Industry Reviews

Michael Pennington is a great actor, and a great writer about actors and acting. This book has all the wit, wisdom and passion that characterises his performances. Here is a page-turning artistic journey to an undiscovered country on the map, and in the mind. It brings with it all the touchingly complex humanity that the author finds in King Lear itself. It is written with honesty, heart and humour by a master of his craft, and I thoroughly recommend it.