At the  Opening Night Party for Richard II at Stratford on the 17th October 2013 Greg Doran made Michael his first Honorary Associate Artist. Click here for the article.

Michael’s Message October  2013

Greetings!

I've been much delayed in updating my News - it's been a busy summer for sure. I did the Captain in Strindberg’s DANCES OF DEATH in a version by Howard Brenton, at the Gate Theatre in London in May and June and now I'm in Stratford about to open as John of Gaunt in Richard II, Greg Doran’s opening production as Artistic Director of the RSC with David Tennant. The difference between the Gate is just that the Gate achieves miracles on a shoestring and The RSC produces miracles, full stop. And I'm really happy to be back in Stratford.

While I'm here I'll be doing a single performance of SWEET WILLIAM on Sunday October 20th in the Swan - which seems its natural home - so if you're around… Otherwise the DVD of the show is available at the National Theatre and RSC bookshops, at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Bookshop in Stratford, and also on Amazon.

RICHARD II plays at Stratford till mid-November and then at the Barbican until early in the New Year.

Then I'm off to New York to play King Lear for a terrific company called Theatre for a New Audience who've built a brand new theatre (very beautiful) in Brooklyn; they open this autumn with Julie Taymor's production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, and LEAR is the second show in, playing March 14th to May 4th. Jeffrey Horowitz, the Company's Artistic Director, and Arin Arbus his brilliant young director (who'll be doing LEAR) and I have been cooking this up for two or three years now, ever since I was there with Peter Brook's LOVE IS MY SIN, so I'm really pleased about it.

I've also just finished my book for Faber about the actor’s life, called LET ME PLAY THE LION too, which I hope will be out next year. Meanwhile my book SWEET WILLIAM - TWENTY THOUSAND HOURS WITH SHAKESPEARE will be out in paperback in December under a slightly new title, SWEET WILLIAM – A USER’S GUIDE TO SHAKESPEARE.

My thanks again to Mary Hunwicks who runs this site. 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.

All the best and thanks for the interest.

Michael Pennington

October 2013

18th October 2013

Richard II has opened to some very good reviews for Michael’s John of Gaunt. Click here to read them. It was also announced at the after the opening night party that Greg Doran announced that Michael would be his first Honorary Associate Artist at the RSC.

13th September 2013

Michael will be performing Sweet William at the Swan Theatre in Stratford on Sunday 20th October. Tickets can be purchased at www.rsc.org.uk. He will also be talking to the Friends of the RSC on Saturday 26th October.

8th September 2013

Leading up to the screening of Richard II in cinemas on the 13th November the RSC are adding regular weekly behind the scenes films to their web site. The first was added on the 30th August and you can find it on the Updates and News page.

24th August 2013

There will be more news regarding this to follow, but you might like to make a date for your diaries for March/May next year when Michael will be playing King Lear in New York. You can check out the details on the theatre’s site:
http://www.tfana.org/season-2014/king-lear/overview

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