As you browse this and other pages, clicking on the blue links that serve as navigating
devices, you'll see that we're now using online formats for most of our
offerings. All but a handful have been produced in collaboration with the
National Arts Club in
Manhattan, and our conversations with DAME
JUDI DENCH and SIR IAN MCKELLEN, which drew more than 2,000 viewers
apiece from around the globe, attracted the
NAC's largest audiences of 2021 and were featured in the Club's year-end
highlights.
Much of the credit for these successes belongs to
BEN HARTLEY, who served for several years as executive director of the Club, and on February 16, 2022, we chatted with him about the new initiatves
he brought to one of America's most vibrant institutions. To enjoy this
conversation, click here.
And click here to watch a March 18, 2022, chat with actor and visual artist CLIVE FRANCIS. Clive has played leading roles with the Royal
Shakespeare Company and has appeared in such films and television series
as A Clockwork Orange, The Crown, Sense and Sensibility,
and Yes, Prime Minister. A gifted illustrator, he has also produced
elegant caricatures
of SIR JOHN GIELGUD and other celebrities that are now displayed in
West End theatres such as the beautiful one that now bears Gielgud's name.
In 1994 he published Sir John: The
Many Faces of Gielgud, a 90th-birthday collection that featured
anecdotes from many of the dedicatee's most esteemed colleagues. And since
2005 a commemorative portrait that Clive produced in 1996 (copies of which
Sir John inscribed with his distinctive signature) has been presented to
recipients of the Gielgud
Award.
Our most recent program was a delightful February 21 conversation with F.
MURRAY ABRAHAM. Murray received the Guild's 2010 Gielgud
Award at the National Arts Club, and his dozens of other honors include the Oscar trophy he earned for his brilliant portrayal of Salieri in director Milos Forman's 1984 film version of dramatist Peter Shaffer's Amadeus.
To watch a program that was elegantly hosted by the NAC's Nadine Heidinger, click here. And to enjoy not only that interview but several conversations with other luminaries that have been brought together, thanks to Talia Pura and Greg Malone of Theatre Santa Fe, click here.
A WESTMINSTER ABBEY CEREMONY IN HONOR OF SIR JOHN GIELGUD
Meanwhile, we invite you to savor a historic event that took place Tuesday evening, April 26, 2022, in
WESTMINSTER ABBEY. One of the globe's most iconic settings, this venerable
institution is renowned, among other things, for POETS'
CORNER, where Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, and other authors
are honored along with such legendary dramatic artists as
Henry Irving, the first actor to be knighted, and
Laurence Olivier, a legend in whose name each season's award-worthy
achievements are now recognized by the Society
of London Theatre.
The focus of our proceedings was a beautiful new floor
monument, carved by WAYNE
HART, to commemorate the life and legacy of
SIR JOHN GIELGUD. By design the occasion linked two resonant birthdays,
Shakespeare's 458th (the playwright was baptized on April 26, 1564) and
Gielgud's 118th (the actor was born on April 14, 1904). And to give viewers
a foretaste of the Abbey festivities, actress and singer Shana
Farr of The Players
and Guild president John
Andrews hosted an online conversation in February that permitted Mr.
Hart to outline his approach to this special commission and allow viewers
to observe his first incisions in the marble slab that would soon be placed
in Poets' Corner. To revisit that poignant moment, click
here.
For background on a ceremony that would prove to be deeply moving, you'll
enjoy an April 11th article in The
Stage, where Sir Stanley Wells of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
discusses Sir John's
life and career and alludes to an October 2019 conversation at the Gielgud
Theatre between John Andrews of the Guild and Paul Edmondson of the Trust that helped prepare the way for the festivities that occurred two and a half years later at the Abbey.
Participants in the program included
DAME JANET SUZMAN, who serves as a member of the
Sir John Gielgud Charitable Trust, vocalist SHANA
FARR, and four Gielgud Award recipients: producer and filmmater
SIR RICHARD EYRE, playwright
SIR DAVID HARE, and performers
DAME JUDI DENCH and SIR
IAN MCKELLEN.
To view the Abbey's "Order of Service," click here. And click on the blue links that follow for photographs of (a)
the printed booklet, (b)
The Very Reverend DR. DAVID HOYLE, Dean of Westminster, as he opens
the proceedings, (c) DAME JANET SUZMAN
as she reads Psalm 19:1-6, (d) SIR
RICHARD EYRE as he pays tribute to Sir John, (e) SIR
IAN MCKELLEN as he recites a Shakespearean passage from "The Book of
Sir Thomas More," (f) SIR DAVID HARE as
he extols the ease with which Sir John made the transition from classical
roles at the beginning of his career to more contemporary ones as he matured,
(g) DAME JUDI DENCH as she recites Sonnet
29, (h) SHANA FARR as she introduces her
rendering of "Jerusalem," and (i)
DAME JUDI as she unveils the memorial stone.
Not surprisingly, there was significant media coverage. For a sampling of
stories on television's BBC One and in London newspapers such as the Daily
Mail, the Evening Standard, the Telegraph, and the
Times, click here.
And for additional highlights, including video links to key moments in the
service, see the articles in the Irvine
Times, in Yahoo
News, in Lynn
News, and in the
Bishop's Stortford Independent.
For background on the Abbey and its rich history, including vignettes that feature several of the key participants in our Poets' Corner proceedings, you'll enjoy Westminster Abbey: Behind Closed Doors, a five-hour documentary from Britain's Channel 5 that was being produced before, during, and shortly after our event and contains several references to it. Click on the following links to watch Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5 of this fascinating series.
Attendees at our gathering included Guardian critic Michael
Billington, who shared his reactions to the event on Twitter
and said that the evening "struck just the right note: a mix of admiration
for Gielgud and delight in his humour." Also on hand for the occasion were
such notables as actor and director
Keith Baxter, writer
Giles Brandreth, arts consultant
Stephen Browning and his wife Julia, theatre critic
Michael Coveney, Gielgud biographer
Jonathan Croall, BBC radio host
Billy Differ, who also serves as Director of Operations for Delfont
Mackintosh Theatres, actress
Kate Gielgud, producers Piers
and Suzanne Gielgud, producer Thelma
Holt, actors Sir Derek Jacobi and
Richard Clifford, actress
Kathryn Meisle, film producer
David Parfitt, former Old Vic executive director Vivien
Wallace, actors
Timothy West and
Prunella Scales, and Shakespeare Birthplace Trust leaders
Sir Stanley Wells, Honorary President, and
Paul Edmondson, Head of Research.
Among other things, the occasion provided vivid reminders that Sir John
will always be revered for his extraordinary career as an actor, director,
and producer. These achievements were extolled with particular eloquence
in the tributes by SIR
RICHARD EYRE and SIR
DAVID HARE.
But it's equally important to remember that Sir John will also be cherished
for his witty repartee, and for his gifts as an eloquent memoirist, a shrewd
critic, and an indispensable theatre historian. Among his most lasting contributions
to our cultural lives will be the charming books and articles he wrote,
among them several that he produced, along with a memorable interview that
was televised from his stately home in Wotton Underwood, with journalist,
arts presenter, and biographer John
Miller. Unfortunately, John and his wife Aileen were unable to join us at the Abbey, and he died a few months later. Click here for the lovely obituary that apppeared shortly thereafter in The Guardian.
In 1985 Sir John provided an incisive overview about "Tradition,
Style, and the Shakespearean Actor Today" to William
Shakespeare: His World, His Work, His Influence, a 3-volume reference
set that was published by Scribners.
A few years later he wrote illuminating forewords to Everyman Shakespeare
editions of Julius Caesar and
The Tempest. And in 1994
he graciously agreed to permit the Shakespeare Guild to establish a new
Award in his name.
For all they did to ensure the success of this Poets' Corner commemoration, which was completely underwritten by the Guild, we're
deeply indebted to The
Very Reverend Dr. David Hoyle, Dean of Westminster, to architect Ptolemy
Dean, 19th Surveyor of the Fabric of Westminster Abbey, to Ian
Bartlett, Clerk of the Works at the Abbey, to The
Reverend Robert Latham, Sacrist at the Abbey, and to Eleanor
Lovegrove, the Abbey's Press and Communications Officer.
The Guild is also grateful for the indispensable support of Catherine Allen,
Eric Andrews, Sue Bellars, Letitia Chambers, Jan Denton, Jeffrey Hardy,
Lisa Andrews Hobart, and Gerry Ohrstrom.
A MEMORABLE 2021 SEASON OF ONLINE ATTRACTIONS
We opened our 2021 SPEAKING OF SHAKESPEARE series on Wednesday,
February 24, with a conversation that focused on
JUDI DENCH. The Guild had honored Dame Judi with its 1999 Gielgud
trophy at Broadway’s Barrymore
Theatre during a gala that featured such luminaries
as Keith Baxter, Zoe Caldwell, Rebecca Eaton, David Hare, Hal Holbrook,
Robert MacNeil, Ronald Pickup, Toby Stephens, and Christopher Plummer. To
enjoy this charming visit to Dame Judi's home near London, click here. And to enjoy recent profile of Dame Judi in AARP: The Magazine, click
here.
A week later, on Wednesday, March 3, we enjoyed a wide-ranging NAC@Home
dialogue with IAN MCKELLEN
that focused primarily on his dozens of Shakespearean roles. In 1996 Sir
Ian had received the Guild's inaugural Gielgud
Award for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts during a historically
resonant ceremony at the Folger
Shakespeare Library in Washington, and at several points he recalled
that illustrious occasion. To revisit that conversation, click
here.
A week later, on Wednesday, March 3, we enjoyed a wide-ranging NAC@Home
dialogue with IAN MCKELLEN
that focused primarily on his dozens of Shakespearean roles. In 1996 Sir
Ian had received the Guild's inaugural Gielgud
Award for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts during a historically
resonant ceremony at the Folger
Shakespeare Library in Washington, and at several points he recalled
that illustrious occasion. To revisit that conversation, click
here.
On Tuesday, April 20, we focused on playwright DAVID
HARE. Having taken part in our 1999 Gielgud Award presentation
to Dame Judi Dench at the Barrymore
Theatre in New York, Sir David himself received our 2017 Gielgud trophy at London's venerable Guildhall.
To watch a memorable conversation
with an extraordinary dramatist, screenwriter, director, and performer, click
here.
A few days later, on Saturday, April 24, Guild President John Andrews and
cabaret artist SHANA FARR of The Players co-hosted a 2021 Shakespeare's
Birthday gathering with Oscar laureate F.
MURRAY ABRAHAM, an exchange that celebrated what has long been revered
as Edwin Booth's club, a historic institution that was founded by the actor
in 1888. To watch it, click
here.
Another of 2021's highlights occurred on Monday, June 14, when Mr. Andrews
arranged a delightful conversation with SUSAN
STAMBERG, one of the radio
pioneers who made All Things Considered an essential part
of our lives. In 1999 Mr. Andrews hosted an evening with Linda
Wertheimer and Cokie Roberts, two of Susan's NPR colleagues, at the
National Press Club. Three years earlier he'd asked Ms. Stamberg, who helped
launch the Gielgud
Award in 1994, to interview Kenneth
Branagh (who would go on to to win that trophy in January of 2000) at
the Smithsonian Institution. Two years later Ms. Stamberg interviewed 1998
Gielgud laureate Zoe
Caldwell and her husband Robert Whitehead at the Folger Shakespeare
Library. What led to our 2021 program with her was a remarkable new
book, Susan,
Linda, Nina, and Cokie, a tribute to "The Founding Mothers of NPR"
by arts journalist Lisa
Napoli. It's a riveting narrative, and if you click here you'll enjoy a memorable dialogue with the first of its title characters,
a legend whose many honors include a star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk
of Fame.
A few days later, on Tuesday, June 22, cabaret artist Shana
Farr, who serves as Vice-President for
The Players, hosted a wide-ranging discussion with Guild president JOHN ANDREWS. To enjoy this dialogue, click here.
Our final event of 2021, on Sunday, September 19, was a delightful follow-up
conversation with IAN MCKELLEN,
who by then was thrilling audiences in a production of Hamlet at
Theatre Royal Windsor. At 82, Sir Ian was starring in an age-blind, color-blind,
and gender-blind presentation of the drama with which Players founder
Edwin Booth concluded his career in 1891 at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music. Co-hosted by cabaret artist Shana
Farr and Guild president John
Andrews, this program was presented under the auspices of
The Players. To watch it, click
here.
Click here for background
on the Guild's signature Speaking of Shakespeare series, which
commenced with eminent director Peter Brook
in 1998 at the National Press Club in Washington, and has included
programs at the British Embassy, the Shakespeare Theatre Company, the University
Club, the Washington Club, and the Woman's National Democratic Club in D.C.,
the Chicago Shakespeare Theater in the Windy City, and such New York institutions
as the Algonquin Hotel, the English-Speaking Union, the Lambs, the Princeton
Club, and the Schimmel Center at Pace University.
And for details about offerings that have been presented in previous seasons,
click on the years that follow: 1998,
1999, 2000,
2001, 2002,
2003, 2004,
2005, 2006,
2007, 2008,
2009, 2010,
2011, 2012,
2013, 2014,
2015, 2016,
2017, 2018,
2019, and 2020.
OUR 2019 GIELGUD CEREMONY IN LONDON
Our most recent Gielgud Award, presented on Monday, October 28,
2019, paid tribute to the extraordinary achievements of Sir
Cameron Mackintosh. Once again our Award
festivities took place in conjunction with the UK
Theatre Awards Luncheon. And once again our Award selection
was featured in publications such as Broadway
World and The
Stage. As it happened, however, this celebration occurred, not
as usual in London's venerable Guildhall on Sunday, October 27, but at the
beautiful Gielgud
Theatre the following afternoon. As you'll see if you peruse our brief
overview about the gathering,
it proved to be a memorable occasion, and one that saluted not only that
year's Award recipient but Clive
Francis, the actor and visual artist whose caricatures are among the
highlights of a beautiful shrine to the Gielgud legacy.
Fifteen years earlier, on April 19, 2004, the Guild had joined the RSC and
RADA in that resonant setting for a remarkable Gielgud
Centenary Gala. Our 2019 gathering vividly recalled that occasion.
But it also commemorated two anniversaries that dated back a quarter of
a century: (a) the establishment of a new
award in Sir John's name, which was announced on April 24, 1994, at
the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, and (b) the renaming of a
venue
on Shaftesbury Avenue that had been known as the Globe prior to November
2, 1994, when it became the Gielgud Theatre in recognition of Sir John's
exemplary accomplishments, not least among them fifteen major productions
in that prestigious setting.
Bestowing our 2019 trophy was Sir
Richard Eyre, who was busy directing a revival of Mary Poppins
at London's Prince
Edward Theatre. In addition to his many achievements in the profession
for which he is best known, Sir Richard is a distinguished producer, filmmaker,
and author, and it was he who received our 2018
Gielgud Award at last October's UK Theatre Awards luncheon. Sir Richard's riveting television
production of King Lear, with Sir Anthony Hopkins in the title role, had debuted
a few weeks earlier on Amazon Prime Video. Meanwhile his evocative feature
film, The Children Act, co-starring Emma Thompson and Stanley Tucci
and featuring Fionn Whitehead in a screenplay by novelist Ian McEwan, was
gripping moviegoers around the globe. And if those credits were not enough,
Sir Richard was also directing Laura Linney in My Name Is Lucy Barton,
a "beautifully nuanced solo performance" (Michael Billington of The
Guardian) to open soon on Broadway.
Our 2018 award had been presented by Sir
Ian McKellen, The Guild's inaugural Gielgud laureate, who was
himself appearing in a West End staging of King Lear that had been
shared cinematically with audiences throughout the world. When he'd received
his own trophy, during a ceremony at the Folger Shakespeare Library on May
20, 1996, Sir Ian had graced the occasion not only with praise for Sir John,
but with a from The Booke of Sir Thomas Moore, relating the words
that Shakespeare had composed for the script's title character to remarks
that Justice Anthony Kennedy had uttered earlier that day while he was delivering
a pivotal Supreme Court ruling that "no state may 'deem a class of persons
a stranger to its laws.'"
As he bestowed the 2018 Gielgud trophy, Sir Ian recalled how much
Sir John did, not only to exemplify meticulous standards in his own presentations
of Shakespeare and other playwrights, but to encourage and support the efforts
of other performers, among them those who were just beginning their careers.
Sir Ian extolled Richard Eyre for the same qualities, and he emphasized
how much everyone who cherishes the dramatic arts has benefited from his
many contributions to our cultural lives.
MAKING THE MOST OF THE GUILD'S RESOURCES
For detail about other endeavors, we encourage you to browse these
pages, clicking on the blue links that serve as navigation keys to an ever-expanding
array of enriching material. Among other things, you'll observe that our
BACKGROUND
section provides a rich variety of perspectives
on Shakespeare's world, work, and influence, many of them featuring unique
contributions by or about eminent actors, directors, producers, playwrights,
historians, critics, arts journalists, and other cultural leaders.
HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT THE GUILD'S EFFORTS
By design most of the Guild's offerings are admission-free; but of course
that doesn't mean they're cost-free. So any help you provide will be gratefully
received and promptly acknowledged. If you wish to contribute to our activities,
either by enrolling or renewing as a Guild
member or by assisting us with a tax-exempt donation,
we'll be delighted, and we'll look forward to welcoming you to events such
as our April 23 festivities at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey.
