How do you prepare for your first day on the set? Why might a bad audition lead to a good job offer? How should you research? What's the effect of a long tour on your love-life? Can you have a glass of wine before a matinee? What's the difference between transitive and intransitive corpsing? What is stage fright? In Michael Pennington's highly personal guide and memoir there are sections on rehearsals, on television then and now, on who does what on a film set, on the disciplines and rewards of musical theatre, and five directors discuss why the scenery is better on radio. Disability and racial bias in the theater are discussed and we sometimes hear from other, younger voices who are following parallel paths. Infectiously enthusiastic, both conversational and profound, Let Me Play the Lion Too draws on the author's fifty years of experience to celebrate the deadly serious, sometimes hilarious, often misunderstood but infinitely enriching life of a professional actor.

Let Me Play the Lion Too

Humor & Entertainment

Pennington, Michael

Movies

Faber&Faber

(Limelight). "Pennington's great experience of the play...love for it...depth of knowledge...of many productions and interpretations culminate in a book of infinite value to any actor, director and above all to any passionate playgoer...written with passion, humor and rigor...an excellent read." Ralph Fiennes

Hamlet - A User's Guide

Limelight Editions

“Michael Pennington...is sharply intelligent, scrupulously careful, hugely knowledgeable and, above all, wonderfully readable.” –The Shakespeare Institute

Twelfth Night: A User's Guide (Limelight)

Limelight

Michael Pennington takes us on a fascinating journey through King Lear from the point of view of the play's characters. Part memoir, part analysis, part adventure story, this book delves into the unique production of Lear that Pennington led in New York in 2014. An original and candid approach to Shakespeare's classic from one of today's finest actor-writers at the top of his form.

King Lear in Brooklyn

Oberon Books

Thomas Hardy called Jude the Obscure a deadly war waged between flesh and spirit. It is a tale of doomed love and unfulfilled promise that revolves around ambitious and intelligent Jude Fawley, his cousin Sue Bridehead, and his academic mentor Phillotson.

Jude the Obscure

Literature & Fiction

HARDY, THOMAS

British & Irish

Hodder Audio

Michael Pennington's solo show about Shakespeare, Sweet William, has been acclaimed throughout Europe and in the US as a unique blend of showmanship and scholarship. In this book, he deepens his exploration of Shakespeare's life and work - and the connection between the two - that lies at its heart.It is illuminated throughout by the unrivalled insights into the plays that Pennington has gained from the twenty thousand hours he has spent working on them as a leading actor, an artistic director and a director - and as the author of three previous books on individual Shakespeare plays. With practical analysis, wonderfully detailed and entertaining interpretations of characters and scenes, and vivid reflections on Shakespeare’s theatre and ours, the result is a masterclass of the most enjoyable kind for theatregoers, professionals, students and anyone interested in Shakespeare."A brilliant and intimate insider’s guide to Shakespeare from one of our greatest classical actors." - Gregory Doran"Michael Pennington is a great Shakespearian actor who writes with the authority of an academic. His book analyses the plays, the characters and the playwright's life. It will intrigue, entertain and challenge students, actors and their audiences." - Ian McKellen"Rich and informative, and something that will be mined for many years to come by anyone interested in Shakespeare and in British theatre." - Professor James Shapiro"Shakespeare comes wonderfully to life in Michael’s beautifully written book." - Rupert Everett"Irresistibly readable." - Peter Brook"I can’t remember when I learned so much from a single volume as I have from Michael Pennington’s engaging, absorbing, congenial, informative new book Sweet William. ... Sometimes he’s anecdotal, often lyrical, always thoughtful and occasionally laugh-aloud funny. Pennington’s book is a must-read for anyone interested in Shakespeare from almost any angle - actor, drama student, teacher, director, technician, literature student or audience member." - The Stage"The most important and best set of original Shakespeare essays that I have read in over thirty years... Pennington is blessed with an ideal combination of talents and experiences... a wonderful book." - Speaking EnglishMichael Pennington has played leading roles in Shakespeare’s plays for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the English Shakespeare Company (of which he was co-founder and joint Artistic Director), the Peter Hall Company and the BBC. He has also directed several of the plays, and is the author of three books on individual Shakespeare plays (Hamlet, Twelfth Night and A Midsummer Night’s Dream). He has toured his solo shows, Sweet William and Anton Chekhov, throughout the world.

Sweet William: A User's Guide to Shakespeare

Dramas & Plays

Nick Hern Books

The authors of this book provide an account of the adventures of the theatre company that they founded. By the spring of 1988 the ESC was performing the complete eight-play cycle of Shakespeare's histories, in venues both in the UK and abroad. This book provides a record of the birth and survival of this ambitious artistic venue.

English Shakespeare Company: The Story of 'the Wars of the Roses,' 1986-1989

Arts & Photography

Bogdanov, Michael

Performing Arts

Theatre Communications Group

(Limelight). "Pennington's great experience of the play...love for it...depth of knowledge...of many productions and interpretations culminate in a book of infinite value to any actor, director and above all to any passionate playgoer...written with passion, humor and rigor...an excellent read."  Ralph Fiennes

Hamlet A User's Guide

This serious yet lively book offers an intensely practical account of the way Twelfth Night actually works on stage. Drawing both on his inside knowledge as a director of the play and on his lifelong experience as a Shakespearian actor, Pennington takes the reader through Twelfth Night scene by detailed scene. 'He is sharply intelligent, scrupulously careful, hugely knowledgeable and above all, wonderfully readable' Peter Holland, The Shakespeare Institute (2011-01-24)

Twelfth Night : A User's Guide

A unique, personal guide to William Shakespeare's life and plays told through the experience of a leading classical actor. Michael Pennington illuminates each of Shakespeare's plays with his own considerable understanding of the theater then and now, and the result is an insightful examination of the man and his work.

Sweet William: Twenty Thousand Hours with Shakespeare (Nick Hern Books)

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Books by Pennington, Michael