Shakespeare

Author Judi Dench
Narrator Brendan O'Hea, Barbara Flynn, Judi Dench
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Publish Date 1 January 1970
Run Time 12 hours and 5 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Autobiography: arts and entertainment, Biography and non-fiction prose, History of Performing Arts, Individual actors and performers, Literary studies: plays and playwrights, Memoirs, The Arts, Theatre studies.

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What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

Discover the work of the greatest writer in the English language as you've never encountered it before by pre-ordering internationally renowned actor Dame Judi Dench's SHAKESPEARE: The Man Who Pays The Rent - a witty, insightful journey through the plays and tales of our beloved Shakespeare

'A MAGICAL LOVE LETTER TO SHAKESPEARE' Sir Kenneth Branagh
__________

Read by Barbara Flynn (Open All Hours, The Durrels) and the book’s co-author Brendan O’Hea. Also featuring a warm and witty exclusive bonus conversation between Dame Judi Dench and Brendan O’Hea about the making of the book.

Taking a curtain call with a live snake in her wig...

Cavorting naked through the Warwickshire countryside painted green...

Acting opposite a child with a pumpkin on his head...

These are just a few of the things Dame Judi Dench has done in the name of Shakespeare.

For the very first time, Judi opens up about every Shakespearean role she has played throughout her seven-decade career, from Lady Macbeth and Titania to Ophelia and Cleopatra. In a series of intimate conversations with actor & director Brendan O'Hea, she guides us through Shakespeare's plays with incisive clarity, revealing the secrets of her rehearsal process and inviting us to share in her triumphs, disasters, and backstage shenanigans.

Interspersed with vignettes on audiences, critics, company spirit and rehearsal room etiquette, she serves up priceless revelations on everything from the craft of speaking in verse to her personal interpretations of some of Shakespeare's most famous scenes, all brightened by her mischievous sense of humour, striking level of honesty and a peppering of hilarious anecdotes, many of which have remained under lock and key until now.

Instructive and witty, provocative and inspiring, this is ultimately Judi's love letter to Shakespeare, or rather, The Man Who Pays The Rent.

©2023 Judi Dench (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

Wonderfully inspiring. A delightful spell in the company of one of our greatest and most thoughtful actresses

Daily Mail, Books of the Year

A magical love letter to Shakespeare

Kenneth Branagh

A wonderful mixture of appreciation and anecdote

Financial Times, Books of the Year

It’s a mark of Dench’s impish genius and O’Hea’s deftness that it genuinely feels like you’re sitting at her kitchen table with her. It’s companionable and compelling – if you love Judi Dench or Shakespeare (and most of us do), look no further

Guardian

Gorgeous flows of recollection

Literary Review

An utterly delightful book…there can be few higher pleasures in civilised life than hearing Judi Dench recite the poetry of Shakespeare. What emerges is a wealth of unpretentious horse sense – Shakespeare from a great actor’s perspective – that repeatedly strikes to the heart of the matter with a sharp instinctive intelligence that puts fancy-pants literary critics to shame

Telegraph

This is a gloriously entertaining tour through the canon in the company of perhaps the most experienced living Shakespearean actor; reading it feels like a chat with an old friend.

Observer

The book is pure enchantment. It swirls and dances with brilliance and mischief, so forget traditional Shakespearean criticism and analysis. Sack the Eng. Lit. professors. As never before, this book brings the subject to wild, authentic life.

Daily Mail

A wonderful ode to the bard

Riveting, revealing and witty

Gazette and Herald

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