1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910806214303321

Autore

Raw Laurence

Titolo

Theatre of the people : Donald Wolfit's Shakespearean productions, 1937-1953 / / Laurence Raw

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Lanham : , : Rowman & Littlefield, , [2016]

©2016

ISBN

1-4422-5735-0

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (241 p.)

Disciplina

792.9/50941

Soggetti

Theater - England - History - 20th century

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Preface: a personal search for theatre of the people -- Acknowledgments -- The actor-manager's temperament -- Hamlet at the Malvern Festival Theatre, October 1937 -- Selections from Shakespeare at the Strand Theatre, 1940-41 -- Richard III at St. Francis Theatre, Letchworth, September 1941 -- A midsummer night's dream at the Prince of Wales Theatre, Cardiff, September 1942 -- The merchant of Venice at the Opera House, Manchester, October 1943 -- King Lear at the Scala Theatre, London, April 1944 -- Twelfth night at the Grand Theatre, Leeds, October 1945 -- Othello at the Theatre Royal, Glasgow, November 1946 -- As you like it at His Majesty's Theatre, Montreal, January, March 1947 -- The Merry wives of Windsor at the Bedford Theatre, Camden Town, March 1949 -- Macbeth at the Dudley Hippodrome, October 1950 -- The taming of the shrew at the King's Theatre, Hammersmith, April 1953 -- The legacy.

Sommario/riassunto

This book looks at how performances of Shakespeare in the Second World War (and post-war years) not only commented on the strife happening outside the theatre, but drew audiences together in a shared sense of community as a way of resisting the enemy. This examination is through the lens of one particular theatre actor/manager, Donald Wolfit, whose productions were extremely popular at the time. Wolfit was the model for "Sir" in Ronald Harwood's play The Dresser and is remembered fondly by British audiences.