The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 24.0534 Monday, 25 November 2013
From: Patrick A Dolan <
Date: November 22, 2013 at 1:11:25 PM EST
Subject: Re: SHAKSPER: Favorites
Charles Isherwood’s article says, "But if I had to choose only one performance from the past to bear witness to, it might be Paul Scofield’s Lear, which more than one reader mentioned as a life-changer.”
I took Shakespeare from John Arthos at Michigan in the mid-seventies. He insisted we listen to the plays on record in the library. The understanding that what I had mostly seen on the page was living poetic speech was beginning to penetrate my undergrad consciousness when I listened to the record of the Scofield Lear. His reading of the character did, in fact, change my life.
Pat
[Editor’s Note: This could be an interesting thread if anyone wants to play. I need to think a while to sort through the many excellent performances I have seen. –Hardy]