Nicholas Hytner

'This book gives some of the very best of Shakespeare’s twenty-first-century colleagues an opportunity to share insights that can only come from playing him' Nicholas Hytner, from his Foreword Twelve leading actors take us behind the scenes of landmark Shakespearean productions, each recreating in detail their memorable performance in a major role. Roger Allam on his Falstaff in both Henry IV plays at Shakespeare’s GlobeEileen Atkins on Viola in two productions of Twelfth Night seventeen years apartSimon Russell Beale on Cassius in Deborah Warner’s modern-dress Julius CaesarChiwetel Ejiofor on his Donmar Warehouse Othello, directed by Michael GrandageSara Kestelman on Hippolyta and Titania in Peter Brook’s iconic white-box DreamIan McKellen on one of Shakespeare’s most demanding of roles: King LearMichael Pennington on stepping in at the eleventh hour as Timon of AthensAlan Rickman on re-evaluating the melancholic Jaques in As You Like ItFiona Shaw on Shakespeare’s Shrew, Katherine, in Jonathan Miller’s productionPatrick Stewart on his Las Vegas-set Shylock, a role he has played many timesHarriet Walter on Imogen in Shakespeare’s late romance, Cymbeline, at the RSCZoë Wanamaker on her National Theatre Beatrice, directed by Nicholas Hytner Each actor leads us through the choices they made in rehearsal, and how the character works in performance, shedding new light on some of the most challenging roles in the canon. The result is a series of individual masterclasses that will be invaluable for other actors and directors, as well as students of Shakespeare – and fascinating for audiences of the plays. Shakespeare On Stage: Volume 2 was shortlisted for the 2018 Theatre Book Prize. ‘Absorbing and original… Curry’s actors are often thinking and talking as that other professional performer, Shakespeare himself, might have done.’ TLS on Shakespeare On Stage: Vol. 1

Here is Nicholas Hytner's fascinating, candid memoir of his tenure at the helm of Britain's greatest theater. As artistic director of London's National Theatre from 2003 to 2015, Hytner was in charge of three stages, directing and producing such plays and musicals as The Madness of George III, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel, Alan Bennett's The History Boys, David Hare's Stuff Happens, Richard Bean's One Man, Two Guvnors, and War Horse, among many others. Combining touches of gossip with serious insight into the processes that bring a production to life, Hytner discusses his major failures and spectacular successes. He looks at Shakespeare from every angle and writes about reinventing the classics; changing the public's perception of what theater is in our times; balancing the idea of art with what will sell; encouraging new talent; and collaborating with actors and playwrights, including Richard Griffiths, Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Mike Leigh, Daniel Day-Lewis, Michael Gambon, Simon Russell Beale, Tom Stoppard, Alan Bennett, and Harold Pinter. Intimate and insightful, Balancing Acts is a passionate exploration of the art and alchemy of making theater.

The Sunday Times BestsellerThis is the inside story of twelve years at the helm of Britainâ??s greatest theatre. It is a story of lunatic failures and spectacular successes such as The History Boys, War Horse and One Man, Two Guvnors;

How has theatre engaged with the nation-state and helped to formulate national identities? What impact have migration and globalisation had on the relationship between theatre and nation? Theatre& Nation explores how theatre institutions, playwrights, theatre-makers and performance artists engage with the nation, nationalism and national identity in their work. The book argues that theatrical representations of the nation are constantly in flux and that the way theatre engages with the nation changes according to different geographical, political, economic, social and cultural circumstances. Foreword by Nicholas Hytner.