From the time he was 17, McKellen was publishing his observations on the world of theatre, particularly plays by Shakespeare.
1956-57: Reports from Stratford
To contradict the guide-books, disillusion the Americans, and state the obvious, every wall in Stratford-upon-Avon is not half-timbered, nor is every roof thatched. Read More
Shakespeare's "History Plays," even those which deal with the relatively recent past, like Henry VIII, are not accurate history. Although Richard III is often reviled for slandering the real king, the other histories are popularly admired for their pageant quality — our greatest poet spinning the yarn of our national heritage. Read More
1974: Company Report from New York
January 14, 1974: Final preparations of our new production of King Lear in energy-starved rehearsal-rooms. Read More
Ian McKellen reviews Memories for Tomorrow; The memoirs of Jean-Louis Barrault. Read More
In the theatre, a role is more durable than any of the actors who may make their reputations playing it. Read More
1976: A Distant, Fabled Place: Ian McKellen's Vision of Stratfords Past and Present
In November 1955, I saw John Gielgud's last Lear in Manchester. When the mad king fed toasted cheese to an invisible mouse, the woman in front of me giggled and I hit her on the hat. Read More
Ever since the middle-ages, when the earliest drama, growing out of the liturgy, left the Church to parade on carts outside, actors have been on the road. Read More
The 1606 production by the King's Men was early in the reign of their patron James I of England - not only VI of Scotland and descendant of Banquo but also author of a treatise against witches. Read More
1981: I Always Wanted To Be On Broadway
Exactly a year ago, I arrived in New York to start rehearsing for Amadeus. Now, as I prepare to leave the play and the city, this month also marks my 20th anniversary as a professional actor. Read More
1982: Tears in Bratislava: Richard II in Czechoslovakia
Any play, even one by Shakespeare - even a success, which our Richard II certainly was - any play can pall for the actors who have to repeat it night after night after matinee. Read More
An interview from Shakespeare Quarterly. Read More
I'm always very scathing about actors who don't go to the theatre, but I'm one who doesn't go to the cinema very much . . . Read More
1990: What are the Osteopaths like in Cairo?
After seeing Bent, everyone assumes I must be exhausted. I often am. . . Read More
1990: McKellen and his foot-soldiers take Richard III on the Road
The National is not as well known outside this country as the Royal Shakespeare Company," said Ian McKellen, who is about to lead a National Theatre company around the world. "In fact, it's not easy to explain to people what its identity is. They think the RSC is our national theatre. Read More
We began with a summer season in London and a tour of the United Kingdom. Read More
1991: When Poverty Begets Pride
After six months on the road and in the air, our company from the Royal National Theater is back home in London. Read More
1992: Shakespeare Comes to Broadmoor
Foreword by Ian McKellen. Read More
Richard Burbage, the actor-manager who first played William Shakespeare's heroes, had his earliest triumph as Richard III. Read More
Introducing A Knight Out. Read More
I'm glad at last we're going to do this film. Three years has been a long, long time to wait. But now I thought I should sit down and try to clarify what blank verse means to me; Read More
1996: The Awful Hell of Stage Fright
Stephen Fry's generosity is only one of his many endearing virtues. Read More
I shall spend this season of over-indulgence not eating at home but being eaten at work. Read More
2002: Foreword to "The Making of The Lord of the Rings"
The day The Lord of the Rings opened at the Embassy Cinema in New Zealand's capital, Wellingtonians woke to discover that overnight their city had been renamed by government decree. Read More
One of the joys of not working is being able to see others at work. Read More
2009: Waiting for Godot in London (and Broadway)
As I write, Waiting for Godot is opening on Broadway in the Roundabout Theatre's production by Anthony Page ... Read More
Chekov supersedes earlier playwrights, by not writing heroes and villains and not needing rhetoric or verse to dramatise humanity. His actors never have to jump the obstacles of under- or overwriting. Read More
2011: UK Postage Stamps honour Royal Shakespeare Company
David Tennant as Hamlet, Antony Sher plays Prospero, Chuk Iwuji
plays Henry VI, Paul Schofield as Lear, Sara Kestelman plays the
fairy queen Titania, Ian McKellen and Francesca Annis play the
doomed lovers, Romeo and Juliet on a new set of stamps from Royal
Mail.
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2011: David Weston "Covering McKellen"
David Weston showed me an early draft of what is now called
Covering McKellen: An Understudy's Tale, at the end of the
Lear/Seagull productions for the Royal Shakespeare Company
in which he understudied me.
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