Richard II: character of a King

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Description
In this programme actors Jeremy Irons and Michael Pennington and director David Giles talk about their different approaches to Shakespeare's Richard II. Using extracts from the productions the prog...ramme attempts to consider the character of Richard II and indicate to students that there is no definitive interpretation of the play - but much depends on the actor and the director involved.

Subtitle Number	Time In	Time Out	Subtitle Text
1	00:00:01,000	00:00:04,000	(Jeremy Irons) I think, we must as actors and as students…
1	00:00:02,000	00:00:06,000	Old John of Gaunt, time-honoured Lancaster…
2	00:00:05,000	00:00:10,000	..approach Shakespeare as being ours and make it work for us.
2	00:00:07,000	00:00:11,000	..hast thou according to thy oath and band brought hither Henry Hereford, thy bold son…
3	00:00:11,000	00:00:13,000	..here to make good the boisterous late appeal,
3	00:00:12,000	00:00:14,000	Say - oh yes, Andrew Gurr thinks that this means that…
4	00:00:13,000	00:00:15,000	which then our leisure would not let us hear,
5	00:00:15,000	00:00:19,000	against the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray? -Gaunt: I have, my liege.
4	00:00:15,000	00:00:19,000	..and that's the important relevance of this line, but maybe he s not right.
5	00:00:19,000	00:00:25,000	Certainly the conclusions I've come to are just my conclusions…
6	00:00:20,000	00:00:24,000	Tell me moreover, hast thou sounded him if he appeal the Duke on ancient malice,
7	00:00:24,000	00:00:29,000	Or worthily as a good subject should, on some known ground of treachery in him?
6	00:00:25,000	00:00:29,000	..and I know that Derek Jacobi or Ian McKellen will come to others…
8	00:00:29,000	00:00:32,000	As near as I could sift him on that argument.
7	00:00:30,000	00:00:32,000	..and they will be equally valid and I think that's why…
9	00:00:32,000	00:00:37,000	On some apparent danger seen in him aimed at your highness, no inveterate malice.
8	00:00:32,000	00:00:39,000	..Shakespeare is constantly being done and done differently.
10	00:00:38,000	00:00:40,000	Then call them to our presence.
11	00:00:41,000	00:00:44,000	Face to face and frowning brow to brow…
9	00:00:41,000	00:00:49,000	Notes are not holy writ, what actors say about their interpretations is not holy writ,
12	00:00:44,000	00:00:49,000	..ourselves will hear the accuser and the accused freely speak.
10	00:00:49,000	00:00:52,000	it's just the way they happen to find it.
13	00:00:51,000	00:00:58,000	High stomached are they both and full of ire. In rage as deaf as the sea, hasty as fire.
14	00:01:04,000	00:01:10,000	(David Giles) What you do in rehearsal is try and look all the time…
15	00:01:10,000	00:01:13,000	..for ways of making the text live.
16	00:01:14,000	00:01:18,000	It is to put the emotion in with the intellect that is…
17	00:01:19,000	00:01:26,000	..the most dangerous, difficult and private part of the rehearsal process.
18	00:01:28,000	00:01:37,000	I always worry about over- simplifying what a play is about,
19	00:01:38,000	00:01:43,000	as much as I would worry about simplifying what, by saying what a picture was about.
20	00:01:44,000	00:01:48,000	I think anything like this plays on different people in different ways.
21	00:01:48,000	00:01:51,000	(Narrator) Shakespeare's plays, though handed down to us as text,
22	00:01:51,000	00:01:53,000	were written to be performed.
23	00:01:53,000	00:01:56,000	The text really only comes to life when it's in production.
24	00:01:56,000	00:02:01,000	Actors and directors are crucial in bringing their own imagination and skill to a play.
25	00:02:01,000	00:02:05,000	In this programme, we're going to look at three very different productions of Richard II…
26	00:02:06,000	00:02:08,000	..and talk to the actors and directors involved.
27	00:02:08,000	00:02:12,000	They reveal a wide range in the way they interpret the character of the King,
28	00:02:12,000	00:02:14,000	and the different elements of the play.