30 Days of Shakespeare, Day 24
Day #24: An actor or actress you would love to see in a particular role
There will be a list. Nobody should be surprised by this at all.
Jon Slinger in anything. ANYTHING AT ALL.
David Tennant as Richard II - His Henry VI made me wibble, and I loved him as both Berowne and Hamlet. And then there's Ten. Who has more in common with Richard II than he really should. And, really, who wouldn't want to hear Tennant do that final speech? (Note: I don't think he could do what Slinger did with the role. I frankly don't think anybody else could pull that off. But Tennant would be an equally fantastic Richard, if quite different.)
Tilda Swinton as Margaret of Anjou - Can you picture this? I can, and it is magical.
Kate Winslet as Desdemona - And, no, I am not just saying this because of my enormous crush on her. I do think she'd strike the right balance of innocence and sensuality (we get some hints of this in the way she played Marianne Dashwood) that I just haven't seen in any of the filmed productions so far.
Jeremy Northam as Iago - One of my problems with Kenneth Branagh's Iago was that he overdid the evil; part of what makes Iago so scary is how little he actually does to destroy the lives of everyone around him, and Branagh's style of acting just doesn't convey that for me at all. Northam is incredibly charming, and would probably, now I think about it, also make a fantastic Richard III. And, yes, I am also deeply amused by the irony of the same actor playing Thomas More and Richard III.
Sophie Okonedo as Cleopatra - Her Duchess of Malfi was just brilliant and I think she'd make a sublime Cleopatra. Also, further yay for Cleopatras of colour because there are simply not enough of them.
James Purefoy as Antony - WHO DID NOT SEE THIS COMING. The way he played Antony in Rome fits so well with the way I read Shakespeare's version -- impulsive and brilliant and so completely unaware that he could at any moment fail. Super massive bonus points for Simon Woods reprising Octavius.
Day #1: Your favourite play - Othello and Richard III
Day #2: Your favourite character - Lady Elizabeth Grey in 3 Henry VI and Richard III
Day #3: Your favourite hero - Othello
Day #4: Your favourite heroine - Juliet from Romeo and Juliet and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing
Day #5: Your favorite villain - Richard of Gloucester
Day #6: Your favourite villainess female villain - Joan la Pucelle
Day #7: Your favourite clown - Feste from Twelfth Night
Day #8: Your favourite comedy - Much Ado About Nothing
Day #9: Your favourite tragedy - King Lear
Day #10: Your favourite history - The Henry VI trilogy
Day #11: Your least favourite play - The Taming of the Shrew
Day #12: Your favourite scene - selections from Richard III, Othello, Much Ado, and 3 Henry VI
Day #13: Your favourite romantic scene - As You Like It, Act IV, Scene I
Day #14: Your favourite fight scene - 1 Henry IV and 3 Henry VI
Day #15: The first play you read - Romeo and Juliet
Day #16: Your first play you saw - Macbeth
Day #17: Your favourite speech - Romeo and Juliet and 3 Henry VI
Day #18: Your favourite dialogue - Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet
Day #19: Your favourite movie version of a play - Richard III (1995)
Day #20: Your favourite movie adaptation of a play - Ten Things I Hate About You
Day #21: An overrated play - The Tempest
Day #22: An underrated play - Coriolanus
Day #23: A role you've never played but would love to play
Day #24: An actor or actress you would love to see in a particular role
Day #25: Sooner or later, everyone has to choose: Hal or Falstaff?
Day #26: Your favourite couple
Day #27: Your favourite couplet
Day #28: Your favourite joke
Day #29: Your favourite sonnet
Day #30: Your favourite single line
There will be a list. Nobody should be surprised by this at all.
Jon Slinger in anything. ANYTHING AT ALL.
David Tennant as Richard II - His Henry VI made me wibble, and I loved him as both Berowne and Hamlet. And then there's Ten. Who has more in common with Richard II than he really should. And, really, who wouldn't want to hear Tennant do that final speech? (Note: I don't think he could do what Slinger did with the role. I frankly don't think anybody else could pull that off. But Tennant would be an equally fantastic Richard, if quite different.)
Tilda Swinton as Margaret of Anjou - Can you picture this? I can, and it is magical.
Kate Winslet as Desdemona - And, no, I am not just saying this because of my enormous crush on her. I do think she'd strike the right balance of innocence and sensuality (we get some hints of this in the way she played Marianne Dashwood) that I just haven't seen in any of the filmed productions so far.
Jeremy Northam as Iago - One of my problems with Kenneth Branagh's Iago was that he overdid the evil; part of what makes Iago so scary is how little he actually does to destroy the lives of everyone around him, and Branagh's style of acting just doesn't convey that for me at all. Northam is incredibly charming, and would probably, now I think about it, also make a fantastic Richard III. And, yes, I am also deeply amused by the irony of the same actor playing Thomas More and Richard III.
Sophie Okonedo as Cleopatra - Her Duchess of Malfi was just brilliant and I think she'd make a sublime Cleopatra. Also, further yay for Cleopatras of colour because there are simply not enough of them.
James Purefoy as Antony - WHO DID NOT SEE THIS COMING. The way he played Antony in Rome fits so well with the way I read Shakespeare's version -- impulsive and brilliant and so completely unaware that he could at any moment fail. Super massive bonus points for Simon Woods reprising Octavius.
Day #1: Your favourite play - Othello and Richard III
Day #2: Your favourite character - Lady Elizabeth Grey in 3 Henry VI and Richard III
Day #3: Your favourite hero - Othello
Day #4: Your favourite heroine - Juliet from Romeo and Juliet and Beatrice from Much Ado About Nothing
Day #5: Your favorite villain - Richard of Gloucester
Day #6: Your favourite villainess female villain - Joan la Pucelle
Day #7: Your favourite clown - Feste from Twelfth Night
Day #8: Your favourite comedy - Much Ado About Nothing
Day #9: Your favourite tragedy - King Lear
Day #10: Your favourite history - The Henry VI trilogy
Day #11: Your least favourite play - The Taming of the Shrew
Day #12: Your favourite scene - selections from Richard III, Othello, Much Ado, and 3 Henry VI
Day #13: Your favourite romantic scene - As You Like It, Act IV, Scene I
Day #14: Your favourite fight scene - 1 Henry IV and 3 Henry VI
Day #15: The first play you read - Romeo and Juliet
Day #16: Your first play you saw - Macbeth
Day #17: Your favourite speech - Romeo and Juliet and 3 Henry VI
Day #18: Your favourite dialogue - Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet
Day #19: Your favourite movie version of a play - Richard III (1995)
Day #20: Your favourite movie adaptation of a play - Ten Things I Hate About You
Day #21: An overrated play - The Tempest
Day #22: An underrated play - Coriolanus
Day #23: A role you've never played but would love to play
Day #24: An actor or actress you would love to see in a particular role
Day #25: Sooner or later, everyone has to choose: Hal or Falstaff?
Day #26: Your favourite couple
Day #27: Your favourite couplet
Day #28: Your favourite joke
Day #29: Your favourite sonnet
Day #30: Your favourite single line