
Sign up to save your podcasts
Or


Preparation for a performance on stage goes beyond just memorising lines, learning blocking and hoping it will be alright on the night. A diligent actor studies the history of the period of the play, learns about the intentions of the playwright, and absorbs from older colleagues knowledge of how the play has been done in the past.
In his less than stellar career as an actor, Michael Goldfarb went through this process many times.
In this essay, Michael recalls his admiration for John Gielgud. He remembers The Motive and the Cue, the play about John Gielgud directing Richard Burton in Hamlet. He also had a chance meeting with the legendary actor at the stage door of the Apollo theatre in London when Gielgud was starring in David Storey's 'Home'.
By BBC Radio 34.2
8282 ratings
Preparation for a performance on stage goes beyond just memorising lines, learning blocking and hoping it will be alright on the night. A diligent actor studies the history of the period of the play, learns about the intentions of the playwright, and absorbs from older colleagues knowledge of how the play has been done in the past.
In his less than stellar career as an actor, Michael Goldfarb went through this process many times.
In this essay, Michael recalls his admiration for John Gielgud. He remembers The Motive and the Cue, the play about John Gielgud directing Richard Burton in Hamlet. He also had a chance meeting with the legendary actor at the stage door of the Apollo theatre in London when Gielgud was starring in David Storey's 'Home'.

7,575 Listeners

157 Listeners

1,048 Listeners

5,458 Listeners

1,796 Listeners

305 Listeners

1,756 Listeners

1,046 Listeners

2,085 Listeners

479 Listeners

579 Listeners

71 Listeners

411 Listeners

298 Listeners

822 Listeners

849 Listeners

135 Listeners

67 Listeners

243 Listeners

54 Listeners

45 Listeners

183 Listeners

4,162 Listeners

3,186 Listeners