Review Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the Rent by Judi Dench
What do you require to for a successful theatrical reminiscence?
Do you look for inside show business stories, heartfelt emotion, laughter,
literary comments, wise notes on the craft, etc.? Judi Dench’s latest book with
Brendan O’Hea has all of that and more. Dench is in turn earthy, eloquent, wise,
revealing, funny, and sentimental. She breathes an exuberance toward life into
every chapter. I have seen a good deal of Shakespeare in England as well as in
Canada and across the USA. I have directed six of his plays, acted in two, and
worked on a few others. My only caveat here is that in order to truly enjoy the
book, you had better bring some familiarity with the Bard’s works. It is
organized around the Shakespearean parts Dench has played over her long career
and each chapter takes up a role she has played. Her interviewer sets up the
questions and then she goes off on the director’s concept, the staging, her own
approach, speaking the verse, or her interactions with fellow actors. Even if you are not familiar with the script (say Measure for Measure or Cymbeline),
there is still plenty of enjoyment in her often funny and endearing commentary.
Did you know that Peter Hall, used to stand at a lectern
beating out the rhythm of Shakespeare’s verse while she and her fellow actors
spoke their lines. Or did you know she loves Stratford Upon Avon, not because
she has played there so often, but because so many Shakespeare references can
be seen in the countryside around the town. Or do you need some line reading
tips like the significance of what she calls “a pick-up line.” It is a complete iambic pentameter line which
is shared between two actors, as when in Macbeth a servant speaks to
Lady Macbeth.
“Servant: The King
comes here tonight
Lady Macbeth: Thou’rt mad to say it.”
That, according to Judi, is “Shakespeare’s way of telling
you to pick up your cue.”
And finally, she
hates The Merchant of Venice with scatological fervor, but the
inscription on her beloved husband, Michael Williams, gravestone comes from a
line in that play. She played Portia to “Mikey’s” Bassanio and it is spoken
just after Portia’s famous quality of mercy speech when Bassanio says, “You
have bereft me of all words.” Has there
ever been a more moving epitaph for an actor?
I could go on for a long time, but it is better for you to
look for a copy of the book and see for yourself the pleasures it contains. If
you have treasured the reruns of ‘As Time Goes’, know know a little bit about
the Bard, or just plain love the theatre, Shakespeare: The Man Who Pays the
Rent is the book for you.
I give it a five out of five.
