Tomorrow, and tomorrow -- Ian McKellen analyzes Macbeth speech (1979)

This is a chunk of archival gold from British television, circa 1979. As part of an "in-studio master class" on speaking Shakespeare, Ian McKellen talks in depth about the imagery and analysis he used to bring a famous Macbeth speech to life for a production by the Royal Shakespeare Company
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[@paultrevorbale2440]

I saw his Macbeth at Stratford live twice, with Judi Dench as Lady Macbeth. Easily the best I’ve ever seen. More than 50 years later I still remember it clearly. Magnificent!

[@em3831]

Oh, what an amazing duo! So cool you saw them both together and at Stratford of all places.

[@ItsukaShimotsuki]

Sobs in gen z.

[@mechanicalmonk2020]

​@@ItsukaShimotsukipeople are still putting on this show

[@ItsukaShimotsuki]

@@mechanicalmonk2020 But it's just not the same. There's acting, and then there's acting.

[@beachboy13600]

Is that the scottish play?

[@egregiousmalady4287]

Shakespeare: “Whoah, didn’t think about it like that”

[@briansweeney5024]

I used to think the same as you, until I studied literature at college. The people who write these works, sometimes also write compendium pieces, which elucidate the audience as to their thought processes. If you think this is ''over-analysed'' - try Joyce! Whilst this is a subjective interpretation- Shakespeare did indeed mean most of the elements McKellan is picking up on! The imagery and use of literary devices alone, make it clear what Shakespeare is alluding to thematically. Using form and meter to convey meaning, is another one of Shakespeare's tricks - just check out his other works/sonnets. It (making tenuous connections) can't be a coincidence when it's seen hundreds of times in a writer's oeuvre. Reading too much into one piece would be indeed be crazy; yet he (Shakespeare) consistently wrote work which was a dense as this. Bill Shakespeare be the man yo!

[@egregiousmalady4287]

Brian Sweeney, Oh don’t get me wrong, I believe Mckellen’s analysis is completely valid. But thank you for the insight

[@ots1634]

@@briansweeney5024 you bore me, i think the OP knows this really and was simply being a one with his joke.

[@briansweeney5024]

@@ots1634 Oh no! I've bored you. That's the one thing I wasn't supposed to do. Life isn't worth living now. Goodbye cruel world!

[@ots1634]

@@briansweeney5024 lol x

[@kingerz]

He's not just a conjurer of cheap tricks.

[@baabaaer]

+kingerz Can he be a conjurer of expensive tricks?

[@damarh]

i hope he conjures some tricks this summer :) going to see him in july,

[@resurectiondelpantion9268]

Here's some wonderful trivia for you. This was addressed to the Royal Shakespeare company. Which John hurt was a member of at the time of this filming! John hurt did The voice of the original Bilbo baggins in the original Hobbit cartoons!! also the bald man you see in the background of this video, is Patrick Stewart

[@Ardsgaine]

@@resurectiondelpantion9268 No, I think that's David Suchet. Look at him closely around 8 minutes in when he turns sideways. Both were in the production, as well as the later series that was done in 1982. There's a segment in that one where the two debate their different takes on playing Shylock with Suchet being far more sympathetic to the character. It's a fascinating show.

[@alexanderhay-whitton4993]

@@damarh I saw him as Lear a couple of years ago. He had me bursting into tears before the end (and we're not talking a single dignified manly tear running down the cheek, either).

[@kweejibodali3078]

i have rarely ever seen such a perfect balanced confidence, yet with no arrogance. he is so caught up in his subject and he is accustomed to performing and is so accomplished, his discourse has none of that wavering over self consciousness of other people . he is so deliberate,yet flowing.

[@rhidiandavies1991]

I couldn't articulate it quite as eloquently as you did but this is exactly the feeling I had while watching this. I can't imagine having the ability to present and communicate so confidently and clearly on any topic.

[@nathanbellamy3308]

That dialogue was swimming in arrogance

[@ManuelCocco]

@@nathanbellamy3308 yeah, I'm still in awe by his craft and composure as a theatre lover. He is an amazing actor and he knows his Shakespeare; but as any actor, he needs to be a bit arrogant, egocentric and full of himself to be able to perform.

[@helenamcginty4920]

@@ManuelCocco actually years ago, as an amateur I found that acting well means you become that person. Therefore lose your ego. I was a very shy teen at the time and was told I was very good. I have read many good actors say they are shy as themselves. Whenever I have had to speak publicly, giving presentations as a student, friends comment on how confident I appear. Yet I even find going shopoing stressful and wearying. I was once persuaded to stand for the local.council. Now that is a job that needs ego. I couldn't even push my leaflets through letter boxes.

[@ManuelCocco]

@@helenamcginty4920 yes, most of the best actors I know are also very shy (and they transform when the set on stage). And you are right that to become somebody else you need to get rid of your ego first. But in their daily life, especially when they are successful, they still tend to be mostly full of themselves and quite egocentric (i.e. mainly interested about their profession, their colleagues, and especially themselves). True actors forget all of that on stage but in their daily life many are quite insecure and full of mannerisms.

[@wolfetom10]

As a high school English student 45 years ago, I had to learn this soliloquy. Rote memorization was always hard for me, and I struggled for more than a week. Then suddenly a light turned on, and I think I saw much deeper into what the words were all about. Once I understood it, learning it word for word was suddenly easy. I can still recite the entire thing today, word for word. If I had had Ian McKellen's analysis, instead of HS teacher's, it would not have taken me a week to figure out this passage. Even as an English Lit major in college, I don't think I ever heard a professor do such a superb job of explicating Shakespeare as McKellen did here.

[@haydenwalton2766]

truely - understanding the texts meaning (or your interpretation of them) unlocks it all

[@tqft]

10000% agree!

[@ellncoll7378]

i think he can understand and express it so well as he is learning it from an actors perspective, and Shakespeare too was an actor

[@catherineb5915]

why couldn't all English classes be like this? this is amazing!

[@danielaragusa]

Why can't all English classes be filled with attentive and appreciative students like these? :)

[@anthonypeterson428]

McKellen has intimately studied Shakespeare for most of his life. It takes decades of study to have this thorough an understanding of Shakespeare . McKellen is also brilliant... far more than almost all English teachers many of whom are very intelligent.

[@cal4547]

We just use it right in this Secound for our online English lesson Lul

[@dorkmax7073]

This is a pretty standard acting class

[@smaakjeks]

@A guy with a pony picture so he'll get called a fag And sometimes a 12 minute clip people specifically chose to watch on their own whim gets compared to sitting at school for hours per week, being forced to learn whether one feels like it or not.

[@andyhaochizhang]

Shakespeare spelt "Tomorrow" in a conventional way to give us tomorrow in a conventional sense, and started with a capital T to give us tomorrow in an abstract sense.

[@0848786]

I like to call it an abstract, _conceptual_ sense.

[@TransoceanicOutreach]

When are you going to oil me up?

[@BruceHoult]

@@TransoceanicOutreach and strip you down? This isn't a revue skit.

[@reenarawat5537]

From the buttocks

[@adamrodaway9116]

I think he got a bit lost in the middle.

[@Atom.Storm.]

Holy crap. I'm a writer and I just learned more about presenting character in ten minutes than I have previously in twenty years.

[@Maestro_Charlie_Abraham]

This is the level of analysis I wanted when we all had to go through Macbeth in school

[@stepaushi]

Yeah, I wonder if teachers just read Wikipedia. Except for a select few, they probably have no idea what they're talking about.

[@coreygossman6243]

Macbeth would be a one year course at this pace.

[@nicolewu2650]

it's kinda interesting to think that among the 400k views, at least one of them is contributedby Michael Fassbender

[@manasmohapatra7847]

+Nicole Wu Haha. Came here from the Graham Norton show

[@sirmoros8951]

Which one?

[@manasmohapatra7847]

+Maximilian Tay check out the one with michael fassbender, james mccavoy and hugh jackman

[@brianperry9338]

Sir

[@Liface]

Also Sean Astin's daughter (see Empire Online interview)

[@Crichjo32]

Sir Ian was just as eloquent and wise all those years ago, as he is today in his later years. Truly great actor and man.

[@JerrellXotiikClemmons]

This is great! kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPbpWicat5lbKs

[@sixpooI]

that's not a compliment at all

[@DawnDavidson]

Wow. That clip at the end. He didn’t sound as much like his older self during the lecture. But wow, the moment he was truly playing the part I suddenly heard and saw the man I’ve known through his portrayal of Gandalf and other roles. Chills. The power and conviction in his words. So riveting.

[@nexttvmarketing]

I love that " was he putting the music into the piano or taking it out" brilliant...

[@Andy-lm2zp]

I am a piano player and I once said to a colleague that Sometimes I don't know whether I am playing the piano or it is playing me, he thought I was an idiot !

[@fdr100100]

He s doing both simultaneously you take the idea out of you mind and take the sound out of the piano the result is music

@Drinker_Of_ Milk your loss...

[@eugenemurray2940]

Michelangelo?? I was not carving... I was setting free 'The David' from that lump... Of marble...

[@daviddawson1718]

He played the piano, stop giving credit to inanimate objects

[@MattsProductionz]

Thumbs up if Michael Fassbender sent you here. He was on this video :)

[@stewiegriffin993]

What's the connection between this and Fassbender?

[@MattsProductionz]

Stewie Griffin You don't get it....

[@stewiegriffin993]

MattzProductionz Obviously. Well?

[@RMarsupial]

Stewie Griffin Fassbender is going to star in an upcoming Macbeth adaptation! (a film) Should be pretty cool.

[@nickromo6093]

Stewie Griffin my guess is because they both play magneto

[@christopherjohnson5748]

Many years ago I was an English major. In one of my classes our professor spent an hour breaking down this soliloquy. It contains layers upon layers of meaning and holds up under even the most intense scrutiny. To this day it remains, for me, the best piece of writing I have ever encountered.

[@holliswilliams8426]

What I really like about Shakespeare is that you can take just one single speech buried somewhere in a play and it is an amazing piece of writing, but there is a whole play of this, and then there are many, many works all of that quality. Definitely best writer of all time.

[@PabluchoViision]

@@holliswilliams8426 I have loved Shakespeare’s work my whole life, and stand in awe of it even more so now than when I was a boy just beginning to read him. And I suspect the case for him as greatest writer of all time is a very strong one. So I don’t mean to throw shade on what you’ve said, with the gentle reminder that “all time” is a very long time, and “greatest“ is an awfully high title. How many of us award it to Shakespeare without having read even obvious contenders/rivals like Dante, Cervantes, Molière, Milton, Tolstoy, Lope de Vega, Camōes etc., etc. (most of them writing in other languages, to boot) and therefore not really being qualified to make the judgment. It takes nothing away from Shakespeare’s greatness, to realize that the Shakespeare Adulation Machine is an extremely powerful one.

[@JerrellXotiikClemmons]

This is great! kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPbpWicat5lbKs

[@chatsidefires]

Glad to hear some guy says Shakespeare holds up That carries a lot of weight with me. You know

[@CleverGirlAAH]

Did you watch the video or-- ?

[@oldfrend]

this is from a bbc Royal Shakespear Company master class special called Playing Shakespeare, all 9 parts free on youtube. fascinating watch, especially since patrick stewart and ben kingsley are also in it.

[@annebynon]

+oldfrend Thanks for that info.

[@MatthewHenderson1]

thank you so much

[@schleichface]

Thanks for the tip! When I get the time I plan to watch the whole series. It looks very promising.

[@barbarascutt792]

I watched this when it was first broadcast. It introduced me to amazing actors: Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, Judith Dench, David Suette and Ben Kingsley.

[@mckavitt13]

@@barbarascutt792 When it was first broadcast. Don't need the -ed in the composed past.

[@lolwhatyesme651]

This guy is a freaking genius, I've never heard such an in-depth analysis, someone give him a medal :0

[@hakonsoreide]

He already got a few: a CBE and a CH.

[@JerrellXotiikClemmons]

This is great! kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPbpWicat5lbKs

[@canadagood]

@@hakonsoreide A gong or two.

[@whitneymilam3141]

He WAS knighted

[@albertgainsworth]

This was great. The way he performed had me tearing up. I was awed by McKellen but even more by Shakespeare. What a mind he must have had.

[@silvinaprioris5207]

Yes ¡¡¡ both Shakespeare and Ian are geniouses

[@60secondpages]

He still has :)

[@Richard-hv5hh]

I wonder if Shakespeare wrote a single play! Clearly a lot of top rank Shakespearean actors such as Mark Rylance and Derek Jacobi have serious doubts. It's a really fascinating mystery.

[@YankeeRebel1348]

Hes still alive as of Jan 2023

[@TheBFLrules]

18th earl of oxford*

[@steerpike66]

This is the most terrifying Macbeth ever filmed. The claustrophobic sense of moral evil and icy damnation is palpable even on the old VHS tapes. The spittle hanging from his lips during the banquet scene, the frozen gestapo feel of the 'dogs' scene with the two murderers, and Dench's appalling shriek.

[@mrJohnDesiderio]

Chazbot Yes!!

[@jeffstone2136]

True. It's chilling.

[@ajnorthrop9121]

It reminds me of Beckett’s Not I. Like staring into hell and having this disembodied face gaze back while it struggles to understand how it got where it is.

[@jonathanmelia]

I was there. January 1978. Just turned ten years old. Also in the corner, hanging over the stage (unseen in the video), was a rusty metal sheet held by two ropes. You would see it swing and vibrate when there was thunder: a little “Brechtian” moment.

[@matthewchunk3689]

@@jonathanmelia It is interesting the images actors come up with. Ian sees a guy plodding along and a literal candle being snuffed. Others see the dusty death as the body resolving himself. It's a testament to Shakespeare or to our own creativity that equally valid images are drawn from Macbeth's speech.

[@Argonaut121]

I studied Shakespeare in high school and university, have seen dozens of live productions, many films, read most of his plays and sonnets, and watched so many KZbin videos with varied interpretations of his speeches. Almost 65 years on I am still absolutely stunned by how extraordinary Shakespeare was. He truly has no equal.

[@acchaladka]

He does: Dante Alighieri, but you need to learn the Italian to understand how. That said, though I don't think it matters, I can't tell you who is better author.

[@ahmadhasan8355]

no equal maybe, but many betters.

[@ahmadhasan8355]

@@acchaladka Add Cervantes, Lope, Calderon - and this list excludes all the classics and Russian and whole of supreme eastern literature.

[@Argonaut121]

@@ahmadhasan8355 Like?

[@ahmadhasan8355]

@@Argonaut121 I've listed a few western writers who one may contend are better, or non-bardolators will accede them to be his equal. Here's just a few names from Eastern Literature who are definitively better (of course you do have to know the lang. and lit.) 2 names from Persian - Ferdousi and Rumi 2 names from Sanskrit - Valmiki and Vyasa there are a few more from each of these langs. and numerous others in other langs. but due to their relative lack of fame would be debatable. Shakespeare is just an English Dramatist, he can't be that great, it's a given.

[@steerpike66]

Some of these classical actors speak more wisely and more volubly on the subject than any university professors. It just shows that you learn by doing, and by listening to practitioners. And Ian is one of the very greatest. He never ages because he always looked as handsome as a boy and as clever as a wise old man. He is cultivated and lordly but never snobbish and has hands like a ploughman's and an unmatched theatrical intellect.

[@wingsandash]

Wonderfully said.

[@edawg792]

Beautiful, you sound like a playwright yourself haha

[@Sophia.]

Chazbot That's not achieved just "by doing" - he has seriously studied it. The fact that serious study is more important to some actors than to some professors is SO no indication, let alone proof, that wisdom comes just from experience alone... I know, you didn't go that far, but I keep hearing that and am quite allergic by now to that line of argument. I have, by the way, been blessed with some truly great professors, so they are, or were there.

[@TheRazorKitten]

And yet studying IS "learning by doing". I'm sorry that such a statement gives you allergies, but what the heck do you think studying is? Don't put tone or meaning into someone's words online, you'll give yourself an apolexy ;)

[@TheRazorKitten]

*apoplexy

[@tyfighter18]

To put his in perspective, he was 40 here. He is 82 two week from today. So he was literally less than half of his current age in this video. All we have to decide is what to do with the time we are given.

[@fatihkan2601]

whenever I remember this guy I think the same thing and actually I just thought the idead of being an actor after my 35. And I'm thinking about it very seriously just because of this guy has achieved after his 70 years old.

[@fatihkan2601]

@@DayVid2.0 half in total. Because he's 82 now. He's not gonna live to 150.

[@tecaarantes]

Great comment!

[@Stettafire]

@@fatihkan2601 Not half in total, because he could live another year, in which case, it's now more than half

[@fatihkan2601]

@@Stettafire he could live to his 100. British people can live longer mostly. It's not the case. First commenter suggests like he's in his forties.

[@IIVVBlues]

I love Shakespeare and never tire of hearing his words. It's a fondness that has ripened with age. My hearing has dimmed with the years so that live performance is muddied for me, but through recorded media and close captioning I can see what I was once able to hear. I have also found new and undiscovered pleasure in reading again these plays and allowing my mind to hear more keenly the words using my sight. It was 57 years ago that I first studied MacBeth. The language still entrances me.

[@gorge5412]

Great thought, Mr John. Thank you for sharing it.

[@theconsciousobserver6829]

n'ver do I tire, of him who inspired, of him, of him....of him. *loud applause *

[@carl_anderson9315]

Shakespeare is simply the GOAT. Cervantes was also a genius, and so was Poe.

[@lizannewhitlow1085]

@@carl_anderson9315 So was Nabokov. English was his third language.

[@lizannewhitlow1085]

John, turn off Newsmax. 🙏🏻

[@lisastallingskeelor3328]

Mckellan could read his grocery list to me and I would be mesmerized. 💗💞🧡🖤💛🤍💖💔💕🤎💚💜💘❤️💝❣️

[@marekschwarzmann1638]

can you imagine airing this gold, this extremely rare, educated and informative material in todays tv?

[@ralphclark]

I saw that production during its 1979 run in the Young Vic. Judy Dench played Lady Macbeth. John Woodvine played Banquo. Malcolm was played by Roger Rees, and Ross by Ian McDiarmid (more recently known as Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars movies). It was my first ever visit to a live play in a proper theatre. And it was quite an unusual theatre. Small and intimate with the stage encircled by hard wooden benches. I was seated on those benches at the front right by the stage. During the “Banquo’s ghost” scene a small blob of spittle flew from McKellen’s lips as he spun around ranting and raving, and hit me in the face. It was an unforgettable experience, and to this day, the most enthralling presentation of the Scottish Play, live or recorded, that I have ever seen.

[@samjones2693]

Simply amazing. In this 12min clip Sir Ian has shown everyone a window into his mastery of Macbeth, Shakespeare and treading the boards. He is so confident, self assured and abreast of all aspects of the task at hand. Also, to take nothing away or diminish what I/we have just watched but, every now and then, I thought I saw Jeremy Brett. The voice is unmistakable but he has that lean, rakish figure.

[@bendigeidfranemmanueljones5694]

I saw him do that two nights ago. Ended with the house lights out. Still magic at 80.

[@soldierside365]

I saw his show as well last Saturday and oh my god it was beyond anything I’ve ever seen before. Very lucky to have seen him live.

[@ancientwell]

I saw Ian McKellen's one-man show "Acting Shakespeare" live back in the late 1980s and he did this analysis as part of the presentation.

[@linengray]

I also saw this show. I actually got to be one of the Henry V dead bodies on stage with him. So I can say I acted on the stage with Ian McKellen.

[@heshamhany8470]

@@linengray do you still perform or was it a one off?

[@linengray]

@@heshamhany8470 It was a one off. He selected people from the audience to join him on stage. He then did a scene with all of us playing dead. He even gave us a short lesson on how to die well.

[@heshamhany8470]

@@linengray that was awesome! But how do you die well? 😂

[@kristincooperholtz2997]

I saw him doing this at the nac in Ottawa so long ago. His romeo and Juliet balcony scene was also memorable. Truly comic.

[@MarkArandjus]

Respect for how much these actors think about every detail of every line in pursuit of greatness.

[@VoxFelis]

Sir Patrick in the back just admiring the craftsmanship.

[@ladams391]

It is truly amazing that Shakespeare wrote in such a way so that his work has reached across centuries of time and given me such a feeling of unease after seeing this performance. I don't mean to devalue Sir Ian McKellen's part in it, he clearly put in the time and effort and has the talent to give an amazing performance, but in his analysis he, himself, pays credit several times to Shakespeare's ability to convey so much meaning and deliver such vivid emotion through his work.

[@al201103]

This aspect, for me, is as fascinating as the quality of writing itself. The degree to which Shakespeare understood people, understood the human condition and its many nuanced facets. Particularly his understanding of depression, nihilism and existentialism but also love, loyalty, justice, morals. Long before psychology was codified it seems that Shakespeare had already peered deep into the human mind and peeled back so very many layers.

[@howlingwolf7280]

He speaks with such a brilliant, controlled and focused passion on a subject he loves and understands in his bones.

[@heelflipharriet1]

Happy Birthday, Sir Ian! Your talent is undeniable. This is brilliant ~

[@joliegarrett]

Brilliant! I love how you get to see his analysis come all together in performance at the end of this video. Sir Ian is one of our greatest living actors.

[@JerrellXotiikClemmons]

This is great! kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPbpWicat5lbKs

[@Dinuial]

Good Gods above and below, that opening line! I have been saying for years that the biggest mistake people make with Shakespeare is sacrificing the meaning for the sake of the meter.

[@andrewtucker94]

Shakespeare can be so enjoyable when people cut to the heart of what's meant. I wonder if it so rarely sounds natural because so few actors really understand what he's trying to say

[@Lytton333]

Surely the trick is to have both. Otherwise it's a shrink's couch.

[@JerrellXotiikClemmons]

This is great! kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPbpWicat5lbKs

[@Thriller94]

Guy behind at 9:55 got his mind BLOWN.

[@virtualpigmaster]

And that guy is Trevor Nunn, who directed Mckellen in that production of Macbeth himself!

[@mikemillsted56]

That's Sir Trevor Nunn.

[@alixwatson5967]

🤦

[@BeazleyStudios]

Sir Ian, absolutely wonderful...and his voice can capture your attention and keep it for as long as he want to.

[@shakespearemonologue]

Ian McKellen gives so many great tips in this excerpt - thanks for sharing.

[@CB-ce6bk]

that man is far beyond great, his personality is so catching you cling onto his lips until he finished the last syllable😍😍 that's what Shakespeare is about, out of space performance😍

[@gkiiizy6068]

this dude is boring asfu are u high

[@Miracle67]

I'm deeply thankful for documents like this: it means a lot to me to have a contact with such a great actor through his experienced Shakespeare on the stage. I really appreciate it like a present. Thank u, mate

[@JerrellXotiikClemmons]

This is great! kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPbpWicat5lbKs

[@tubbykids00]

Christ imagine, this was just ONLY 12 mins into your English/Literature class that you have for only 30 mins at school. So invested in Sir Ian McKellen's analyzation of Shakespeare's Macbeth from start to finish.

[@star_blazer]

Thank you for making this available, Kris.

[@SuperBlackguard]

thankyou Sir Ian for lighting up and revealing more of the depth and detail of Shakespeare, each line is a snapshot into infinity it sometimes seems

[@moleshaman3040]

His masterclass really reveals depths in the text that I hadn't suspected when I saw the play.

[@robink.8532]

I have a feeling this guy’s gonna go places.

[@theliterarytarot]

I just read Sir Patrick Stewart writing about Sir Ian’s advice to him before Patrick played in Macbeth (Ian having been the big hitter in this play for years) and Ian had just said “AND….it’s all about the and”. Then , only 10 minutes after putting my book down for the night to pick up my phone and check YT and have this pop up. The soliloquy reminds me of memorizing it in college getting my English degree, then the sparkle in both of these actors eyes when they act together. I absolutely love how they bring Shakespeare to life, and these insights here. It is as if Ian has looked right into Shakespeare’s mind and understood the very essence of what he created hundreds of years ago. And these are sentiments we all can connect with today.

[@indigoriviera]

Thank you so much for uploading, this was wonderful to watch.

[@Metoobie]

Sir McKellen, you never cease to impress me. Just in awe.

[@tgmolitor6215]

It's interesting to note the difference of delivering that soliloquy to an actress he is holding dead (Fassbender) and an actress he's looking at on a gurney dead (Stewart) versus a direct address to the audience (McKellen). The latter seems much more "theatrical" than the other two.

[@JerrellXotiikClemmons]

This is great! kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPbpWicat5lbKs

[@b00i00d]

This is _sooo good_ - the whole series in fact. Everytime I revisit it I am refreshed anew!

[@The80sBoy]

How absolutely amazing and so absorbing. Sir Ian grabs your attention and never lets go. One of the greatest actors - ever.

[@owencraig7174]

Patrick Stewart is there in the background to the right.

[@sesfilmsllc]

He had hair?

[@Quotenwagnerianer]

@@sesfilmsllc If you call that hair. He has just about the same amount as he did 10 years later when he played Cpt. Picard. The difference here is that he has just grown out what little he has.

[@McKamikazeHighlander]

Along with David Suchet. Such talent

[@robb7968]

@@McKamikazeHighlander Both actually discussed the role of Shylock in Merchant of Venice. And the setting of that video was somewhat similar to this one.

[@thelittlepasty8360]

Stefan Sharak Have you not seen dune?

[@annebynon]

This is brilliant. Would love to see some more master class footage from RSC archives.

[@JerrellXotiikClemmons]

This is great! kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPbpWicat5lbKs

[@theliterarytarot]

Absolutely

[@movieman6456]

I’ve rewatched this like twenty times in the past five years

[@vardellsfolly5200]

Kris, thank you for this experience!

[@petercorbett3794]

I saw him doing this live, in the theatre, a one man show around the same time as this. It was as intense as watching him do the full play.

[@billyhodges7194]

Anyone else reminded of Fry and Laurie's wonderfully pomposity pricking Actors Masterclass sketch?? Fucking merciless and hilarious....😜😜 Awwww you gotta love luvvies

[@someoneelse1904]

“From the buttocks.” “TIME!!!” 😂😂😂 So funny!

[@TroyBlackford]

I was just scrolling through the comments hoping someone else said this: I love Mr. McKellen here but yes that's the first thing I thought of.

[@beverlyfletcher4458]

Superb and I was fortunate enough to see this production.

[@scottloar]

Spot on. More, he does know and can translate so; he makes it all intelligible, a thorough understanding, and this genius of Shakespeare is more thoroughly appreciated.

[@pillettadoinswartsh4974]

Yes, "the sense." Finally someone gets it. Too often meaning gets lost in pentameter. It is especially important to convey Shakespeare's genius not only of language, but of wisdom. The Bard saw deeply, and expressed it eloquently. But it is the depth of his insight which is paramount. And "actor as playwright" reverberates Glenn Gould's understanding of pianist as composer. A work lives on through its RE-composing. Its RE-writing in performance. Bach himself was revitalized in 1955 by Gould's "Goldberg Variations."

[@ritwijmishra-writer6278]

True. Shakespeare was more than a restrained virtuoso, a formidable stylist. The substantive worth of his writings is quite as important to appreciate alongside a formalist approach to his writings.

[@pgehred1]

Such a great comment. I learned something. Thank you.

[@lizannewhitlow1085]

Piletta, what a marvelous name you have. I thought I had a good name! 🤭

[@holliswilliams8426]

I think it's simply because Shakespeare wrote poetry, and the plays are in verse, so people just see it as performance poetry, if that makes sense.

[@JerrellXotiikClemmons]

This is great! kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPbpWicat5lbKs

[@littleglimmer2325]

This is the kind of television we had in the UK through the 60's and 70's. Many television plays were quality writing and acting; poor scenery and lighting didn't matter. It wasn't all sitcoms and secondhand US shows.

[@ixman]

Amazing - the thinking that went into this writing, both its creation and its accurate portrayal.

[@EMEReynolds]

Brilliant, his analytical perspective is something to be admired greatly.

[@ShotDownInFlames2]

Good analysis. I always thought there should be several pauses during the speech, as he did it.

[@salfordguy69]

he's absolutely gorgeous, compelling, enigmatic and passionate!! Nothing changes!

[@TravelingGrandma]

Recommend in my feed, brilliant find! Thank you for sharing!

[@xwondererx]

Fascinating to see the process McKellan went through for that final product.

[@angelsdefendus]

That was amazing!! That is such a perfect example of nihilism, and Sir McKellan nailed it. Thank you for posting this.

[@DetailsAreSlim]

This is fabulous! And I love that Sir Patrick Stewart is sitting behind him listening as well.

[@cyrbuzz6615]

Magneto and Professor X in their youth.

[@theliterarytarot]

You should read Sir Patrick Stewart’s new book, he talks about this speech and about their friendship. They weren’t close until much later. Very absorbing!

[@Maliceah]

What a fantastic analysis of MacBeth's speech! Fascinating.

[@diegomoreno5927]

The reading is one of my favorite parts of acting/crafting a role

[@keithdavis8461]

Absolutely brilliant. Love his point about all the minutiae being for the actor’s benefit. And then, the less mindful or savvy audience members can experience those better felt than told moments.

[@TroyBlackford]

He gives us time in a concrete sense, but also in an abstract sense.

[@alastairjinks6966]

Doing this as my first ever Shakespeare audition piece today so very helpful for me

[@janbarwick7999]

Extraordinary. We had to learn this speech at school in 1964 and I've never forgotten it. Finally, I understand it.

[@j.p.8276]

Sir Ian Mckellen, a title well deserved. Can you imagine him doing rap, or hip hop? It is a pleasure just to listen to him talk. He does the language justice. I wish more people would follow his example.

[@derekk9202]

He would be great at that too

[@kamuelalee]

McKellen really brings home the point with this workshop how intellectual the process of acting can be...especially Shakespeare. Love this video, thanks for posting.

[@JerrellXotiikClemmons]

This is great! kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPbpWicat5lbKs

[@PaulRoneClarke]

Bloody hell. I was not expecting that. The most wonderful thing I’ve seen for months on this here KZbin.

[@vijayavaman]

Thank you so much. This is amazing. Brilliant analysis.

[@jean-lucpicard5510]

This was actually filmed in the Holodeck of the Stargazer when I was second in command.

[@nikgibson2503]

"A fool is what?" Flying, hopefully

[@scrapbus9681]

Underrated

[@richardburt9812]

They've s such a brilliants , unforgettable reading. I had that the video back in the 80s.

[@Kimble1599]

Fascinating seeing older videos of Sir Ian

[@toddbalazic4884]

This is the most amazing discourse on both the art of acting and the art of Shakespeare that my sorry ears have heard in longer than my sorry heart wishes to admit. Thank you for posting this!!!

[@fazergazer]

Brilliant! It’s the context, really! To see into the mind of the actor visualizing the context of the words. Stream of consciousness sharing. In fact, as a pianist, I empathize with this essential context the performer must create to link the mind of the audience with the composer’s intent. The notes and the words have meaning only in this context.

[@JerrellXotiikClemmons]

This is great! kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPbpWicat5lbKs

[@peterhagan8454]

i have gorged myself on a feast of insight and beautiful acting thank you

[@SkipCole]

This is archival gold!!! Thank you!

[@Jericko427]

He makes it sound so easy.

[@portaccio]

It is the most shattering experience of a young man's life when he awakens and quite reasonably says to himself, "I will never play The Dane."

[@portaccio]

And when that moment comes, ambition ceases.

[@jmace2424]

I am so glad this footage exists!

[@mrJohnDesiderio]

This is such a treasure! Brilliant, wise, practicable!

[@ruthieo54]

Sir Ian's interpretive discourse is absolutely illuminating. He shows me why actors have endlessly studied Shakespeare. He is so worthy of his craft! Bravo!

[@bobmetzger1]

Seeing how this great actor thoughtfully breaks down his analysis of this scene is both inspiring and humbling. I have never given so much thought to anything I’ve done.

[@JerrellXotiikClemmons]

This is great! kzbin.info/www/bejne/npPbpWicat5lbKs

[@yuqijiang5903]

very helpful analysis, thank you Sir Ian.

[@scottscott232]

Wow, this is bloody brilliant. I'd have loved to have had Ian for tutor when I studied Macbeth.

[@DKChubs]

This breakdown would work as one hell of a workshop for hiphop lyrics. Shakespeare would have made one hell of an MC. Same for Ian McK, honestly.

[@kkibela]

Its time.. I want to see that.. Performed by brilliant rappers.. I really want that.

[@carriebee5418]

T Clark getting ready for the Disney Plus premier brought me here.

[@eamonnmorris5331]

"Syllable" ... the most striking word in the whole soliloquy ... after all, Time does not have 'syllables' ... only words do .... and yet what a genius use of the word "Syllable" by Shakespeare here! ... almost postmodern. Yet I don't think I have heard one Great Shakespearean Actor version, not even this one, that gives that word due consideration ....

[@herrklamm1454]

Good point.

[@BbGun-lw5vi]

You have a point! Thank you for making me think about the meaning of using syllable. Do you mind giving me your thoughts? I have my own idea but would love your perspective.

[@eamonnmorris5331]

@@BbGun-lw5vi It's intriguing, this thing about language ... "In the beginning there was the Word etc." Words are, in a sense, a proxy for 'reality'. But can words (i.e. syllables) be a proxy for Time itself? It's an interesting idea that this passage draws me back to! If so it is at the very least prescient of Shakespeare to bring it up ... especially when seen through the modern lens of 'Space-Time' On the other hand there is the notion of language as 'material' - the 'plasticene' out of which we construct reality. That is what I meant by "almost postmodern" On that level the "last syllable" quote is a lovely piece of material in itself, best enunciated with the full measure of scorn it deserves.

[@BbGun-lw5vi]

@@eamonnmorris5331 Thank you for sharing. You gave me a lot to think about. I hadn’t thought about “in the beginning there was the Word.” When I read your first comment I kept thinking of a few things. Like you, I thought about how we construct our reality through language. And how a novel is a bunch of chapters, made up of paragraphs, full of words that are made up of syllables. Since he says “recorded” time then it’s a history volume that is immensely huge with countless syllables and that last syllable is the last one spoken before the volume is closed. I love that the previous line before “syllable” is made up of only one syllable words except for petty. ‘Creeps in this petty pace from day to day” Anyway, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me.

[@jessiebrinklow1595]

Brilliantly done he seems to be able to put both menace and humour into both his face and voice.

[@lucieanneblake]

incredible, learnt a lot. Very powerful and engrossing