Michael Pennington
Michael Vivian Fyfe Pennington (born June 7, 1943 in Cambridge ) is a British actor, theater director and writer.
life and career
Michael Pennington took on roles in student theater during his studies in Cambridge. An initial engagement with the Royal Shakespeare Company was followed by a theatrical career lasting over forty years. A selection of his appearances include Angelo (1974) and the Duke (1978) in Maß für Maß , Mercutio (1976) in Romeo and Juliet , Hamlet in Hamlet 1980 for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Edward Damson in Peter Shaffer's Gift of the Gorgon, 1992 / 93. Theater appearances in Germany include a tour to Berlin in the early 1960s with the National Youth Theater, George Bernard Shaw's heroes in 1975 at the Städtische Bühnen Frankfurt. In 1986 he founded the English Shakespeare Company together with Michael Bogdanov , which from 1986 to 1989 initially produced the Shakespeare plays Heinrich IV, parts 1 and 2 and Heinrich V, and from 1987 with Shakespeare's entire history cycle from Richard II to Richard III under the title The Wars of the Roses went on a world tour. Performances in Germany took place in Hamburg in 1987, in West Berlin in 1988 and in Hamburg, East Berlin and Frankfurt am Main in 1989 .
In addition to his work as an actor, Michael Pennington has also directed the theater. He staged, among other things, What you want for the English Shakespeare Company and A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Open Air Theater in Regent's Park, London. He is also the author of his own one-person play Anton Chekhov about and with Anton Chekhov , which he has performed repeatedly since 1984. Another solo program on William Shakespeare is called Sweet William .
His film roles include Laertes in Tony Richardson 's film adaptation of Hamlet (1969) and arguably his best-known role, that of Moff Jerjerrod, the commander of the second Death Star, in The Return of the Jedi .
Michael Pennington published an account of a 1974 rail journey through Siberia, Rossya: A Journey through Siberia ; written a book about Anton Chekhov, Are You There Crocodile? Inventing Anton Chekhov , which also includes his play Anton Chekhov ; and monographs on the Shakespeare plays Hamlet, Hamlet: A User's Guide , What You Want, Twelfth Night: A User's Guide , and A Midsummer Night's Dream , A Midsummer Night's Dream: A User's Guide .
In April 2004 he was the second actor - after Harley Granville-Barker in 1925 - to give the British Academy's annual Shakespeare Lecture . His talk was entitled Barnadine's Straw: The Devil in Shakespeare's Detail .
Works
- 1972: This Is All For You
- 1977: Rossya: A Journey through Siberia
- 1996: Hamlet: A User's Guide
- 2000: Twelfth Night: A User's Guide
- 2003: Are You There Crocodile? Inventing Anton Chekhov
- 2004: A Pocket Guide to Ibsen, Chekhov and Strindberg
- 2005: A Midsummer Night's Dream: A User's Guide
Individual evidence
- ↑ Michael Bogdanov and Michael Pennington, The story of the 'Wars of the Roses', 1986-1989 , 1990 Nick Hern Books
- ↑ Michael Pennington, Twelfth Night: A User's Guide
- ↑ Michael Pennington, A Midsummer Night's Dream: A User's Guide
- ↑ Michael Pennington, Are You There Crocodile? Inventing Anton Chekhov
- ^ Proceedings of the British Academy , vol 131, 2004 Lectures, page 205 - page 227
Web links
- Michael Pennington in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Pennington biography and list of works
- English website about Michael Pennington
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Pennington, Michael |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Pennington, Michael Vivian Fyfe (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British actor, theater director and writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 7, 1943 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cambridge |