Vanessa Redgrave

I wonder where exactly to begin to describe, annotate and attempt a precise concise professional biography of this artist: in her own words in interview, Vanessa Redgrave is extraordinarily careful, combining one opposite with another, mulling over a minute point like a facet of crystal, employing caveats, clauses; avoiding at all cost an easy or glib answer, repudiating a shallow thought; and delopying a rare – if not unique – combination of instinct, insight and intelligence to her work.

Those qualities – amongst others – are those which set her apart as an actress; there is no other person working in any performance medium who has given more devoted and subtle attention to her work.

Although I have been to the theatre perhaps a thousand, times, I have only seen Vanessa Redgrave on stage in two plays; the first was in Ibsen’s “The Lady from the Sea” at the Manchester Royal Exchange Theatre in 1978 (although I saw the production five times in that run); the second was in Michael Redgrave’s adaptation of Henry James’ short novel, “The Aspern Papers” at the the Haymarket Theatre in in 1984. After both, I came out of the theatre in a daze and as though I had lost temporarily a protective layer; everything brighter, more intense, and it took an hour to begin to come down. I have never been more keenly aware of stepping into the world of another character.

Plays authored

The Actor’s Ways and Means

Past productions

Queen Margaret, Richard III 7^th June – 6^th August 2016, Almeida Theatre, Islington, London.
Beatrice, Much Ado About Nothing 2013, Old Vic, London.
Hecuba, Hecuba, Royal Shakespeare Company 7^th April (press night) – 7^th May 2005, Albery Theatre (now Noël Coward Theatre), London.
Mrs Erlynne, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Theatre Royal Haymarket 22^nd February – 8^th June 2002, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London.
Mme Ranevskaya, The Cherry Orchard, National Theatre 18^th September 2000 – 2001, Cottesloe Theatre (now Dorfman Theatre), National Theatre, London and Olivier Theatre, National Theatre.
Carlotta Gray, A Song at Twilight 20^th October 1999 – 4^th March 2000, Gielgud Theatre, London.
Prospero, The Tempest 2000, Shakespeare’s Globe (Bankside), London.
Ella Rentheim, John Gabriel Borkman, National Theatre started 5^th July 1996, Lyttelton Theatre, National Theatre.
Cleopatra / Director, Antony and Cleopatra, Moving Theatre 30^th October – 4^th November 1995, Theatre Royal, Bath.
Brecht in Exile 1993 – 1994, Bridge Lane, Battersea, London.
Hesione Hushabye, Heartbreak House 19^th March – 20^th June 1992, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London.
Isadora Duncan, When She Danced 6^th August – 21^st December 1991, Globe (Shaftesbury Ave), London (now Gielgud Theatre, London).
Olga Prozorov, Three Sisters 1990 – 1991, Queen’s Theatre, (Shaftesbury Ave) London (now Sondheim Theatre, London).
Lady Torrance, Orpheus Descending 13^th December 1988 – 18^th February 1989, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London.
Orpheus Descending 1988 – 1989, Theatre Royal, Bath.
A Madhouse in Goa 1988 – 1989, Apollo Theatre (Shaftesbury Avenue), London.
A Touch of the Poet started 10^th March 1988, Comedy Theatre, London (now Harold Pinter Theatre, London).
A Touch of the Poet 1987 – 1988, Young Vic, London.
Her Infinite Variety 1987 – 1988, Old Vic, London.
Cleopatra, Antony and Cleopatra June – July 1986, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London.
Chekhov’s Women 1985 – 1986, Lyric Theatre (Shaftesbury Ave), London.
Tribute to Sir Michael Redgrave 1985 – 1986, Old Vic, London.
Mrs Alving, Ghosts 1986 – 14^th February 1987, Young Vic, London and Wyndham’s Theatre, London.
Irina Arkadina, The Seagull, EEE Ventures Ltd, Lyric Hammersmith Productions, Peter Baldwin Ltd, Robert Fox Ltd, and Stoll Moss Theatres Ltd 2^nd August – November 1985, Queen’s Theatre, (Shaftesbury Ave) London (now Sondheim Theatre, London).
Miss Tina, The Aspern Papers, Duncan C Weldon, Paul Gregg & Lionel Becker, and Proscenium Productions Ltd 8^th March – 5^th May 1984, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London.
Ellida, The Lady from the Sea, Royal Exchange Theatre Company 5^th October 1978 – 7^th July 1979, Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester and The Roundhouse, London.
Gilda, Design for Living 21^st November 1973 – May 1974, Phoenix Theatre, London.
Reader, If Music and Sweet Poetry Agree…, Royal Shakespeare Company 15^th October 1972, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Polly Peachum, The Threepenny Opera 10^th February – July 1972, Prince of Wales Theatre, London and Piccadilly Theatre, London.
Susan Thistlewood, Cato Street, Thistlewood Productions and Young Vic 3^rd – 27^th November 1971, Young Vic, London.
The Charge of the Light Brigade 1967 – 1968, Film Version.
Jean Brodie, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 5^th May 1966 – September 1967, Wyndham’s Theatre, London.
Cymbeline 1962 – 1963, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-Upon-Avon.
The Taming of the Shrew 1962 – 1963, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Imogen, Cymbeline, Royal Shakespeare Company 17^th July 1962 (press night), Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Katharina, The Taming of the Shrew, Royal Shakespeare Company 23^rd April 1962 (press night), Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Reader, The Hollow Crown, Royal Shakespeare Company 1^st February 1962 (press night), Aldwych Theatre, London.
Rosalind, As You Like It, Royal Shakespeare Company 10^th January 1962 (press night), Aldwych Theatre, London.
As You Like It 1961 – 1962, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Katharina, The Taming of the Shrew, Royal Shakespeare Company 13^th September 1961 (press night), Aldwych Theatre, London.
Rosalind, As You Like It, Royal Shakespeare Company 4^th July 1961 (press night), Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Reader, The Hollow Crown, Royal Shakespeare Company 19^th March 1961 (press night), Aldwych Theatre, London.
Rose Sinclair, Look On Tempests started 23^rd March 1960, Comedy Theatre, London (now Harold Pinter Theatre, London).
Helena, A Midsummer Night’s Dream 1959 – 1960, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-Upon-Avon.
All’s Well That Ends Well 1959 – 1960, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Coriolanus 1959 – 1960, Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Valeria, Coriolanus, Royal Shakespeare Company 7^th July 1959 (press night), Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Helena, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Royal Shakespeare Company 2^nd June 1959 (press night), Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Unnamed parts, All’s Well That Ends Well, Royal Shakespeare Company 21^st April 1959 (press night), Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Unnamed parts, Othello, Royal Shakespeare Company 7^th April 1959 (press night), Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon.
Caroline Lester, A Touch of the Sun, Tennent Productions Ltd 6^th January – August 1958, Saville Theatre, London, Princes Theatre, London (now Shaftesbury Theatre (1963 – Present Day)), and other locations.
Cleopatra / Director, Antony and Cleopatra, Moving Theatre started 1995, Riverside Studios, London, San Paolo, and other locations.

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