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.
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, National Theatre 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.
Cleopatra / Director, Antony and Cleopatra, Moving Theatre started June 1995, Riverside Studios, London, tour to San Paolo and Santander.
Brecht in Exile 1993 – 1994, Bridge Lane, Battersea, London.
Hesione Hushabye, Heartbreak House 19^th March – 20^th June 1992, Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London.
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. 1984 – 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 (press night), 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 Theatre Company 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. 1957 – 1958, Saville Theatre, London.

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