Modern Hamlets and Their Soliloquies
Praise for the first edition: “Modern Hamlets provides fresh insights into the acting process, while also emphasizing Hamlet as a performance text. Maher’s impressive descriptions of the various Hamlets reinforced the notion that Hamlet is the ultimate ‘personality role’ which allows for a broad range of fascinating interpretations. Scholars and practitioners alike will benefit from this balanced, insightful, and entertaining work.” – Theatre History Studies
In Modern Hamlets and Their Soliloquies (Iowa, 1992), Mary Maher examined how modern actors have chosen to perform Hamlet’s soliloquies, and why they made the choices they made, within the context of their specific productions of the play.
Adding to original interviews with, among others, Derek Jacobi, David Warner, Kevin Kline, and Ben Kingsley, Modern Hamlets and Their Soliloquies: An Expanded Edition offers two new and insightful interviews, one with Kenneth Branagh, focusing on his 1997 film production of the play, and one with Simon Russell Beale, discussing his 2000-2001 run as Hamlet at the Royal National Theatre.