''Shakespeare for My Father'' is a one-woman play written and performed by

Lynn Redgrave Lynn Rachel Redgrave (8 March 1943 – 2 May 2010) was an English actress. She won two Golden Globe Awards throughout her career. A member of the Redgrave family of actors, Lynn trained in London before making her theatrical debut in 1962. By ...

. The play concerns Redgrave's relationship with her father, the imposing actor and family

patriarch The highest-ranking bishops in Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church (above major archbishop and primate), the Hussite Church, Church of the East, and some Independent Catholic Churches are termed patriarchs (and in certai ...

Sir

Michael Redgrave Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave CBE (20 March 1908 – 21 March 1985) was an English stage and film actor, director, manager and author. He received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance in ''Mourning Becomes Elect ...

. The play was produced and directed by Redgrave's then husband John Clark with lighting designed by

Thomas Skelton Thomas R. Skelton (September 24, 1927 – August 9, 1994) was an American lighting designer. In a career spanning more than four decades, he was best known for his lighting designs for ballet and Broadway theatre productions. Biography Born in No ...

. It was presented for a week at the

Lobero Theatre The Lobero Theatre is an historic building in Santa Barbara, California. The theater was originally built as an opera house, in a refurbished adobe school building, by Italian immigrant José Lobero in 1873. Located downtown at the corner of Ana ...

in Santa Barbara before touring the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

for a year in a production sponsored by CAMI.

Plot

Redgrave was a shy and somewhat sickly child who saw little of her busy father when growing up, and lived very much in a fantasy world of her own making. Her daydreams, because of watching her father perform, consisted largely of

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

plays and characters. The "memory and message" play gave her an opportunity to slip into many of the characters, following her father's life through to his death from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

, and her ultimate forgiveness of his failure as a parent.

Reception

The play opened on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

at the

Helen Hayes Theatre The Hayes Theater (formerly the Little Theatre, New York Times Hall, Winthrop Ames Theatre, and Helen Hayes Theatre) is a Broadway theater at 240 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Named for actress ...

in the 1992–1993 season, where it played 274 performances, earned Redgrave a Best Actress Tony Award nomination, and went on to play in

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, and at London's

Haymarket Theatre The Theatre Royal Haymarket (also known as Haymarket Theatre or the Little Theatre) is a West End theatre on Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use. Samuel Foote ...

. The play received significant critical acclaim. ''

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'' described ''Shakespeare for my Father'' as "a one-woman show by Lynn Redgrave in which she reminisces about life with her father, Sir

, with full scenes from Shakespeare's works", and stated that Redgrave's "sense of humor makes it a pleasure and privilege to watch".

Patti Hartigan Patti may refer to: People * Patti (name) * Patti caste, a group of people Places * Patti, Iran (disambiguation) * Patti, Punjab, India * Patti, Punjab Assembly constituency, India * Patti, Sicily * Patti, Uttar Pradesh, India * Patti, Uttar Prad ...

of ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...

'' described the play as a "triumph", and

Lloyd Rose Lloyd Rose is an American writer most associated with her work on various ''Doctor Who'' spin-offs. She has also written for the American television series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' and '' Kingpin''. She often jokes in her biographies th ...

of ''

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'' said of Redgrave's performance, "Particularly when she is not speaking, her face can seem to hold an impossible number of emotions simultaneously, yet such fullness of feeling is mysteriously unreadable. At such moments you glance up to Sir Michael's picture, which dominates the stage, and find the same." ''

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'' described Redgrave's performance as "brilliant and extremely moving" and said, "At the end, Lynn gestures to that photograph, sharing her well-deserved applause with the man who could never acknowledge her talent. It’s a simple gesture that contains layers of emotional complexity and as such, an appropriate way to end this brutally honest but forgiveness-filled show."

References

{{Reflist

External links

Variety review
Broadway plays 1993 plays