Harriet Walter – författare

'A part we have played is like a person we once met, grew to know, became intimately enmeshed with and finally moved away from. Some of these characters remain friends, others are like ex–lovers with whom we no longer have anything in common. All of them bring something out in us that will never go back in the box.'In a varied and distinguished career, Harriet Walter has played almost all of Shakespeare's heroines, notably Ophelia, Helena, Portia, Viola, Imogen, Lady Macbeth, Beatrice and Cleopatra, mostly for the Royal Shakespeare Company. But where, she asks, does an actress go after playing Cleopatra's magnificent death? Why didn't Shakespeare write more – and more powerful – roles for mature women?For Walter, the solution was to ignore the dictates of centuries of tradition, and to begin playing the mature male characters. Her Brutus in an all–female Julius Caesar at the Donmar Warehouse was widely acclaimed, and was soon followed by Henry IV. What, she asks, can an actress bring to these roles – and is there any fundamental difference in the way they must be played?In Brutus and Other Heroines, Walter discusses each of these roles – both male and female – from the inside, explaining the particular choices she made in preparing and performing each character. Her extraordinarily perceptive and intimate accounts illuminate each play as a whole, offering a treasure trove of valuable insights for theatregoers, scholars and anyone interested in how the plays work on stage. Aspiring actors, too, will discover the many possibilities open to them in playing these magnificent roles.The book is an exploration of the Shakespearean canon through the eyes of a self-identified 'feminist actor' – but, above all, a remarkable account of an acting career unconstrained by tradition or expectations. It concludes with an affectionate rebuke to her beloved Will: 'I cannot imagine a world without you. I just wish you had put more women at the centre of your world/stage… I would love you to come back and do some rewrites.''A glorious reminder that genuine diversity on stage offers astonishing creative benefits… Harriet Walter is mesmerising in one play after another, bringing her classical training to bear as a conflicted Brutus, then a Henry IV who wears his crown heavily, and finally a Prospero who knows that the steel bars of prison are resistant to all magic… this is genuinely art to enchant' The Guardian on the Donmar Warehouse's Shakespeare Trilogy

Harriet Walter's wonderfully practical - and personal - introduction to acting.'Acting is what I do with who I am', writes Harriet Walter. And in this book she takes us step by step through the processes involved in performance. Each step of the way is illuminated with brilliantly precise examples from her own career.So we are introduced to the Workshop, the Rehearsal, and the Roots and Pathways into a role. Then follows the main meat of the book: six Keys to the Development and Exploration of character. The closing section deals with Performance on stage and screen. Every insight, every suggestion is firmly rooted in the author's own experience.Harriet Walter's book is full of unparalleled insights into the everyday working life of an actor, and into quite how much hard work is needed before they can convincingly put themselves in other people's shoes.'My advice to a young actor: read this book' Richard Eyre

New parts for thirty of Shakespeare's women, letting them speak their minds, written by famed stage and screen actress, Dame Harriet Walter DBE'It is STUNNING and I simply sat and read it right through, and shall start again at once. I had no idea that she is such a sensationally fine poet. Astonishing' JOANNA LUMLEY'Bold and original . . . Anyone who cares about Shakespeare will want to own and share this book'JAMES SHAPIRO'With her gravitas, empathy, intellect and absolute belly laugh wit, the unheard voices soar. A real celebration of her life and art' PHYLLIDA LLOYDDame Harriet Walter, renowned for her wonderful portrayals in Succession and Killing Eve among others, is one of Britain's most esteemed Shakespearean actors. Now, having played most of the Bard's female characters, audaciously she lets them speak their minds.Written in 'Shakespearean' verse and prose, Harriet Walter goes between the lines of the plays to let us hear what she imagines - sometimes playfully and sometimes searchingly - these women were really thinking.Gertrude tells Hamlet the unvarnished truth; Lady MacBeth has her regrets; Kate, the Shrew, challenges us; Juliet's nurse challenges the nobility; Cleopatra's handmaiden reveals her mistress's secrets; Ariel is frightened of freedom; Ophelia surprises us; Olivia surprises herself; and the Witches have a good old rap.Harriet Walter herself says, 'I worship Shakespeare. His psychological insight is second to none but the mirror that he held up to nature reflected a predominantly male image of the world. I pondered the long shadow of his genius and tried to think of ways to let a little sunlight in on some of his women's stories. I like to think he wouldn't mind'.'Harriet Walter's years of inhabiting and imbibing so many of those great roles gives her a special licence to speak for them' GREG DORAN, former artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company'Harriet Walter unpicks and re-centres the inner life and journey of these women as only one of our most talented and celebrated classical actors could. A must read!' MAXINE PEAKE'Effortlessly witty, charming, surprising, delightful. Clearly, Harriet Walter should have been in thewriters' room with us for Succession' FRANCESCA GARDINER'An incisive, funny, mischievously subversive homage to Shakespeare's heroines, written by one of mine' MEERA SYAL'With characteristic wit, compassion and fierce intelligence, she gives tantalising voice to the Bard's female greats' TAMSIN GREIG

'It is STUNNING and I simply sat and read it right through, and shall start again at once. I had no idea that she is such a sensationally fine poet. Astonishing' JOANNA LUMLEY'Harriet Walter unpicks and re-centres the inner life and journey of these women as only one of our most talented and celebrated classical actors could. A must read!' MAXINE PEAKE'Bold and original . . . Anyone who cares about Shakespeare will want to own and share this book'JAMES SHAPIRO, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William ShakespeareDame Harriet Walter, renowned for her wonderful portrayals in Succession and Killing Eve among others, is one of Britain's most esteemed Shakespearean actors. Now, having played most of the Bard's female characters, audaciously she lets them speak their minds.With thirty new parts for Shakespeare's women, written in 'Shakespearean' verse and prose, Harriet Walter goes between the lines of the plays to let us hear what she imagines - sometimes playfully and sometimes searchingly - these women were really thinking.Gertrude tells Hamlet the unvarnished truth; Lady MacBeth has her regrets; Kate, the Shrew, challenges us; Juliet's nurse challenges the nobility; Cleopatra's handmaiden reveals her mistress's secrets; Ariel is frightened of freedom; Ophelia surprises us; Olivia surprises herself; and the Witches have a good old rap.Harriet Walter herself says, 'I worship Shakespeare. His psychological insight is second to none but the mirror that he held up to nature reflected a predominantly male image of the world. I pondered the long shadow of his genius and tried to think of ways to let a little sunlight in on some of his women's stories. I like to think he wouldn't mind'.'An incisive, funny, mischievously subversive homage to Shakespeare's heroines, written by one of mine' MEERA SYAL'With characteristic wit, compassion and fierce intelligence, she gives tantalising voice to the Bard's female greats' TAMSIN GREIG'Effortlessly witty, charming, surprising, delightful. Clearly, Harriet Walter should have been in thewriters' room with us for Succession' FRANCESCA GARDINER