This scene, from Shakespeare's horror-show MACBETH, takes place right after the murder of Duncan. It's usually cut form productions, mostly because directors don't quite know what to do with it and it's apparent change of tone. But it is very useful, and it's meaning is easy for an audience to grasp, so I think that it should be kept.
In this recording I'll read the part of The Porter, who is a bit (no, he's very) drunk, and Malcolm, who has been a-knocking...
Today we begin our "Shakespeare Saturdays" series; monologues and
scenes posted every Saturday for the fun of it, the hell of it, the vocal exercise of it, and to celebrate William
Shakespeare's 450th through-out the year...
I thought it's be fun to begin with
Chorus's opening speech from HENRY V, asking the listeners to kindly
use their imaginations to enhance a poor theater's production
values...
I hope you enjoy these little sips of Shakespeare.
-Mark Redfield 26 April, 2014
ps--although we really don't know the date of Shakespeare's birth, we DO know he was baptized on this day--April 26th.
GOVERNOR MARTIN O’MALLEY AND MEDIA RIGHTS CAPITAL ANNOUNCE HOUSE OF CARDS WILL FILM SEASON THREE IN MARYLAND
ANNAPOLIS, MD (April 25, 2014) – Governor Martin O’Malley and Media
Rights Capital announced today that they have reached an agreement that
will keep the hit television show House of Cards filming its third
season in Maryland.
“Spoiler
alert: we’re going to keep the 3700 jobs and more than 100 million
dollars of economic activity and investment that House of Cards
generates right here in Maryland,” Governor O’Malley said. “Media Rights
Capital has been a great supporter of the people and entertainment
community in Maryland and we couldn't be happier to continue our
partnership.”
The Maryland General Assembly first passed the Film
Production Tax Credit in 2011, providing $26 million in tax credits in
the show’s first two seasons. With the growth of the production, House
of Cards will receive a total of $11.5 million in 2014, through a
combination of both the 2014 Film Production Tax Credit program and a
General Assembly authorization of $7.5 million in grants in the FY15
budget. Governor O'Malley led negotiations with MRC to finalize the
agreement, which provides less than the production qualified for, but
enough to keep the hit franchise in Maryland.
“House of Cards is
the gift that keeps on giving, having injected hundreds of millions of
dollars into the local economy, while also helping to provide thousands
of jobs to our Maryland community,” commented Asif Satchu, co-CEO of
MRC. “We are very grateful to both Governor O’Malley for his tireless
efforts to help keep jobs in Maryland and the leadership of the General
Assembly for their continued advocacy and support.”
The producers of the show expect to begin production on Season 3 over the next several months.
I'm very happy that the audio plays and books I'm producing under the bannerPOE FOREVERMORE RADIO THEATER has been nominated this year for a Rondo Award in the "Best Multi Media Horror" category!
Please take a moment and vote for Poe Forevermore Radio Theater. Basic rules and instructions ar ebelow, and voting only takes a few minutes.
There is just a week left to vote in the TWELFTH ANNUAL RONDO HATTON CLASSIC HORROR AWARDS.
Balloting ends at midnight the night of Sunday, MAY 5, 2014. (If you have already voted this year, feel free to forward the ballot to a friend).
— TO VOTE: Simply ballot the ballot from the Rondo websiteHERE. or cut-and-paste works fine; or type a list, and send an e-mail with your picks to, David Colton, at taraco@aol.comby Sunday night at midnight, May 5, 2014.
-- Every e-mail must include your name to be counted. All
votes are kept strictly confidential. No e-mail addresses or personal
information will ever be shared with anyone. And no, you do not have to vote in every category.
So, please take a moment and vote for POE FOREVERMORE RADIO THEATER today, in category # 23 BEST MULTIMEDIA HORROR The ballot is here: www.rondoaward.com
Check out POE FOREVERMORE RADIO THEATER frequently as we add new titles of audio plays and audio books weekly. Poe Forevermore Radio Theater is HERE.
Thank you for taking the time to vote for us and support our work! -Mark Redfield 25 April, 2014
April, 2014 has been National Poetry Month, and as I've been working on the script and the pre-production chores of the audioplay biography of Edgar Allan Poe called ALONE: THE LIFE OF POE, I've been posting daily recordings of the poet's poems.
I should have been posting them here as well, but, well, I haven't. So, along with other entries in the coming months, I'll be posting a Poe poem here once-a-week.
Here's Poe's famous poem THE RAVEN, which made him something of a rock star when it was published in his lifetime, in 1845.
Historians believe that the great playwright and poet was born on this
day in 1564. He also died on this date, April 23rd, in 1616. There some
who insist that his birth be celebrated
on the 26th, because there is a baptismal certificate for that day,
although there is no birth record. Regardless, today we honor the great
William Shakespeare, for his words and characters live on.
William Shakespeare
To
celebrate and honor Shakespeare, I'm going to post a newly recorded
monologue or scene each Saturday here at AN ACTOR'S NOTEBOOK. Look for posts headlined SHAKESPEARE SATURDAYS for my recordings,
and for articles and stories about The Bard, along with each recording..
I think
Shakespeare is best when you can HEAR him performed (and even better to
see AND hear!), so I've selected a wide ranging and eclectic series of
speeches that I've recorded, and I hope you like them.
They
were fun to record, and allowed me to think about characters and plays I
hadn't performed in years, or look at old favorites anew, and play some
characters I missed earlier in my career.
To start things off,
here is Prospero's epilogue, spoken at the end of THE TEMPEST. One of
Shakespeare's last plays, this monologue is rather fitting to hear on
the anniversary of The Bard's death, as Prospero is surely giving up his
magic and creativity and letting his every "third thought" be of his
own death...This monologue, in many ways, is about endings then, and
about beginnings, much like the play THE TEMPEST itself.
For your indulgence and pleasure, I submit most humbly,
THE
CHAPLIN CENTENNIAL: A CHAPLIN NOVELLA AND MODERN TIMES
5
February, 2014
This is
a special and exciting week for fans of Chaplin and classic cinema. And if you’re
a fan of either, you’re a fan of both.
This
week we celebrate and mark the historic occasions when Chaplin made his film
debut (“Making a Living”, Keystone, released 2 February, 1914), and his
character The Little Tramp made his debut (“Kid Auto Races at Venice”,
Keystone, released 7 February, 1914).
And
today, as we mark the debut of Modern Times, which opened on February 5th,
1936 and was the last screen appearance of Chaplin’s Little Tramp character, it
was announced that a novella written by Chaplin will be published.
Chaplin’s
only known work of fiction (he had also written and published his biography in
his lifetime in 1964, and a photobook called “My Life in Pictures” in 1974, “Footlights”
is a novella that is the precursor to the screenplay and film LIMELIGHT.
CHAPLIN’S
NOVELLA “FOOTLIGHTS”
“Footlights” was written in 1948, and was reconstructed by Chaplin biographer
and film historian David Robinson, and researchers at the Cineteca di Bolongna,
an Italian film restoration institute. Multiple drafts of the manuscript to “Footlights”
were found in the Chaplin archives in Switzerland, and the Chaplin Estate gave
the parties permission to reconstruct the literary work. The novella essentially
tells the story told in Chaplin’s film LIMELIGHT, but has a more somber, sadder
edge to it.
The novella can be ordered from Amazon or from Cineteca HERE. It goes on sale at The British Film Institute on Tuesday.
Here is a charming scene with Chaplin and Claire Bloom:
MODERN
TIMES
Chaplin’s
last film to use his immortal character of The Little Tramp opened on 5
February, 1936. Chaplin’s Jewish Barber in THE GREAT DICTATOR, although bearing
a great resemblance to the tramp, was quite a different little fellow.
Here is the classic factory scene from MODERN TIMES:
Charlie Chaplin's first appearance in a motion picture by the public was in the Keystone comedy Making a Living, released on 2 February, 1914.
The familiar and beloved Little Tramp character is not to be found in this knock-about farce from Mack Sennett's comedy factory. Chaplin plays a very different type in his motion picture debut.
Making a Living was directed by Henry "Pathe" Lehrman (nicked named "Pathe" by D.W. Griffith himself, for Lehman lied about working with the French company Pathe in order to be hired whe he started with Griffith and Biograph in New York years before...).
Chaplin (left) and Henry "Pathe" Lehrman (right).
Making a Living features Chaplin as a sharp swindler "Edgar English", Virginia Kirtley as the daughter, Alice Davenport as the Mother, Henry Lehrman as the Reporter, Minta Durfee as the Woman and Chester Conklin as the Policeman (and as a bum). The infamous Keystone Cops also make an appearance and help give chase at the end.
This year I'll be posting a great deal about one of my favorite actors and filmmakers--Charles Chaplin.
Having spent chunks of my life studying his work and his life, I find myself compelled once again to look at his work closely in the hopes of learning, and enjoying, so much more.
Here's to Charlie--the master poet of the cinema!
-Mark Redfield
1 February, 2014
"Charlie" (2009) by Mark Redfield Acrylic on canvas. 18x24
Performing and producing audio books and audio plays has been a-longtime coming for me, as I've been plotting and planning to do this for many years. My new work is produced under the umbrella of Poe Forevermore Radio Theater by Damfino Media.
The goal for me as actor and producer of audio books and plays is to make the words themselves disappear into feeling and experience. I love the art form of vocal/audio performance, audio book readings and audio plays.
Please join me. I'll be talking about each new project in detail here on AN ACTOR'S NOTEBOOK.
And it's okay to shush people when listening to Poe Forevermore Radio Theater!
"Shhhh! I'm listening to Poe Forevermore Radio Theater!"
I chose this story by Charles Dickens because the characters are so vivid. They are delightful to play. And the story makes me very happy. It's that simple as to why I chose it for audio book performance.
The goal for me as actor and producer of audio books and plays is to make the words themselves disappear into feeling and experience.
I hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I love performing it.
-Mark Redfield www.poeforevermore.com
A CHRISTMAS CAROL is available now: http://www.poeforevermore.com/poe-radio-a-christmas-carol.html
It's been sometime since I wrote and published anything here, but my recent experience, as horrific as it was, prompts me to re-examine and re-look at some things.
So, I'm back.
Back to continue to muse aloud and investigate just what it is that I do as an actor, and any-old-other-thing that strikes my fancy that's related to the art and craft of acting.
We resume this parade of thoughts, questions, and the search for answers with a seven-part series of essays I'll call Tempest in a Teapot, inspired by a production of Shakespeare's The Tempest that I was recently invited to join to play Prospero (after the original Prospero quit, along with the co-director--that should have been enough of a warning!) and the very same production that I quit two days before opening night.
Much to talk about. Glad to be back talking about it with fellow actors and people who are interested in just what it is that we actors do.
Part One of TEMPEST IN A TEAPOT will begin when I think the time is right, and ripe!
