Making 'good use' of all life's materials

 

“I never regret things. It's areally dangerous thing to say, but for anyone involved in the arts, the badthings that happen make for good material. It's not a comfortable truth, but itis true.” – Antony Sher

 

Born in South Africa on this date in1949, Sher was an actor, painter and writer who twice won the prestigiousLaurence Oliver Award for his stage portrayals.  He also appeared inmany movies and on TV, and wrote numerous novels, essays, memoirs and scriptsfor both the stage and screen.   

 

Among Sher’s best-known books werethe memoirs Year of the King and Woza Shakespeare:Titus Andronicus in South Africa; his autobiography Beside Myself;and the novels Middlepost, Cheap Lives and TheFeast.  Among his many award-winning plays were Primo –also adapted as a film – and The Giant, portraying Michelangelo atthe time of the creation of his masterpiece sculpture David. His Year of the Mad King won the 2019 Theatre Book Prize fromthe British Society for Theatre Research.

 

Shortly before his death (in 2021),Sher was honored by Queen Elizabeth for his lifetime contributions to the arts and said that while he sometimes made his work look effortless, it was far fromit.

 

“Every play I do, every book Iwrite, every painting I paint, I struggle with.  I don’t know whatit’s like for a project to come easy.”