Covering McKellen: An Understudy's Tale

by David Weston

The Royal Shakespeare company, lead by Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Trevor Nunn, set off to captivate the world with their new production of King Lear. It's not long, however, before the star studded cast, including Romola Garai, Frances Barber and Sylvester McCoy, discover it's not all plain sailing on their Shakespearean journey. Enduring injuries, critical backlash, and almost constant controversy, the drama when the curtain falls threatens to overshadow the cast's successes on stage. As understudy to Sir Ian McKellen's King, Weston's frank and funny account takes us right through the London rehearsals to the historical Stratford Season, back to the glittering West End then out across the world - including Singapore, Sydney, LA and New York - before returning to film a DVD of the production. Weston provides entertaining commentary on the countries visited by the tour and charts how England's best loved theatre company are received around the world. Packed with celebrity anecdotes and full of lessons of experience, this story will appeal to theatre goers, students and the general reading public alike.

Genres: Biography, Theatre, Nonfiction

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Simon · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's cranky and (mostly) readable at the same time, but ultimately fails to offer what I would think could have been an obvious goal: a glimpse into how McKellan put together his performance as Lear. Instead, you get a lot about Weston and Mrs. Weston (who appears to be a real pip; I'd like to travel with her on tour, she gets airline seating upgrades with a dexterity that made me envious) touring museums and eating really good dinners in Singapore, which is nice for them and kind of boring for us. Weston tries to be phlegmatic about the fact that his early successes didn't lead to a better career, but bitterness is constantly breaking through. Fair enough; no one wants to have a life in the theatre that affords few chances to play the big roles. But he doesn't really dish the dirt on what the younger actors in the company do that annoys either McKellan or Weston all that much. Regan overacts? How? Meanwhile, McKellan and Trevor Nunn are crafting what most critics agree was a towering performance in the title role, and Weston is nattering on about everything else.

A better intro to this kind of thing is the diary kept by a company member during Gielgud's production of Hamlet with Burton during the 1960s.

I work as a theatre director, and have done so for nearly all of my life, and I am in touch with the idea that we don't always get the professional career we want. But if you are lucky enough to work with Ian McKellan and Trevor Nunn, is it too much to ask that you tell us more about them, and have a bit less kvetching?

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

overall this was such a great insight into this world and a delight to read. occasionally some remarks were a little old white male, just at the end I was struck by the thought that perhaps David even voted leave! horrors. but as I say I really enjoyed reading it and loved being taken backstage. as well as a book about theatre there was almost a travel book here too as the play went on its world tour.

[Barry Hammond · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Weston, while not a household name, is a steadily working British actor who has also appeared in films like Vincent Price's Masque Of The Red Death and Richard Burton's Beckett. This is his diary of working the Royal Shakespeare Company's world tour of Ian McKellan's King Lear directed by Trevor Nunn and the subsequent film of the same. As well as being McKellan's understudy he also had a small parts in Lear and it's twin production Chekhov's The Seagull. It's a very well-written theatrical diary covering all the ups and downs and backstage dramas such productions entail and an interesting insight into a classic rendition of the part. - BH.

[Diana Sandberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this one. A very engaging journey in journal form from casting through rehearsals to a world tour of Trevor Nunn's production of King Lear, with Ian McKellen in the title role. Our narrator, David Weston, is an old hand (he's nearly 70 and has been an actor from his youth), and is playing the small role of The Gentleman while understudying McKellen. Snags, anxieties, triumphs, quarrels, romances and tedium, it's all unblinkingly here. Well, it's possible he blinked a few times. Anecdotes about the people Weston is working with, and about others he's worked with, are abundant, but it doesn't come across as either bragging or cattiness. His impressions of the places they travel to, and of the shifting alliances and enmities in the company, are thoughtful, personal, and often witty; his admiration for Nunn and for McKellen does not falter. His own anxieties about his aging and his career ring very true, and his strong attachment to his wife and family shines through his very British understatement. Recommended.

[Lin Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute must read if you work in the industry. Funny enough I read this book about Ian McKellen playing King Lear while working on King Lear with Ian McKellen 11 years after the production in the book. Made me realize that Mundys production was way better.

[Claire Eden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic insight into the unsung heroes of a touring company 😉

[Ewan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Compelling reading but feels slightly sleazy and somewhat at odds with his apparent beliefs of "loyalty to the play, the production, your fellow actors and your audience".

[Oolookitty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Giving it three stars because I love backstage looks at the theater, but honestly this writer's cranky attitude and constant air of annoyance at pretty much everything gets old fast. He has a bone to pick with Americans, who annoy him somehow by coming to London and seeing his plays -- and with the younger members of his company, who don't pull together like a real company. He doesn't try to set a good example by SHOWING them, hey, this is how members of a company act -- instead, he chooses to refuse to go on company outings, for instance, and gives off an air of being too good for the room when he heads off on his own. And he's a snob when it suits him, referring for instance to David Tennant's stellar HAMLET as "Doctor Who's Hamlet", but he's quick to put himself forward for a role in Jude Law's -- er, "Doctor Watson's Hamlet" when he gets the chance.

Really wanted to like this, but wound up hoping never to see this guy in a play because he'd probably resent my being there in the first place.

[Duncan Maccoll · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It is the story of an actor from the beginning of rehearsals to the end of a world tour, fantastic. Great insight into how a play is put together, performed and the operation of a tour.

"Actor David Weston's book Covering McKellen about working as an understudy to Sir Ian McKellen at the RSC has won the 2012 Theatre Book Prize from the Society for Theatre Research.

The prize was awarded by actor Zoë Wanamaker in the grand saloon of the Theatre Royal Drury Lane on 25 April to a nonplussed Weston, taking time out to receive his prize from rehearsals for All Good Men by Trevor Griffiths, which opens at the Finborough Theatre on 29 April."

[Peter Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up simply because I had seen, and very much enjoyed, McKellen’s Lear. I expected no more than a few actory stories, and perhaps an insider view on the controversial decision delay the first press night following an injury to Frances Barber. However I got rather more than I expected. While not, and never pretending to be, the world’s greatest piece of literature Weston’s diary provides an amazingly frank inside story of what he describes as a very, very unhappy theatre company.

[Colin McPhillamy · Rating 5 out of 5]

An account told with welcome candor of what the backstage of a world theatrical tour can be. Veteran actor David Weston has reached the age and means where he can tell truth with impunity, a quality not always present in theatrical biographies. His respect for McKellen never falters, but he gives a detailed account of the tensions that can run through a company on the road, and incidentally graces the pages with his love of soccer.

For theatre fans this is a must read.

[Nick Harleigh-bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a curiously uncurious and quietly bitter man. This book reveals a great deal of the tedium of being an understudy, but none of the quiet joy. I learnt nothing about David Weston's acting or the choices he made/couldn't make understudying Lear and a great deal about his preferred dinner choices - along with far too much about Chelsea FC. All in all, an odd book.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I enjoyed this more than the Nick Asbury book but it was similar territory and only a little more interesting.

I didn't really find the actor very engaging company, and I didn't feel much real sense of what life was like for that year. He seemed to keep himself to himself a lot!

[Robin Hawdon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrifically entertaining insider's view of life behind the scenes with a prestigious theatrical touring company's experiences from rehearsals to world tour to finale. Pity the publishers didn't allow more libellous revelations!

[Amie Bjorklund · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must for any actor. It's a fast read, engaging, and shows you a side of performing some people don't get to see. It's a testament to a man who loves acting, loves the craft and is honest about his flaws and strengths. I'm really glad I read it.

[Mandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely adore this book. It satisfied my twin interests of theatre and being really, really nosy...

[V Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good insight into the backstage world of theatre, in particular, the RST.