Actors on Shakespeare: Macbeth

Actors on Shakespeare

by Harriet Walter

The "Actors on Shakespeare" series draws on the contemporary relevance of, and enjoyment to be found in, Shakespeare. Each book provides an introduction to a particular play from an individual actor's perspective; here Harriet Walter offers her view of Lady Macbeth and "Macbeth".

Genres: Shakespeare, Nonfiction, Drama

Paperback

Published January 1, 2002

About the author

Dame Harriet Mary Walter DBE is a British actress. She has received a Laurence Olivier Award as well as numerous nominations including for a Tony Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2011, she was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to drama. She is the niece of Christopher Lee.

Walter began her career in 1974 and made her Broadway debut in 1983. For her work in various Royal Shakespeare Company productions, including Twelfth Night (1987–88) and Three Sisters (1988), she won the 1988 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Revival. Her other notable work for the RSC includes leading roles in Macbeth (1999) and Antony and Cleopatra (2006). She won the Evening Standard Award for Best Actress for her role as Elizabeth I in the 2005 London revival of Mary Stuart, and received a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play when she reprised the role on Broadway in 2009. She reprised her roles of Brutus in Julius Caesar (2012) and the title role in Henry IV (2014), as well as playing Prospero in The Tempest, as part of an all-female Shakespeare trilogy in 2016.

Her film appearances include Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Governess (1998), Villa des Roses (2002), Atonement (2007), The Young Victoria (2009), Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), The Sense of an Ending (2017), Rocketman (2019) and Ridley Scott's The Last Duel (2021). On television she starred as Harriet Vane in the 1987 BBC Wimsey dramatisations, as Natalie Chandler in the ITV drama series Law & Order: UK (2009–14), in four episodes of Downton Abbey (2013–15), as Clementine Churchill in The Crown (2016), in Succession (2018-), and in the third season of Killing Eve (2020).

(with thanks to Wikipedia)

Reviews

[Twofrontteethstillcrooked · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not possibly overstate how much I wish I had seen a production of Macbeth starring Harriet Walter as Lady Macbeth. Her insights into the character as she interpretted her are fascinating. Whelp.

[Sabrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having recently been cast in a production of Macbeth as Lady Macbeth, this book was recommended to me by my drama teacher. Harriet's detailed description of finding the character has proven to be an extremely useful starting point for me in finding the character for myself. She particularly focuses on the relationship between husband and wife in the play, something that is now beginning to form the basis of the production I am in and often in rehearsals I find myself showing the book to fellow cast members when we get a bit stuck.
Overall I would say this book is extremely useful for any actress preparing to play the role or indeed to anybody who has an interest in Shakespeare's female characters and wants to get an in depth look from an acting perspective rather than a critical one.

[Michael P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harriet Walter gives readers a superb tour through this great play, with special references to the excellent production in which she played Lady Macbeth.