Letters from an Actor [Paperback]

William Redfield (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Limelight Editions; 1st Limelight ed edition (April 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879100079
• ISBN-13: 978-0879100070
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,486,759 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Book on the Theatre, December 28, 1999

By 

Adam Redfield (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Letters from an Actor (Paperback)

This book chronicles the 1964 Broadway production of Hamlet starring Richard Burton and directed by Sir John Gielgud. The author played Guildenstern in the production.

Frank Rich (for 10 years the Drama Critic at the New York Times) called this his favorite book on an actor's perspective on mounting a play.

I agree with Mr. Rich on this one. The only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 stars was to avoid overdoing my enthusiasm. (I'm worried people will notice that I am the author's son. Shush, don't tell anyone.)

It got rave reviews at the time it came out and has pleased readers for over 30 years. It is both instructive and hilariously funny.

Please request it at book stores, on line and write to Proscenium Publishing requesting another release.

Thank you

Adam Redfield

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Theatre Classic!, August 3, 2005

By 

Laurence Rosler - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Letters from an actor (A Viking Compass Book)

I read this book when I was in high school. More than thirty years later, I took it off the shelf and couldn't put it down. Wity and insightful, William Redfield's Letters from an Actor may be the best book I've read on what it's like to be a working actor in the theatre (I stress "theatre" beacuse Mr. Redfield has some interesting thoughts on film acting.) From frustrating rehearsals to nerve-wracking performances, this unique book puts the reader right on the stage with Mr. Redfield and the cast of Burton's Hamlet. Unfortunately, the theatre that William Redfield knew and loved no longer exists. Fortunately, this book captures an era --probably the end of it--when there was still an audience for dramas and comedies on Broadway, and still outstanding actors to perform in them. I can't think of a better theatre companion than William Redfield. This is a book the needs to be back in print. A great book and great fun!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best theatre books ever, November 14, 2001

By 

Alan (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Letters from an Actor (Paperback)

I can do nothing more than echo the praise of the other reviewers. This very personal account of the rehearsal process and out-of-town tryout of the 1964 Broadway production of "Hamlet" that starred Richard Burton and was directed by John Gielgud is truly fascinating. William Redfield was a superb actor who could also write well, even though there are a handful of passages that perhaps should have been edited out.

I don't know of any book that gives you a better feeling of what it's like to be in rehearsal and trying to piece together a performance as everyone around you is trying to do the same. Redfield's account of a group of major actors--apart from Redfield and Burton, the cast included Alfred Drake, Hume Cronyn, Eileen Herlie, John Cullum, George Rose, George Voskovec, and Barnard Hughes--working under a director of undoubted genius who is somehow not really helping anyone much definitely makes you feel what it must have been like to be part of that.

If you're an actor, a director, or just love theatre, you will probably find this book fascinating.