Sir Michael’s people: a family of fighters

Press, 24 May 1977, Page 6

Sir Michael’s people: a family of fighters

Politically, the Redgrave family did not present a united front; but in every other way the family was very close. Sir Michael Redgrave said in Christchurch yesterday. The famous head of the equally famous family was speaking at a press conference yesterday immediately after his arrival in the city during a tour of New Zealand with “Shakespeare’s People.” Sir Michael, one of the most talented Shakespearean actors of the century, is married to the actress, Rachel Kempson, and their children —Vanessa, Corin, and Lyn—have all made names for themselves in the theatre and on the screen. “I have always called myself a socialist,” Sir Michael said. “But what the children learned at home, they didn’t learn in a didactic way from our opinions; they picked up their own ideas from what they heard and saw.” When they were younger, Vanessa, Corin, and Lyn had a nanny who was a

staunch conservative, rather like the “Upstairs, Downstairs” character, Mrs Bridges, who believed that people with wealth were the salt of the earth, he said. No doubt their nanny’s strict views on politics and society had affected the children to some extent, helping them to form their own opinions later in life. “I don’t always agree with what the children say (Corin and Vanessa are both Leftwing activists) but that doesn’t in the least diminish our love for them,” he said. The Redgraves are, according to David Dodimead, one of the actors touring with Sir Michael, “a family of fighters.” Sir Michael himself is at present fighting a battle against Parkinson’s disease. But, at 69, he has no plans to retire. He is the youngest of a great generation of actors and actresses with a longevity matched by their outstanding talent. They include Sir John Gielgud, aged 74; Sir Ralph Richardson, aged 78; Dame Sybil Thorndyke, who was 92 when she died; and Dame Edith Evans, who was 88 when she died. Sir John and Sir Ralph continue to work in the theatre; and Dame Sybil and

]Dame Edith refused to retire ifrom the stage while they] ] could still work. ! Sir Michael made his first! stage appearance in Australia 1 at the age of two. when hewas carried on stage in his I father’s arms, “screaming the place down,” as he put it. When a young man, howlever, his mother told him he 'was “too tall for the stage," so he chose to be an academic, graduating from CamI bridge with honours ini ! French. German, and English.! land becoming a modern-; ; languages master at a private school. Theatre was in his blood, however, and his production of school plays, and frequent acting roles in them, led him into a career in the theatre, beginning with the Liverpool Repertory Company, and moving on to the Old Vic in London. He made a name for himself through innumerable stage plays and more than 40 films. But his speciality was always Shakespeare. “I fell in Jove with the words of Shakespeare when I was young, and I have always loved his plays,” he said. Shakespeare’s people had no character, as such. They were portrayed as people in the way Shakespeare had arranged the words, Sir

• Michael said. “Shakespeare ■ I is an impressionist." i Shakespearean acting entj larged one’s acting, stretched i! one’s capabilities, and prev pared an actor for his career, >ihe said. S! “Most young actors in Britain would, of course, be - delighted to act in Shakes- • perean plays, but, unfortun’lately about 80 per cent of ■l,the actors in that country are • out of work at any one i time,” Sir Michael said. "The . profession is overcrowded for | the work available.” “Shakespeare’s People” heigan touring in 1975, with its . cast of Philip Bowen. David i Dolimead. Rosalind Shanks. ; and Rod Wilmott — al! i well-established actors in . Britain who have given many I theatrical and television perI formances. The tour has been i interrupted on several occasions for other acting com- ■ mitments. > Sponsored by the Otago > Theatre Trust and with com- ; mercial backing, the production has been received well ■ so far in New Zealand, ac- [ cording to the actors, with ■ full houses in several ■ centres. At the end of its New Zeal land tour this week, the actors will return to Britain, i Later in the year, the proI duction will open a season on ■ Broadway.