New Volumes, New Movies

The latest four volumes in the series are now in bookshops: The Merchant of Venice is especially notable for the actors Antony Sher and Henry Goodman talking about playing Shylock, Twelfth Night for a rich interview with Sam Mendes, As You Like It for our first interview arising from a Globe production (Naomi Frederick on playing Rosalind), and Henry V for our stellar lineup of directors, all taking very different approaches to the play: Michael Boyd, Kenneth Branagh, Ed Hall, Nicholas Hytner.

Branagh's name there - director and star in a Shakespeare war movie - is a reminder that it's been quite a few years since a major Shakespeare movie hit the screen, so it's exciting to learn that Ralph Fiennes is directing and starring in a Coriolanus that is currently shooting. My thanks to Peter Kirwan for drawing attention to Fiennes' blog from the set. Meanwhile, Julie Taymor's wonderful Tempest movie, with Helen Mirren as Prospera (!), Ben Whishaw as Ariel and Russell Brand as Trinculo, is scheduled for release near the end of this year. I've seen it and it's magical to behold.