Sydney Walker just ask Shakespeare Essay Example For Students

Sydney Walker: just ask Shakespeare Essay Sydney Walker speaks to the gods. Which ones? William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton and other deities of the theatre, who have taken time off their otherworldly duties to talk with the veteran San Francisco actor. Actors will be envious of Walker. Others may be skeptical. But its impossible not to believe the imposing Walker a vision of a god himself in his silver hair and beard grown long for Oregon Shakespeare Festivals recent production of King Lear in Portland when he confides that he has twice talked to Shakespeare through a medium. Without a hint of sheepishness or self-consciousness, Walker tells of speaking with Shakespeare last fall while preparing to play Lear. Did Shakespeare have any advice for Walker? No, except to say the play is spiritually loaded as a piece of writing. He was very aware that I was doing it. Advice from the past Walker says he has also spoken with actors Clark Gable, Harold Lloyd, Claude Rains and Gary Cooper. He asks them or they offer to contribute energy to his work. Rains, for example, helped Walker with his role as Prospero in the San Francisco Shakespeare Festivals production of The Tempest last fall. Walkers ritual before performing Lear each night was to reflect on Charles Laughton, Ralph Richardson, Burton and Olivier, most of whom played Lear in their careers. I invite them into me, explains Walker. It is a ritual with me to thank them. Lear may hath ever but slenderly known himself, but Walker, who is 71, brims with self-knowledge that he reveals in conversation as easily as if he were discussing his next role. What Lear is compelled to learn in a few days the power of love and loyalty, an understanding of his place in the world Walker has known for a long time. And part of that knowledge comes from his long-distance conversations with the greats. A family of psychics A member of American Conservatory Theatre, Walker attends the Church of Prayer a group of like-minded people who all have psychic ability. Sometimes other members pass on information to him from spirits with whom theyve communicated. Ive been told I had a life in Elizabethan times, Walker says which might explain his proficiency with Shakespeares plays. In this life, Walker, who is soft-spoken and gentle despite his larger-than-life presence on and off stage, was born in Philadelphia to a family filled with psychics. He had his first introduction to the theatre in the form of opera in Buenos Aires, where his family lived when he was young. Walker studied acting at Hedgerow Theatre in Pennsylvania, was a member of the Association of Producing Artists company in New York, and joined ACT in 1974. His career has taken him from Broadway (he was Oliviers co-star in Becket) to film (he was the doctor who told Ryan ONeal that Ali MacGraw was dying in Love Story). He played Lear once before, nearly 40 years ago, Off Broadway. When I was young, I thought there was no reason for Lear to go off the handle, Walker remembers. I couldnt understand it. I didnt have the vulnerability. I was too young for the part, physically and spiritually. Now I am ready to invest it with my own life experience. The stamina required is considerable. But my age is an attribute. It makes it |righter.' Most of Walkers career has been in West Coast repertory theatre. If you want to own a kidney-shaped swimming pool in L.A., Walker laments, there are easier ways to get it and make money than to act in theatre. .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1 , .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1 .postImageUrl , .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1 , .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1:hover , .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1:visited , .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1:active { border:0!important; } .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1:active , .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1 .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u898076b601b954e41fec694a61a48ed1:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Made in Montgomery: sighting heroes and villains on ASF stages, and off EssayStill, Richard Seyd, associate artistic director of ACT, who cast and directed Walker in Portlands King Lear, calls him one of the hidden treasures of the American theatre. Next season hell play opposite Jean Stapleton in ACTs production of The Learned Ladies. Walkers work in the movies has been small parts, but he expects that to change with this summers release of Prelude to a Kiss, based on Craig Lucass hit Broadway play. In the film, Walker repeats the part he played in the Berkeley Repertory Theatres 1988 production, that of the old man who trades bodies with a young women at her wedding. Hes leaving some time in his acting schedule for other films. Dickens gets excited As Leslie Howard told me, |You know, my screen career started late in life, too,' Walker says with a matter-of-fact smile. (Thats Leslie Howard, the British actor who died in 1943. Walkers conversation with him came years later.) Walker, who annually plays Scrooge in ACTs A Christmas Carol, has talked with Charles Dickens three times. He was always excited when wed put on Christmas Carol, he says. With his access to the legends of the theatre, Walker can learn the secrets of the ages and settle centuries-old disputes. Like the one about the Bard himself. Francis Bacon didnt write any of Shakespeares plays, Walker insists. Shakespeare wrote all of them and hes still writing.