Mark Rylance
Encyclopedia
Mark Rylance is an English actor, theatre director
and playwright.
As an actor, Rylance found success on stage and screen. For his work in theatre he has won Olivier and Tony Awards among others, and a BAFTA
TV Award. His film roles include Ferdinand in Prospero's Books
(based on Shakespeare's
The Tempest
), Jay in Intimacy
(after a novel by Hanif Kureishi
) and Jakob von Gunten
in Institute Benjamenta (after a novel by Robert Walser
).
He was the first Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Globe
in London, from 1995 to 2005.
, the son of David and Anne (Skinner) Waters, both English teachers (as an adult, he took the stage name of Mark Rylance because the name Mark Waters was already taken by someone else registered with Actors Equity
). In 1962, when he was two, his parents moved to Connecticut
in the United States and in 1969, to Wisconsin
, where his father taught English at a prestigious preparatory school, the University School of Milwaukee
. Rylance later attended the school, where he began acting. His first notable role was Hamlet
in a 1976 production (with his own father as the First Gravedigger), and the next year he played Romeo in the school's production of Romeo and Juliet. In addition to acting, Rylance designed lighting and helped compose music for the school's productions. He often soloed in the school choir.
, and with Barbara Bridgmont at the Chrysalis Theatre School, Balham, London
. In 1980 he got his first professional work at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre.
In 1982 and 1983, Rylance performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company
(RSC) both in Stratford-upon-Avon
and London.
In 1988, Rylance played Hamlet with the RSC in Ron Daniel
s' acclaimed production that toured Ireland and England for a year. The play then ran in Stratford-upon-Avon
, where Mark alternated Hamlet with Romeo in the production of Romeo and Juliet
that inaugurated the rebuilt Swan Theatre
in Stratford. Hamlet toured to the United States for two years.
In 1990, Rylance and Claire van Kampen (later his wife) founded "Phoebus' Cart", their own theatre company. The following year, the company staged The Tempest
on the road in unique, unusual sites.
Also in 1991, Rylance played the lead in Gillies Mackinnon
's film The Grass Arena (1991)
, and won the BBC
Radio Times Award for Best Newcomer. In 1993, he starred in Matthew Warchus
' production of Much Ado About Nothing
at the Queen's Theatre
, produced by Thelma Holt
. His Benedick won him an Olivier Award for Best Actor.
In 2005, he took the leading role as British weapons expert David Kelly in Peter Kosminsky
's The Government Inspector
, an award-winning Channel 4
production for which he himself won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
in 2005.
In 2007, Rylance performed in Boeing Boeing
in London. In 2008, he reprised the role on Broadway and subsequently won Drama Desk
and Tony Awards
for his performance. (For his acceptance speech for the Tony, Rylance recited a work by poet Louis Jenkins
.)
In 2009, Rylance won the Critics' Circle Theatre Award Best Actor, 2009 for his role of Johnny Byron in Jerusalem
written by Jez Butterworth
at the Royal Court Theatre
in London.
In 2010 he starred in a revival of David Hirson
's verse play La Bête
, with David Hyde Pierce
and Joanna Lumley
. The play ran first at London's Comedy Theatre before transferring to the Music Box Theatre
theatre on Broadway, on 23 September 2010.
Also in 2010, Rylance won another Olivier award
for best actor in the role of Johnny Byron in Jerusalem
at the Apollo Theatre
, London. In 2011 he won his second Tony Award for playing the same role in the Broadway production (for his acceptance speech, he again recited a Louis Jenkins poem.)
, a post he filled until 2005. Rylance directed and acted in every season, in works by Shakespeare and others, notably in all-male productions of Twelfth Night where he starred as Olivia, and Richard II
where he took the title role. Under his directorate, new plays were performed at the Globe, the first being Augustine's Oak (referring to Augustine of Canterbury
and Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England) by Peter Oswald
, the writer-in-residence, which was performed in 1999. A second play by Oswald followed in 2002: The Golden Ass
or the Curious Man. In 2005, Oswald's third play written for the Globe was performed for the first time: The Storm, an adaptation of Plautus
' comedy Rudens (The Rope) – one of the sources of Shakespeare's The Tempest
. Other historical first nights were organised by Rylance while director of the Globe including Twelfth Night performed in 2002 at Middle Temple
, to commemorate its first performance there exactly 400 years before, and Much Ado about Nothing
at Hampton Court in summer 2004.
and Mark Rylance unveiled a Declaration of Reasonable Doubt on the authorship of Shakespeare's work, after the final matinée of I am Shakespeare, a play in Chichester
, England.
The actual author was identified as Christopher Marlowe
, Francis Bacon
, the Earl of Oxford
, Edward de Vere or Mary Sidney
(Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke). The declaration named 20 prominent doubters of the past, including Mark Twain
, Orson Welles
, John Gielgud
and Charlie Chaplin
and was made by Shakespeare Authorship Coalition duly signed online by 300 people to begin a new research. Jacobi and Rylance presented a copy of the document to William Leahy
, head of English at Brunel University
, London.
Rylance wrote (co-conceived by John Dove) and starred in The BIG Secret Live—I am Shakespeare—Webcam Daytime Chatroom Show (A comedy of Shakespearean identity crisis) which toured England in 2007.
. His stepdaughter is actress Juliet Rylance
, who is married to actor Christian Camargo
.
Mark Rylance has been a supporter of the indigenous rights organisation Survival International
for many years. He is the creator and director of "We Are One, a celebration of tribal peoples", a fundraising to take place at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue on Sunday 18 April 2010. The evening was a performance of tribal prose and poetry from some of the UK and Hollywood’s leading actors and musicians. About the event he has said: ”As a child, I was enriched and inspired by the lives and stories of the world's tribal peoples. As an adult, I have also been inspired by the ceaseless work of the organisation Survival International, and their movement to protect these tribes – from the rainforest of the Amazon to the icy reaches of the Arctic...To celebrate 40 years of Survival's work and enjoy the beauty of the spoken word from such rich oral cultures, I am gathering my friends from the theatre on the set of Jerusalem for a wonderful spring afternoon of eloquent recitals and stunning images from 'We are One’."
Theatre direction
A theatre director or stage director is a practitioner in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production by unifying various endeavours and aspects of production...
and playwright.
As an actor, Rylance found success on stage and screen. For his work in theatre he has won Olivier and Tony Awards among others, and a BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a charity in the United Kingdom that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation.-Introduction:...
TV Award. His film roles include Ferdinand in Prospero's Books
Prospero's Books
Prospero's Books , written and directed by Peter Greenaway, is a cinematic adaptation of The Tempest, by William Shakespeare. John Gielgud is Prospero, the protagonist who provides the off-screen narration and the voices to the other story characters...
(based on Shakespeare's
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
), Jay in Intimacy
Intimacy (2001 film)
Intimacy is a 2001 film directed by Patrice Chéreau, starring Mark Rylance and Kerry Fox.Intimacy is an international co-production among production companies in France, the U.K., Germany, and Spain featuring a soundtrack of pop songs from the 1970s and 1980s...
(after a novel by Hanif Kureishi
Hanif Kureishi
Hanif Kureishi CBE is an English playwright, screenwriter and filmmaker, novelist and short story writer. The themes of his work have touched on topics of race, nationalism, immigration, and sexuality...
) and Jakob von Gunten
Jakob von Gunten
Jakob von Gunten. Ein Tagebuch is a novel by Swiss writer Robert Walser first published in German in 1909.-Introduction:Jakob von Gunten is a first-person account told by its titular protagonist, a young man of noble background who runs off from home and decides to spend the rest of his life...
in Institute Benjamenta (after a novel by Robert Walser
Robert Walser (writer)
Robert Walser , was a German-speaking Swiss writer.-1878–1897:...
).
He was the first Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe
Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse in the London Borough of Southwark, located on the south bank of the River Thames, but destroyed by fire in 1613, rebuilt 1614 then demolished in 1644. The modern reconstruction is an academic best guess, based...
in London, from 1995 to 2005.
Early years
Rylance was born David Mark Rylance Waters in Ashford, KentAshford, Kent
Ashford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most...
, the son of David and Anne (Skinner) Waters, both English teachers (as an adult, he took the stage name of Mark Rylance because the name Mark Waters was already taken by someone else registered with Actors Equity
Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association , commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing the world of live theatrical performance, as opposed to film and television performance. However, performers appearing on live stage productions without a book or...
). In 1962, when he was two, his parents moved to Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
in the United States and in 1969, to Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, where his father taught English at a prestigious preparatory school, the University School of Milwaukee
University School of Milwaukee
The University School of Milwaukee is a private pre-kindergarten through secondary preparatory school located on in River Hills and Milwaukee, Wisconsin...
. Rylance later attended the school, where he began acting. His first notable role was Hamlet
Hamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
in a 1976 production (with his own father as the First Gravedigger), and the next year he played Romeo in the school's production of Romeo and Juliet. In addition to acting, Rylance designed lighting and helped compose music for the school's productions. He often soloed in the school choir.
Career
With considerable juvenile experience already in hand, Rylance won a scholarship by audition to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in London. There he trained from 1978–1980 under Hugh CruttwellHugh Cruttwell
Hugh Percival Cruttwell was an influential teacher of drama and principal of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts.-Biography:...
, and with Barbara Bridgmont at the Chrysalis Theatre School, Balham, London
Balham, London
Balham is a neighbourhood of south London, England, and is part of the London Borough of Wandsworth and the London Borough of Lambeth.-History:...
. In 1980 he got his first professional work at the Glasgow Citizens' Theatre.
In 1982 and 1983, Rylance performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
(RSC) both in Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
and London.
In 1988, Rylance played Hamlet with the RSC in Ron Daniel
Ron Daniel
Professor Ron Daniel is University Lecturer in Engineering Science at Oxford University, and Fellow and Tutor in Engineering at Brasenose College, Oxford. He is co-founder of Eykona Technologies....
s' acclaimed production that toured Ireland and England for a year. The play then ran in Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
, where Mark alternated Hamlet with Romeo in the production of Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
that inaugurated the rebuilt Swan Theatre
Swan Theatre (Stratford)
The Swan Theatre is a theatre belonging to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is built on to the side of the larger Royal Shakespeare Theatre, occupying the Victorian Gothic structure that formerly housed the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre that preceded the RST but was...
in Stratford. Hamlet toured to the United States for two years.
In 1990, Rylance and Claire van Kampen (later his wife) founded "Phoebus' Cart", their own theatre company. The following year, the company staged The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
on the road in unique, unusual sites.
Also in 1991, Rylance played the lead in Gillies Mackinnon
Gillies MacKinnon
Gillies MacKinnon is a Scottish film director and writer.His film credits include Hideous Kinky, Small Faces and Regeneration.-Personal life:...
's film The Grass Arena (1991)
The Grass Arena (1991)
The Grass Arena is an autobiography that was made into a British film released in 1991. It is based on the true story of John Healy. The book had been out of print for a number of years, but was re-issued on 31 July 2008.-Storyline:...
, and won the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
Radio Times Award for Best Newcomer. In 1993, he starred in Matthew Warchus
Matthew Warchus
-Life:Warchus studied music and drama at Bristol University. He has directed for the National Youth Theatre, Bristol Old Vic, Donmar Warehouse, Royal Shakespeare Company, Royal National Theatre, Opera North, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Welsh National Opera, English National Opera and in the West...
' production of Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
at the Queen's Theatre
Queen's Theatre
The Queen's Theatre is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It opened on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Gielgud Theatre which opened ten months earlier. Both theatres were designed by W.G.R...
, produced by Thelma Holt
Thelma Holt
Thelma Holt, is a British theatre producer and former actress.After a successful career as an actress, in partnership with Charles Marowitz, Thelma founded the Open Space Theatre in Tottenham Court Road, London, which became the forerunner of the London fringe. In 1977, joined The Round House in...
. His Benedick won him an Olivier Award for Best Actor.
In 2005, he took the leading role as British weapons expert David Kelly in Peter Kosminsky
Peter Kosminsky
Peter Kosminsky is a British writer, director and producer. He has directed Hollywood movies such as White Oleander and television films like Warriors, The Government Inspector and The Promise.- Biography :...
's The Government Inspector
The Government Inspector (television drama)
The Government Inspector is a 2005 television drama based on the life of Dr. David Kelly and the lead-up to the Iraq War in the United Kingdom...
, an award-winning Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
production for which he himself won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
British Academy Television Award for Best Actor
- 1950s :*1955 Paul Rogers — *1956 Peter Cushing — *1957 Michael Gough — *1958 Michael Hordern — *1959 Donald Pleasence — - 1960s :*1960 Patrick McGoohan — *1961 Lee Montague —...
in 2005.
In 2007, Rylance performed in Boeing Boeing
Boeing Boeing (play)
Boeing-Boeing is a classic farce written by French playwright Marc Camoletti. The English language adaptation, translated by Beverley Cross, was first staged in London at the Apollo Theatre in 1962 and transferred to the Duchess Theatre in 1965, running for a total of seven years...
in London. In 2008, he reprised the role on Broadway and subsequently won Drama Desk
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
and Tony Awards
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play
The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play presented since 1947, is awarded to actors in productions of new or revival plays.-1940s:*1947 - José Ferrer – Cyrano de Bergerac / Fredric March – Years Ago...
for his performance. (For his acceptance speech for the Tony, Rylance recited a work by poet Louis Jenkins
Louis Jenkins
Louis Jenkins is a prose poet from Enid, Oklahoma. He has lived in Duluth, Minnesota, for over 30 years with his wife Ann. His poems have been published in a number of literary magazines and anthologies. Jenkins has been a guest on A Prairie Home Companion numerous times and has also been featured...
.)
In 2009, Rylance won the Critics' Circle Theatre Award Best Actor, 2009 for his role of Johnny Byron in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (play)
Jerusalem is a play by Jez Butterworth that opened at the downstairs theatre of the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2009. The production starred Mark Rylance as Johnny 'Rooster' Byron and Mackenzie Crook as Ginger. After receiving rave reviews its run was extended. In January 2010 it transferred...
written by Jez Butterworth
Jez Butterworth
Jeremy “Jez” Butterworth is an English dramatist and film director.-Life and career:Butterworth was born in London, England, and attended Verulam Comprehensive School, St Albans and St John's College, Cambridge...
at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
in London.
In 2010 he starred in a revival of David Hirson
David Hirson
David Hirson is an American dramatist, best known for his award winning Broadway comedies, La Bête and Wrong Mountain.-Biography:Hirson was born in New York City to actress, Alice, and playwright, Roger O. Hirson...
's verse play La Bête
La Bête
La Bête is a comedy by American playwright, David Hirson. Written in rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter, the Molière-inspired story, set in 17th century France, pits dignified, stuffy Elomire, the head of the royal court-sponsored theatre troupe, against the foppish, frivolous street entertainer...
, with David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce
David Hyde Pierce is an American actor and comedian best known for playing psychiatrist Dr. Niles Crane on the NBC sitcom Frasier, for which he received many accolades including four Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.-Early life:Pierce, the youngest of four siblings,...
and Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lumley
Joanna Lamond Lumley, OBE, FRGS is a British actress, voice-over artist, former-model and author, best known for her roles in British television series Absolutely Fabulous portraying Edina Monsoon's best friend, Patsy Stone, as well as parts in The New Avengers, Sapphire & Steel, and Sensitive...
. The play ran first at London's Comedy Theatre before transferring to the Music Box Theatre
Music Box Theatre
The Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...
theatre on Broadway, on 23 September 2010.
Also in 2010, Rylance won another Olivier award
Laurence Olivier Awards
The Laurence Olivier Award is presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre. Named after the renowned British actor Laurence Olivier, they are given for West End shows and other productions staged in London...
for best actor in the role of Johnny Byron in Jerusalem
Jerusalem (play)
Jerusalem is a play by Jez Butterworth that opened at the downstairs theatre of the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2009. The production starred Mark Rylance as Johnny 'Rooster' Byron and Mackenzie Crook as Ginger. After receiving rave reviews its run was extended. In January 2010 it transferred...
at the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
, London. In 2011 he won his second Tony Award for playing the same role in the Broadway production (for his acceptance speech, he again recited a Louis Jenkins poem.)
Globe Theatre
In 1995, Rylance became the first Artistic Director of Shakespeare's Globe TheatreGlobe Theatre
The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
, a post he filled until 2005. Rylance directed and acted in every season, in works by Shakespeare and others, notably in all-male productions of Twelfth Night where he starred as Olivia, and Richard II
Richard II (play)
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
where he took the title role. Under his directorate, new plays were performed at the Globe, the first being Augustine's Oak (referring to Augustine of Canterbury
Augustine of Canterbury
Augustine of Canterbury was a Benedictine monk who became the first Archbishop of Canterbury in the year 597...
and Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England) by Peter Oswald
Peter Oswald
Peter Osvald is a well-known English playwright. He is married to the poet Alice Oswald, with whom he has three children. They live in Devon, South West England....
, the writer-in-residence, which was performed in 1999. A second play by Oswald followed in 2002: The Golden Ass
The Golden Ass
The Metamorphoses of Apuleius, which St. Augustine referred to as The Golden Ass , is the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety....
or the Curious Man. In 2005, Oswald's third play written for the Globe was performed for the first time: The Storm, an adaptation of Plautus
Plautus
Titus Maccius Plautus , commonly known as "Plautus", was a Roman playwright of the Old Latin period. His comedies are the earliest surviving intact works in Latin literature. He wrote Palliata comoedia, the genre devised by the innovator of Latin literature, Livius Andronicus...
' comedy Rudens (The Rope) – one of the sources of Shakespeare's The Tempest
The Tempest
The Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
. Other historical first nights were organised by Rylance while director of the Globe including Twelfth Night performed in 2002 at Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
, to commemorate its first performance there exactly 400 years before, and Much Ado about Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
at Hampton Court in summer 2004.
Shakespeare controversy
On 8 September 2007 Derek JacobiDerek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi, CBE is an English actor and film director.A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a highly successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He received a Tony Award for his performance in...
and Mark Rylance unveiled a Declaration of Reasonable Doubt on the authorship of Shakespeare's work, after the final matinée of I am Shakespeare, a play in Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
, England.
The actual author was identified as Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe was an English dramatist, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. As the foremost Elizabethan tragedian, next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his mysterious death.A warrant was issued for Marlowe's arrest on 18 May...
, Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
, the Earl of Oxford
Earl of Oxford
Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, held for several centuries by the de Vere family from 1141 until the death of the 20th earl in 1703. The Veres were also hereditary holders of the office of master or Lord Great Chamberlain from 1133 until the death of the 18th Earl in 1625...
, Edward de Vere or Mary Sidney
Mary Sidney
Mary Herbert , Countess of Pembroke , was one of the first English women to achieve a major reputation for her literary works, poetry, poetic translations and literary patronage.-Family:...
(Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke). The declaration named 20 prominent doubters of the past, including Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
and Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
and was made by Shakespeare Authorship Coalition duly signed online by 300 people to begin a new research. Jacobi and Rylance presented a copy of the document to William Leahy
William Leahy
William Leahy may refer to:* William D. Leahy , American naval officer, diplomat. and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in World War II* William Leahy , Australian World War I Distinguished Conduct Medal recipient...
, head of English at Brunel University
Brunel University
Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....
, London.
Rylance wrote (co-conceived by John Dove) and starred in The BIG Secret Live—I am Shakespeare—Webcam Daytime Chatroom Show (A comedy of Shakespearean identity crisis) which toured England in 2007.
Personal life
In 1992 he married Claire van Kampen whom he met while working at the National TheatreRoyal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
. His stepdaughter is actress Juliet Rylance
Juliet Rylance
Juliet Rylance is an Obie Award-winning English actress.-Personal life:Rylance was born Juliet van Kampen in Hammersmith, London to Claire van Kampen, a composer and Chris van Kampen, an architect. Her stepfather is the British actor and director Mark Rylance...
, who is married to actor Christian Camargo
Christian Camargo
Christian Camargo is an American actor, perhaps best known for his role of Brian Moser in the Showtime drama Dexter.-Early life:...
.
Mark Rylance has been a supporter of the indigenous rights organisation Survival International
Survival International
Survival International is a human rights organisation formed in 1969 that campaigns for the rights of indigenous tribal peoples and uncontacted peoples, seeking to help them to determine their own future. Their campaigns generally focus on tribal peoples' fight to keep their ancestral lands,...
for many years. He is the creator and director of "We Are One, a celebration of tribal peoples", a fundraising to take place at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue on Sunday 18 April 2010. The evening was a performance of tribal prose and poetry from some of the UK and Hollywood’s leading actors and musicians. About the event he has said: ”As a child, I was enriched and inspired by the lives and stories of the world's tribal peoples. As an adult, I have also been inspired by the ceaseless work of the organisation Survival International, and their movement to protect these tribes – from the rainforest of the Amazon to the icy reaches of the Arctic...To celebrate 40 years of Survival's work and enjoy the beauty of the spoken word from such rich oral cultures, I am gathering my friends from the theatre on the set of Jerusalem for a wonderful spring afternoon of eloquent recitals and stunning images from 'We are One’."
Theatre
- 1981 Desperado CornerDesperado CornerDesperado Corner is a play written for the stage by English playwright Shaun Lawton. It started out as a collection of performance poems and monologues written and performed by Lawton in London between 1973 and 1976...
at the Citizens Theatre, in GlasgowGlasgowGlasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands... - with the Royal Shakespeare Company: 1989 HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
(Hamlet) and Romeo and JulietRomeo and JulietRomeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
(Romeo), also 1982 The TempestThe TempestThe Tempest is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1610–11, and thought by many critics to be the last play that Shakespeare wrote alone. It is set on a remote island, where Prospero, the exiled Duke of Milan, plots to restore his daughter Miranda to her rightful place,...
(Ariel) - 1993 Henry V, Theatre For a New Audience, NYC
- 1993 Much Ado About NothingMuch Ado About NothingMuch Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
: Benedick, Queens Theatre (won the Olivier Award for best actor) - 1994 As You Like ItAs You Like ItAs You Like It is a pastoral comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 or early 1600 and first published in the folio of 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wilton House in 1603 has been suggested as a possibility...
: Touchstone, Theatre For a New Audience (NYC) - 1994 True WestTrue West (play)True West is a play by American playwright Sam Shepard. Like most of his works it is inspired by myths of American life and popular culture. The play is a more traditional narrative than most of the plays that Shepard has written.-Plot:...
: Lee/Austin, Donmar WarehouseDonmar WarehouseDonmar Warehouse is a small not-for-profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of London, with a capacity of 251.-About:Under the artistic leadership of Michael Grandage, the theatre has presented some of London’s most memorable award-winning theatrical experiences, as well as garnered critical... - 1995 MacbethMacbethThe Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
: Macbeth, Greenwich TheatreGreenwich TheatreThe Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London.-Building history:The building was originally a music hall created in 1855 as part of the neighbouring Rose and Crown public house, but the Rose and Crown Music Hall was... - 2000 Live x 3: Henry, Royal National TheatreRoyal National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
- 2007 Boeing BoeingBoeing Boeing (play)Boeing-Boeing is a classic farce written by French playwright Marc Camoletti. The English language adaptation, translated by Beverley Cross, was first staged in London at the Apollo Theatre in 1962 and transferred to the Duchess Theatre in 1965, running for a total of seven years...
: Robert, Comedy Theatre - 2007 I am Shakespeare: Frank, UK tour
- 2008 Peer GyntPeer GyntPeer Gynt is a five-act play in verse by the Norwegian dramatist Henrik Ibsen, loosely based on the fairy tale Per Gynt. It is the most widely performed Norwegian play. According to Klaus Van Den Berg, the "cinematic script blends poetry with social satire and realistic scenes with surreal ones"...
: Peer Gynt, Guthrie TheaterGuthrie TheaterThe Guthrie Theater is a center for theater performance, production, education, and professional training in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the result of the desire of Sir Tyrone Guthrie, Oliver Rea, and Peter Zeisler to create a resident acting company that would produce and perform the classics in...
(Minneapolis) - 2008 Boeing BoeingBoeing Boeing (play)Boeing-Boeing is a classic farce written by French playwright Marc Camoletti. The English language adaptation, translated by Beverley Cross, was first staged in London at the Apollo Theatre in 1962 and transferred to the Duchess Theatre in 1965, running for a total of seven years...
: Robert, Longacre Theater (won 2008 Tony62nd Tony AwardsThe 62nd Tony Awards ceremony was held on June 15, 2008. The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American theatre. CBS television broadcast the event from Radio City Music Hall in New York City as it has since...
Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play) - 2009 (Jul–Aug) JerusalemJerusalem (play)Jerusalem is a play by Jez Butterworth that opened at the downstairs theatre of the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2009. The production starred Mark Rylance as Johnny 'Rooster' Byron and Mackenzie Crook as Ginger. After receiving rave reviews its run was extended. In January 2010 it transferred...
by Jez ButterworthJez ButterworthJeremy “Jez” Butterworth is an English dramatist and film director.-Life and career:Butterworth was born in London, England, and attended Verulam Comprehensive School, St Albans and St John's College, Cambridge...
: Johnny Byron, Royal Court TheatreRoyal Court TheatreThe Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
(Critics' Circle Theatre Award Best Actor, 2009) - 2009 (Oct–Dec) EndgameEndgame (play)Endgame, by Samuel Beckett, is a one-act play with four characters, written in a style associated with the Theatre of the Absurd. It was originally written in French ; as was his custom, Beckett himself translated it into English. The play was first performed in a French-language production at the...
by Samuel BeckettSamuel BeckettSamuel Barclay Beckett was an Irish avant-garde novelist, playwright, theatre director, and poet. He wrote both in English and French. His work offers a bleak, tragicomic outlook on human nature, often coupled with black comedy and gallows humour.Beckett is widely regarded as among the most...
: Hamm, Duchess TheatreDuchess TheatreThe Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street, near Aldwych.The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest 'proscenium arched' West End theatres. It has 479 seats on two levels.... - 2010 (Jan–Apr) JerusalemJerusalem (play)Jerusalem is a play by Jez Butterworth that opened at the downstairs theatre of the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2009. The production starred Mark Rylance as Johnny 'Rooster' Byron and Mackenzie Crook as Ginger. After receiving rave reviews its run was extended. In January 2010 it transferred...
by Jez ButterworthJez ButterworthJeremy “Jez” Butterworth is an English dramatist and film director.-Life and career:Butterworth was born in London, England, and attended Verulam Comprehensive School, St Albans and St John's College, Cambridge...
: Johnny Byron, Apollo TheatreApollo TheatreThe Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
(won the Olivier Award for best actor) - 2010 (Jun–Aug) La BeteLa BêteLa Bête is a comedy by American playwright, David Hirson. Written in rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter, the Molière-inspired story, set in 17th century France, pits dignified, stuffy Elomire, the head of the royal court-sponsored theatre troupe, against the foppish, frivolous street entertainer...
by David HirsonDavid HirsonDavid Hirson is an American dramatist, best known for his award winning Broadway comedies, La Bête and Wrong Mountain.-Biography:Hirson was born in New York City to actress, Alice, and playwright, Roger O. Hirson...
: Valere, Comedy Theatre, London (nominated for the Olivier Award in 2011 for best actor) - 2010 (Sep)- 2011 (Feb) La BeteLa BêteLa Bête is a comedy by American playwright, David Hirson. Written in rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter, the Molière-inspired story, set in 17th century France, pits dignified, stuffy Elomire, the head of the royal court-sponsored theatre troupe, against the foppish, frivolous street entertainer...
: Valere, Music Box TheatreMusic Box TheatreThe Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...
, Broadway, New York - 2011 (Apr–Aug) JerusalemJerusalem (play)Jerusalem is a play by Jez Butterworth that opened at the downstairs theatre of the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2009. The production starred Mark Rylance as Johnny 'Rooster' Byron and Mackenzie Crook as Ginger. After receiving rave reviews its run was extended. In January 2010 it transferred...
by Jez ButterworthJez ButterworthJeremy “Jez” Butterworth is an English dramatist and film director.-Life and career:Butterworth was born in London, England, and attended Verulam Comprehensive School, St Albans and St John's College, Cambridge...
: Johnny Byron, Music Box TheatreMusic Box TheatreThe Music Box Theater is a Broadway theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C. Howard Crane and constructed by composer Irving Berlin and producer Sam H. Harris specifically to...
, Broadway, New York (won 2011 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play) - 2011 - 2012 (Oct-Jan) JerusalemJerusalem (play)Jerusalem is a play by Jez Butterworth that opened at the downstairs theatre of the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2009. The production starred Mark Rylance as Johnny 'Rooster' Byron and Mackenzie Crook as Ginger. After receiving rave reviews its run was extended. In January 2010 it transferred...
by Jez ButterworthJez ButterworthJeremy “Jez” Butterworth is an English dramatist and film director.-Life and career:Butterworth was born in London, England, and attended Verulam Comprehensive School, St Albans and St John's College, Cambridge...
: Johnny Byron, Apollo TheatreApollo TheatreThe Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre
- 1996 The Two Gentlemen of VeronaThe Two Gentlemen of VeronaThe Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1590 or 1591. It is considered by some to be Shakespeare's first play, and is often seen as his first tentative steps in laying out some of the themes and tropes with which he would later deal in more...
: Proteus - 1997 A Chaste Maid in CheapsideA Chaste Maid in CheapsideA Chaste Maid in Cheapside is a city comedy written c. 1613 by English Renaissance playwright Thomas Middleton. Unpublished until 1630 and long-neglected afterwards, it is now considered among the best and most characteristic Jacobean comedies....
: Mr Allwit - 1997 Henry VHenry V (play)Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
: Henry V - 1998 The Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of VeniceThe Merchant of Venice is a tragic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. Though classified as a comedy in the First Folio and sharing certain aspects with Shakespeare's other romantic comedies, the play is perhaps most remembered for its dramatic...
: Bassanio - 1998 The Honest WhoreThe Honest WhoreThe Honest Whore is an early Jacobean city comedy, written in two parts; Part 1 is a collaboration between Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton, while Part 2 is the work of Dekker alone...
: Hippolito - 1999 Antony and CleopatraAntony and CleopatraAntony and Cleopatra is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607. It was first printed in the First Folio of 1623. The plot is based on Thomas North's translation of Plutarch's Lives and follows the relationship between Cleopatra and Mark Antony...
: Cleopatra - 2000 HamletHamletThe Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
: Hamlet - 2001 CymbelineCymbelineCymbeline , also known as Cymbeline, King of Britain or The Tragedy of Cymbeline, is a play by William Shakespeare, based on legends concerning the early Celtic British King Cunobelinus. Although listed as a tragedy in the First Folio, modern critics often classify Cymbeline as a romance...
: Cloten (toured to New York in March 2002) - 2002 The Golden AssThe Golden AssThe Metamorphoses of Apuleius, which St. Augustine referred to as The Golden Ass , is the only Latin novel to survive in its entirety....
(ApuleiusApuleiusApuleius was a Latin prose writer. He was a Berber, from Madaurus . He studied Platonist philosophy in Athens; travelled to Italy, Asia Minor and Egypt; and was an initiate in several cults or mysteries. The most famous incident in his life was when he was accused of using magic to gain the...
' ancient novel adapted by Peter OswaldPeter OswaldPeter Osvald is a well-known English playwright. He is married to the poet Alice Oswald, with whom he has three children. They live in Devon, South West England....
): Lucius - 2002 Twelfth Night: Olivia (won the Olivier critics award)- (toured to US cities in autumn of 2003: LA, Chicago etc)
- 2003 Richard IIRichard II (play)King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
: Richard II (also TV broadcast on BBC 4) - 2004 Measure for MeasureMeasure for MeasureMeasure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604. It was classified as comedy, but its mood defies those expectations. As a result and for a variety of reasons, some critics have labelled it as one of Shakespeare's problem plays...
: Duke Vincentio (also TV broadcast on BBC 4 and toured to US cities in autumn of 2005) - 2005 The Tempest: Prospero / Stephano / Sebastian / Alonso
- 2005 The Storm: Daemones / Labrax / The Weather ("you can call me Clement")
Filmography
- The McGuffin (1985) .... Gavin
- Wallenberg: A Hero's Story (1985) (TV) .... Nikki Fodor
- The Grass Arena (1991)The Grass Arena (1991)The Grass Arena is an autobiography that was made into a British film released in 1991. It is based on the true story of John Healy. The book had been out of print for a number of years, but was re-issued on 31 July 2008.-Storyline:...
.... John Healy (won the BBC Radio Times Award for Best Newcomer) - Prospero's BooksProspero's BooksProspero's Books , written and directed by Peter Greenaway, is a cinematic adaptation of The Tempest, by William Shakespeare. John Gielgud is Prospero, the protagonist who provides the off-screen narration and the voices to the other story characters...
(1991) .... Ferdinand - Love Lies Bleeding (1993) (TV) .... Conn
- Loving (1995) (TV) .... Charlie Raunce
- Institute Benjamenta, or This Dream People Call Human Life (1995) ....Jakob von GuntenJakob von GuntenJakob von Gunten. Ein Tagebuch is a novel by Swiss writer Robert Walser first published in German in 1909.-Introduction:Jakob von Gunten is a first-person account told by its titular protagonist, a young man of noble background who runs off from home and decides to spend the rest of his life...
- Angels & InsectsAngels & InsectsAngels & Insects is a 1995 romance drama film directed by Philip Haas. It was written by Philip and Belinda Haas with A. S. Byatt after her novella Morpho Eugenia.-Plot:...
(1995) .... William Adamson - Biography playing "Hamlet/Himself" in episode: Hamlet (February 1995) (TV)
- Henry VHenry V (play)Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
(1997) (TV) .... King Henry V - IntimacyIntimacy (2001 film)Intimacy is a 2001 film directed by Patrice Chéreau, starring Mark Rylance and Kerry Fox.Intimacy is an international co-production among production companies in France, the U.K., Germany, and Spain featuring a soundtrack of pop songs from the 1970s and 1980s...
(2001) .... Jay - Leonardo (2003) (TV) .... Leonardo Da VinciLeonardo da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
- Hearts of Fire (1987) .... Fizz
- William Shakespeare (2000) .... Artistic Director, Shakespeare's Globe
- Changing Stages (2001) (TV) Series .... Himself
- Richard IIRichard II (play)King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
(2003) (TV) .... Richard II - Celebrity Naked Ambition (2003) (TV)
- Breakfast playing "Himself" (19 April 2004) (TV)
- The Government Inspector (2005) (TV) .... Dr. David Kelly (won the British Academy Television Award for Best ActorBritish Academy Television Award for Best Actor- 1950s :*1955 Paul Rogers — *1956 Peter Cushing — *1957 Michael Gough — *1958 Michael Hordern — *1959 Donald Pleasence — - 1960s :*1960 Patrick McGoohan — *1961 Lee Montague —...
) - The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) .... Thomas Boleyn
- BlitzBlitz (film)Blitz is a 2011 crime film directed by Elliott Lester and starring Jason Statham, Paddy Considine, Aidan Gillen and David Morrissey. It is based on the novel of the same name by Ken Bruen, which features his recurring characters Detective Sergeant Tom Brant and Chief Inspector James...
(2011)......Roberts - AnonymousAnonymous (film)Anonymous is a political thriller and historical drama which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2011. Directed by Roland Emmerich and written by John Orloff, the movie is a fictionalized version of the life of Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, an Elizabethan...
(2011) .... Shakespearean actor