Steven Berkoff: Shakespeare's Heroes and Villains

Folger Shakespeare Library: Shakespeare Unlimited

Folger Shakespeare Library

Arts

4.8 • 879 Ratings

🗓️ 4 September 2018

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Since the 1990s, playwright and actor Steven Berkoff has been traveling the world performing a one-actor show called "Shakespeare’s Villains." It’s fitting, coming from the actor perhaps best known for playing Beverly Hills Cop’s Victor Maitland, that Berkoff promotes the show’s examination of Iago, Shylock, Richard III, the Macbeths, and others as “A Master Class in Evil.” Now, Berkoff has made a film of his performance. With additional material from "Henry V," it’s called "Shakespeare’s Heroes and Villains." We invited Steven Berkoff in to give us his thoughts on what Shakespeare’s villains have in common and why they hold such an enduring appeal. Berkoff is interviewed by Barbara Bogaev. From the "Shakespeare Unlimited" podcast series. Published September 4, 2018. © Folger Shakespeare Library. All rights reserved. This podcast episode, “I Am Alone the Villain of the Earth,” was produced by Richard Paul. Garland Scott is the associate producer. It was edited by Gail Kern Paster and Esther Ferington. Ben Lauer is the web producer.

Transcript

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0:00.0	In real life, everyone loves the good guys.
0:04.0	In Shakespeare, though, it seems a lot of us really love the bad guys.
0:13.0	From the Folger Shakespeare Library, this is Shakespeare Unlimited.
0:20.0	I'm Michael Whitmore, the Folgers director. Since the 1990s,
0:24.7	playwright and actor Stephen Burkhoff has been traveling the world with a one-man show
0:29.4	titled Shakespeare's Villains. It's fitting, coming from the actor many of you know best as
0:36.4	Victor Maitland in Beverly Hills Cop
0:38.8	that Berkoff promotes the show's examination of Iago, Shylock, Richard III, the Macbeths,
0:46.3	and others as a master class in evil.
0:50.3	A film has now been made of that performance and with additional material from Henry V, it's called Shakespeare's Heroes and Villains.
1:00.0	We invited Stephen Berkhoff in to give us his thoughts on why these monstrous characters hold such an appeal.
1:07.2	We call this podcast, I Am Alone, the Villain of the Earth.
1:12.1	Common!
1:13.5	Cry of Curse, whose breath I hate as reek of the rotten fence.
1:20.5	Stephen Burkhoff is interviewed by Barbara Bogie.
1:23.8	I banish you.
1:27.1	When you first started performing this piece in the 1990s,
1:30.7	the title was Shakespeare's villains,
1:32.6	and you primarily focus on villains throughout the film.
1:36.4	So why villains?
1:38.1	Well, I decided to make a one-man show on Shakespeare's characters,
1:44.5	and I found by just chance I was leaning more towards the darker characters,
	...

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