Shakespeare's Women & Claire Bloom

The radiant Claire Bloom shares her thoughts about performing Shakespeare's women over the past half century and delivers several soliloquies from the Bard's better (and lesser) known plays in this pleasant hour sure to appeal to fans of all things Shakespearean. Whether reminiscing about Richard Burton's working-class charm or Laurence Olivier's charismatic presence, discussing the challenges she faces in teaching Shakespeare, or offering insights into the characters of Othello's Portia or Coriolanus's Volumnia, Bloom's commentary is astute, witty, and thoroughly enjoyable. Narrated by Roger Rees (whose title turn in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby remains a personal favorite), the film includes clips from Bloom's feature, TV and stage performances in Shakespearean roles as well as her impassioned readings of passages from, among others, King John (Lady Constance), Cymbeline (Imogen), Richard III (Lady Anne), and Hamlet (Gertrude). Definitely recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)