A Piece of Work

Simon Russell Beale is one of Britain's most recognisable and well-loved actors. He has played many roles on stage, film, television and radio - ranging from Winston Churchill to Stalin, George Smiley to King Arthur. But ever since his appearance at school as a glamorous Desdemona, complete with false eyelashes that rendered him half-blind, he has been captivated by Shakespeare.

In A Piece of Work, Russell Beale tries to get under the skin of the playwright and find out what interested him. Was Shakespeare an instinctive 'conservative' or, rather, gently subversive? How collaborative was he? Did he add a line to Hamlet in order to accommodate his ageing and increasingly chubby principal actor, Richard Burbage? Did he suffer from insomnia and experience sexual jealousy?

Russell Beale describes what it is to approach and live with some of Shakespeare's most famous characters. Some of the actor's inspiration comes from surprising sources. Watching Coronation Street gave him an idea for how Richard III might react on hearing of the death of the two Princes in the Tower; a visit to elderly patients in a local hospital gave him insights into King Lear's descent into madness; and the memory of childhood family holidays led him to a spectacular plunge into an ornamental pool in Much Ado About Nothing.

Funny and touching about his family, Russell Beale also writes fascinatingly about some of the supremely creative people he counts as his friends - including Sam Mendes, Nick Hytner, Stephen Sondheim and Lauren Bacall.

A Piece of Work is a brilliant account of an actor's life and work - and his relationship with our foremost dramatist.

A glorious feast of insight, memory, gossip and revelation. Like a long outdoor lunch on a sunny autumn day, listening to the sharpest and kindest of companions, talking about Shakespeare and life and the whole shebang Dominic Dromgoole
Simon Russell Beale's insights into Shakespeare have never been confined to his performances. In rehearsal, he will dazzle you with the penetrating originality of a line reading and follow it with a profound analysis of what he thinks the playwright might have been up to. In this wonderful book, he shares what it's like to live the lives that Shakespeare trusts to his actors; and he writes with the same eloquence and wit he brings to his acting. And with tenderness and wry humour he lets us know how he became the most admired and loved of present day Shakespeareans. I can't think of a more stimulating or enjoyable way to discover Shakespeare Nicholas Hytner

Simon Russell Beale studied at Cambridge before joining the RSC. Described by the Daily Telegraph as 'the finest actor of his generation', he has been lauded for both his stage and TV work, winning many awards including the Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Evening Standard Best Actor Award and the BAFTA Best Actor Award.

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