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CAST |
Richard Brierswho plays Henry Wakefield who plays Claudius |
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Joe Harper Michael Maloney
Henry Wakefield
Vernon Spatch
Tom Newman
Carnforth Greville
Terry Du Bois
Fadge
Molly
Nina
Margaretta D'Arcy
Nancy Crawford
Mortimer
Tim
Mrs. Branch
Nina's Father
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 "Henry is like me in certain respects" admits Richard Briers. "He's an old trouper who started acting very young and went into the very commercial end of business early on in order to make a living. But he's always wanted to play the classic roles and sees this production of ëHamlet' as his last chance to do so. His eternal complaining is certainly based on Ken's experience of sharing a dressing room with me on the Renaissance Theatre world tour when I became known as a champion whinger!"
Richard Briers has been enormously popular throughout his career in the UK because of his regular contributions to television comedy series. He was the linchpin of three of the most successful sitcoms ever made in Britain: "Marriage Lines," "The Good Life" and "Ever Decreasing Circles." After a long career in popular television drama, in 1987 he joined Kenneth Branagh's Renaissance Theatre Company and his already very successful professional life took a new turn as he moved on to the major classical roles. "Ken offered me Malvolio in his production of 'Twelfth Night' Briers recalls, "at the very time I had decided to expand my career when I realized I had gone as far as I could doing sitcoms. As soon as I worked with him, I thought he was truly exceptional." After his Malvolio, Briers took on King Lear at Branagh's insistence, followed by the title role in "Uncle Vanya" and Menenius in "Coriolanus." The role of Henry in A MIDWINTER'S TALE marks Briers' fifth appearance in a Kenneth Branagh film, following his Bardolph in "HenryV," Leonato in "Much Ado About Nothing," the blind grandfather in "Mary Shelly's Frankenstein" and his co-starring role with Sir John Gielgud in Branagh's Academy Award nominated short film, "Swan Song." Other film credits include Michael Warner's "A Chorus of Disapproval" and the film version of the hit TV series "Minder." Briers trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he won the Silver Medal and a scholarship to Liverpool Playhouse. He made his West End debut in 1958 and has barely stopped working since in both theatre and television. In both media, he has appeared often in the work of playwright Alan Ayckbourn, playing leading roles in "Relatively Speaking," "Absurd Person Singular" and "Absent Friends" in the theatre and in "The Norman Conquests" and "Just Between Ourselves" on television. In 1989 he was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) by the Queen for his services to the arts.
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Last modified 02-Feburary-1996.
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