A note from Peter O’Toole to John Neville, in Canada, about my Bottom.
Me as Edgar and Peter Ustinov as King Lear, directed by Robin Phillips, at Stratford.
The brilliant Heath Lamberts as Cyrano de Bergerac, and me as his best friend LeBret, at the Shaw Festival and Royal Alex in Toronto, directed by Derek Goldby.
Chiron, Titus Andronicus, directed by Brian Bedford, starring Bill Hutt, at Stratford, Ontario.
Orgon, as Brian Mulroney, in Tartuffe, for CBC and the Neptune Theatre in Halifax; directed and adapted by Richard Ouzounian, co-starring the delightful Walter Borden, as a Reganesque Tartuffe.
Rodger Barton
I have been an actor/teacher/single dad/monologue coach for most of 35 years. I spent 7 seasons with the Stratford Festival in Canada, doing eight Shakespearean productions under Robin Phillips, many with Brian Bedford, Martha Henry, Bill Hutt, five productions with Maggie Smith and two with Peter Ustinov.
Around twenty years ago, I decided to help young people love Shakespeare as much as I do. To do that, they had to play him out loud. To enjoy playing him aloud they needed cut scripts. I discovered and implemented the thought-verse formatting, and then noted the series to finish the job. Interestingly, a French teacher did a meticulous final proofing. I combed the scripts endlessly. It took two years to complete 12 plays. While creating them I read them, and re-read them, and re-read them some more aloud, with Keith Knight - taking equal turns at 'Hamlets and Horatios.' They were only finished when we agreed that they made complete sense. I then sold the series for several years. New Year's 2013, in an effort to trump budgets and bores and stick to my purpose of growing love for Shakespeare, I decided to post the whole series on this website for free.
The SOL audio recordings and monologues, produced during Covid, are a new way to meet Shakespeare - the way he intended, out loud! Will did not expect people to ever read his plays, just listen to them. The new audio-plays provide a clear and entertaining template of each play, and should be a good starting point for others wanting to perform Shakespeare, out loud. The popular monologue page provides many examples for students to learn and play some of Shakespeare’s greatest passages.
Professional Acting Resume
Shakeoutloud on youtube
Film reel
Ghost, pirate captain at Young Peoples’ Theatre, in Toronto, directed by Richard Greenblatt.
I played Frank twice; I can’t imagine why!
7 summers logging eventually earned me 7 summers at Stratford.