Year of the King: An Actor's Diary and Sketchbook
Antony Sher
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July 19, 2017

These excerpts from Anthony Sher’s diary take us with him on the journey to his famous “bottled-spider” portrayal of Richard III.

I’d strongly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in acting or Shakespeare, because it gave me a completely new understanding of professional theatre. I’d always assumed that the director came in with a vision, and rehearsals were about helping the actors embody that vision. Instead Sher shows us an iterative, collaborative process, with actors and director and set designers and costume-makers and sound engineers all experimenting together. I loved watching the final version of the play slowly coalesce out of that chaos. I think diary entries were the perfect way to tell that story. Any other method would have inevitably smoothed out a lot more of the interesting messiness.

In particular, I was fascinated by Sher’s research into disability, although it was sometimes unpleasant to read about and I seriously side-eye a lot of Sher’s choices. The scenes where he sketches disabled people without their permission, for example, are pretty horrible. But, slowly, Sher moves from pity and a fixation on “angelic cripples” to an understanding of people with disabilities as potentially very powerful, very (justifiably) angry, and even very sexy. His final understanding is not cringe-free, but it’s infinitely more complex than where he started. The journey was, if nothing else, an interesting train wreck to witness.

In terms of what didn’t work for me: even I, a chronic over-analyzer and lover of literary pretension, eventually wanted to shake Sher by the shoulders and shout “SERIOUSLY, IT’S JUST A PLAY.” It turns out there’s a finite amount of artistic angst I can tolerate, and this book far exceeded it. Additionally, I found the ending very weak. I can only imagine how challenging it must have been to find a conclusion in a set of pre-written diary entries – life seldom has tidy endings. Nonetheless, a book must inevitably end, and this half-hearted petering-out did a real disservice to the story.

March 26, 2009

Along with Simon Callow's Being An Actor, this is one of THE great books about the process of theatre and working on a role. Like so many of the Brit actors, who for some reason are often seriously scholarly in a variety of areas, Sher is also able to talk insightfully and specifically both about his craft and the literature of the theatre, and to place it in a wider cultural and historical context that feeds into his creativity. (Rock on, liberal arts education!)

October 7, 2009

I found this book to be a captivating read, and I finished it within 24 hours. Sher provides the diary entries made as he prepares to star in Richard the Third (in the title part) with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the early 1980's. The preparation is described in thrilling and terrifying detail, giving an amazingly vivid picture of what the work of acting is all about. Proving that he is truly a triple-threat talent of a different stripe, Sher also illustrates the book with his own sketches of his colleagues and various other things and persons that cross his mind during rehearsals. So not only can he act, he can write and draw as well.

October 24, 2023

3.5/5, iconic iconic i c o n i c second half, made my ricky 3 nerd brain very happy, but the first half dragged quite a bit and felt unnecessary and even a bit uncomfortable in places (i get that this was originally his diary, but he made it into a book available for the public so i'm going to treat it as such)

other than that though, big slay, i would actually commit atrocities to be able to time travel back to 1984 and see this production live, like antony sher, brian blessed and roger allam all in one production?? spider ricky 3 on crutches in a medieval church?? and antony sher's writing is so evocative and his knowledge of the industry is absolutely fascinating to read about, i can't wait to read his king lear diary because that production is my favourite ever

November 13, 2015

I was recently lucky enough to be given a copy of Anthony Sher’s latest book “Year of the Fat Knight” as a birthday present. Before reading it, I thought I’d reacquaint myself with this, earlier work. I first read it in the 80s, shortly after it was initially published, and I’ve returned to it on a number of occasions since. I have, over the years, on several occasions tried to list my ten favourite novels. Were I to list my ten favourite books, this would easily find a place on the list, and probably be in the top three.

Despite the familiarity arising from repeated reading, it has never lost its power to excite. For anyone with an interest in the theatre, this is simply one of the most thrilling and indeed inspiring books it has been my pleasure to read.

The basic structure is straightforward. As a youngish actor on the verge of a major breakthrough, Anthony Sher, after recovering from the agony of tearing his Achilles tendon while paying the fool in Lear, is offered the part of Richard the Third at the RSC. From there, Sher takes us through the agonies of whether to accept the part, and then once he has taken the plunge, the process of building a part. He takes the reader through the research, the psychological analysis, the building of relationships with the rest of the cast, and also the mechanics, the costume, make-up, set, and music.

One of the reasons the book succeeds so wonderfully is that Sher is an excellent storyteller. He starts slowly, with a languid holiday visiting his family in South Africa playing a major early part in his tale. Then on return, he gradually ratchets up the pace and the tension as the play goes into rehearsal and careers towards the opening night, and the catharsis of eventual success. Of course, the book wouldn’t be half as much as fun, and indeed probably wouldn’t have been published if the production hadn’t been a success. However, it was and that gives us wonderful moments such as Sher denying that he reads reviews, only for Michael Caine to suggest that he wrote them.

Aside from being a damn good story, one which had me staying awake far too long to get to the end, one of the other joys is the cast of other actors. Brian Blessed, who was seemingly as loud in the 80s as he is now. The now virtually ubiquitous Roger Allam as a young actor. The lately venerable Jonathan Pryce and Bernard Hill as dangerous young risk-takers. It also extends beyond the actors to a fascinating array of directors, costumiers, dressers, Fx people, and even drivers.

Sher’s talent goes beyond acting and writing. The book is illustrated with his own sketches, one of particular note portrays the author himself in a dream flying round a Laurence Oliver’s giant face. At the start of his journey he is thoroughly intimidated by “Sir’s” apparently definitive playing of the part. He is also feels oppressed by Shakespeare, railing at him for starting the play with such a famous line. “Now is the winter……”

To finish, I have one uncomplicated thing to say. If you are interested in the theatre, and in the art of acting, if you haven’t already read the Year of the King, do so. Now.

September 6, 2020

Very good read. Sher is an excellent writer, and the book is sprinkled with his drawings of characters in Richard III and at the Royal Shakespeare Company where the 1984 production in which he played the titular role was staged. The diary covers the period from before he was asked to the opening. It is filled with the usual things that this genre contains: the actor comes to grips with this immense character he or she is playing, wry or despairing accounts of rehearsals, and usually a triumphant conclusion to the process. At one point Sher bumps into Branagh, who is doing his first Henry V for the RSC. It's a mildly entertaining encounter for the omniscient reader. When the Sher book appeared over 30 years ago, he didn't know that Branagh too had been keeping a diary and would shortly release an early autobiography.

Sher is self-deprecating in a charming, unbelievable way. The protagonist of a book like this is not always good company, but Sher manages to seem like the kind of guy you would like to hoist a pint with. He takes a very interesting vacation with his family in South Africa, still (1983) in the grip of apartheid. Sher has an acute, gimlet eye for the telling detail about his homeland. One understands why he felt driven to leave, and how conflicted being there even for a few weeks makes him.

He is also unsparing about the neuroses that are universal in his profession: all of the Richard actors and staff are alternately nervous, terrified, arrogant, humble, you name it. I think when audiences see the finished product they are inclined to think that it arrived in front of them like Athena from Zeus' head, fully formed and gleaming in armor. Not so. It takes a temporary village to make a play, and like any village, it has its good times and bad. Sher's Year of the King is probably most interesting to those of us who work in theatre, but I heartily recommend it to any who attend as a good glimpse at what happens before they settle into their seats and unfold the programs.

September 26, 2007

This is the finest memoir of an actor that I've read. All the Shakespeare greats are in there; Nigel Hawthorne, Ian Holm, a young "Ken" Brannagh, Richard Briers, Michael Gambon, you name it.

Sher is cast at a rather young age to play Richard III at the Royal Shakespeare Company, and he wrote journal entries and sketches during the rehearsals.

There's a specifically wonderful part that describes Brian Blessed (playing Hastings of course) deciding his character should always be helping Richard. Hoisting him out of chairs, cheerily lending a shoulder, brushing his coat. Constantly muttering under his breath during scenes, "Copes well for a cripple, don't he? Marvellous how he copes...never grumbles! Ah, there we go your lordship, you'll want to have a word with your mate Buckingham over there, off you go now! On your holidays!"

Since the actors at Stratford never had a moment off, they liked to have little japes about how their holidays had been going.

"Been to the arcade yet? Fine place for a vacation, that..."

Blessed would lean on a table and say, "I pulled a cracker in the tunnel of love last night."

And hell, it's got some nice acting things in it. It captures the manic airs of a production without being overdramatic or preachy. Just read it. If you can find it.

July 6, 2012

read this at the time because I was enchanted by Sher's great spider like performance as Richard 3rd.

found some notes from my 1985 diary: Good read, makes you remember and savour the play, its darkness and also how it's funny/sexy. Strangely though the bits I like best are his drives to and from Stratford, bits about the town being full of punks on Bank Holiday. It reminds me of drives to and from Stratford. A sunny evening one way, a starry night the other, the lush friendly countryside or else ice bound and freezing, and one time lightning while we were boating on the river. The time at college (1979 or 80) on a minibus with other students, stood at the back (cheap) to watch Peter Brooks' Anthony and Cleopatra with Glenda Jackson and Alan Howard. Remember the smoked glass set, protecting them from the outside world, a sense of domesticity, locked away from the world, and then the soldiers come and smear blood on the 'windows' and you're reminded that people died - and killed - for them, just beyond the glass.

May 14, 2018

I love this book. If you are interested in Shakespeare, in acting (or both) this is a very definite must read. I hadn't realised it was over 20 years old - it doesn't feel that dated and a lot of what he says about Richard III is pretty timeless - but it's the first of three (Falstaff and Lear are the next two) and I now can't wait for the next ones.

This may well be a candidate for my mythical sixth star.

February 8, 2021

Read on the recommendation of a directing professor as part of my ongoing work learning Shakespeare. It had interesting blips both about the acting process and Richard III, but overall I didn’t particularly care to read a year worth of diary entries from a whining RSC actor.

July 29, 2012

One of the best books I've read on what it's like to be a stage actor. A great book.

June 20, 2020

Absolutely fascinating guide to an actor's method! I have acted on stage a few times in amteur theatre and this was an amazing journey. I watched Anthony Sher on stage in Stratford in the role of King Lear recently. It was there that I learned about his books. And I am so glad that I bought this! Sadly there are no recordings on Youtube to see Sher's famous depiction of Richard III on crutches. I was enthralled by the level of research that went into the characterization.

His style of writing is humorous and has a nice warmth - very readable.

I also found the chapter on his vacation in 1980's South Africa enlightening.

A good read.

June 3, 2020

Sir Sher's memoir blends personal, artistic and professional experiences that give greater context to Shakespeare's King Lear. Readable for superfans and newbies alike.

April 24, 2022

One of the best actor’s memoirs I’ve read in a long time. Sir Antony was a superb actor and this was a welcome glimpse into what he went through to create the part that made him “properly” famous. From the snapshots of other actors through to the people he meets as part of his research and preparation for the role, it seems that nobody is too unimportant to be referenced or named if they’ve made an impression on him. And he talks intelligently about the process he goes through, from the things that worked to the things that didn’t, and the reasons behind their success or failure. It does get a bit “luvvy” at times, but that’s an occupational hazard of dealing with people who pretty much live in your pockets for months at a time. Some people here have mentioned his work with the disabled as exploitative and insensitive but, as someone who spent a little bit of time working in that field, and a greater amount of time around people who work in that field, Sher treats them with respect and interest, using language that was considered acceptable, professional and normal for the time that it was written.

June 23, 2020

Disappointing. The book seemed enjoyable enough at first, smoothly written with great drawings by Sher himself, but it soon began to turn sour. Granted, it is a detailed account in an actor's preparation for the role of Richard III in the 1980s. One of the problems was that I was expecting interesting insights into the play but Sher seemed to research anything and everything but the play. He was fascinated with the stories of real-life serial killers but rather failed to consider Richard III in the context of the play or in the historical period. What's worse, he was obsessed with the outward appearance of his character. That in itself is not uncommon, but it became increasingly frustrating. His Richard had to be "severely deformed", monstrously ugly and the "bottled spider" insult was taken for a key in determining the character's look. That the psychology of the character as provided by Shakespeare seemed of less (or indeed hardly any) interest than giving him a startling appearance is one thing, but his research into "cripples" and "spastics", polio victims and scoliotics was highly offensive. He was even let into institutions to see suitably afflicted people himself. While contemporary productions also focus far too much on the deformity, apparently blind to the fact that they tend to move from physical handicap as (at least a partial) explanation to RIII's status as an outsider and a source of both physical and mental pain to sustaining ideas of ugliness and deformity as marks of moral shortcomings, Sher took revelling in deformity and its supposed repulsiveness to a completely new level. I never made peace with the book after this, especially as the gawking at any kind of different people continued, as did his insistence of more monstrous appearance (at least the director finally said no to face prosthetics, cauliflower ears, etc) and endless commentary on using crutches for the role. There were at least some smarter comments (usually by someone else) in-between all this madness, but generally you just wanted to shout READ THE DAMN PLAY AND THINK FOR A WHILE! as well as wish someone taught Sher some basic respect for human beings, even when not as able-bodied as he is (apart from all the injuries, alas poor actor). It was far more interesting reading his comments on the actual performances and how tuned actors are to the mood of the audience. A difficult read, in the end. You do learn a lot about the actor, something of the workings of at least one production under one particular director, and nothing much about the play or the title character. It's well-written and there are some little glimpses of other actors - Nigel Hawthorne, Michael Gambon, young Roger Allam, Allison Steadman, Patricia Routledge, etc.. I'm told Sher's book on playing Falstaff is much better. I sincerely hope so.

August 27, 2020

this is a very smart book. it follows antony sher's research process as he delves into his first leading shakespeare role: richard iii. it is the perfect book for the play; as we hear the actor's innermost thoughts and plans, as he prepares for a character known in literary canon for that very character trait. what follows is a daily diary entry of his thoughts, interactions and fascinations with this role and all that it intails mentally and physically. it gave me a lot of ideas about character research (which is always one of the best parts of performing) and approaching shakespeare.

his fly (or should i say spider) on the wall anecdotes through the rsc's training and exploration of verse and history plays was enthralling and worth noting. sher himself sometimes leans towards the mundane and sometimes self-obsessed nature of his profession but i admire that he had the balls to publish such vain thoughts (given the chance to polish his inner monologue). his illustrations also open up a world into the production and the images he conjures up for his richard. sometimes lagging, but overall enjoyable and informative.

May 30, 2018

I bought this book because I really enjoy getting an insider’s look at what it’s like behind the scenes. For example, I’m not an actor, so I was surprised at how much Sher functioned like a director in conceptualizing his role as Richard III. He put so much emphasis on the physicality of his costume, yet seemed barely concerned about learning all those Shakespearean lines. It was amusing to hear him cite someone named Gielgud saying, “This is one of the pleasures of playing Shakespeare: nobody understands what you're saying, so you can make it up when you forget.”

Another example, when Sher says he loves tech rehearsals because they are ”cue to cue, lights, music, sound effects … the show without acting.” I also enjoyed how he pulled the curtain to give a glimpse into the "routine problem of props and furniture, arriving with bits of the set, failing to resemble what we were expecting or had requested. Much bashing of square blocks into round holes…”

It think it’s fun getting behind the scenes, especially in performing arts. I will be doing more reading like this.

December 31, 2019

Antony Sher, in Year of the King: An Actor’s Diary and Sketchbook, lifts the curtain to reveal the intimate details of his preparations to play Ricard III in a Royal Shakespeare Company production. Sir Antony is one of the great Shakespearean actors of all time and this diary is an enormous revelation of the emotion, uncertainty, and collaboration that goes into a production. His honesty is absolutely touching. On the first script run-through: “Despite my resolutions in the car this morning, I am shaking so much I have to hold the book with both hands.” (p. 170) For a production of this scale, with the weight of Shakespeare’s genius plus the previous epic performances, there are many opportunities for disaster, and Sher’s diary pulls one into the inherent tension & drama. It’s a can’t-put-it-down thriller. In a more formal sense, the book is an exposition on the myriad ways that a character such as Richard III could be played. In other words, it’s not just an account of what happened, but how the company arrived at the work of performance art (and magic).

September 10, 2018

I loved this, both on the surface level and on a deeper level. As simply a book about acting it was fascinating: I enjoy theatre occasionally, but I had no idea how a play comes together - how so many things are worked out at the last minute, how actors have a huge role in areas that I thought were the perogative of directors, and how actors are so affected by real-time audience reactions.

But I got so much out of this book because I read it as being about creativity more generally - about how creative people notice things, how very determined they are (even those who as as nice as Sher), how they (after putting in so much ground work!) remain open to new ideas, and how even the best of them have doubts.

I'd recommend this to anyone who aspires to be creative in any field. I don't think you need to have seen/read Richard III to follow it - I haven't, and haven't studied Shakespere since high school!

May 26, 2021

I don't know how to convey how much I love this book. It's Antony Sher's memoir of the year he played Richard III for the RSC (1984), and although I knew that it's much loved by actors, I wasn't sure it was going do much for me. It did.

Basically, this book is a detailed, step by step chronicle of the creative process – any creative process, not just the one that goes with acting. Sher is honest and self-deprecating, and the result is disarming.

The writing is delightful. He's especially brilliant at writing descriptions (short ones, never more than three or four lines at a time – quite often half a sentence, in fact) evoking a whole person in just a few strokes.

Bonus point: tons of anecdotes about the RSC that had me in a flurry of delight.

Straight to the favourites shelf.

April 24, 2015

Bloody brilliant - EVERYONE must read this book! Start your own diary, sketchings, and musings on whatever your passion and pursuit. This book is equal parts inspiration, hilarity, and wonder - a great actor, a real actor, an actor AT WORK. Yet, he admits his vulnerability. THIS SEALS THE DEAL - Anton's book is a glimpse into what it is like to be in this strange, mysterious, and truthfully NOT glamorous profession! Like the film "It Might Get Loud" by Davis Guggenheim (see it, trust me) this book focuses on the process of creating art rather than the gossipy nonsense surrounding artists of a public ilk.

December 20, 2021

A great favourite, re-reading since the news of Sher's death. How I wish I'd seen the production of Richard III that's detailed here, from first inkling that he might be playing the lead role through all the negotiations, the search for the character, the dead ends and insecurities of rehearsal, and finally to the triumphant opening nights. A fascinating insight into the artistic process, coupled with Sher's own magnificent sketches and drawings.

He went on to write similar, excellent, books about playing Falstaff and King Lear, but this was the first and best of them.

February 2, 2019

Fascinating diary of Sher's journey to performing Richard III. Lovely anecdotes about beloved actors such as Brian Blessed and Michael Gambon. Sher is an accomplished artist and drawings that he created during "the year of the king" further illustrate his journey.

After finishing the book, I watched the Richard III episode of "Shakespeare Uncovered," which was presented by Antony Sher. It featured clips of various Richard III's, including Sher from 1984. I highly recommend it!

September 3, 2021

Lively diary of the author’s time preparing to play the title role in RICHARD III, interspersed with his incredible sketches. Some dated aspects in terms of his research (observing people with disabilities at a facility for “spastics”), but overall a fascinating and detailed examination of an actor’s process.

December 8, 2018

Picked this up after Shakespeare Uncovered rekindled my Shakespeare obsession. I thoroughly enjoyed this - Sher is really smart, very perceptive, and clearly in love with the theatre. Walked away with a new appreciation of the art of acting.

June 14, 2020

This book was hard to read for me because of the way it was written. Although it is a very useful book for actors to read I just found that the way it was written was distracting and hard to follow. The story was interesting but also not the best acting book I have ever read for a young actor.

December 11, 2019

If you are an actor preparing for a tough role, it's a must read.