Shakespeare Society Holds Ian McKellen Film Retrospective Feb. 7

By Robert Simonson
January 6, 2005

The Shakespeare Society, which has hosted film retrospectives of the Bard-related work of Laurence Olivier, Claire Bloom and Derek Jacobi, will give Ian McKellen the star treatment on Feb. 7.

Actor and director Roger Rees and theatre critic John Simon will provide commentary on McKellen's work. The evening will boast clips from Macbeth, Richard III, Othello and McKellen's solo Shakespeare film.

The event will take place at 6:30 PM at The Kaye Playhouse on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

McKellen's long list of classical stage credits include the roles of Romeo, Macbeth, Richard III, Leontes, Toby Belch and Iago. He won the Tony, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle awards as Salieri in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus. In 1984, he received a Tony nomination and a Drama Desk Award for his solo show Acting Shakespeare. McKellen performed his autobiographical anthology A Knight Out on Broadway in 1994 and most recently he was seen on Broadway in Dance of Death with Helen Mirren. 

The Shakespeare Society is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the enjoyment, understanding, and appreciation of the works of William Shakespeare.

Tickets, priced at $25-$40, are available by calling (212) 327-2253.