What do you think?
Rate this book
John Gielgud directs Richard Burton in Hamlet: A journal of rehearsals
Hardcover, 149 pages Published by Heinemann Educational Books
149 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1968
3 people are currently reading
52 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 5, 2025
I’m such a Hamlet nerd so I found this so so interesting. Everything Gielgud had to say about the play I was inclined to agree with and just generally thought was so insightful, it’s insane how well he seemed to know the play. Obsessed with the tiny details that have to be considered in the process of translating a text into performance. This was my shit.
April 16, 2023
I have read Sterne's book before - as a theatre obsessed teenager. With the benefit of now being able to read it alongside William Redfield's far superior 'Letters from an Actor' it's difficult to see this as anything other than some sort of chronological record of rehearsals and conversations based on Sterne's highly dubious idea of secretly taping everything without initially letting anyone (Gielgud and Burton included) know. His reverence for Gielgud in particular becomes rapidly wearing and his analysis - such as it is - is naive in the extreme. However, it's a useful supplement to Redfield and one can see how it will be doubly so for Jack Thorne in his new play. Redfield is incidentally quite amusing in his view of Sterne's insignificance and apparently nonchalant about the recordings. If you only read one book about that 1964 Hamlet then, read Redfield's. But if your curiosity is piqued, you'll enjoy this too.
October 31, 2011
this is the book that i mentioned the other day that is about the same production of "hamlet" as the book letters from an actor that i borrowed last week. i had read it at least twice before, but i came to it with fresh eyes after reading the other book.
i love this book and the reason that i love this book is clearly not because of the author, richard sterne, who acts mainly as an editor and transcriber (and had the idea to clandestinely tape all the rehearsals--quite odd, but in the end, no one objected). i love it because what it is, chiefly, is john gielgud talking about shakespeare and acting and "hamlet," all three of which he clearly loves. other people respond to gielgud upon occasion, in here, and there is an interview with richard burton, as well as gielgud, at the end (where they know that they are talking to a tape recorder), but the bulk of the book that is not the prompt script is gielgud talking.
what we don't see in this book, as opposed to the other one, is how confused the actors are as time goes on. redfield clearly was and his letters indicate that he had a lot of company. sterne does indicate that blocking would go in and then gielgud would change it and then would change it all back but there's nothing of people's reactions to that in this book.
sterne does give excerpts from the reviews in all three cities (toronto, boston and new york) where redfield emphatically did not read them. amusing since two people seeing the same production sometimes saw the exact opposite end result. i did notice that the only person who i think got good reviews in every review i read was hume cronyn, as polonius--he must have really nailed it. i'll have to watch for that in the viewing.
one person who comes off really well in both books is elizabeth taylor. both authors find her sweet and helpful, and we can see through burton conveying some of her suggestions that while she may not consider herself much of an actor, she has good insights and suggestions and is actually pretty clever about things that burton, at least, is doing.
the other thing about these books is that they both are by people who love language--i refer to redfield and gielgud--sterne appreciates language, going by his choices of what to include, but gielgud just brims with it in these quotes. the tones of the books are very different but both are clearly intelligent people with a deep knowledge of acting and shakespeare.
sterne appears to have almost disappeared after this production, as best i can discern--if the internet broadway database is to be believed. wait, i just went to imdb, and he had an uncredited part in "soylent green." but his career didn't take off to stratospheres after this production--maybe they were too afraid he'd show up with a tape recorder.
i love this book and the reason that i love this book is clearly not because of the author, richard sterne, who acts mainly as an editor and transcriber (and had the idea to clandestinely tape all the rehearsals--quite odd, but in the end, no one objected). i love it because what it is, chiefly, is john gielgud talking about shakespeare and acting and "hamlet," all three of which he clearly loves. other people respond to gielgud upon occasion, in here, and there is an interview with richard burton, as well as gielgud, at the end (where they know that they are talking to a tape recorder), but the bulk of the book that is not the prompt script is gielgud talking.
what we don't see in this book, as opposed to the other one, is how confused the actors are as time goes on. redfield clearly was and his letters indicate that he had a lot of company. sterne does indicate that blocking would go in and then gielgud would change it and then would change it all back but there's nothing of people's reactions to that in this book.
sterne does give excerpts from the reviews in all three cities (toronto, boston and new york) where redfield emphatically did not read them. amusing since two people seeing the same production sometimes saw the exact opposite end result. i did notice that the only person who i think got good reviews in every review i read was hume cronyn, as polonius--he must have really nailed it. i'll have to watch for that in the viewing.
one person who comes off really well in both books is elizabeth taylor. both authors find her sweet and helpful, and we can see through burton conveying some of her suggestions that while she may not consider herself much of an actor, she has good insights and suggestions and is actually pretty clever about things that burton, at least, is doing.
the other thing about these books is that they both are by people who love language--i refer to redfield and gielgud--sterne appreciates language, going by his choices of what to include, but gielgud just brims with it in these quotes. the tones of the books are very different but both are clearly intelligent people with a deep knowledge of acting and shakespeare.
sterne appears to have almost disappeared after this production, as best i can discern--if the internet broadway database is to be believed. wait, i just went to imdb, and he had an uncredited part in "soylent green." but his career didn't take off to stratospheres after this production--maybe they were too afraid he'd show up with a tape recorder.
July 7, 2011
I just "inherited" this book from my recently deceased grandfather. I'm finding it a fascinating document, detailing the development of one of the more famous productions of Hamlet in the twentieth century. A rare glimpse into the process of developing a Broadway hit, directed by one of the most famous English actors ever (Gielgud), and acted by one of the most talented actors ever (Burton).
I've now finished the journal section of the book, and am now reading through the Prompt-Script of Hamlet, which is based on the script that was used by most of the actors, and augmented with some directions and commentary written by Sterne. It's a fascinating insight into Gielgud's vision for the production.
This is an excellent addition to my Shakespeare collection. A really intriguing look into the process of performing Shakespeare's most famous work.
I've now finished the journal section of the book, and am now reading through the Prompt-Script of Hamlet, which is based on the script that was used by most of the actors, and augmented with some directions and commentary written by Sterne. It's a fascinating insight into Gielgud's vision for the production.
This is an excellent addition to my Shakespeare collection. A really intriguing look into the process of performing Shakespeare's most famous work.
April 27, 2023
On my shelves for years and I took it down and read it. Then I was able to find a movie of the play and watched it following along with the prompt script. I haven had such a close encounter with Hamlet since high school.
April 29, 2016
Excellent!!!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews