LETTERS FROM AN ACTOR

NY: Viking, 1967. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. A series of letters from American actor William Redfield (1927 - 1976) to his friend, Robert Mills, between January and August of 1964 which chronicle the rehearsals and performances of Hamlet, a production conceived and directed by Sir John Gielgud as a modern-dress "rehearsal" of the play. Hamlet was played by Richard Burton; during rehearsals in Toronto he and Elizabeth Taylor were married for the first time. Redfield, cast as Guildenstern, witnesses the enormous difficulty of both acting in and directing Hamlet while also trying to manage celebrity and notoriety. This is the partly the source material for the successful London play "The Motive and The Cue" by Jack Thorne. Directed by Sam Mendes, "The Motive and The Cue" premiered at the National Theatre in London in April 2023 and prompted the republication of this book, with a forward by Mendes. This copy is the uncommon first edition, more uncommon inscribed by Redfield on the ffe: "19 Feb '67 Dear Frank - after all our years of chit-chat and discussion, I finally set some of it down - Bill" Solid, clean copy in dustjacket with some incidental edgewear. (Inventory #: 013686)