Saturday, June 21, 2008

Belated congratulations to Mark Rylance

Last Sunday was the Tony awards, the telecast of which this Shakespeare blogger confesses he's never actually watched before. But word has it -- word that admittedly has taken unusually long to filter its way up the system here at the SBAN bunker -- that not only did the superlative actor and noted Shakespeare heretic Mark Rylance win a Tony award for Best Performance in a Leading Role (in the farce Boeing Boeing), but he also gave an acceptance speech for the ages.

As comedy writer, sportscaster and blogger Ken Levine blogged on Friday, "Since it's a good bet only three of you at the most saw the Tonys last Sunday you probably missed this acceptance speech by Mark Rylance. It's one of the best ever. I will be voting for this guy for everything from now on."



This brilliant recital comes from the pen of the Duluth, Minn. based poet Louis Jenkins.

The Duluth News Tribune quotes Rylance as saying that he hopes to collaborate with the poet more. "I think they’re really genius," the actor said of Jenkins' prose poems -- which Rylance first read when he was in Minneapolis earlier this year, starring in the Guthrie Theater's production of Peer Gynt. "Learning them by heart has been like learning a great speech by Shakespeare: Every word matters, the rhythm. ... I’m hoping to work with Louis on a play that involves them.”