R.I.P. Michael Pennington
May. 11th, 2026 03:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fabrissehttps://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/may/11/michael-pennington-was-an-actor-of-astonishing-range-a-wise-writer-and-witty-company
I flunked out of college in May of 1980. My parents told me that they would continue paying for my degree, if I passed class through University of Maryland University College before the new semester started in Brussels.
I chose a one-week intensive Shakespeare class in Stratford Upon Avon. I love the instructor enough to take two more classes from her later. She was a remarkable teacher.
We saw several plays at the Royal Shakespeare Company's main stage, beginning with Michael Pennington's Hamlet. I saw it twice more that week. I loved it because it introduced me to Tom Wilkinson who played Horatio. While many critics liked the production -- and loved Pennington as Hamlet -- I found Hamlet and Ophelia weak, but I loved the supporting cast. (I want to say that I saw the play again during free time on that course and met a woman who had seen Gielgud play Hamlet. I also saw it twice more when it moved to London and I joined the UMUC there for a year. It was better in London.)
Later, Sis took a theater class in London from the same instructor. I was able to join her for the weekend and we saw Venice Preserved with Pennington, McKellan, and Jane Lapotaire (who died two months ago). This was where I really understood Pennington's appeal as an actor. McKellan was the more dynamic of the two, but the two of them had an intensity that leapt over the proscenium.
Most Americans might recognize him either from a PBS detective drama or from his tiny parts in the Star Wars franchise.
I have a recording of him reading all the lessons at a Lessons and Carols recorded with the King's College Choir, and his voice is beautifully textured.
I flunked out of college in May of 1980. My parents told me that they would continue paying for my degree, if I passed class through University of Maryland University College before the new semester started in Brussels.
I chose a one-week intensive Shakespeare class in Stratford Upon Avon. I love the instructor enough to take two more classes from her later. She was a remarkable teacher.
We saw several plays at the Royal Shakespeare Company's main stage, beginning with Michael Pennington's Hamlet. I saw it twice more that week. I loved it because it introduced me to Tom Wilkinson who played Horatio. While many critics liked the production -- and loved Pennington as Hamlet -- I found Hamlet and Ophelia weak, but I loved the supporting cast. (I want to say that I saw the play again during free time on that course and met a woman who had seen Gielgud play Hamlet. I also saw it twice more when it moved to London and I joined the UMUC there for a year. It was better in London.)
Later, Sis took a theater class in London from the same instructor. I was able to join her for the weekend and we saw Venice Preserved with Pennington, McKellan, and Jane Lapotaire (who died two months ago). This was where I really understood Pennington's appeal as an actor. McKellan was the more dynamic of the two, but the two of them had an intensity that leapt over the proscenium.
Most Americans might recognize him either from a PBS detective drama or from his tiny parts in the Star Wars franchise.
I have a recording of him reading all the lessons at a Lessons and Carols recorded with the King's College Choir, and his voice is beautifully textured.
