Books About William Poel
William Poel and the Elizabethan Revival, by Robert Speaight. Published by Heinemann Ltd., London. 1954. The fullest biography to date but out of print.
William Poel and the Elizabethan Stage Society, by Marion O'Connor, a monograph with 50 slides published by Chadwyck-Healey (Theatre in Focus). 1987
Pictures of William Poel
National Portrait Gallery, London: A 1932 painting by Henry Tonks shows Poel as Father Keegan in GB Shaw's play John Bull's Other Island, a part he acted on several occasions. There are also several preliminary sketches.
Videos relating to William Poel
National Theatre: Vocal exploration of two theatres, warmups and text work with Jeannette Nelson, the Head of Voice.
Organisations connected with William Poel
The Shakespeare Reading Society: William Poel was the first Reading Instructor for this Society - founded in April 1875 and still in existence. They hold a few letters and other documents about Poel and the Society.
Contact - Frances Hughes, Secretary. 123 Lynton Road, London. W3 9HN.
More information on the Vocal 'Problem'
Peter Gill's Introduction to “Actors Speaking”, edited by Lyn Hall for Oberon Books, is a 15 page analysis and commentary on the theatrical, social, economic and political influences on the actor’s speech from the start of the twentieth century to today. For anyone seriously interested in theatre speech and the classic texts this is essential reading.
Collections of books, articles, graphics, correspondence
Backstage has a comprehensive listing of the contents of several UK theatre collections, including the former Theatre Museum. The V&A Theatre Collection now holds the main UK Poel collection.
The Bristol University Theatre Collection contains books and articles by and about Poel and his work, and some correspondence.
PeoplePlay has a large collection of images mostly from the former Theatre Museum, now part of the V&A collections.
|
15th July 2010 |