Never Seen The Scene

I was looking through Logan Gourlay's book on Laurence Olivier, made up of interviews with numerous acquaintances of the great actor who mostly talk about his work in the theatre.

It occurred to me that the difference between this and a book about someone who's primarily a movie star is when I read about a performance by, say, Jimmy Stewart or Dustin Hoffman, I've probably seen it.  Whereas Olivier's famous roles were seen by, relatively speaking, very few--and that number keeps getting smaller each year.

And yet, I've read enough about Olivier (as well as contemporaries like Gielgud and Richardson), and seen so many photos of him in costume, that I feel I know quite a bit about his stage career.

I could list a lot of Shakespearean roles he performed in--such plays as Romeo And Juliet (alternating as Romeo and Mercutio with Gielgud), Hamlet, Macbeth, Othello (in different productions he was Iago and Othello), Henry IV (1 and 2), Henry V, Coriolanus, Antony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night (at different times as Sir Toby Belch and Malvolio), Titus Andronicus and The Merchant Of Venice.

Then there are other classics such as Arms And The Man, Peer Gynt, Uncle Vanya, Oedipus, The Critic (the last two he performed on the same bill), The Master Builder, Love For Love, A Flea In Her Ear, The Dance Of Death and Long Day's Journey Into Night.

And also contemporary works such as Private Lives, The Entertainer and Rhinoceros.

I even know, generally, how these performances were received.  Some were triumphs, some were failures, some were considered controversial.

Even though I've never seen Olivier perform live for one second, it's odd how I feel like I know him as a stage performer.