Shakespeare in the Theatre Kathryn Hunter

An analysis of the Shakespearean career of the actor/director Kathryn Hunter.

Kathryn Hunter is one of the most distinctive performers on the modern stage. Her shapeshifting abilities have seen her play Shakespearean roles as diverse as King Lear, Richard III, Katharina, Cleopatra, Puck, and Timon of Athens. Her role as the witches in Joel Coen’s The Tragedy of Macbeth introduced her distinctive approach to Shakespeare to a wider audience, winning her the 2021 New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress. She is also an accomplished Shakespearean director, having directed productions for theatres including Shakespeare’s Globe and the Royal Shakespeare Company. This study situates her Shakespearean work within the context of her wider career, including her Olivier award-winning work with Complicite and her frequent collaborations with Peter Brook. It is based on a series of nine interviews with Hunter that were conducted over Zoom during the 2020 lockdown, and draws upon archival material from Shakespeare’s Globe, the RSC and elsewhere.