idlesuperstar:

Was there ever so dishevelled and kitteny a Vanya? Michael Redgrave in Laurence Olivier’s production of Uncle Vanya (filmed at the Chichester Theatre, 1963), for @cinemaocd

And for a more erudite commentary (which is spot on) here’s Rory Kinnear, discussing it as one of the performances he wish he’d seen, for the National Theatre at 50 celebrations. 

“The performance of Michael Redgrave is so incredible for its spontaneity of thought and feeling, as if there is no performance to it at all. And it’s up against the Astrov of Olivier which is, you know, a great performance, but it is a performance. Up against it – it’s particularly shown up on the screen – that sense of a man who’s wandered into this life in Russia, rather than an actor who’s wandered onto stage. I’d love to have seen what that was like in the flesh.”