GReactor actors have always fascinated artists. I suppose edmund keene He looks wild and devilish, like George Clint's Sir Giles Overreach. Ellen Terry as Lady Macbeth in a green gown saved by John Singer Sargent; and Ruskin Spear's research on oil. Laurence Olivier As Macbeth, who suffers and suffers from guilt. For over a century, it has also been possible to record the voices of leading actors. But what happens when images and sounds are combined?

One answer can be found at an innovative new exhibition. Shakespeare portrait On display at red eight gallerynext to the Royal Exchange on Cornhill in the City of London. The show consists of 10 digital portraits of live actors accompanied by speeches from Shakespeare's plays. It is easiest to explain with an example. As I sat under a large framed statue of Ian McKellen and chatted with the exhibition's creative director, I said: Arsalan Sattari-HicksI noticed that Sir Ian's head was moving from time to time, that his gaze was changing slightly, and that his features expressed different emotions. At one point, I even heard him recite part of “All the world's a stage” from As You Like It with his unique virtuosity. Richard Brierley, the gallery's director, told me: “Usually the portrait is passive and you are active. In this case, the portrait is active and you are passive.”

I would like to qualify this by saying that the changes in the sitter's movements are often so subtle, almost imperceptible, that the viewer can activate the speech by pressing a button. But the overall effect was amazing and I was intrigued by how it was done. I'm told that Sattari-Hicks and a small crew record the sitters in a studio using state-of-the-art cameras, then adjust the images through hours of post-production. The audio text was selected by the actors in collaboration with Shakespeare director Ron Daniels, who curated the final version. Considering the extensive experience of the actors, the process usually takes 1 hour and 20 minutes.

I was struck by the intimacy of the experience. The faces of the actors are shown in close-up, as if they suddenly appeared on the gallery wall. And the text is spoken in a way that further enhances the pervasive calm. Patrick Stewart quotes Henry V's St. Crispin's Day speech and strips away the rhetoric to show a man talking to other men on the eve of battle. He suggests that Crispin's holiday “will be remembered from this day until the end of the war.” Olivier famously let his lines soar skyward in his films, and he did so with understated conviction.

The big question is, what happens next? The ten portraits on display are unique collectibles that will be sold to individuals or organizations. But they're the work of StageBlock, a company co-founded by Sattari-Hicks and Francesco Pierangeli that has ambitious plans for the future. They are already planning to record the second volume of A Portrait of Shakespeare in the new year. They also dream of extending the idea of ​​living portraits to other authors and other cultures, and funneling 10% of the funds raised from introductions and exhibitions into the performing arts.

Given the impressive roster of names at the first exhibition, which also includes David Suchet, Juliet Stevenson, Adrian Lester, Simon Callow, Charles Dance and Frances Barber, there's a good chance the profits will continue. there is. This is a bold and visionary new idea in the digital age, but we hope it doesn't inhibit the talent of individual portraitists. For example, I value the concept of Salvador Dali's paintings. Olivier as Richard III On the walls of the gallery are displayed captivating images of McKellen gazing attentively and seductively.