Un souvenir de Nicholas Hytner

At the National, Mike played Falstaff in the two parts of Shakepeare’s Henry IV. I allowed too little time to rehearse a gargantuan part and it took him a while to master all of it. And there were speeches that he never saw the point of, so he made them up (which was an entirely Falstaffian strategy).

Previews were hairy. “Valour is the better part of discretion,” he announced one night. Pause. “No, that’s not right.” He appealed to the audience. “What should it be?” Howls of delight. “Discretion is the better part of valour? That’ll do.”

Once he got the whole thing under his belt, there was nothing he couldn’t do, and he’d often do it for a dare with the Earl of Westmoreland (Elliot Levey, who adored him, as did everyone else). One night he spent three minutes slowly eating a full English breakfast I’d dangerously suggested he might pick at queasily while he spoke to show how hungover Falstaff was (I’ve had better ideas). Three minutes of total silence, the audience riveted, while Matthew Macfadyen as Hal looked on helplessly. Then: “Now Hal, what time of day is it?” Thunderous applause, not least at the total mastery of an actor who could hold them for as long as he wanted without saying a word.