The Ages of Man

Ages of Man is a one-man play performed by John Gielgud of a collection of speeches from Shakespeare's plays. The speeches show the journey of life from birth to death. Gielgud gave the first experimental performance of Ages of Man in a house in St. James Square in London. It premiered at the Freemason's Hall at the 1957 Edinburgh Festival to a sold-out house and an overwhelming success. He then went on to perform the recital for the next ten years all over the world, winning Gielgud a special Tony Award for "for contribution to theatre for his extraordinary insight into the writings of Shakespeare".