Shakespeare

[SimonNZ]

^ That's largely my feeling also, provided it was being done for some other reason than simply "shaking things up". If, say, there was a theatre group with a larger number of strong women actors than men in their troupe. Or if one strong actor had a convincing idea about how it might work without it being seen as a novelty or a distraction.

I quite liked the idea of Helen Mirren as Prospera. That film and the portrayal had its faults, but they were more the director's than Mirren's.

More interesting, though, if it must be in the casting, to have the actress convincingly play the male character as male.

[lisa needs braces]

Not sure if I posted this earlier in the thread...but I've been listening to a recording of "Hamlet" (that appears to cut little) done by the BBC. Kenneth Branagh is the lead and it includes other familiar voices (who also appear in Branagh's Hamlet film.) I like its production values -- sound effects, moody music between the acts, well known and highly trained actors, etc. Looking for recommendations of similar productions.



Two of my favorite bits from this production. 

Hamlet's first soliloquy (Act 1 scene 2):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfDCcJSW7yQ#t=20m23s

And the "now I am alone..." soliloquy from act 2 that concludes the scene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfDCcJSW7yQ#t=1h24m40s


I love the raw emotion and passion with which Branagh performs these passages.

[(poco) Sforzando]

To be fair, Polonius is a character which can be switched to female without any real loss to the story.  Ophelia would have a garrulous interfering mother instead of a garrulous interfering father.

Horatio could likewise be changed to Horatia.  Even Laertes could be changed.

OTOH, Ophelia could not be switched to a male without making nonsense of the story...even more so Hamlet, Claudius and Gertrude.

In honesty, the gender change made no sense at all when I saw it, as it violated the patriarchal hierarchy that would be taken for granted at the time. But even more oddly, the Hamlet was also played by a female who was attired as a male and could be taken for one were it not for her voice. So if nothing else, the "gender-blind" casting was inconsistent. Fortunately however, this was a version cut to 70 minutes for playing in secondary schools. I ordinarily don't like my Shakespeare to be hacked to bits, but with acting as dull as this, the slashed text was a blessing in disguise.

The same local college also did an As You Like It that was certainly not as I liked it. It would probably be unjust to say much more about a student production; still, the direction was incompetent and the acting not much better. It did feature a very good set that was in fact designed by a student. As You Like It was also recently broadcast by National Theatre Live from London. I'm not in the mood to get into much detail right now, but despite an odd set and lighting, it featured an attractive, charming Orlando in Joe Bannister, and a Rosalind by Rosalie Craig who was nearly perfect in the part - getting the character's liveliness, and her sometimes lively cruelty, just right.

[Brian]

Most frequently-assigned Shakespeare plays, by course subject

Interesting to note how many biology and economics courses, among others, are assigning so much Shakespeare. An interesting read.

[(poco) Sforzando]

This day 400 years ago, William Shakespeare died at age 52.

What have you done?

[Florestan]

This day 400 years ago, William Shakespeare died at age 52.

What have you done?

Drank some wine.

[(poco) Sforzando]

Drank some wine.

Well, that's something.

[Brian]

"Sex With Shakespeare is a memoir of Jillian Keenan coming to terms with her spanking fetish, often explored and dissected through the language of Shakespeare." - AV Club review

[asin]0062378716[/asin]

[Drasko]

http://www.almeida.co.uk/whats-on/richard-iii-in-cinemas/21-jul-2016-21-jun-2016#open-calendar

http://live.almeida.co.uk/

[SimonNZ]

No sign of it out my way yet (we get these a bit later), but I'll keep an eye out - thanks for the heads-up.

Still kicking myself for not realizing there was a Globe broadcast of Measure For Measure, one of my favorite plays, that I missed because it was so poorly advertised. Has anyone seen it?



Next one coming is a Globe Merchant of Venice with Jonathan Pryce at the start of July



followed by a RSC Hamlet starring Paapa Essiedu at the end of July.



followed by a Branagh Theatre Company Romeo and Juliet late August




...though these will almost certainly, and frustratingly, be shown only during my work hours

[SimonNZ]

While looking into the above I see for the first time that there's also a new film of Cymbeline - done Sons Of Anarchy style:



edit: I see its actually released on dvd here under the the title Anarchy (lol). Added to queue.

[(poco) Sforzando]

No sign of it out my way yet (we get these a bit later), but I'll keep an eye out - thanks for the heads-up.

Still kicking myself for not realizing there was a Globe broadcast of Measure For Measure, one of my favorite plays, that I missed because it was so poorly advertised. Has anyone seen it?

Next one coming is a Globe Merchant of Venice with Jonathan Pryce at the start of July
followed by a RSC Hamlet starring Paapa Essiedu at the end of July.
followed by a Branagh Theatre Company Romeo and Juliet late August
...though these will almost certainly, and frustratingly, be shown only during my work hours

Funny you should bring these up. I don't know when we're getting most of them in NY, except that Merchant will be played here live in July (and I had better order tickets soon). As for DVDs, I have been told by the Globe Shop that Measure for Measure, Richard II, The Merchant of Venice and King John will all be put on DVD soon, as well as the quite excellent Duchess of Malfi they did not so long ago. As one of my local movie houses gets most of these, I expect I'll be catching them there (where I also saw Branagh's quite decent Winter's Tale).

But the real Globe news is that they've just packaged about 20 of the plays as a set for about $100. Even though I had a number of them already, it was still cost-effective to get the compilation. Basically everything they've issued so far is included except the Othello, which they tell me was distributed by another manufacturer.

[SimonNZ]

Watched the film of Cymbeline earlier today. And it turned out to be considerably better than I was expecting. Heavily cut - now taking the prize from the Taylor/Burton Taming Of The Shrew as the most cut Shakespeare film I've seen - but done in such a way to give the essence and make near-clarity of a very complex story, though they still require a full fifteen minutes at the end for all the but-wait-there's-more revelations to wrap everything up. Everyone speaks clearly and intelligibly, even if they are cherry-picking two or four line excerpts as they hopscotch through the text. Also a lot less motorcycle-club imagery than I was expecting, despite all the Sons Of Anarchy allusions in the advertising. The only real minus was that the gender-bending of Imogen to Fidele wasn't set up well and was handled clumsily (and wouldn't have fooled anyone - though that's true of most films).

A cautious recommendation, then. Don't expect too much and though not knocked out you may well be pleasantly surprised.

[Brian]

"Ted Cruz has reminded many of us of Marc Antony trying to thread the needle at Julius Caesar's funeral," said Bill Rauch, the artistic director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, who compared Antony's artful twisting of the words "honorable man" to Cruz's memorable use of the phrase "vote your conscience."

"The repeating refrain 'but he is an honorable man' so devastatingly communicates the exact opposite of the words' surface meaning," Mr. Rauch said. "'Vote with your conscience,' indeed."

Numerous other theater artists recognized the same parallels. "It's Marc Antony, isn't it?" said the playwright Theresa Rebeck ("Seminar"). Of course, like others, she qualified the comparison. "I'm reluctant to compare Ted Cruz to Shakespeare; he doesn't have the vision of a Marc Antony, to my mind. Cruz is cunning, but his grab for power seems so personal."

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/22/theater/ted-cruz-speech-rnc-shakespeare.html

[Jaakko Keskinen]

I recently learned that Debussy's favorite play from Shakespeare was As You Like It, so much that he even briefly considered composing an opera about it. I have never read the play so can anyone tell me his/her opinions about this work? Is it among his finer plays?

[(poco) Sforzando]

I recently learned that Debussy's favorite play from Shakespeare was As You Like It, so much that he even briefly considered composing an opera about it. I have never read the play so can anyone tell me his/her opinions about this work? Is it among his finer plays?

It most certainly is, in my opinion, and I'd place it among the Top Five comedies (along with Much Ado, the Dream, the Merchant, and 12th Night). It's a somewhat literary play at times, making much of the pastoral convention of contrasts between city and country, and some of its language is more obscure than usual even for Shakespeare. But it also has one of Shakespeare's most dynamic and compelling heroines in Rosalind, a thoroughly independent, spirited, and even feisty young woman who finds her man (the handsome if not-too-bright Orlando) and goes after him with single-minded devotion. I have no idea what Debussy would have done with it, but I suspect it wouldn't have emerged as particularly Shakespearean.

[SimonNZ]

Did anyone see the Almeida Theatre broadcast of Richard III with Ralph Feinnes in July - the one Drasco linked to upthread? We're getting it this coming Sunday, and as I'm on holiday for the next week it'll be one of the rare occasions when I can actually go.



Vanessa Redgrave as Margaret!

edit: I see there's also a RSC Cymbeline coming to parts of the world in a week's time, which we'll be getting next month:

[NikF]

edit: I see there's also a RSC Cymbeline coming to parts of the world in a week's time, which we'll be getting next month:

Are you going to go see it, Simon?  I have cinema tickets for it next week.
It's a play I know nothing about. Would anyone (poco?) like to offer any insight into it or point out anything I should be aware of?

[SimonNZ]

Are you going to go see it, Simon?  I have cinema tickets for it next week.
It's a play I know nothing about. Would anyone (poco?) like to offer any insight into it or point out anything I should be aware of?

I do hope to see it when we get it four weeks from now, but its on a day I'm working and its usually hard to find someone to cover. I'll be very interested to hear what you think of it. Its not a play I know well enough to have developed strong feelings about how I like the staging or characters to be done, or to yet have favorite scenes, so I'm afraid I can't advise there. Poco doubtless knows it far better.

Saw the Feinnes Richard III yesterday, and on the whole thought it was very good, and a particularly strong cast. Feinnes wasn't a very subtle Richard, his swaying arguments were far more openly threatening than manipulatively seductive, but not so far that it was a deal-breaker. The male cast, the Clarence, the Hastings and especially the Buckingham spoke brilliantly and each presented quite distinct yet perfectly realized characterizations. The two young boys were even much better than average. The Lady Ann was maybe a bit shouty and one-paced, Vanessa Redgrave was an interesting take on Margaret, quiet and almost half-mad and clutching a toy baby (which was actually a bit distracting and should have been left out) rather than as the more familiar curse-thundering voice of doom. In addition I also especially liked the way the visitation of the ghosts was done near the end (am I mad, or is that often left out for some reason? looking back I can't remember that from a number of other productions or films?)

The stage itself was particularly interesting: the performance is bookended by modern-day exhuming of his skeleton from a dirt pit sunk into the stage, the play then takes place over a glass covering of this dig which is occasionally rolled back when someone needs to be executed into their own grave, including Richard himself at the end. Very minimal sets besides, just a few tables and lighting effects. Modern costume, but in a vaguely timeless and unobtrusive way (okay, the cell phones were a mistake).

In the chat with the director at the beginning he indicates that for him the Brexit situation makes the play particularly relevant. I'm not a native, but from where I'm sitting it seems that beyond "cynical people make a mess of things and cause division and chaos" there no obvious parallel, but I'm willing to be set straight about that.

[NikF]

I do hope to see it when we get it four weeks from now, but its on a day I'm working and its usually hard to find someone to cover. I'll be very interested to hear what you think of it. Its not a play I know well enough to have developed strong feelings about how I like the staging or characters to be done, or to yet have favorite scenes, so I'm afraid I can't advise there. Poco doubtless knows it far better.

Saw the Feinnes Richard III yesterday, and on the whole thought it was very good, and a particularly strong cast. Feinnes wasn't a very subtle Richard, his swaying arguments were far more openly threatening than manipulatively seductive, but not so far that it was a deal-breaker. The male cast, the Clarence, the Hastings and especially the Buckingham spoke brilliantly and each presented quite distinct yet perfectly realized characterizations. The two young boys were even much better than average. The Lady Ann was maybe a bit shouty and one-paced, Vanessa Redgrave was an interesting take on Margaret, quiet and almost half-mad and clutching a toy baby (which was actually a bit distracting and should have been left out) rather than as the more familiar curse-thundering voice of doom. In addition I also especially liked the way the visitation of the ghosts was done near the end (am I mad, or is that often left out for some reason? looking back I can't remember that from a number of other productions or films?)

The stage itself was particularly interesting: the performance is bookended by modern-day exhuming of his skeleton from a dirt pit sunk into the stage, the play then takes place over a glass covering of this dig which is occasionally rolled back when someone needs to be executed into their own grave, including Richard himself at the end. Very minimal sets besides, just a few tables and lighting effects. Modern costume, but in a vaguely timeless and unobtrusive way (okay, the cell phones were a mistake).

In the chat with the director at the beginning he indicates that for him the Brexit situation makes the play particularly relevant. I'm not a native, but from where I'm sitting it seems that beyond "cynical people make a mess of things and cause division and chaos" there no obvious parallel, but I'm willing to be set straight about that.

I think one of the local cinemas was showing the stream of that Richard III. I can't remember now why I didn't go to see it, but from your description it doesn't seem to have been a great loss. Thanks for the detailed review though.
I hope you can arrange to see Cymbeline. As I said, I know nothing about it. I bought a copy of the play to read during a recent train journey, but I'm still wanting to try and equip myself as much as I can beforehand so I can hopefully appreciate what I'm going to see as much as possible.

e: just remembered that I've tickets for another of the live streams, this time 'The Tempest', featuring Simon Russell Beale. It's not until the first(?) week in January of next year though. You might already be aware of it, but if not (and if it suits your taste/schedule) it could be one to look out for.