February 2018
Horrible Histories: Meeting Will
A lighthearted (and light touch) approach to introducing Shakespeare to students, as Will Shakespeare visits an English school to explain, amongst other things, his creative process (just don't call him cheat!)
Opera to the Rescue!
A relatively little-known fact — before the RSC was on the scene, and well before Shakespeare's reconstituted Globe, Shakespeare's plays were often put on in London's famed Royal Opera House. Let's hear it for collaboration across the arts!
Speak the Speech...
February/26/2018 08:09 Shakespeare | Interpretation | Hamlet | Language | Pedagogy | Performance | Shakespeare Resource | Educational Resource
The Royal Shakespeare provides many valuable educational resources. Here, Jacqui O'Hanlon, Director of the RSC's Education outreach group, provides some tips on how to memorize Shakespearean verse. Useful.Don't Judge The Accent. Judge the Acting
February/22/2018 09:41 Shakespeare | Shakespeare's Relevance | Macbeth | Performance | Stars Playing Shakespeare
A great interview with Christopher Eccleston, an English actor perhaps best known for being the ninth doctor in the storied Dr. Who series. The interview has two great talking points — the fact that accents matter very little in performance (take note those who say that only the English can perform "true Shakespeare"), and also, now that it has been announced that the 13th Doctor Who will be a woman (Jodie Whittaker), that a time is coming when women can — and should — take on the great (traditionally male) roles in Shakespeare's plays. A very humane and thoughtful discussion. Eccleston will play Macbeth in a new RSC production opening in March.
What's in a Production?
February/21/2018 08:21 Interpretation | Shakespeare | Romeo and Juliet | Infographic | Performance | Reviews | Shakespeare Resource | Educational Resource
Between 1961 and 2010, The RSC put on sixteen different productions of Romeo and Juliet (including a 1973 production directed by Terry Hands, with Timothy Dalton as Romeo.) (Do they call him Montague…Romeo Montague?) The interactive timeline provides a great teaching resource, allowing teachers to compare and contrast different approaches to the same classic play.
Upstart Crow
Fans of Rowan Atkinson's Blackadder series should know about Upstart Crow. With the same writer (Ben Elton) and yes, the same slightly lowbrow (but gentle) sensibility, Upstart Crow stars English comic actor David Mitchell. With two seasons under its belt, and a third on its way, it offers an enjoyable peep inside Shakespeare's life. Sort of!
An Embarrassment...
February/16/2018 13:59 Interpretation | Shakespeare | Shakespeare's Relevance | Macbeth | Performance | Reviews
A harsh (and to some extent amusing) editorial piece on a 1928 production of Macbeth. The chief complaint is that the performance is set in modern (that is, circa 1928) dress, and that this impedes the understanding and enjoyment of the play. Shakespeare has come a long way in the last 90 years…
The Two Noble Kinsman
Shakespeare contests abound, and we love to see them pop up here in the US and abroad. This one caught our eye because of the winning passage, which came not from Hamlet, Othello, Henry V — but from The Two Boble Kinsman, certainly one of Shakespeare's least well-known and performed plays. So bravo to Jenna Burns for not only using a passage from that play…but winning with it as well!
Age (In)appropriate?
February/13/2018 09:47 Shakespeare | Shakespeare's Relevance | Romeo and Juliet | Politics and Orwell | Language | In every day use
Always beneath the surface with Shakespeare's plays: how do 21st Century teachers handy the sometimes bawdy and violent imagery and language in Shakespeare? In Western Australia, principal Ted Kosicki feels that certain texts — including Romeo and Juliet — need to be reviewed, and possibly removed from the curriculum. A tricky subject, and also proof again of the value Shakespeare provides, by exciting discussion and thought.
Writing While Under the Influence...
February/12/2018 12:32 Shakespeare | Authorship | Contemporaries | Language | Scholarship | Textual Analysis
Shakespeare did not write in a vacuum, and scholars today confirm that he was heavily influenced by Holinshed's Chronicles, and Plutarch's Lives (properly titled Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans.)
Now, an amateur and deeply capable scholar — Dennis McCarthy — has, in collaboration with Professor June Schlueter, ferreted out what is likely to prove a powerful third influence on Shakespeare, the writing of one of Queen Elizabeth I's ambassadors to Sweden, George North. An obscure diplomat until now (his Wikipedia entry starts onFebruary 8, 2018 — 4 days ago!) he had an elegant turn of phrase that clearly caught Shakespeare's attention and imagination. The book that sparked Shakespeare's — and now our — interest, was A Brief Discourse of Rebellion & Rebels. Read the New York Times article here.
Sounds About Right!
February/09/2018 08:36 Shakespeare | Language | Original Productions | Performance | Scholarship | Shakespeare's Globe | Textual Analysis | Shakespeare Resource | Educational Resource
David and Ben Crystal provide a genuine service to Shakespeare lovers (and doubters too, really) by hypothesizing on what Shakespeare's language might have sounded like in its original pronunciation. In addition to being intrinsically interesting, it has an impact on performance, if actors and directors wish to provide an "original" production to their audience. Very worthwhile video clip.
'Twill Serve
February/08/2018 11:37
Just when I thought I'd seen Shakespeare used in every way imaginable — I saw something new. Here's an article by Wired on kits for repairing scratches on cars. And who did they choose to quote? Why, Mercutio, naturally, after he has been fatally stabbed by Tybalt in Act 3 Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet. Here's a link to the fantastic 1968 Zeffirelli movie.
From the Cutting Room Floor
February/07/2018 08:37 Shakespeare | Shakespeare Resource | Stars Playing Shakespeare | Educational Resource
A great film resource for Shakespeare films from the British Film Institute. Some free, some rentals, and some available to members only, but the list is comprehensive, and well worth a visit if you're looking for old takes on the evergreen Shakespeare canon.
Hail Caesar! (Part II)
February/06/2018 15:16 Julius Caesar | Shakespeare | Reviews | Interpretation | Shakespeare's Relevance | Performance
Another very favorable review by Rebecca Mead at The New Yorker of Nicholas Hytner's production in London of Julius Caesar, and an interesting discussion about staging — in particular the use of audience members as part of the crowd
Hail Caesar!
February/04/2018 19:31 Julius Caesar | Shakespeare | Reviews | Interpretation | Shakespeare's Relevance | Performance
Another production of Julius Caesar, reflecting our growing preoccupation with demagoguery and the virtues and perils of republics and democracies gone awry. Ben Whishaw, Michelle Fairley, David Calder, and David Morrisey all put in excellent performances, according to Guardian critic Michael Billington. The play is at the Bridge Theatre, an the set design has audience members be part of the mob.
Power to the People!
February/02/2018 09:50 Shakespeare | Interpretation | Shakespeare's Relevance | Performance | Macbeth
An interesting approach to making a film of Macbeth, using both professionals, and local amateurs in the overall production process. The trailer for the actual movie (not yet out) looks intriguing, and the production's sentiment genuinely admirable. Nicely done, Screen Northants.
New Digitized Facsimile of 1623 First Folio Published by Bodmer Lab
February/01/2018 10:15 Shakespeare | Contemporaries | First Folio | Scholarship | Shakespeare Resource | Educational Resource
Geneva's Bodmer Lab has made available to the public a full high resolution digital copy of a 1623 First Folio. Pictured above is a part of the dedication of the volume by Heminges and Condell to their patrons, William, Earl of Pembroke, and his brother Philip, Earl of Montgomery. A tremendous asset to scholars, teachers, and students, but note, the text of the web site is in French.