Shakespeare

[Arch]

saw a version of merchant of venice set in A boardroom - it worked brilliantly

I think they can work really well. After all, the human race hasn't changed that much in a few hundred years. All the same emotions are there. The average episode of Eastenders contains all the same jealousies, passions, anger etc...

Not to mention the films and plays that have borrowed Shakespeare's plots for a modern story - West Side Story, Return to the Forbidden Planet etc.

 

[Yellow Fang]

I have seen a few films of Shakespeare over the years:

• Much ado about nothing (Branagh) - quite good. The British actors were better than the Americans, especially Richard Briars.
• Hamlet (Mel Gibson) - ok.
• Richard III (Ian McKellen) - risible and implausible but with a decent song and some good acting by Maggie Smith.
• Titus (Anthony Hopkins) - interesting video nasty.

I studied Macbeth at O level and can't say I actually liked it. Twenty years later I saw it with a works outing with Sean Bean as the chap himself - still didn't like it.

I've seen a few Shakespeare in the park type plays, usually comedies. They are pleasant enough when the weather's fine.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

I studied Macbeth at O level and can't say I actually liked it. Twenty years later I saw it with a works outing with Sean Bean as the chap himself - still didn't like it.

I took Mrs 3BM to see the Beanster as Macbeth, she's a bit of a fan, he were quite good by eck.

Quite like the Baz whatsisface version of Romeo and Juliet, think that works quite well, wouldn't mind seeing the Kurasawa Shakespeare films.

 

[Fnaar]

Not to mention the films and plays that have borrowed Shakespeare's plots for a modern story - West Side Story, Return to the Forbidden Planet etc.

That's fair enough, but my head won't handle someone standing at a photocopier and saying "Forsooth, my loins do thirst for thy very being, fair maid"*

*(Not a real Shaky quote, obv, but you get the ide)

 

[laurence]

i think a lot of people are put off as it's studied at school where you HAVE to read analyse it instead of enjoying it (well, that was my experience).

i've seen one play performed live and it was great, but it was a story like any good story and, as previously stated, it will depend on the actors and directors.

personally, i feel it's over-rated, but you have to look at the context of the works and the impact must have been huge at the time - bear in mind theatre was for the poor people. it must have been a great source of education for many which is shown in the way his works are perceived as historical - we view Richard III as Bill wrote him, despite it being wrong.

 

[Beebo]

i think a lot of people are put off as it's studied at school where you HAVE to read analyse it instead of enjoying it (well, that was my experience).

This is only going to get worse as Michael Goves new curriculum for English will strengthen the importance of Shakespeare, with pupils between the ages of 11 and 14 expected to have studied two of his plays.

 

[laurence]

This is only going to get worse as Michael Goves new curriculum for English will strengthen the importance of Shakespeare, with pupils between the ages of 11 and 14 expected to have studied two of his plays.

yes, studied, not 'experienced'. so disecting them, not fully understanding. i doubt many schools will have a chance to see the plays performed.

 

[guitarpete247]

I've seen The Forbidden Planet & Return to The Forbidden Planet but haven't seen The Tempest yet. I've enjoyed nearly every production I've seen.
When the been did his plays a few years ago John Cleese was in The Taming of The Shrew. Fantastic production.

 

[Ciar]

Always enjoyed Shakespeare, never did him in school wasn't in the bright class at Wanstead High my interest picked up after watching the likes of Henry V & much ado about nothing, as for shows been taken once to the globe brilliant, once in regents park in the summer for richard III amazing & before my daughter was born me & the better half went to stratford for a weekend and saw taming of the shrew, again brilliant as we were sat right next to the runway onto the stage right up close and personal.

 

[EltonFrog]

One cant really appreciate the works of Billy Wagglestick until you seen them performed in the original Klingon.

 

[Piemaster]

Henry IV for me at school. The teacher had recorded a radio play of it, so there was listen to it for a bit, then stop and do the analysis, which was maybe a bit more engaging.
I tend to like the modern interpretations, a good plot when it was written then is still a good plot now, as Arch says, humans haven't changed that much. I reckon we shouldn't be too precious about it and just be able to enjoy the works as the entertainment they were written as.

 

[Crackle]

West Side Story is my favourite Romeo and Juliet but it's by no means the only one.

 

[smutchin]

It was D.J.Ratcliffe, one of my A level English teachers, who helped me click with Shakespeare. Irascible fellow, his temper not helped by gout and high blood pressure (both perhaps a result of his fondness for ale). But Shakespeare was his passion and he brought it alive for us. Antony & Cleopatra was one of our set texts. He'd already been teaching it to 'orrible boys for 20 years by the time we came along, but his enthusiasm for the play was undiminished and infectious. Another 20 years later, it's still my favourite play too.

Age cannot wither the bard, nor custom stale his infinite variety.

 

[Boris Bajic]

Too full of quotes for me, really...

It usually works well in a theatre, but you need to wear a different head from the one you wear to Arthur Miller or Noel Coward dramas. There are some I love and some that just don't click for me. I'm like that with Asterix and Tintin books, too.

I'm old enough to have been to lots of Shakespeare, from outdoor productions at Polesden Lacey when just a tot, through many and various and often the same one several times. Probably never more than one a year, which might be the right dosage.

I've seen Anthony Hopkins, Warren Mitchell and others do King Lear at various venues and still find the play powerful and heartbreaking - even though it is the Shakespeare equivalent of Tchaikovsky's 1812.

At school we read Shakespeare, analysed it and disected it and I gained almost nothing but sleep from the experience. School in my day had a fascination with the written, rather than spoken, word. We did Henry IV (the sequel), which I haven't seen or looked at since.

It is meant, I think, as a diversion and an entertainment. There are lots of others around for people who don't like Shakespeare. I know too many people who struggle on because they feel they ought to like it. Shakespeare's not like sex after an expensive date... you don't have to do it.

Carry on.

 

[Maz]

Which one do you mean?

"Is that a dagger I see before me?"
- No it's a fishing rod.