Larry McMurty's novel Terms of Endearment explores the tempestuous relationship between an imperious mother and her daughter. He chose as an epigraph a couplet from Shakespeare's Sonnet III: Thou art thy mother's glass and she in thee Calls back the lovely April of her prime Here's a tour de force performance. Impressionist Jim Meskimen does Clarence's speech from Richard III, but in a couple of dozen celebrity voices. Simply amazing. He also does Marc Antony's speech in several voices as well: Impressionist Jim Meskimen Does Shakespeare in Celebrity Voices Part 2
Well said, and a good analysis of the Scottish play. It is frightening how far Lady Macbeth is willing to go -- "unsex me here" -- to advance her husband's position. She will even murder children. She knows no limits. For me it must have been Shakespeare In the Park -- Central Park NYC -- in the 1960s when I was a child. I would fall asleep. I heard and saw the plays performed and understood nothing except that it was important grown-up stuff. When Zefferelli's Romeo & Juliet came out in 1968 I was ready. I listened to the album at the public library, but I was not old enough to see it in the theater. I bought the album and fell in love with the language, the music and the voice of Olivia Hussy. When I finally did see the film, it surpassed my expectations. I still revel in it. Soon after I saw the play performed at Hofstra University. It really stunk. But I became a regular at Shakespeare in the Park and Shakespeare at the Jones Beach Outdoor Ampitheater produced by Papp. At about the same time I saw Julius Caeser with Charlton Heston as Antony on the big screen. Then came Hamlet with Richard Chamberlain on TV. I saw the latter again recently, and could not believe how awful it was. Chamberlain throws a hissy fit for 90 minutes; his performance is unintentional parody. But my mind had met Shakespeare and my life has been the better for it.
Indeed, I'd say anyone who's been enamored with the language of Shakespeare since childhood has seen their share of hideous Hamlets. Nice post.
I remember seeing Chamberlain on the Tonight Show, it must have been the late '70s. He brought this production up and IIRC said something like, "The critics didn't love me and they didn't hate me. But they treated me seriously, which is all I asked." I recall reading that he was the first American to play Hamlet in England since Barrymore.
Chamberlain looks like he can pull it off, but he's the worst Hamlet on record: Remember that Neil Simon comedy The Goodbye Girl in which Richard Dreyfuss plays a struggling New York actor who is called upon to play an effeminate Hamlet? Chamberlain is worse.
The Rest Is Silence (1959) - IMDb An interpretation of Hamlet finds the heir to Claudius Steel Works struggling with his mother's marriage to his uncle in a sterile industrial post-WW2 West Germany.
Since we're on Hamlet it's a fine time to revisit this conversation between actors Ernest Milton, Peter O'Toole (who, at the time, was playing Hamlet at the National Theater) snd Orson Welles -
wow, that London production of Midsummer was really different. More than a little over the top at times. But still very well acted and hilarious at times
A Midsummer Night's Dream (ITV, 1965). With Benny Hill (Bottom), Alfie Bass, Peter Wyngarde, Anna Massey, Jill Bennett, John Fraser.
I'm listening to a podcast of lectures from Oxford dissecting the plays by examining one perspective from each play. The podcast is Approaching Shakespeare. The lecturer is wonderful to listen to and the ideas are interesting. As an example, the lecture on Othello, without taking a position, examines the perspective and question of whether Othello was supposed to be a dark skinned Moor. This is not revisionist in view; the lecturer is turning the play inside and all around to examine what was meant in 16th century playwriting.
Interesting point. Brian A. Catlos, in his book, Kingdoms of Faith, points out how, for Elizabethans, the use of the term Moorish or Moor had far more to do with their perception of dark hued people than any real knowledge or awareness of the history of the Muslims who settled in Spain and we're subsequently expelled by the forces behind Isabella I. I certainly have never seen a light skinned African, African American or Brit of African descent cast as Othello. The first actor of African descent (on record) to travel the world with his production of the play, Ira Aldridge, was apparently of a darker hue. The new Globe Theater's series of filmed Shakespeare seems to me to be a mixed bag. Admittedly, I've only watched about a half dozen but I'm watching this 2008 production for the first time tonight (while it's up) on The Tube.
Great observations and I wouldn't dare wade into this discussion intelligently . I am an observer and I appreciate what you show here - it's not lost on me. I may have mischaracterized what the lecturer (whose name I can't find right now) is attempting. She puts forward to her class at the beginning that she isn't showing an answer in Shakespeare's play, instead she posits that the plays offer more questions than answers. I found it interesting to consider a different view than one I have been given since I've known the play.
One of the most accessible books on Shakespeare is Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare. It's out of print, and I see the prices range from $12 to $230. I wish I had had a copy when I was a student.
Well, that's as it should be, no? Sounds like a stimulating event. And refreshing. Much as he's derided as an apologist for monarchy, Shakespeare presents the zeitgeist of Elizabethan England but remains remarkably neutral in regard to any personal stand or sociological solution. The latter isn't the domain of a playwright, imo, anyway. Cheers.
I've passed it countless times on my local library shelf. And I always think, Asimov? Sci-fi don? Next time (whenever the they reopen!) I'll make a point of checking it out. Thanks.
The Wooster Group’s HAMLET reimagines Shakespeare’s classic tragedy by channeling the ghost of Richard Burton’s legendary 1964 performance. Using a “theatrofilm” made of that production, the Group attempts to reconstruct a hypothetical theater piece from the fragmentary evidence of the film. the film
