Shakespeare live BBC4 Now!

maltingsaudio · October 2023

Beguiling, so many questions and thoughts going through my head watching it. In school it was dry and disinteresting this put a whole new swing on it/him

Kilgore · October 2023

TBH I thought he'd died years ago.

maltingsaudio · October 2023

Ok it was seven years ago! Watching the repeat but comments still stand.
This is stand out
https://youtu.be/kEs8rK5Cqt8?si=3UphQ8IvZMlghdpd

theatreanchor · October 2023

If you like that, you should watch Playing Shakespeare. It’s all on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/D2VnxiW3oqk

BluesLover · October 2023

Disinteresting
Uninteresting

maltingsaudio · October 2023

BluesLover said:

Disinteresting
Uninteresting

I wasn’t uninterested in Shakespeare at school, I was disinterested by the way they taught it

Sassafras · October 2023

Always makes me laugh on Desert Island Discs when they cast you away with the bible and the complete works of Shakespeare.
Are they hoping you'll die of boredom on the island?

theatreanchor · October 2023

Sassafras said:

Always makes me laugh on Desert Island Discs when they cast you away with the bible and the complete works of Shakespeare.
Are they hoping you'll die of boredom on the island?

Starvation or thirst would probably kill you first.

EricTheWeary · October 2023

Not something I was ever hugely interested in but Bill Bryson's book explains a lot and seeing a performance in Stratford is an amazing event.
Knowing a little bit about Shakespeare is interesting in terms of realising that a lot of what people say about him/his work is guesswork and assumptions. Although from that clip that's roughly the gist of that programme on BBC4 as well?

maltingsaudio · October 2023

EricTheWeary said:

Knowing a little bit about Shakespeare is interesting in terms of realising that a lot of what people say about him/his work is guesswork and assumptions. Although from that clip that's roughly the gist of that programme on BBC4 as well?

The programme is really Shakespeare’s greatest hits, with some interesting twists and interpretations. Dub sonnets, Ballet,Alson Moyet singing verses , Etc and Tennant and Tate doing the links

Offset · October 2023

maltingsaudio said:

Beguiling, so many questions and thoughts going through my head watching it. In school it was dry and disinteresting this put a whole new swing on it/him

Thanks - wasn't aware of this. I love Shakespeare (and did at school). I'll check it out on catchup.

EricTheWeary · October 2023

Ahh, sounds interesting. Although, to me, Shakespeare is like jazz or folk music - when I’m in the room giving it my full attention I find it interesting but at home I’d probably listen to Madness or The Tygers of Pan Tang or something instead.

p90fool · October 2023

maltingsaudio said:

BluesLover said:

Disinteresting
Uninteresting

I wasn’t uninterested in Shakespeare at school, I was disinterested by the way they taught it

Yeah that still doesn't mean what you think it does.

Philly_Q · October 2023

I've seen a few Shakespeare plays live - well, you know, not the original lineups, I guess they're sort of tribute acts...

One at Stratford (on the day of the 1979 general election), one at the Globe, a couple outside in Regent's Park.

All very entertaining (apart from a Romeo who insisted on pronouncing "banished" as "banish-ed"). Good actors have a way of conveying the humour to modern audiences even if you don't understand the lines.

I couldn't sit and just read Shakespeare, although I quite enjoyed it even in school when we used to half-act it by reading it out loud. And it had the explanatory notes on the left-hand page.

theatreanchor · October 2023

Philly_Q said:

I've seen a few Shakespeare plays live - well, you know, not the original lineups, I guess they're sort of tribute acts...

One at Stratford (on the day of the 1979 general election), one at the Globe, a couple outside in Regent's Park.

All very entertaining (apart from a Romeo who insisted on pronouncing "banished" as "banish-ed"). Good actors have a way of conveying the humour to modern audiences even if you don't understand the lines.

I couldn't sit and just read Shakespeare, although I quite enjoyed it even in school when we used to half-act it by reading it out loud. And it had the explanatory notes on the left-hand page.

Banishèd would be correct if if fulfils the criteria for the iambic pentameter (ten syllables) to be complete.

Philly_Q · October 2023

theatreanchor said:
Banishèd would be correct if if fulfils the criteria for the iambic pentameter (ten syllables) to be complete.

I'm sure it was correct, but it sounded bloody stupid the way he emphasised it. He wasn't a good actor.

theatreanchor · October 2023

Philly_Q said:

theatreanchor said:
Banishèd would be correct if if fulfils the criteria for the iambic pentameter (ten syllables) to be complete.

I'm sure it was correct, but it sounded bloody stupid the way he emphasised it. He wasn't a good actor.

Aha.

p90fool · October 2023

I thought that good acting would be a given at the RSC in Stratford and it would lift it off the page for me, but having sat through half an hour of Donald Sinden in boot polish as Othello I've never set foot in there since.
God only knows how the rest of the audience stuck it until the end.

Philly_Q · October 2023

The play I saw at Stratford was The Merry Wives of Windsor, not one I'm very familiar with and I don't know if there was anyone famous in the cast - probably not, because I have a good memory for names and faces and if the actors were well-known then, I'd remember now. I do remember there was a clever, minimal stage set with lots of moveable wooden partitions. And it was really funny.

p90fool said:

I thought that good acting would be a given at the RSC in Stratford and it would lift it off the page for me, but having sat through half an hour of Donald Sinden in boot polish as Othello I've never set foot in there since.

Donald Sinden was the living embodiment of a certain type of "Ac-Tor", but I'm not convinced he was ever very good at it. Loved Never the Twain, though. "Smallbridge!!"

theatreanchor · October 2023

p90fool said:

I thought that good acting would be a given at the RSC in Stratford and it would lift it off the page for me, but having sat through half an hour of Donald Sinden in boot polish as Othello I've never set foot in there since.
God only knows how the rest of the audience stuck it until the end.

Yeah, that doesn't sound good. I saw a production there this year and had to leave at the interval - sometimes it can be an interminable interpretation.

EricTheWeary · October 2023

I’ve seen several of the plays in Stratford, all amazingly staged and acted. Whenever I would discuss this with my mother she would relate the story of taking my paternal grandmother there who after half an hour made excuses to go to the toilet and never came back in.

It seems unlikely but I feel I need to ask: @p90fool are you my Nan?

p90fool · October 2023

Yes!

Offset · October 2023

p90fool said:

I thought that good acting would be a given at the RSC in Stratford and it would lift it off the page for me, but having sat through half an hour of Donald Sinden in boot polish as Othello I've never set foot in there since.
God only knows how the rest of the audience stuck it until the end.

Did it also star Windsor Davies as Iago? :-)

theatreanchor · October 2023

Image: https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/01/24/17/8728208-6609977-1976_Davies_played_Sergeant_Major_Williams_in_the_popular_comedy-a-11_1548349966826.jpg

The wine she drinks is made of grapes: if she had been blessed, she would never have loved the Moor. Lovely Boy!

boogieman · October 2023

I’ve seen a few productions. The best was Derek Jacobi as Hamlet at the Old Vic. It was also the funniest, for all the wrong reasons. If you know the play you’ll know the stage is full of dead bodies at the end. Jacobi had just dropped to the floor and there was a hushed silence……then an ambulance went by outside. Neee Naw Neee Naw.
You could see DJ absolutely quivering with laughter.

theatreanchor · October 2023

boogieman said:

I’ve seen a few productions. The best was Derek Jacobi as Hamlet at the Old Vic. It was also the funniest, for all the wrong reasons. If you know the play you’ll know the stage is full of dead bodies at the end. Jacobi had just dropped to the floor and there was a hushed silence……then an ambulance went by outside. Neee Naw Neee Naw.
You could see DJ absolutely quivering with laughter.

He played that role hundreds of times. One of the best Hamlets no doubt.

Grumpyrocker · October 2023

I saw Henry IV Part 1 in Stratford in the 90s and it was magnificent. The humour and drama both came across beautifully. And the setting was perfect.

Had a couple of notable cast members too - Julian Glover played the kind, and Owen Teale played Hotspur.

theatreanchor · October 2023

Grumpyrocker said:

I saw Henry IV Part 1 in Stratford in the 90s and it was magnificent. The humour and drama both came across beautifully. And the setting was perfect.

Had a couple of notable cast members too - Julian Glover played the kind, and Owen Teale played Hotspur.

Owen is amazing.

Philly_Q · October 2023

theatreanchor said:

Grumpyrocker said:

I saw Henry IV Part 1 in Stratford in the 90s and it was magnificent. The humour and drama both came across beautifully. And the setting was perfect.

Had a couple of notable cast members too - Julian Glover played the kind, and Owen Teale played Hotspur.

Owen is amazing.

I'm afraid I struggle to take Owen Teale seriously because I'll always remember him best for this...

theatreanchor · October 2023

Philly_Q said:

theatreanchor said:

Grumpyrocker said:

I saw Henry IV Part 1 in Stratford in the 90s and it was magnificent. The humour and drama both came across beautifully. And the setting was perfect.

Had a couple of notable cast members too - Julian Glover played the kind, and Owen Teale played Hotspur.

Owen is amazing.

I'm afraid I struggle to take Owen Teale seriously because I'll always remember him best for this...

Amazing.

jonnyburgo · October 2023

I've seen a few Shakespeare plays live and I just don't get it, I couldn't understand why people in the audience were breaking out into hysterics. It wasn't funny. All a bit smug, or I'm just a thick bastard. Could be either one or both I guess.

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