shakespeare
went to "twelfth night" at the open air theatre in regents park last night. i did a year of shakespeare at uni, and it's one of my favourite plays even if it has been done to death.

but oh my god the poncey muppetry i could hear in the conversations at the bar at half time. not to mention the hundreds of people who didn't understand a word of what was going on! which, sad to say, included half of my friends.

so the token boy who was with us propounded the theory that shakespeare is like the emperor's new clothes - everyone pretends to love it, but noone really gets it.

what do you lot think??
( rachelswipe with a fork, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 10:06, 23 replies, latest was 16 years ago)

I don't get it either
but then I openly admit that I think it's a lot of dross.

If anyone genuinely likes like it, great. I won't knock you for it.

But I've seen Twelfth Night and Hamlet and wasn't much taken with either of them. Not my cup of Irn Bru.
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 10:11, Reply)

I get it
but then I was forced to study it for 2 years. I don't read it for pleasure now, but don't dispise it.
( fuck shit up the best you never had, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 10:16, Reply)

I think
Shakespeare needs more car chases, and shoot-outs in packed bars.
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 10:16, Reply)

I don't get Shakespeare.
I think that unless you've been taught how to read him then it's very hard going.
( girlinthehole, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 10:18, Reply)

I get it.
And I love it. But it took me a long time to get there. It is, as BGB says, down to how it's taught, and how you go to find it.

But then I'm a total Shakespeare geek, so I guess I'm biased. "A Comedy of Errors" is a great one to go see if you've never seen Shakespeare before: it's very accessible and very, very funny. Just make sure you see a decent company and not the local am-dram production, they'll ruin it.
( Devil_In_Tights the *real* DiT!, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 10:22, Reply)

@Al
I'd love to see Macbeth telling Duncan to 'make it so'.

Did you hear that, DiT? We're talking about Macbeth!
( K2k6 has a proper job these days, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 10:31, Reply)

I love that you're calling him Jean-Luc Picard!
S'Patrick Stewart, innit.
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 10:32, Reply)

I saw MacBeth a good few years back
I'm pretyy sure it was Cillian Murphy in it before he did 28 Days Later.

I do enjoy Shakespeare. I'm not a buff by any means but I have got the complete works somewhere.
( Boss Keloid Got your mother's maiden name tattooed on my arm, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 10:37, Reply)

Sorry, I was confused.
Patrick Stewart is just some bald bloke who talks like a constipated history teacher, my mistake.

Of course Jean-Luc loves his amateur dramatics, I've seen him on the holodeck!
( Bert Monkeysex is waiting for the mods to delete him, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 10:39, Reply)

Having studied it for a few years a long time ago
I can see the appeal when it's written down - I'm talking about some of the soliloquies here mainly from the tragedies but also from some of the comedies and history plays - they're real poetry and talk about human issues that are still very relevant now.

However, some performances are utter crap.

In many respects Shakespeare is a bit like Chaucer inasmuch as our language now has moved on so far that it makes it difficult to understand what is being said.

Chaucer, once translated, is absolutely filthy and hilarious. Pretty much everyone is aware of the Miller's tale but even things like the Nun's Priest's tale with all the chicken shenanigans is very funny and very earthy.

I agree with what others have said - a good deal of it is down to how it's taught...but that's the same of pretty much any subject.

Dull teacher, dull subject.
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 10:48, Reply)

BGB's right
You have to learn how to understand Shakespeare - but the same is true of everyone. He's worth the effort, though.


Plus there's lots of euphemisms for "cock".
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 11:06, Reply)

I can actually quote a bit of Shakespeare.
I learnt it off by heart when I was much younger as it resonated with me.

And then a whole man cries(?)and so shall I.
Oh hide behind the thunder,
teach me laughter and save my soul.

Something like that anyway.
( girlinthehole, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 11:35, Reply)

@ DiT
Sometimes the professional ones can be crap too.

I went to see Julius Caesar in Stratford-upon-Avon a few years back when I was studying English Lit. This was professionally done (and not the local am-dram) and it was terrible.

I thought it may have been just me that thought it was crap until after the production finished when my tutor turned to the group and said "Well that was a load of middle class bollocks".

Oh yeah, hello all
(mon bison powered by magnets, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 11:52, Reply)

I saw Macbeth
in the West End. It had Sean Bean in it. He was bald. I was distracted from the play because Macbeth was a bald Sharpe. That man doesn't have a great deal of range.

This has been my contribution.
( Kroney, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 11:55, Reply)

Sean Bean
Did he do it all in his Yorkshire accent or did it take a few scenes before he forgot what accent he was meant to use?
(mon bison powered by magnets, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 12:14, Reply)

he did it all
in his own accent. It must be something about actors called Sean, they can't be arsed with accents.
( Kroney, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 12:19, Reply)

i saw toby stephens
playing coriolanus in stratford, about 10 years before he went bald creepy bond villian.

not.

a.

dry.

seat.

in.

the.

house.

nor in english lit for about 8 weeks afterwards as he was all we could squeal about... mmmm...... he was exactly like an arrogant roman superman.....
( rachelswipe with a fork, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 12:25, Reply)

did someone say "Jean Luc Picard"?
*faints*
(happylittletulip helpless and delicious, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 12:30, Reply)

well, not now
but back in about 1995 (god i'm old) he was so fine!
( rachelswipe with a fork, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 12:45, Reply)

Macbeth is an incredible piece of literature
If you want to get teenage boys into Shakespear, forget the comedies & romance plays, give 'em the blood, sex and power of Macbeth. It worked on me.
( Colonel Dracula Two manky hookers and a racist dwarf, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 13:00, Reply)

Makes me think of Mark Twain's definition of a classic.
"Classic -- a book which people praise and don't read."

Shakespeare is lousy to read (the plays, that is), but great on a stage when it's well acted.

Charles Dickens, on the other hand... pure codswallop. Absolute torment to read. He should have been a grocery clerk.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 11 Jul 2008, 13:07, Reply)

I saw Stephen Berkoff play Coriolanus a few years ago.
He. Was. Brilliant.

And, according to one of my old tutors, a 'very demanding lover, darling'.

So now you know.
( Devil_In_Tights the *real* DiT!, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 13:18, Reply)

ooh
couple of my mates went to see Macbeth back in the late 90's and found out Danni Minogue was part of the cast (She may have been lady Macbeth but I can't remember, I have a crap memory).

According to one of my mates Minogue was crap and unintentionally fell over halfway through the performance.
(mon bison powered by magnets, Fri 11 Jul 2008, 13:49, Reply)