Went to see _Hamlet_ at Te Whaea last night. I've been to a couple of productions out of the school in the past few years, and all have had a lot of positive qualities. They tend to be very polished, and have interesting production styles. Probably the best of these is still Antigone by Jean Anouilh c. 2007, for which experience I am indebted to ( Read more... )

The last academic writing I did was on Shakespeare's use and treatment of violence in his Roman plays. The bard was able to juxtapose violence with rhetoric very effectively in a number of situations. The two scenes which I found most effective were the assassination of Julius Caesar and the duel between Coriolanus and Aufidious. In both scenes, ( Read more... )

It's always somewhat difficult to think or write about yourself with clarity. Honesty is easy, but the biggest lies we tell are always to ourselves. As Cassius explains to the ill-starred Brutus:And it is very much lamented Brutus ( Read more... )

My approved topic is Shakespeare's use of combat (either duels or battles) as a means for exploring character, particular the character of a statesman. A topic suggested by numerous discussions with panda_pitt essentially, and discussed a few times in relationship with other cinematic and literary works ( Read more... )

I once heard this play described as Shakespeare's least popular play, and apparently it went unperformed for over two hundred years. The mind absolutely boggles! ( Read more... )

Troilus and Cressida is Shakespeare's perspective on the Trojan War, not so much from Homer, but from Chaucer, whose source was apparently Italian ( Read more... )

Looks like one way or another, I'm now only missing 9 of Shakespeare's plays. The rest I own in individual editions. Some of the missing plays I haven't read, and a couple that I own I haven't read ( Read more... )

I recently watched Barbarella - a movie that for my taste has no redeeming characteristics. Even the hotness of a young Jane Fonda doesn't make it a palatable experience. As part of trying to understand the movie, I've been reading about "Camp", which seems like a very slippery term. The various sources I've browsed all use the word in a consistent ( Read more... )

Friday night we went to see Danny Bhoy. It was hard to stop myself from comparing him with Ed Byrne, who we saw when he was here. Both are very funny comedians, and I think both compare favourably with Lenny Henry, who I saw when he was here a year or two ago for his "So Much Things To Say" tour ( Read more... )

Beginning with the more important: last night I saw As You Like It, the 25th Summer Shakespeare. There are some significant challenges in reviewing any performance of The Bard. Firstly, it's Shakespeare, so you can't pan it. :) Secondly, it's Shakespeare, so 90% of the cast will sound like they're reciting Shakespeare. Thirdly, it's Shakespeare, so ( Read more... )