Review of David Tennant in "Hamlet" and "Much Ado About Nothing"

[prelocandkanar]

So.  David Tennant and Shakespeare.  Do I go fan-girl or literate?  I'll try for literate this time:

As I sit down to write this review, I must confess that I am tempted to feign a greater level of expertise and familiarity with Shakespeare than I in fact possess.  My mother was an English professor at the college level, and I grew up with the

Comments

[leianora]

Oh my! I've actually been looking forward to viewing these plays for a while now. Since I've been blind since birth, the thing that sticks out for me is, of course, the auditory performances of the actors. DT captures me whenever he does the BBC Big Finish audio shows. It doesn't matter what part he plays, he's amazing! As Luther Arkwrite or Dr. Who, As Col. Wood or merely a bit part cop, he is utterly brilliant! I can hear his voice inside my head at any given moment and be spot on with the exactness of it. There are not very many actors I can do that with, but he is one of them.

Now I'm gonna go buy the hamlet DVD. I have both of these movies where the parts are played by Kenneth Branagh, so seeing him do them will definitely be interesting. MR. Branagh's interpretation of the part of Benedict kills me dead every time. He makes it all seem so natural and funny as hell. His verbal inflection is amazing, and the way he makes the words flow as if people still talk like that today never ceases to astonish me.

BTW, I hope to see you in the DS9 chat room very soon!

[woodsie22]

I saw both of Branagh's versions, too, and his Hamlet was my go to Hamlet version until I saw DT's Hamlet. Now it's my standard by which I judge Hamlet.

Another good voice actor I love is Benedict Cumberbatch from Sherlock. Now, David does better characterizations in the audio dramas, because he switches accents for the characters so well. But, Benedict has the better voiceover or narrator voice. Still, I could listen to either of them read a phone book.

[prelocandkanar]

woodsie22, I'm not familiar with Benedict Cumberbatch, although I've heard of him. To be honest, at first I thought he was a made-up character, with a name like that! I think DT mentioned him once. I haven't seen Sherlock yet, although I'm watching Elementary and definitely have Sherlock on the list.

"Listen to [someone] read a phone book" is such a cliche, but in David Tennant's case, it's so true, isn't it?? I could listen to him read or say anything. While "How to Train Your Dragon" certainly had its charms (I thought it was very good, actually), having David's voice in my ear while I walk the dog is one the best pleasures I can think of! Now I'll have to seek out Benedict Cumberbatch.

[prelocandkanar]

Leianora, one of the most pleasurable parts of following David Tennant is his voice! Both in terms of his accent and his actual voice. Over on David-Tennant.com they have a complete (I think) list of audio links for him -- all this radio interviews and co-hosting (like with Christian O'Connell on the Breakfast Show on Absolute Radio), as well as his audio books.

I just love love love listening to him on these radio shows! Just hearing his natural Scottish accent and his lovely voice is heaven, plus he's so funny, sometimes shy, sometimes outrageous, down-to-earth and seemingly perplexed by his fame. I walk the dog twice a day for about an hour in the woods, and my favorite thing is to listen to David Tennant in my ear as I go.

Not to be all "some of my best friends are" about it, but actually, one of my best friends, from college, has been blind from birth. They over-oxygenated her incubator. We were suite-mates in college, and became best friends. Not that that's relevant here at all, really. [here am I, channeling Ten]: Am I being rude?

Do you mean the DS9 re-watch chat, or is there another DS9 chat that maybe I don't know about since I've been absent here for a while? I've missed the re-watch chat for some time, but I'm planning to return!

[leianora]

Cool! I, too, was over-oxygenated. It happened in Germany when my dad was in the army. And no, you weren't being rude at all. The people who perplex me are people who say things like, "You're blind? I have a cousin who's deaf." What am I supposed to say about that? :D I usually end up saying something like, "I'm sorry to hear that."

I've been missing the rewatch chats a lot recently as well. I'm planning to come back to it in January, because things are finally starting to get really good in the show, and I find that I have a lot more to say about everything that's going on in the episodes.

I'm still a bit confused about the final episode montage, the one that doesn't show Jaddzia in it, from what I've been told. I'd love to know about the different clips it does show. The music in it is beautiful!

Okay, I'm going to shut up now. I've babbled on long enough.

Happy New Year!

[prelocandkanar]

I sent you a transcript of the final episode montage! Happy New Year to you, too!