The Bard

[philomytha]

I think there are probably a number of people on my flist who can help me with this one. My knowledge of Shakespeare is shamefully lacking. We studied Othello at school, and I've watched various other plays, but there are great gaping holes in my education. Macbeth, say, or Richard III, or King Lear, or The Tempest. I would like to remedy this as

Comments

[philomytha]

Thanks! I think I need to watch Branagh's Henry V again. My English teachers at school went through a phase of showing it to us on the last day of term in lieu of teaching anything, and I think I've seen it three times without much actually going in. And everyone seems to like his Much Ado, so that's going on my list!

[rose71]

I love this comparison between Ivan and Henry V! Yes, Ivan and Shakespeare's Prince Hal (before his King Henry days) are both playboys who are actually much smarter and more serious than they seem. However, Ivan is just trying to avoid assassination/responsibility/the Imperial throne, while Prince Hal (a much less nice person) has some sort of bizarre, devious plan to surprise everyone with his awesome ruling skills upon taking the throne.

Too bad there isn't a good film of Henry IV yet. But I am looking forward to the BBC movie with Tom Hiddleston as Hal/Henry! (Er, hello, I hope you don't mind talking about Shakespeare with random LJ friends of philomytha.)

[dimestore_romeo]

Right, okay. *deep breath*

I would say that the Oxford editions of Shakespeare are nice, clean versions to use - plus quality white paper, good, interesting annotations and a readable font. Arden is also a reputable publisher, but I'm not sure what their editions look like on the inside. The Royal Shakespeare Company do enormous door stop editions. I absolutely do not ever in any way recommend the Norton editions. I personally find it's easier to read Shakespeare in individual volumes, too, rather than collections.

One of my favourites is Measure for Measure (mostly because it is filthy and hilarious but incredibly dark). I also looked at Titus Andronicus this week for my Theatres of Revenge course, which I adored. Twelfth Night is another favourite, as is The Tempest. I don't tend to get on with the history plays at all.

Film recs! 1999 version of Titus, which is, okay, the best Shakespeare adaptation that I've ever seen. It's endlessly creative, has an unbelievably talented cast and continually surprised and astounded me me. The

[philomytha]

I think I'd probably buy or borrow individual volumes as I watch the plays, rather than enormous doorstops, not least because those are incredibly unwieldy to use. I do have an enormous doorstop Complete Works, without annotations, which I like because it's a beautiful book - I picked it up in a charity shop, but it's bound in red leather and is old and very pretty, if a little battered.

And I'll add those films to the list! Titus is one which I barely know anything about, so it will be interesting to see it fresh. And oh, the Shrew, yes, I've seen one film version of that which sometimes made me cringe a little (no idea which) so the modern interpretation sounds like a good bet.

[rose71]

I particularly like the Arden editions, as paperbacks which have reliable (but not overwhelming) scholarly notes. I also have fond memories of using the Riverside Shakespeare at university--an enormous doorstopper of a "collected works" edition. And I mean that literally. I'm currently using it as a doorstopper. (Oh, the disrespect for the Bard

[philomytha]

Two votes for Taymor's Titus and everyone recs Branagh's Much Ado! They're going on the list! And oh, Richard III, thank you, that's one I tried to read once but kept getting confused (I think, in hindsight, that it maybe wasn't ideal sleepy-bedtime reading), so maybe it will make more sense after watching. And Glishara mentioned Kurosawa's Ran too.

My Shakespearean awareness is at the vague general-knowledge level for a lot of the plays, but it struck me that I didn't want to go through my entire life not knowing what Hamlet was actually about. I know all sorts of odd bits, but I didn't realise that Ophelia was in Hamlet, for instance (I knew she was *somewhere*, and I knew bits of her mad speech, but somehow I'd never quite made the connection). So I'm trying to put the snippets of Shakespeare in my head into their context.

[rose71]

Yay! And the McKellen Richard III should be a good alternative to sleepy bedtime reading, since it's very fun (in a dark, twisted way) and fast-paced.

It's definitely fun--and sometimes surreal--to encounter all the Shakespeare snippets in their original context, and think about how they were all new and fresh at some point. But, of course, I get most of my literary snippets from P.G. Wodehouse, and then chortle when I eventually stumble on the real quotes in Shakespeare or 19th-century poetry. :)

[tools_adrift]

Ah, shakespeare. I recommend Shakespeare After All by Marjorie Garber. Excellent introduction and analysis of every play. I go back and read it all the time.

Also? Audio books. I'm not sure of the case in the UK, but here in America the Royal Shakespeare Company recordings are readily available at the library. They're pretty recent too and very well done (my davorite is As You Like It with Niamh Cusack).

For film I love the baz luhrmann (and leo dicaprio) version of romeo and juliet, but not everyone agrees. Also netflix has a ton of Lawrence Olivier and fairly famous versions of various plays like Hamlet and King Lear. They also have a version of Midummer Night's Dream vwith a mostly-naked Judi Dench and Helen Mirren (!) as well as Emma Peel...I mean Diana Rigg.

Anyway. I post because I love shakespeare and have come to his work only lately, so I know hw you feel. Also I am a huge fan of your own work but lurk a lot /shy. So hi!

[tools_adrift]

Hah. I forgot that (again, here in America) the Applause actor editions of the plays (not all) give directions for actors, I.e. they have footnotes on how famous actors have played certain lines and how traditonally different parts have been played. Fascinating and insightful stuff, but they only came out with 5 or 6 editions, so definitely not the whole ouevre.

[philomytha]

I would never have thought of audiobooks, but what an excellent idea! I'm sure there must be some here too. And your list of actors and - especially - actresses is exceedingly tempting! I will watch almost anything for Judi Dench or Helen Mirren ;-).

Also, welcome! And lurk or chime in as much as you like :-).