Shakespeare Magazine 15 by Shakespeare Magazine

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shakespeare At last! A magazine with all the Will in the world

Issue 15

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shakespeare At last! A magazine with all the Will in the world

Issue 15

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You haven’t read his Complete Works until you’ve read…

William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged) by Reed Martin and Austin Tichenor of the

“Something wickedly funny this way comes!” New York Times

“A breathlessly irreverent and pun-filled romp!” Washington Post

“This isn’t an antithesis to Shakespeare at all. These guys are real Bard Geeks, playing off and therefore honoring his theatrical eminence. Fortunately, you don’t need to know the plays well to have fun, because the other half of “Long Lost Shakes” is its street theater energy and panache, cleverly playing off the audience.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

“A contemporary Monty Pythonesque romp… Theatergoers of all ages were laughing their collective heads off!” Salt Lake Tribune

“Whatever you’re doing, stop now. Run – do not walk; run – to…the glorious ray of sunshine that is William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged).” DC Metro

“Equals, and in many way exceeds, the genius of their previous material!” Broadway Baby UK

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Welcome

to Issue 15 of Shakespeare Magazine

Photo: David Hammonds

They made it looks so effortless, didn’t they? Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. It wasn’t like acting at all, really – they simply were the characters. Right? Wrong. As Olivia’s book The Girl on the Balcony makes clear, the filming of Romeo and Juliet was an incredibly tough experience for pretty much everyone concerned – and almost certainly herself most of all, as she was just 16 years old at the time. Speaking to Olivia by telephone earlier this year, I observed that as an audience we have the cathartic experience of seeing Romeo and Juliet die on the screen, remaining young and beautiful for all eternity. But of course Olivia had to get up, hand in her costume and carry on afterwards. As her sometimes-harrowing memoir attests, it hasn’t always been easy. Five decades later, however, she is a serene and gracious lady, and a living chapter of Shakespearean history. Incidentally, my favourite story from Olivia’s book was about John McEnery. While playing Mercutio, he almost died of a collapsed lung. But he insisted on filming his unforgettable death scene before allowing himself to be sent for much-needed medical treatment. So this issue of Shakespeare Magazine is largely dedicated to saying a big ‘Happy Fiftieth Birthday’ to Romeo and Juliet, and all who sailed in her. And I actually celebrate hitting the big 5-0 myself this week, so thank you all for sharing this milestone with me. Enjoy your magazine. Pat Reid, Founder & Editor

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GOOD OLD FASHIONED NOIR MYSTERY THRILLERS SET AT THE FOLGER SHAKESPEARE LIBRARY IN WASHINGTON, D.C. FOLGER SECURITY’S LT. NORMAN BLALOCK IS THE PERFECT CANDIDATE TO PULL OFF THESE INSIDE JOBS.

“Quintin Peterson’s writing is one of those wonderful surprises – startlingly literary yet still gripping genre fiction.” Austin S. Camacho, author of the bestselling Hannibal Jones Mystery Series Quintin Petersen on Amazon

shakespeare At last! A magazine with all the Will in the world

Issue 15

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Contents 43

A Very Shakespeare Scandal

Does Shakespeare Belong in Schools?

Year of the Mad King Review

Shakespeare with Subtitles!

The Illustrated Man

Something to Crow About

Being Brutus

The Doodles of Gary Andrews

The Conscience of the King

The Girl Stays in the Picture

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Shakespeare Magazine Issue Fifteen December 2018 Publisher JoAnn Markon Founder & Editor Pat Reid Art Editor Paul McIntyre Contributing Writers Gary Andrews, Robin Askew, Dr Michael Goodman, Paterson Joseph Cover Portraits Leonard Whiting & Olivia Hussey in Franco Zeffirelli’s classic 1968 film of Romeo and Juliet Photography BBC, Monirul Bhuiyan, British Council, Jared Cowan, Paramount, RSC, Rush, Shakespeare’s Globe, Amogha Sridhar, Prudence Upton Web Design David Hammonds

14 18

The Power of Love

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The Readers Remember

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“Murder while I Smile”

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Contact Us shakespearemag@outlook.com Facebook facebook.com/ShakespeareMagazine Twitter @UKShakespeare Website www.shakespearemagazine.com Newsletter http://tinyletter.com/shakespearemag Donate https://www.paypal.me/ ShakespeareMagazine

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! Olivia Hussey “I didn’t know about Shakespeare. All I knew was that I wanted to be an actress”

Olivia Hussey as Juliet, wearing her iconic red dress.

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Olivia Hussey

The Girl Stays in the Picture Five decades ago, a shy teenage actress was cast in what would FIGSQI TIVLETW XLI QSWX GIPIFVEXIH 7LEOIWTIEVI ½PQ SJ EPP XMQI 8LI EGXVIWW [EW 3PMZME ,YWWI] XLI ½PQ [EW Romeo and Juliet. ,IVI 3PMZME XIPPW YW LS[ WLI [SR XLI VSPI SJ E PMJIXMQI Interview by Pat Reid | -QEKIW GSYVXIW] SJ 4EVEQSYRX

PAT REID: Reading your book, I found it hilarious to learn that you hated your Shakespeare classes, and used to sneak out of them... OLIVIA HUSSEY: “Well, I didn’t really

hate Shakespeare classes. I had a hard time understanding it. My voice was always a little lower than everybody else and when we did Romeo and Juliet I was cast as Romeo. So it was not very inspiring for me. I didn’t really hate it, I realised how beautifully written it was, but it really didn’t speak to me, you know? Maybe because I was playing Romeo!”

PR: We still sometimes think of Juliet as being the quintessential English Rose, although of course she’s Italian. But, rather wonderfully, here she is being played by a girl who was born in Argentina and whose first language is Spanish. OH: “Yes, I’m half Spanish, my mother

was English. There was a strong English community in Buenos Aires, and then every couple of weeks my brother Drew and I would got to my father’s family. It was heartbreaking when we left because I was very close to my dad. The relationship you have with your father, it affects all your future relationships for the rest of your life, really… So after that, because of the start I had, people like Franco were like my father figures.” PR: I’m curious, did you know about shakespeare when you were a little girl in Argentina? Did you know about Romeo and Juliet? OH: “I didn’t know about Shakespeare, all

I knew was that I wanted to be an actress. I used to walk around the house with a towel around my head, pretending to be a nun, and my mother said ‘Oh god, what’s going on with my daughter?’ shakespeare magazine

! Olivia Hussey “I dramatically let my head fall back, and made sure everyone could see how much I was crying” “Then when we got to England I was almost seven and the first thing I started saying was ‘Oh please, I want to act, I want to act’. Eventually, after a few years, she found out the different stage schools, drama schools, and called around and found the Italia Conti Stage School and set up a meeting for me because I was driving her crazy. It was my passion. I was around nine and I talked my way in because it was expensive and we didn’t have that kind of money.” PR: It sounds as though, even at a young age, you were very driven and ambitious. OH: “I’m not ambitious, I just wanted to act!” PR: You had your first break as a juvenile with the Charlie Drake Show, and you had stage success as a teen in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. But the casting process for Romeo and Juliet sounds absolutely brutal. OH: “Well, all auditioning processes,

especially for someone as shy as myself, are

brutal. Now my daughter’s an actress and she does it so well. I don’t know where it came from, it didn’t come from me. I was always so nervous. Once I’d got the job I’d become the character, do all my inner work and everything else, but before I got the job I was a bag of insecurity and nerves. Yes, it was brutal. Franco said he saw at least 800 girls in London alone for Juliet, not to mention the ones he met when he came to America. It was a world wide search. And he said ‘The moment you walked in, I thought “Hmm, that’s my Juliet. Now let’s see if she can act”.’ But he swears he met me at the Savoy or one of those hotels he was staying at, but I don’t remember that. I just remember 55/56 Dean Street, that’s where I remember auditioning.” PR: It sounds almost like the search for Scarlett O’Hara for Gone With the Wind. OH: “It was. In a smaller way, but it was. It

was the role to get. It was Shakespeare, and Juliet was going to be the first colour special Romeo and .YPMIX´W ½REP scene in the Capulet vault.

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Olivia Hussey

Olivia signing autographs at the 2016 ,SPP][SSH WGVIIRMRK SJ Romeo and Juliet.

symmetrically your face is perfect’. And I said ‘Well, I don’t think so. I think it looks better on the side’. And he said ‘You just shut up, and you just do what I say’. Or something like that. Which I didn’t put in the book because I forgot about it until now. I just remembered that, I’ve never told anybody. Well, you know what it is – you’re throwing me because you sound like Leonard. Leonard and I are very close, and I swear if Leonard heard you, he’d say ‘Oh mate, you sound like me’. Oh my, I can’t believe it.” PR: I’m delighted to hear it! What a compliment… [Momentarily lost for words] In your book you reveal that Franco was very interested in the balcony scene, but you really wanted to focus on the potion scene. OH: “He wanted it because the balcony scene

for the BBC, and it was a big deal. And at the time I was working in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, so I was performing, but then on odd days I’d have to go in and audition at Dean Street. And then we had one dress between all of us. And it was always the same girls. I’d look and I’d see all these long blonde haired girls and I’d think ‘That’s what Juliet should look like’. “And then one time Zeffirelli was there and we were all in the dressing room. I was waiting my turn for the white dress. And Franco said ‘Your hair’s on the side’, and I said ‘Yes, I always wear it like that’. I was very relaxed with him from the beginning, I just loved him instantly, his passion and his love of the arts. An incredible human being, so full of life. And I responded to that. “So he’s standing there, and all the girls are looking at us, and he pulled his comb out and started pulling my hair forward over my face, and I said ‘What are you doing?’ He said ‘I’m putting your hair in the middle, and that’s the only way you should wear your hair, because

has so many emotions, up and down, and the passion and the running around – that’s the one he wanted to see, and I couldn’t handle all that. Because at a young age you’re not prepared to do what you can do when you have life experiences. “So Franco paired all the kids together, and said ‘Olivia, this is Leonard Whiting and I want you to work with him only’. So we never worked with other people, he liked the chemistry we had together immediately. Anyway, I was having a really hard time. I had a little Argentinian accent and Leonard had a very cockney accent. So we had to do this balcony scene and we couldn’t move because it was a still camera, an audition camera, so we had to just say the lines. Leonard did better than I did, but Franco said ‘Don’t you like this?’ And I said ‘Not really, it’s difficult’. And he said ‘Have you read the play?’ And I said ‘Yes, I have. I read the whole thing’. And he said ‘Which part did you like best for Juliet?’ And I said ‘Without a doubt the potion scene’. And he said ‘Really? I’m surprised. You like that shakespeare magazine

! Olivia Hussey By casting teenagers as Romeo and .YPMIX >IJ½VIPPM reanimated Shakespeare with the ]SYXLJYP IRIVK] SJ XLI W

scene?’ And I said ‘I love that scene. It shows all her passion, and I love the fact that there’s nobody else in the scene. It’s all inside of her, and it comes out...’ And Franco laughed, and said ‘Well, I’m going to Rome for two weeks. You learn the potion scene and you can come back to me and do that’. “So I went back to the theatre, and I went up to the top tier in my rollers – nobody had arrived yet – and I started focussing on the potion scene, and it was just so beautiful that I learned it all in about an hour. I was so blown away by it. So I waited a couple of days, I got very comfortable with the dialogue which I already knew. I’d just be thinking about it in my head, and what I would do and how I would feel, all of that. The time flew by and Zeffirelli was coming back into town, so I asked all the girls that were in Brodie ‘Can I please do my audition scene in front of you and get your opinions of what you think?’ And they all said yes. We were all around the same age, 14, 15. So they all sat under the lights in the dressing room, and I stood in front of them and I started doing it. And I got so carried away, and in the end I put my head

shakespeare magazine

back, my hands upon my head and started to sob, and then drank the potion. And when I stopped I opened my eyes and looked around and they were all sitting there in absolute silence. And I was, ‘It was all right, wasn’t it?’ “And then I thought, ‘I’m going to do this scene for Franco and I’m going to blow him away. I’m going to do the best I can do and he’s going to love it’. That’s how I was. “So I went in and he said ‘Now darling, this potion scene, let me tell you what I want’. And I said ‘No, just tell me where to stand, I’ve been working on it’. And he said ‘You have?’ And I said ‘Yes, yes. Tell me where to stand so that I don’t mess up the camera, and how far I can move, and please let me do it how I feel it, and if you don’t like it you can tell me’. “And he said OK, and I noticed on the side Michael York was there, of course I’d seen him before, as an actor. He was much older than I was and he was standing there in the corner smiling, and he had two men next to him in suits, and I didn’t know it at the time but they were Paramount people. Paramount had suddenly become involved while we were

Olivia Hussey

“I’d see all these long blonde haired girls and think: That’s what Juliet should look like” Leonard and Olivia take a well-deserved bow in 2016.

doing the auditions, because the feedback and the buzz was so... Overnight everybody knew that Zeffirelli was doing Romeo and Juliet. There was going to be a television special and there was Paramount involved, but I didn’t know that at that time. So they were standing there next to Michael York, and I thought ‘Oh my god, I have an audience’. “So Franco said ‘OK, she’s very confident, this girl, today…’ He’s teasing me, you know? And so I started to do it, and I got really carried away. I dramatically let my head fall back, and made sure everyone could see how much I was crying, and then I went down behind the prop bed and disappeared. And I went on crying, it takes a while to stop. And I thought ‘Nobody’s said anything. My god, I hope it was good’. And then Franco proudly walked up, and he picked me up by my shoulders and he looked at me, and he gave

me a big hug, and he said ‘You’re going to love Rome’. That’s when I knew. But then I was told to keep very quiet because Paramount was now involved. And then Leonard was also cast. And we were so overwhelmed. The Taming of the Shrew was showing in the Tottenham Court Road, and Leonard and I went to the matinee and sat and watched Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and we were both mesmerised. And I said ‘We’re working with Zeffirelli, we’re going to be up on a screen… like… that, playing Romeo and Juliet’. And we were just so excited, like two kids watching. You know how in life you get moments you will never forget? That was definitely one of them.”

shakespeare magazine

! Romeo and Juliet

shakespeare magazine

Romeo and Juliet

The Power of Love

'IPIFVEXMRK ]IEVW SJ *VERGS >IJ½VIPPM´W Romeo and Juliet 7LEOIWTIEVI 1EKE^MRI´W )HMXSV [VMXIW EFSYX KVS[MRK YT ERH KVS[MRK SPH [MXL E 7LEOIWTIEVIER cinematic masterpiece – and its eternally youthful stars, Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey. Words by Pat Reid | Images courtesy of Paramount

“B

Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting on the balcony

ut you sound just like Leonard!” exclaims the voice at the end of the telephone. “Exactly like him, it’s uncanny!” The voice that’s saying this is Olivia Hussey’s. The voice that she’s saying it about is mine. Fifty years ago, when she was just 16, Olivia starred as Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli’s film of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. The Leonard to whom she refers is Leonard Whiting, then 17, her co-star who played Romeo. It’s all documented in her recent book The Girl on the Balcony. To have my voice compared to

Leonard’s is a major compliment. I want to respond with a witty quip like “I bet you say that to all the Romeos…” – but there’s an interview to do. I first saw Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet when I was around the age Olivia was when she starred in it. My relationship with the film, and with the play it’s based on (and with the characters in it) has certainly evolved over the passing decades. The first time I saw it, in a mid-’80s classroom of an all-boys school, it was the sword fights that excited me most, to be honest. Having said that, Olivia’s radiant vivacity as shakespeare magazine

! Romeo and Juliet “It’s not just one of the greatest Shakespeare films, it’s one of the greatest films of any kind” Juliet, and the emotional rush of her love affair with Leonard’s sensitive-yet-athletic Romeo, must have seemed a kind of dream version of what life would surely hold in store. When I saw it again in my mid-twenties I was taken aback by how deliriously romantic it all was. The film is both opulent and gritty, a bacchanalian feast of the screen. And yet, although I was now much older than Olivia’s Juliet, I was still far too young to understand what was really going on in the film. In my early forties I became both a father for the first time, and a born-again Shakespearean. This is when Romeo and Juliet becomes every parent’s worst nightmare. You do everything you can to bring your kids up right, and they go and fall madly

in love – and end up dead. Yes, it’s funny when I put it like that, but really it’s terrifying. Watching the film in middle age, I also noticed for the first time how Shakespeare’s words were bursting with an overwhelming beauty that was matched note for note by Nino Rota’s musical score – one of the all-time great movie soundtracks. I noticed other things too. How Lady Capulet (played by Natasha Parry) was not in fact an evil old bag, but a dignified, concerned and rather beautiful young mother. At this point I could hardly fail to see how Romeo and Juliet was absolutely crammed with performances that in any other film would have been breakouts. From Pat Heywood as Juliet’s Nurse, to Michael York as an imperious,

Romeo and Juliet spend the night together after being secretly married by Friar Laurence.

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flashing-eyed Tybalt – not forgetting the demented swagger of John McEnery’s Mercutio, and Robert Stephens embodying authority as the Prince – it’s an embarrassment of riches. Finally I watched it again this year, 2018, the year that the film and myself both turn 50. Everything I’ve written above is still true, but watching the film after reading Olivia’s book puts a different light on things. Indeed, her book shines a light into all the nooks and crannies of the film. Olivia has suffered some terrible tragedies in her life, but her time as Juliet was blessed with innocence and happiness. Actually speaking to Olivia was a precious experience. She is a custodian of the memory of Romeo and Juliet, and the keeper of its secrets. “I’ve never told anyone that before,” she said, after sharing a detail about her famously gruelling audition process for the film, “I only just remembered it now”. Indeed, Zeffirelli’s casting process would probably be impossible – or illegal – today, but its result was perfection. In 1960s London there were a lot of beautiful, talented young men and women. But Romeo and Juliet had to be beautiful together in the right way, a complementary beauty that made them both shine more brightly, not a situation where one cancelled the other out. There have been other Romeo and Juliet films before and since,

Romeo and Juliet

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of course. The 1954 version with Laurence Harvey is almost forgotten now, forever eclipsed by Zeffirelli’s ’60s supernova. The 1936 production is seen as a historical curio, with Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer, aged 43 and 33, far too old for the roles. Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 update, styled Romeo + Juliet, succeeded because it made itself as different as possible from Franco Zeffirelli’s. But while I’ve met countless women who fell in love with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Romeo, I’ve yet to meet a man who fell in love with Claire Danes as Juliet. We admire her as an actress – she’s one of the few in Hollywood who can actually move her face – but we don’t want to die for her. And a 2013 film of Romeo and Juliet cast Douglas Booth and Hailee Steinfeld in the lead roles. They looked every bit like a Renaissance painting, but alas

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the chemistry was lacking – the pair seemed more like amused, conspiratorial siblings than Shakespeare’s oweringly tragic, star-cross’d lovers. And that’s why Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet is not just one of the greatest Shakespeare films ever made, it’s one of the greatest films of any kind ever made. Yes, he took liberties with Shakespeare, but you can tell it’s a film made by someone who’s in love with Shakespeare, in love with Romeo and Juliet, in love with life, and in love with love. Watch it today, or soon, to celebrate its 50th anniversary – and be sure to raise a glass to Franco, to Leonard and to Olivia. Their Romeo and Juliet is, and will always be, an intoxicating experience.

The Girl on the Balcony by Olivia Hussey is EZEMPEFPI RS[

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! Cinema

The Readers Remember

Romeo and Juliet Thank you to all our readers who wrote in to share their memories of – and heartfelt IQSXMSRW XS[EVHW ¯ XLMW EQE^MRK ½PQ Victoria Larson I saw Romeo and Juliet when it was first released – I was a freshman in high school – and what an experience it was! I was dazzled by this film as it wasn’t like anything I’d seen before; the whole production from set design to costumes to the incredibly lovely film score and the marvelous performances forever cemented in my mind what a great movie should be. The brilliance of Mr. Zeffirelli’s casting of young people has been noted many times over the years and as one who was just a tad younger than the principal characters in the film made it easy to relate to and as such, all the more moving. I had the great good fortune to meet Ms. Hussey in Los Angeles at her book signing in

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Alma Cantu

August and found her to be charming in every way; it was very much a dream come true for this fan and something that I will never forget. Her book is quite interesting and revealed things that I did not expect, believing as I did that one so beautiful and talented would never be touched by the ugliness of pain and betrayal. Yet despite the many challenges that befell her, she endured them with courage, humor and pragmatism. Today, she is an outspoken advocate for the humane treatment of animals which is yet another facet to her that makes her so very likable. My memory of seeing Romeo and Juliet as a young girl is a sweet one indeed and for which I am very grateful. Many thanks, Olivia.

Romeo and Juliet is absolutely a tribute to Director Zeffirelli’s talent in choosing and directing two of the most amazing actors of all time! It was so beautifully written and I go as far as once in a lifetime movie! I am happy to say that it was made during my lifetime! Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting are both amazing talent and made it so real! These two beautiful people have a special place in my heart! I thank you for this!

Becky I was 13 when the movie came out... i liked leonard, but i fell in love with Michael York!

Cinema

Sarah I’m 58 and I was in love with [Leonard] too – and half the cast including Michael York and Robert Stephens – what a virile Prince! Thought Olivia Hussey was a ballsy Juliet – a really driven girl. You know something – WE were so lucky – so many of the best things happened during our era of youth – and a good period of peaceful time in which to grow and enjoy the best of recent modern culture. We had the best stars; but the internet and Facebook etc… hadn’t yet frazzled everyones’ brains…so we also had the classical education and intelligence with which to appreciate it all. Romeo and Juliet of Zefferelli is just a masterpiece.

Murray The film is an absolute delight to see and enjoy full stop as Whiting and Hussey encapsulated so well in the dream of Romeo and Juliet. Every tribute also to Zeffirelli for his softness, skill and delicacy in communicating this incredible story.

D’Arcy Vachon Olivia Hussey is a living breathing radiant soul.

Suzanne Taylor In 2015, we had the honour and absolute delight of John McEnery performing as King Lear at the archaeological site of The Rose Playhouse. One early Saturday morning, I was alone in The Rose, and in walked Mr McEnery. I told him how much I loved his Queen Mab speech in Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet. And then I spoke Romeo’s words to him: “Peace, peace, Mercutio, peace! Thou talk’st of nothing”. John McEnery replied with Mercutio’s response: “True, I talk of dreams, Which are the children of an idle brain, Begot of nothing but vain fantasy, Which is as thin of substance as the air, And more inconstant than the wind, who woos Even now the frozen bosom of the north, And, being angered, puffs away from thence, Turning his side to the dewdropping south.”

Suzanne met Romeo and Juliet’s scene-stealing Mercutio (John McEnery) EX XLI 6SWI 4PE]LSYWI

I will never in my life, forget that most magical moment. To be in that beautifully delicate scene between Romeo and Mercutio with John McEnery – just the two of us in the archaeological site of The Rose, in the presence of all those creative spirits who have gone before us, in that incredible space – and I remember the sun was shining that morning, peeping into the dark, archaeological site. That was one of the most special moments in my life! Thank you so much John McEnery for giving me the best moment ever, in my acting career!! shakespeare magazine

! Cinema Anne Collins Audrey, I remember watching this in HS. We were all in love with Leonard Whiting and wanted to be Olivia Hussey. Our fellow classmate and my dear old friend Maryanne Gibbons came the closest with her Madonna face and long hair. I watched it again a couple of years ago while researching and it held up perfectly. As an older woman in the world it is even more tragic now. To see this pure love end in the death of these two beautiful young people was deeply heartbreaking. Shakespeare never gets old, nor does the genius of Zefferelli.

Shelley McConnell Truly my favorite when I saw it at 15 and still now at 65. Bonn i G, we saw this together in Chagrin Falls. Back then you could buy the color movie program and there was intermission. I still have my program from Camelot and The Godfather.

Nancy Glenn This was an actual field trip for me in HS. We got to go to the theater to watch. Loved it.

Claire Searles

Nancy Robinson

I saw it with a date. Back when you dressed up to go to a date movie. I saw A Man for All Seasons with an English class.

Same for us. I was hooked on Shakespeare.

Anna Whyte

Yes it was the same for our school and hooked me on Shakespeare as well!!

Marcus Whyte, THIS is the movie I keep looking to get and keep talking about! Saw it first time when 16 yo! One of the most beautiful movies ever created!

Cathie Cush Came out when I was in high school. Really brought Shakespeare alive for me. Loved it!

Mike Palmer

David Williams

Hugh Blumenfeld One rainy afternoon in Greenwich Village, I uncharacteristically walk into movie theater to see a double feature matinee: Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet and Brother Son, Sister Moon. Love – human and divine. The beauty of these films pierced me like some arrow and the wound is still there.

Cannot possibly be 50 years. I saw this at school in the second form and fell in love with Olivia Hussey.

“We were all in love with Leonard Whiting and wanted to be Olivia Hussey” 20

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Cinema

“Came out when I was in high school. Really brought Shakespeare alive for me. Loved it!” Barbara Gathercole I watched this when I was studying Romeo and Juliet for my O-level English exam. I finally ‘got it’ after watching it and it started a lifelong love of Shakespeare for me.

Siobhan Isa I watched this when I was a kid and when I eventually watched High School Musical for the first time I thought Leonard Whiting and Zac Efron were surely the same person and my brain exploded.

Susan Hawkins Wow Sybil how many times did we go see this? Can’t believe it has been 50 years.

Sybil Hester At least a dozen I would think. I still watch it on DVD, LOL

Karina Jiménez Thank you. This is the best adaptation to film of Romeo and Juliet. Olivia Hussey is the ideal Julieta in all aspects of the character.

Patricia Garza I went to see this with my then best friends. We cried and cried... then stayed to see it a second time. Beautiful rendition of this classic and tragic love story.

Katherine Smith The very first experience I had with Shakespeare!

Chinny Krishna

Candice Marshall

Loved the movie fifty years ago; loved it all over again on TV a month ago. The second time was even more special since I had spoken to its star!

It is our hope that the people who love our Romeo and Juliet help us to petition for their stars SR ,SPP][SSH &SYPIZEVH &IPMIZI it or not, they do not have their WXEVW XLIVI ]IX ;I EX 6SQIS and Juliet Hollywood Stars have worked very hard getting this petition out every day and it’s lacking in the required 1,000 WMKREXYVIW 4PIEWI 7MKR ERH WLEVI XLMW 8LERO ]SY

Jennifer Parr Definitely still the best movie version of R & J.

Sign the petition

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Take three speeches from three Shakespeare plays:

May all those plagues from southern lands attack you, You shameful sons of Rome! May boils and sores Spread through your body so they’ll all avoid you Keeping their distance, and the infection will Be carried over a mile against the wind! You geese disguised as men, how can you run From slaves that even apes could beat? Hell’s teeth! All those back there are wounded, faces pale From flight and feverish fear! Get up, and charge, Or by the fires of heaven I’ll leave the fight And turn my war on you!

Don’t think I’d be your executioner! I avoid you so as not to injure you. You tell me there is murder in my eye. It’s no surprise and even very probable That eyes, that are the frailest, softest things, That close their timid lids at any speck, Should be called tyrants, butchers, murderers. I mean it when I frown at you like this, And if my eyes could wound you, then they’d kill you. Pretend at least to faint and fall down on the ground, And if you can’t, then you should be ashamed Of lying when you said my eyes are murderers.

As You Like It

Coriolanus

If I have too austerely punished you, Then your reward will make amends, for I Have given you here a part of my own life, What most of all I live for. Once again I offer you her hand. All your vexations Were just trials of your love, and you Have fully passed the test. Heaven be my witness, I here confirm this precious gift.

The Tempest

So you noticed! This isn’t Shakespeare! No, it isn’t. These speeches are shown in Hugh Macdonald’s version in modern English, designed for performance and free of the obscurities and complexities that hinder full enjoyment in the theatre. Yet the language is robust and dramatic! Try it for yourself!

Shakespeare in Modern English Three Plays (As You Like It / Coriolanus / The Tempest) Translated by Hugh Macdonald Order it from Amazon

Troubador Books

Visit Hugh Macdonald’s website Here

Subtitles

Shakespeare with Subtitles! Shakespeare Magazine’s Editor is convinced that switching on the subtitles is good for the brain, and can greatly enhance most people’s enjoyment and appreciation of Shakespeare. Words by Pat Reid | Images courtesy of the BBC

hen my son was a baby, I mentioned to my brother that I was always anxious while watching television at night. If I was enjoying a programme downstairs and I turned up the volume, there was a danger I might not hear the baby crying in his upstairs bedroom. My brother, who already had two children, told me he’d acquired the habit of watching TV with the volume turned down low and the subtitles on. So I started doing this too, and I soon discovered that what I was missing in sound, I was

more than making up for in the amount of information I was taking in. During his toddler years, my son started watching CBeebies, the BBC children’s channel. We were a little concerned at first, because his interest was so intense. But it gave us, his parents, a break, and the programmes were suitably nourishing, so we decided it was all right. Then we noticed a surprising side effect. Like all parents, we monitored our child’s developmental milestones. He seemed to be a little behind with

some of them. But there was one area where he seemingly raced ahead, and that was learning to read. One day we were watching CBeebies together, and I realised that as we had permanently left the subtitles on, every TV programme our son watched was effectively a reading lesson. A character or presenter would say a simple phrase, the subtitles would correspond with it, and our son was making the connection. He was learning a crucial skill – and, like some Holy Grail of education, it was both effortless and fun. When he started school at four, our boy was one of the younger children in his class, but one of the most advanced readers. I’m sure that other factors played a part, but CBeebies and subtitles definitely helped. But what, you may ask, does this have to do with Shakespeare? Well, I was busy planning and launching Shakespeare Magazine during this time, and I was watching a lot of Shakespeare DVDs. Again, I had the volume down low and the subtitles on. And I began to notice that I was understanding the plays better, and enjoying them more. How so? Well, often when we watch TV programmes or films, we don’t actually hear everything that’s being said. Sometimes actors can mumble or have their voices drowned out by other sounds. Hollywood films have been like this for decades, but in more recent years a spate of British television dramas have drawn complaints from viewers who can’t properly hear the shakespeare magazine

! Subtitles “Often when we watch TV or films, we don’t actually hear everything that’s being said” dialogue. Some viewers in the US have resorted to the subtitles because they can’t understand the new Doctor Who’s accent. It’s not the end of the world, of course. Usually, our brain goes to work trying to fill in the gaps, and we come away with a good sense of what’s going on. But films and TV shows often leave us with a sense of dissatisfaction and incompletion. I do wonder if that’s a subconscious feeling of being shortchanged when we can’t hear the words. And with the Shakespeare productions, I noticed some big differences when I used subtitles. When I saw the 2015 Macbeth film at the cinema, I was initially disappointed. The soundtrack music seemed to be mixed very high, while the male actors

all affected the same guttural, clenched-buttock delivery. This was a play I knew very well, and yet I could hardly understand a word that was being said. When Macbeth was released for home viewing, I watched it again – this time on my iPad, with the subtitles on. I enjoyed it a lot more, and the mumblecore approach didn’t bug me to the same extent. A complete contrast was the 2012 BBC production The Hollow Crown, which struck me as being particularly beautiful in terms of sound. I watched this on a rattly portable DVD player (late at night, while working on a laborious email campaign), and even with the volume on the very lowest level, I could still hear pretty much

everything. The subtitles did the rest. I was especially struck by the scenes with Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston as Henry IV and Prince Hal – their resonant voices made them sound like two lions purring at one other. Ralph Fiennes’ 2011 film of Coriolanus, which I also watched on the portable DVD player, was different again. It’s a firstrate example of a modern-day Shakespeare film, but the sound levels seemed to be all over the place. I suppose this captured the chaos and confusion of war, but it was also likely to wake up my sleeping family, so I turned it right down and largely relied on the subtitles. It was a similar story with the 2016 BBC production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The 2018 CBeebies production of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

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Subtitles

Even Upstart Crow is better with subtitles!

I watched this one on our (relatively) big-screen TV, and the problem was I had to keep turning it up because I couldn’t hear the dialogue, but then the soundtrack music would come crashing in (several notches higher than the dialogue) and I had to turn it down again, which meant I couldn’t hear the dialogue, which… You get the picture. At times like this the subtitles really are a godsend. As it was CBeebies that started all this for me, I’m delighted to say that their two Shakespeare productions, 2016’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and 2018’s The Tempest, have very good sound. But these are lively, exuberant family productions with a lot going on, so the subtitles can certainly help viewers to keep track of it all. All right, so we’ve established that I firmly believe Shakespearean subtitles are good for us. But how does this actually

work? My guess is that because we’re seeing it, hearing it and reading it, this simply means that more of it goes in – and more of it stays there. I have to admit that some of my readers have reacted angrily – even viscerally – to my periodic urging to switch on the subtitles. I’m not quite sure why this idea is so offensive to some. I think some people have been taught in school that Shakespeare’s plays were “supposed to be heard”, and therefore experiencing them any other way is wrong. It’s an interesting position to take, but I’m afraid I can’t find it within myself to agree. In my opinion, reading Shakespeare’s works is brilliant, because it gets us nearer to the experience of being Shakespeare’s original actors. In fact, it gets us nearer to the experience of actually being Shakespeare. Now, I know from my years as a cinema journalist that a lot

of people do have an instinctive dislike of subtitles. With the exception of Amélie (way, way back in 2001) very few subtitled films have succeeded at the UK box office. But using subtitles is something that anyone can easily train themselves to do. After all, if you can read a tweet or a text message, or a picture caption, a subtitle doesn’t exactly present a challenge, does it? Now, before you ask – No, I’m not aware if there are any studies or books on this subject, and frankly I don’t care. I know that it works for me. It’s helped my son learn to read, and it’s given me a better understanding of Shakespeare’s texts. And so the chances are it’ll work for you as well. So what are you waiting for? Whack on the subtitles right now, and get stuck into a nice bit of Shakespeare.

shakespeare magazine

! Upstart Crow

Will Shakespeare (David Mitchell) cranks out his latest masterpiece.

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Upstart Crow

Something to Crow About ;LIR MX ½VWX TSTTIH SYX MR 7LEOIWTIEVI XLIQIH comedy Upstart Crow was treated as something of an ugly HYGOPMRK 2S[ LS[IZIV EJXIV XLVII WIVMIW ERH X[S 'LVMWXQEW WTIGMEPW MX´W TVSZIH MXWIPJ XS FI ER]XLMRK FYX E XYVOI] ;SVHW F] 4EX 6IMH | Images courtesy of the BBC

he passage of time is a wonderful thing. Just ask the creators of Upstart Crow. Now that Ben Elton’s show, which stars David Mitchell as a crotchety and socially awkward William Shakespeare, has become a familiar part of the British television landscape, it’s hard to remember that when it started, just a couple of years ago, the

reaction from many critics and much of the viewing public was overwhelmingly negative. Speaking for myself, I liked it from the start, but I didn’t quite love it. I noticed with dismay, though, that Shakespeare scholars in particular seemed to hate it, and I wasn’t quite sure why. Certainly there were things in the show that didn’t work, but overall it was a good thing and

I couldn’t fathom why it would attract such vitriol. Part of what appealed to me was the way the show felt cheap and cheerful, jolly and old fashioned. It was like a really good student revue or the world’s best-ever school play. Surveying Twitter after the first episode went out, I could see that many didn’t share my point of view. Twitter of course, can shakespeare magazine

! Upstart Crow “The question of how well Shakespeare knew Marlowe has been spun into comedy gold” smell weakness, and keyboard warriors everywhere love to surge together in a mob to tear a hapless victim limb from limb. But what puzzled me was why Upstart Crow made some people angry. Even if, as they seemed to think, Upstart Crow was a pale imitation of Elton’s classic show Blackadder, then surely it was to be pitied rather than eviscerated? Speaking of Blackadder, I have to say at this point that I believe a myth has taken hold about that much-revered show. The myth alleges that it was only from the second season that Blackadder started ‘to work’ and be accepted by the public.

Making Shakespeare: David Mitchell MW ½XXIH [MXL ;MPP´W PIKIRHEV] LEMVPMRI

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This is simply not true. I was at school when Blackadder started in 1983 and I can vouch that it was a hit from the start. I can appreciate its comedy antecedents now, but at the time none of my family or friends had seen anything like it, and we were often helpless with laughter. If anything, the excitement dissipated somewhat on the second series, which was more mature and slightly less mad. But that’s all one, as Shakespeare would say, because I think that 30 years later Upstart Crow may have benefitted from the false myth of Blackadder, the idea that a series needs at least

two seasons to ‘find itself ’. Not that Upstart Crow has changed radically. Unlike Blackadder, which set each series in different historical eras, Season Three of Upstart Crow is much the same as Season One, although there is the implication that we’re moving forward almost in real time. Which means that if it keeps going we should expect the death of Queen Elizabeth I, the accession of James I, and all sorts of exciting events like the Gunpowder Plot. (There have also been hints that Upstart Crow is happening in the same universe as Blackadder 2. Will an elderly

Upstart Crow

In classic sitcom WX]PI Upstart Crow MW ½PQIH in front of a live studio audience.

Blackadder make an appearance at some point?) Another significant difference from its illustrious comedy forebear is the way Upstart Crow constantly refers to our own present day political moment, in a way that I don’t think Blackadder ever did. If you watch an episode of Blackadder II, for example, it isn’t full of references to Margaret Thatcher, striking miners, mass unemployment, Northern Ireland terrorism, nuclear war and gender-bending pop stars – which is what was on our minds at the time. No, the show was just a rather brilliant slice of historical escapism (with quite a lot of Shakespeare references).

Upstart Crow, however, is constantly commenting on the present day, whether it’s selfies, the hypocrisy of awards ceremonies and benefit gigs, the unusual celebrity status of Ricky Gervais, the grievous state of public transport (actually, this is more Ben Elton making fun of his own comedy staples of decades past) or anxieties and prejudices about immigration. This element finds its chief means of expression in the scene-stealing character of Kate, played by Gemma Whelan, who perfectly exemplifies all that is simultaneously admirable and patience-testing in contemporary political activism. And Whelan’s eminently loveable performance is one

of many. There’s Tim Downie as a roistering, death-faking Kit Marlowe, a bit like a more restrained incarnation of Blackadder’s Lord Flashheart, while Liza Tarbuck is brilliant as Will’s wife Anne – a country maid, whose earthy common sense keeps her somewhat pretentious husband grounded. And of course David Mitchell is fantastic as Will. He may be lacking in the sexy, swaggering Shakespeare in Love leading man department, but he more than makes up for it in grumpiness, impenetrable wordplay and thwarted social aspiration. And the formula has worked. Slowly but surely, Upstart Crow has grown an audience. And in the process it’s re-established Ben shakespeare magazine

! Upstart Crow â&#x20AC;&#x153;Despite its faults, the show was clearly a good thing, so why did it attract such vitriol at first?â&#x20AC;? 8LI Christmas ITMWSHI P V Anne (Liza 8EVFYGO Will (David 1MXGLIPP +VIIRI (Mark Heap) and Queen )PM^EFIXL )QQE Thompson).

Elton as a writer to be reckoned with. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s recently been revealed that he penned the screenplay for Kenneth Branaghâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new film about Shakespeare, All is True, and that Branagh will make an appearance in this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Upstart Crow Christmas episode. From a Shakespearean point of view, the programmeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s historic and literary research is good, but inevitably it has a lot of fun playing around with it. The major change is the way Robert Greene has been reinvented as a villainous toff (played with oily relish by Mark Heap), but as Greeneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s name is on the work that first dubbed Shakespeare an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;upstart crowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, it seems only fair

shakespeare magazine

to give him a meaty part. The question of how well Shakespeare knew Marlowe, and to what extent they collaborated has been spun into comedy gold, while the so-called authorship question is wittily demolished via an invented character pointedly named Wolf Hall. Not all the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Easter eggsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; for Shakespeare fans have a comic function. When we realised that Willâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s son Hamnet had been written into the show, I think this had us all wondering. And sure enough, Elton and co duly delivered an episode that went from hilariously funny to heartbreakingly sad. After the 2017 Christmas

episode with Emma Thompson as Queen Elizabeth and a quietly triumphant Season 3, Upstart Crow has been starting to attract attention around the globe (the planet Earth, that is, not the theatre). Indeed, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve even noticed American academics talking about it now! Could it be that Upstart Crow â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the ugly duckling that turned into a sweet swan of Avon â&#x20AC;&#x201C; can finally say itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s here to stay?

Ő&#x2013;

8LI 'LVMWXQEW ITMWSHI SJ Upstart Crow [MPP FI WGVIIRIH MR XLI 9/ SR (IGIQFIV

SHAKESPEARE for the CLASSROOM Nine key plays in an easily digestible form ! Perfect introductions before studying the play ! Ideal for reluctant and struggling readers ! Accurate summaries of the plays, but also rewarding reads in their own right ! Straightforward, pacey narratives; easy to read, using familiar, contemporary language ! Includes memorable quotations from the original text ! Additional sections discuss Shakespeare’s themes and use of language

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! Gary Andrews

“Is this a daily Shakespeare

doodle which

I see before me?” Ranging from the joyous to the heartbreakingly sad, the daily sketches of Gary Andrews explore themes of life, love and loss – with a little help from Master Bill. Words and Doodles by Gary Andrews

began sketching a doodle a day as a diary on my 55th birthday in 2016. It reflected all aspects of my life – work, play, family and so on. A huge part of both my wife Joy’s and my life is Shakespeare, so it’s natural he figured a fair amount. We met at a theatre and performed together many times in his plays (I also directed a fair number as well). In October 2017, Joy died suddenly as a result of Sepsis, aged just 41 – leaving me

shakespeare magazine

a widower with two young children. The last play we did together, just three months before she died, was Twelfth Night. Shakespeare has continued to be a huge part of my life since then, and a great source of comfort. On the pages that follow are a selection of my Shakespeare themed ‘doodles’.

Follow Gary on Twitter or Instagram as @GaryScribbler 8S ½RH SYX QSVI EFSYX 7ITWMW please go to the UK Sepsis trust

Sepsis Trust

Gary Andrews

shakespeare magazine

! Gary Andrews

shakespeare magazine

Gary Andrews

shakespeare magazine

! Gary Andrews

shakespeare magazine

A new American film version of William Shakespeare’s King Lear helmed by award-winning director Alexander Barnett

“… a muscularity of language and overwhelming emotionalism that is uncommon in Lear films.” PlayShakespeare.com

“...will I go back over this multiple times, paying close attention to the performance of individual characters? Absolutely. I already have.” Shakespeare Geek

Streaming now US

Libraries throughout US and UK

Europe 15 episode version

www.kinglearfilm.org

! 1G/IPPIR´W 6MGLEVH ---

“Murder while I smile...” Back in 1996, Sir Ian McKellen starred in a vivid, outrageous and visceral screen adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III. In this classic archive MRXIVZMI[ ½PQ GVMXMG 6SFMR %WOI[ ½RHW XLI EGXMRK PIKIRH SR ½IV] ]IX XLSYKLXJYP JSVQ ;SVHW F] 6SFMR %WOI[

shakespeare magazine

1G/IPPIR´W 6MGLEVH ---

8LI ½PQ YTHEXIW 7LEOIWTIEVI´W TPE] XS ER MQEKMRIH ZIVWMSR SJ 1930s England.

an McKellen pulls himself up in his chair and fixes me with the steely glare that generally precedes murder most foul in his extraordinary performance as the eponymous hunchbacked schemer in Richard Loncraine’s visually stunning Richard III. “Let me throw back the challenge,” he demands. “What’s that line about?” The line in question is “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!” – one of two that even those of us who nodded off in Eng Lit lessons will recognise from the play (the other being “Now is the winter of our discontent…”). McKellen’s daring screenplay, developed from Richard Eyre’s stage adaptation, strips away more than 40 extraneous characters, prunes two-and-a-half hours from the play’s usual running time, and commits the ultimate sacrilege of tidying up the Bard’s archaisms. No ‘thees’, ‘thous’ or ‘withals’ here.

But Richard’s desperate boost to the equine exchange rate remains jarringly unaltered in the vivid alternate ’30s England setting, striking the only real false note. He’s sitting in a jeep at the time, f ’chrissakes. McKellen is not persuaded that a mechanic might have been more use. “I think people now understand that what that line is about is a man who is desperately trying to get back into the battle and can’t because of the situation he’s in,” he insists. “I think our version’s as good as any other.” McKellen and Loncraine are holding court at Bristol’s Marriott Hotel as part of a gruelling regional press tour to promote this most accessible of Shakespeare adaptations. They’ve already done Birmingham today and are dashing off shortly to attend a specially-arranged schools’ screening. McKellen has thoughtfully bashed out answers to the six most commonly asked questions about the film (“Why

does Richard III talk to the camera?” “Has cinema always been important to you?” and so on), but even these cannot anticipate the demands of newspaper hacks charged with uncovering a Local Angle. No, he corrects the poor woman from the Evening Post who hasn’t seen the film, he has never played in anything at the Old Vic, and since he’s only spending four hours in Bristol he cannot offer an opinion on our lovely city. They make an odd couple, Loncraine and McKellen. The latter’s a famously gay theatrical knight whose stage career has been conspicuously more successful than his screen one. The former’s remarkable career began in the swinging ’60s when he marketed such groovy executive toys as the moneyspinning Newton’s Cradle. He then graduated to Tomorrow’s World, where he made a further 70 short films about fab gadgets shakespeare magazine

! 1G/IPPIR´W 6MGLEVH --“I think there are millions of people like me who were taught Shakespeare rather badly at school” that would revolutionise our way of living forever, but somehow failed to materialise in the corner shop. His directorial debut was Slade in Flame, and he now admits to making films only “when someone is foolhardy enough to give one to me”. His day job is in the lucrative world of commercials. It is Loncraine we have to thank for Bob Hoskins’ “It’s good to talk” and the supremely irritating ‘Papa and Nicole’. He also admits to a lifelong loathing of Shakespeare, of which he has only now been cured. “I think there are millions of people out there like me who were taught Shakespeare rather badly at school and weren’t allowed to laugh at the funny bits or get horny at the sexy bits,” he explains. “And so I

%RRIXXI &IRMRK EW 5YIIR )PM^EFIXL

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ignored it. And it took me a long while to realise that it was me who was at fault. Shakespeare is the most accessible writer if you approach him correctly for a modern audience.” You’d have thought this meeting of the minds would result in some almighty arguments on set. “The first day of rehearsals, you’d got Ian, Maggie Smith, Robert Downey Jr., Annette Bening, Nigel Hawthorne… the list of people was quite intimidating,” admits Loncraine candidly. “For me, the great danger as director was that the actors wouldn’t look at me – they’d look at Ian to see whether he approved. And that would have been a disaster because Ian wasn’t directing the movie. So Ian and I used to have arguments, but we’d have them

in front of everybody else. It was the only way for people to see that I was strong enough – if that’s the word – to disagree with Ian.” “Richard was constantly asking me questions about Shakespeare and challenging me to come up with credible answers,” adds McKellen, who has played Richard III more than 300 times on stage. “And if I couldn’t convince him, then he would win the argument. And he was constantly introducing me to ways of telling a story visually and cinematically, which I wasn’t going to resist because that’s what we both wanted. Anyone who thinks they’re coming to see the play should be disabused of that. The play belongs in the theatre.” One aspect of the play which very quickly gave way to more cinematic sensibilities was Richard’s dramatic demise in the climactic battle. “We always knew there was going to be a battle because that’s what Shakespeare gave us,” explains Loncraine. “But he didn’t kill Richard on stage. The guy walks off and someone else walks on and says, ‘The king is dead. Long live the king.’ Well, you couldn’t do that to a cinema audience or they’d rip the seats out. Richard had to die on screen.” Both men resist any attempts to draw parallels between their militaristic ’30s stylings and Nazi Germany. “It looks like

1G/IPPIR´W 6MGLEVH ---

Nazi imagery, but actually it’s only red and black,” points out the director. “The helmets are 1962 NATO helmets and the characters wear Greek uniforms from the 1980s that we fiddled with.” Indeed, the film’s lavish set design and imaginative use of locations are what lend it such a distinctive flavour. McKellen stresses that “this is an English play about English characters with English characteristics” and it exasperates him that the idea of an alternate ’30s England riven by civil war still confuses some of the film’s critics. “The ’30s is perhaps the most recent period of our history when someone from within the ranks of the establishment might have taken over, when dictatorship and tyranny were in the air all over the rest of Europe. The first review we got was not from a drama critic but from a political correspondent in a right-wing newspaper, who said: ‘Here they go again, these lefties’ – ‘lefty luvvies’, I think we were called – ‘rubbishing the right wing. Why can’t they set Richard III in Soviet Russia rather than Germany?’ And you think, well, did he see the film. What on earth's he talking about?”

This feature originally appeared in Venue Magazine. Richard III was released on %TVMP 7LEQIJYPP] XLI ½PQ MW RSX currently available on DVD. Secondhand copies of the deleted UK release regularly sell for £30 on eBay. Beware of European imports which have nonremovable subtitles.

Review

6MGLEVH´W MGSRMG opening speech.

Richard III (15) UK / 1996 / 103 minutes Director: Richard Loncraine. Cast: -ER 1G/IPPIR %RRIXXI &IRMRK /VMWXMR 7GSXX 8LSQEW .MQ &VSEHFIRX 6SFIVX (S[RI] .V 1EKKMI 7QMXL 2MKIP ,E[XLSVRI %HVMER (YRFEV .SLR ;SSH Opening with an action scene strongly reminscent of one of the more audacious stunts in Goldeneye and climaxing in a style that owes more to Terminator 2 than any of those stilted school stage productions which are the closest most of us get to the Bard, Richard Loncraine and Ian McKellen’s reworking of Richard Eyre’s daring stage adaptation is clearly not for the Shakespeare purist. That said, it’s not a crass attempt to bring Richard III to “the kids”, either; rather a bold and inspired reimagining of the play’s universal themes in a handsomely staged civil war-torn alternate-world England of the 1930s. McKellen is a hypnotically watchable, oily, scheming Richard, cursed by physical deformity but unstintingly ruthless in his pursuit of power in this jazz age Albion awash with the sinister trappings of fascism. Following the death of the King and the accession of his elder brother Edward, Richard’s blood-spattered path to the throne becomes clear. First he must seduce and marry Lady Anne (Kristin Scott Thomas) – here reduced to a pitiful junkie with needle tracks up her arms – whose husband he slaughtered during the Civil War. Then, with the aid of the greedy Duke of Buckingham (Jim Broadbent) and his faithful assassin James Tyrell (Adrian Dunbar), this brilliant, twisted strategist sets about removing every obstacle in his way, from his brothers King Edward (John Wood) and the gentle Clarence (Nigel Hawthorne) to Earl Rivers (Robert Downey Jr), brother of the widowed Queen Elizabeth (Annette Bening), who meets his end in a particularly grisly manifestation of coitus interruptus. % ZMWYEPP] WXYRRMRK EGXMSR ½PPIH &EVHJIWX TEVIH XS NYWX XLI VMKLX PIRKXL [MXL XST RSXGL performances from its venerable thesps, including oddly cast American Downey Jr and a suitably regal Bening, Richard III makes outstanding use of its locations, from the TEPEGI EX 7X 4ERGVEW 7XEXMSR XS XLI ½REP XERO FEXXPI MR XLI WLEHS[ SJ &EXXIVWIE 4S[IV Station. McKellen contributes a performance of such lip-smacking evil – all crocodile smiles and sly asides to camera – that even a ferocious public disowning by Queen 1YQ 1EKKMI 7QMXL MW FEVIP] EFPI XS HI¾IGX MX JSV QSVI XLER E LIEVXFIEX

This review originally appeared in Venue Magazine.

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International Programmes

+44 (0) 1223 760850 intenq@ice.cam.ac.uk www.ice.cam.ac.uk/intsummer

! Shakespeare Uncovered

A Very Shakespeare Scandal Shakespeare Uncovered is arguably the best and most accessible documentary series ever made on the subject of England's greatest ever writer. So why isn’t it being shown in the UK? Words by Pat Reid

Helen Hunt investigates Much Ado About Nothing in Shakespeare Uncovered.

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ll good things come to an end, and after 15 years, the third and final series of Shakespeare Uncovered has been screened on the venerable PBS network in the USA. As with the previous series, each episode is presented by a leading actor who has a personal passion for a particular play and sets out to explore it in illuminating detail. This series, the line-up of Helen Hunt, F. Murray Abraham, Romola Garai, Brian Cox, Simon Russell Beale and Sir Antony Sher have investigated Much Ado About Nothing, The Merchant of Venice, Measure for Measure, Julius Caesar, The Winter’s Tale and Richard III. It’s a fantastic selection, and would be one of the highlights of any TV channel’s schedule. However, we are horrified (although not entirely surprised) to learn that there are no plans to screen these programmes on any TV channel in the United Kingdom. Which prompts the question: What the hell is going on? When we interviewed series co-producer Richard Denton for Shakespeare Magazine Issue 7, he was extremely candid about his frustration with the British TV industry and its perplexingly self-defeating attitude towards its greatest cultural asset. This month we contacted Richard for an update: “My thoughts about British Television need careful collating,” he told us, “but it seems that our TV culture no longer has the appetite to ‘celebrate’ anything other than celebrity fun– which is, after all, fun. In the US they have a series called American Masters in which they profile (and celebrate) the likes of Bernstein, or Philip Roth or William Goldman or Arthur Miller or Sondheim or whoever –

Shakespeare Uncovered

and they do it simply because these cultural icons are worth celebrating. We no longer do that in the UK. If I wanted to make a film about Shakespeare really it would have to be ‘Shakespeare: The Paedophile Years’ or ‘Why I hate Shakespeare’. That could get commissioned. “It’s a shame because we have always believed it was possible to make entertaining celebratory films about Shakespeare and that we have done that 18 times now! “But beyond the first series UK TV wasn’t really interested. To be fair, BBC Worldwide have invested (minimally) in Series III and they will sell it around the world, but I still doubt it will be shown in the UK, and they still cannot be bothered to make a DVD Boxed Set which the US do.” One morsel of good news is that Richard hinted that he and fellow producer Nicola Stockley (who made four of the latest batch of programmes) might be available for Shakespeare Uncovered public screenings and talks in the UK in 2019. Watch this space!

“Our TV culture no longer has the appetite to celebrate anything other than celebrity fun”

Ֆ If you are lucky enough to be in the USA, you can watch all episodes of Shakespeare Uncovered

Watch here – But hurry before they expire. There are also plenty of clips so viewers outside the US can at least get a taste of what we’re missing.

Above,Top: Romola Garai explores Measure for Measure. Above: F. Murray Abraham delves into The Merchant of Venice.

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Planning to perform a short selection from Shakespeare? The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes, including monologues, from 18 of Shakespeare’s best-known plays. Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes, all “road tested” at the Folger Shakespeare Library’s annual Student Shakespeare Festival.

The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays:

02!)3% &/2 4(% -).54% 3(!+%30%!2% 3%2)%3 “Lays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical experience, guided by a sagacious, knowledgeable, and intuitive educator. Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning Shakespeare through performance.” —Library Journal

!S 9OU ,IKE )T s 4HE #OMEDY OF %RRORS (AMLET s (ENRY )6 0ART ) s *ULIUS #AESAR +ING ,EAR s ,OVE S ,ABOR S ,OST -ACBETH s 4HE -ERCHANT OF 6ENICE 4HE -ERRY 7IVES OF 7INDSOR ! -IDSUMMER .IGHT S $REAM -UCH !DO !BOUT .OTHING s /THELLO 2OMEO AND *ULIET s 4HE 4AMING OF THE 3HREW s 4HE 4EMPEST s 4WELFTH .IGHT 4HE 4WO 'ENTLEMEN OF 6ERONA

THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of

Shakespeare’s language intact. The scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind, providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance, audition, or competition.

NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years. Since 1996, he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.

The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespeare.com.

! Shakespeare in Schools Image by Amogha Sridhar.

Does Shakespeare Belong in Schools? Sydney-based student Tazmin Harper wrote to Shakespeare Magazine with some questions about Shakespeare’s relevance in the modern day, both inside and outside the classroom – needless to say, Editor Pat Reid had a few comments to make on this subject... Interview by Tazmin Harper

TAZMIN HARPER: How did you become interested/involved with Shakespeare and his works? PAT REID: “It'’s a long story, but the short

version is this: At the start of 2013 I decided to read Richard III, and I enjoyed it so much that I carried on until I’d read Shakespeare’s Complete Works, which I think took me about seven or eight months. I had the idea

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for Shakespeare Magazine almost immediately. I was a media professional experienced in making specialist magazines, so I knew it was something I could do. I thought about it for a year, but couldn’t raise any finance, and I was giving up hope that it would ever happen, when suddenly there was an opportunity. I took a leap of faith, and the first issue of Shakespeare Magazine was published on 23 April 2014.” Did your scecondary education shape your interest in Shakespeare? Positively or negatively?

“I was at secondary school in Merseyside during the 1980s. We did quite a bit of Shakespeare, and I enjoyed it. The teachers were good. It wasn’t an amazingly innovative approach or anything, but I was into it, so I got a lot out of it. Looking around me, I was aware that some of my classmates weren’t getting it at all, and I knew how they felt

Shakespeare in Schools

“Shakespeare can be introduced and taught brilliantly in schools – even primary schools” because in most of my other subjects at school it was me who wasn’t getting it at all. “I should also mention that I had a head start because my Dad had made me read and learn some Shakespeare when I was younger – Julius Caesar and Macbeth, a bit of The Merchant of Venice. I’d even written a short Shakespearean parody when I was about ten. And in my final term at secondary school I wrote and staged a Hamlet spoof called Omlet – it was basically Hamlet meets The Rocky Horror Picture Show. So I was a Young Shakespearean. And then I went to university and it basically put me off English Literature for the next 25 years.” What is your demographic/readership for the Shakespeare Magazine?

“It’s a free online magazine, and we have found readers in well over 100 countries. The majority of the readers are female and they are often (but by no means exclusively) connected to education, the arts and/or the

theatre world. Plenty of teachers, students and librarians. The age range is wide, ranging from students in their late teens to retirees in their sixties and older. Our youngest and oldest readers that I know of were 15 and 85. “The two biggest readerships are the USA and the UK, followed by Germany, Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Spain, France and Brazil. If you name a country, I can tell you how many readers we have there, and what I know about how Shakespeare is perceived there. We have readers in the most surprising places, but I’ve realised that any country with a capital city, a university, a theatre and a British Embassy will usually have at least a pocket of Shakespeare fans.” What themes and issues from Shakespeare's works are most prominent in modern day?

“Politics. Love. Men and women. Treachery. Murder. Death and bereavement. War – especially civil war. Leadership, and the lack thereof. Magic and manipulation. Don’t trust A government school student reads the Shakespeare Lives in Botswana programme, 2016. Photo by Monirul Bhuiyan.

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! Shakespeare in Schools Shakespeare Day in a typical London school, 2016.

witches, but fairies are brilliant. Sometimes goddesses are attracted to mortals. I’ll leave you to work out which of Shakespeare’s plays and poems these refer to.” Do you feel that his plays are still relatable to a modern audience?

“I do, but so what? Just because something is relatable doesn’t mean it’s any good. You’d have to be an extremely sick individual to relate to Lady Macbeth, but she’s a compelling, unforgettable character. (Actually, I know that loads of people do relate to Lady Macbeth. That’s because this strange thing happens with Shakespeare where people often simply ignore the things in the text that don’t match their preconceptions. So therefore it’s possible to believe that Lady Macbeth is, for example, a feminist warrior, when she’s actually a mentally ill accessory to murder.) “The way Shakespeare’s plays unfold can seem weird at first. But that’s because most plays, films, TV and novels today use all the same tricks and formulae, and so we find it strange when those things don’t happen. Interestingly, I sometimes find that films from other cultures like India, South Korea and maybe Turkey seem closer to

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the Shakespearean style of storytelling than modern day English-language stuff. Oddly enough, some elements of the Mamma Mia! films seem to be quite heavily indebted to Shakespeare.” Why do you believe Shakespeare is such an important figure in English education?

“Since the Enlightenment, I think that Shakespeare has increasingly occupied the space in the minds of the intelligentsia that would previously have been devoted to the Bible. So Shakespeare’s works have become a sort of secular Bible, and thus have attained great importance in our culture. Someone recently said that even in a post-Christian World, the dreams we dream are Christian dreams. I think there’s something in that, but I also think that now those dreams are coauthored by Shakespeare.” Do you believe Shakespeare should be studied in English or Drama in secondary school? Or any other subjects?

“That’s an interesting question, as I hadn’t really thought about Shakespeare being taught in schools outside of English Language and Literature classes. But before I answer the

Shakespeare in Schools

question, let me address this word ‘should’. Because I don’t know about you, but whenever I’m told I ‘should’ do something, or read something, or think something or be something, I tend to resist it. And I particularly hate it when people on social media post statements like ‘This should be taught in every school’, as if the whole of humanity has to exactly conform to their own personal likes. “But having said that, I am a Shakespearean, I’m evangelical about Shakespeare, and I know that Shakespeare can be introduced and taught brilliantly in schools – even in primary schools. “So English Language is an obvious subject to bring in Shakespeare. It helps to show where our language has come from and how it has evolved. Same goes for English Literature, obvs. “I suspect most schoolkids don’t study Drama, but I do think it would be bizarre to have a Drama department that didn’t do Shakespeare. If it wasn’t for Shakespeare there wouldn’t be any Drama department. Doing Shakespeare in Drama is also valuable from a practical point of view. Actors with Shakespeare training tend to be more

confident and more versatile. If you look at the British (and some Australian) actors who have broken through internationally in recent years, they usually have done and continue to do major Shakespeare roles. Hollywood takes Shakespeare credentials very seriously, in part because native US actors don’t often have the same experience. “And Shakespeare can also be useful and highly relevant in school History lessons. I’m friendly with the team on BBC History Magazine, and they have Shakespeare references in practically every article. The many excellent historians we see on British TV constantly refer to Shakespeare. I’ve said before that you can’t be a Shakespearean and not be at least part historian, but maybe it’s the other way round too – you can’t be a historian and not be at least part Shakespearean. “Shakespeare and his associates are obviously interesting historical figures in their own right, and it’s refreshing to study the popular culture of their era, as a contrast to the more big picture stuff on monarchs, wars, politics, plagues, the importance of pumpernickel in Westphalia, and so on. There was an amazing explosion of creativity School students participate in a course run by Globe Education Practitioners.

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! Shakespeare in Schools Alex Hassell as Henry V in 2015. Photo courtesy of the RSC.

in the Elizabethan era, and we’re still feeling it in our popular culture today. Shakespeare also provides a helpful entry point for certain subjects, or can be an alternative way to approach things – even if it’s just the obvious route of ‘This is how Shakespeare depicted Julius Caesar, Cleopatra, Henry V, Richard III – how does it compare to what we now understand to be the historical facts?’” Do you feel that Shakespeare and his works should be a required topic to study in secondary school? Why?

“Allowing again for my unease with the word ‘should’, I do believe that Shakespeare belongs in secondary schools, certainly in England, and probably everywhere else English is spoken as well. Look, it’s important to know about your culture, and if you speak English then you’re one of Shakespeare’s children, so a bit of respect, as they say, is due. “Shakespeare is the most important writer – and arguably one of the most significant human beings – of the last 500 years, so any education system in the English-speaking world would be severely lacking if it didn’t reflect that.

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“There are at least two countries I know of where they’ve tried to kick Shakespeare out of the classroom in recent years. One is Zimbabwe and the other is Canada. Now, clearly Zimbabwe needs to cultivate its own literature and writers, but to me it seems that Mugabe’s henchmen wanted to ban Shakespeare because they didn’t want a population capable of independent thought. “In Canada, the idea is to replace Shakespeare with Canadian authors, so it’s a kind of nationalist but also virtue signalling move, and it’s nakedly political because they apparently want to erase the historic links between the UK and Canada. And also I believe cash gets funnelled to favoured authors, so this seems to have the whiff of cronyism as well. “Incidentally, Canada’s greatest living writer, Margaret Atwood, is herself an avid Shakespearean, and interestingly I believe she was largely homeschooled. Elsewhere I saw one quote from a young woman saying ‘As a Chinese Canadian, I don’t want to learn about English writers’. Which is ironic, because in England there was a serious proposal in Birmingham, the second biggest

Shakespeare in Schools

Students from Maru-a-Pula school perform a scene from Macbeth at Shakespeare Lives in Botswana, 2016. Photo by Monirul Bhuiyan.

city, to change the name of the airport to William Shakespeare International Airport, as it’s receiving such enormous volumes of tourists from China who are coming to visit Shakespeare’s Birthplace. “This leads me to another observation: outside of the English-speaking world, the interest in and love for Shakespeare is phenomenal. So even if native English speakers cease to value Shakespeare, his works will find a home in emerging global superpowers like China, India and Brazil.” Which works of his do you believe are the most important to be studied?

“I suppose there’s five or ten big plays that everybody’s heard of, but for the numerous reasons I’ve discussed above, all Shakespeare’s works have value – let’s not forget the Sonnets, and long poems like Venus and Adonis – and if teachers are able to give a flavour of it all, then so much the better. “It would be nice if teachers were able to choose which ones to do based on how much a particular class would enjoy them and respond to them. It occurs to me that while I advocate Shakespeare for all, it would be a shame if everyone was taught the same texts

in the same way, and expected to arrive at the same conclusions. “It’s often said that performing Shakespeare is the best way to get to grips with the texts. This certainly works for me, but some children are completely mortified at the thought of reading something out loud to their peers. I can also understand that tackling entire plays can be tough, as youngsters tend to lose interest before the end. Perhaps an alternative approach could be a kind of ‘tasting menu’ of Shakespeare, where classes would get to sample extracts from several plays, as well as dipping into the long poems and the Sonnets. “In 2014, FutureLearn did an excellent Shakespeare MOOC (online course) which was presented by Jonathan Bate. Something like that could easily be adapted for secondary schools. In which case, every kid in Britain would end up knowing Shakespeare better than I did before I started Shakespeare Magazine. That would be fantastic.”

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Book Review

Year of the Mad King: The Lear Diaries Antony Sher (Nick Hern Books) Dealing with one of Shakespeare’s most famously punishing roles, Year of the Mad King is the latest highly-readable and revealing volume of Antony Sher’s behind-the-scenes diaries. Review by Pat Reid

Published in 2015, Antony Sher’s Year of the Fat Knight recounted his journey of transformation in bringing Shakespeare’s Falstaff to the stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company. The book was a sequel of sorts to Year of the King, which chronicled the actor’s landmark 1980s Richard III. And now there’s a third volume, Year of the Mad King – and I’m sure you can guess which role this one tackles. From a Shakespearean point of view, these books are a great read for several reasons. They explore the challenges facing a top-level Shakespeare actor, they take us behind the scenes of a major RSC production, and they share numerous insights into Shakespeare’s texts – some of which have a startling force of revelation. Sher is an engaging narrator, and it certainly feels as though he’s being truthful – often painfully so, in fact – with his readers.

The contradictions in his character and status make for an interesting view on things. He’s a celebrated actor, who constantly worries if he’s good enough. He’s famous, but not a celebrity. He’s a knight of the realm, but at times (such as when trying to fix some problems in a Chinese dressing room), he feels virtually powerless. And although Sher is known for playing big characters, there’s also something of an everyman quality to him. Importantly, he has an instinctive understanding of the kind of details we in the audience would find interesting. As he takes on the monumental role of King Lear, Sher is in his mid-sixties and coping with a series of family bereavements, a seriously injured arm and a (possibly psychosomatic) deafness that he refers to as ‘Lear’s Ear’. Fighting in his corner, he has his life partner Gregory Doran (who

is, of course, the RSC’s erudite and ebullient Artistic Director), a loving circle of colleagues, friends and extended family, and his own lifetime’s worth of hardwon acting experience. Like Sher’s previous volumes, Year of the Mad King is highly readable, full of fascinating Shakespearean insight and detail, and impressively illustrated with the author’s own paintings and sketches. There is plenty of method in this author’s madness.

Year of the Mad King is available from Nick Hern Books, priced £16.99

Buy the book

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! Victorian Shakespeare

The Illustrated Man

Dr Michael Goodman of Cardiff University wants everyone to sample and enjoy the artistic treasures and historical delights of the Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive. Words: Michael Goodman

As You Like It, 1846 (Illustrator: Kenny Meadows; Engraver: John Orrin Smith)

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Victorian Shakespeare

Richard II, circa 1840 (Illustrator:William Harvey; Engraver: Ebenezer Landells)

hat comes to mind when you think of Shakespeare? The latest Kenneth Branagh film, perhaps? Struggling to make sense of the language in school? Merry Englande, ruffs and a good dose of ‘hey nonny nonny’? If we could somehow ask this question to a Victorian, there is a good chance that they would answer: ‘illustrations’. The Victorian era was the

The Taming of the Shrew, circa 1866 (Illustrator: H. C. Selous; Engraver: Frederick Wentworth)

‘Golden Age’ for Shakespeare illustration. Between 1839 and the end of the century, thousands of illustrations were produced within many different editions of Shakespeare’s Complete Works. New printing technologies meant that books could be produced on a mass commercial scale and illustrated books, for the first time, became affordable to working and middle class families.

What is so fascinating about these illustrated Shakespeare editions, which were hugely popular in the Victorian era, is that they form a significant part of our cultural heritage and, indeed, our construction of Shakespeare’s plays as we understand them today. Unfortunately, these illustrations are often hidden away in rare books libraries, meaning that they are often inaccessible to members of the shakespeare magazine

! Victorian Shakespeare “From 1839 to 1900, the Victorian era was the Golden Age of Shakespeare illustration”

Julius Caesar, circa 1840 (Illustrator and Engraver unknown)

general public. My recent project, The Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive, seeks to rectify this. It is an online, open access resource, which contains over 3,000 of these Victorian illustrations. And it is centred on the four most significant Victorian editions and illustrators of Shakespeare’s Complete Works: Charles Knight, Kenny Meadows, John Gilbert and H.C. Selous.

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The archive came about when I was exploring ideas for my PhD in English Literature at Cardiff University. Initially the project was just going to be concerned with analysing how Victorian illustrators depicted Shakespeare’s plays. However, as my research progressed, it slowly became apparent that here was a remarkable under-explored and underappreciated treasure trove of fantastic, curious, and

often unnerving illustrations that deserved to be shared with both academics and the wider public. The illustrations by the Cardigan-born Kenny Meadows, whom one of his contemporaries described as an ‘erratic genius’, are a perfect example of the richness of material available in the archive. Fortunately, digital technology allows us to reach audiences in a way that is unprecedented.

Victorian Shakespeare

Much Ado About Nothing, circa 1866 (Illustrator: H. C. Selous; Engraver unknown)

Digital archives allow us to recover hidden histories, celebrate forgotten voices, to enhance our understanding of bygone eras, and to disseminate cultural artefacts in an engaging and innovative fashion. It was with these ideas in mind â&#x20AC;&#x201C; about what can be achieved using the digital â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I decided to create The Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive. This was, of course, a large

Antony and Cleopatra, 1867 (Illustrator: John Gilbert; Engraver: Dalziel Brothers)

undertaking. Each of these editions contain hundreds of illustrations which would require scanning into the computer, alongside being given the appropriate bibliographical and iconographical meta data (basically, the details about where the image came from and what the image contains), so that the illustrations would then be searchable within the archive. Furthermore, I wanted

the archive to be as user-friendly as possible, and to incorporate the ability to use social media, so that users could comment upon and share the images on Facebook and Twitter. After four years of working on the project, I launched the archive late last year, and the reaction it has received has been hugely positive. The BBC, for example, have made a short video about the archive, while Digital Arts shakespeare magazine

! Victorian Shakespeare

As You Like It, 1867 (Illustrator: John Gilbert; Engraver: Dalziel Brothers)

magazine have credited it as being one of the top ten websites for free historical images. Many online literary magazines have also written about the archive, including Lit Hub, while the UK’s Shakespeare Magazine (thank you, Pat!) has described it as a ‘deeply wonderful thing’. As kind and generous as these reactions have been, what I take most from them is that there is a real desire amongst the public to engage with academic work. Ultimately, I hope the archive

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Henry V, 1846 (Illustrator: Kenny Meadows; Engraver: Henry Vizetelly)

will be used in education to help students of all ages to better understand Shakespeare’s plays, and by researchers interested in the Victorian period and Shakespeare. However, the archive is available for anyone to use in whatever way they wish. Moreover, I would like to inspire other people to have the confidence to make similar archives and to recognise that with curiosity, imagination and creativity, we can make scholarship exciting, interesting

and available to all. We now live in world where, thanks to technology, we can begin to share our cultural history – not just with a privileged few, but with everyone.

Explore the Victorian Illustrated Shakespeare Archive

Here

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Hamlet Alone?

Tom Hiddleston

Hamlet

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Richard III

Golden Virginia

Off with their heads!

A double bill of the Bard in sunny Sydney

Launch issue

Benedict Cumberbatch

King David From Doctor Who to Hamlet and Richard II, David Tennant is a 21st century Shakespeare superstar!

Join us on a trip to the American Shakespeare Center

Shakespeare and the Tower of London

Why the city that made Shakespeare still rocks the world

Two men. One epic journey. How Giles and Dan made the ultimate Shakespeare documentary!

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Why his new book is a love letter to Falstaff, Stratford and Shakespeare

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Art thou Grumio?

don Lon alling Set in stone Five great exclusive C Muse of Fire Shakespeare interviews! Coriolanus

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Exploding the myth of “To be or not to be…”

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Blood meets ink in the world of Shakespeare Tattoos

Ֆ Celebrating 450 years of the English language’s greatest-ever wordsmith

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Our college girl takes on The Taming of the Shrew

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Stanley Wells tells us what it takes to make a Shakespeare superstar

From Russia with love

David Tennant fans create their own edition of Richard II

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Behind the scenes of the stellar documentary series

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Shakespeare in Turkey As You Like It The Essex Plot Shakespearean Opera

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Native Tongues

The haunting Shakespeare art of Rosalind Lyons

The sound of Shakespeare in Scotland

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James Shapiro on 1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear

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Video Games: The future of Shakespeare?

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Hiddlesto finds his killer instinct

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Shakespearean comedy from the crew Horrible Histories

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Benedict Cumberbatch on the big screen!

! Paterson Joseph

Being Brutus In 2012 Paterson Joseph played Brutus in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s acclaimed ‘African’ production of Julius Caesar -X [EW E WMKRM½GERX IZIRX in British theatre, and one which Paterson has now documented in a book, Julius Caesar and Me. In this extract from Chapter 13, Paterson recounts the early weeks of performances in Stratford-upon%ZSR XLI XIPP XEPI WMKRW SJ GVIITMRK JEXMKYI ERH XLI I\GMXMRK TVSQMWI SJ RI[ EHZIRXYVIW Words by Paterson Joseph

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Paterson Joseph

“I could feel that the long stretch before us was going to test every ounce of my stamina”

t was at some point in these first few weeks that we heard intimations that representatives from Russia’s Moscow Art Theatre were to visit us, in order to assess whether our production would be a good fit for the Chekov Theatre Festival they planned for the winter of 2012. Not only that, but a contingent from the United States was also due to come over to see if we might be producing a Julius Caesar worthy of investing a US tour in. And so, the pressure was on to continue the high standard of performances. Though, naturally, only a few of the lead actors were privy to the information that we were to expect such prestigious visitors. On one of those Stratford nights – the same night the Russians were in – we had a visit from RSC President HRH Prince Charles. He happens to also be an acquaintance of Greg’s and so comes to see shows at Stratford in a very informal way. In Act 2 Scene 1, when Brutus is trying to reason through his next course of action concerning Caesar, he declares a strong republican sentiment. I had always accompanied this line with an aggressive, dismissive gesture downstage right, along the line of the exit. That night I remembered, just before that moment came, that I had seen Prince Charles was sitting in the very aisle seat that usually received the full brunt of the aggressive gesture with the line, ‘My ancestors did from the streets of Rome / The Tarquin drive when he was call’d a king.’ I wondered what he made of that line and whether

he thought I had gestured in his direction on purpose. I did get to ask him afterwards whether he had enjoyed the play. Bit of a leading question, I guess, since in my experience everybody who is asked this question by an actor in the play answers in the affirmative. Or most do. As the actor Patrick O’Kane reminded me recently, ‘No one comes backstage to say you were shite’ . . . Prince Charles’ response was that he had indeed enjoyed it and it had brought back memories from when he had studied it at school. I replied that I bet he had hated the play back then. His eyebrows rose slowly and he responded that I was right, he had detested it. ‘Bad teacher . . .’, he mumbled. The fact is that he is not alone. I can’t recall if I had time to tell him, but if I had my way, I would ban any introduction to Shakespeare before a live play has been experienced by that novice. For example, I would be sure that any pupil first approaching Shakespeare’s plays would see at least a filmed version of the play they are tackling. Best of all would be a live performance, obviously. Failing either of those opportunities, here’s a great suggestion from my friend, actor and writer Ian Flintoff: a session where an active speaking of a few choice Elizabethan phrases, littered liberally with ‘thous’ and ‘thees’, should be given to the pupils, just to give them the taste of the new language. A line here and there of Shakespeare, utilizing phrases that have entered the vernacular, could be used to build short scenes. These lines

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! Paterson Joseph “We should have great sympathy for British children traumatized by Shakespeare…” are legion and would surprise most pupils with their colloquial feel. ‘Cruel to be Kind’ (Hamlet), ‘Love is Blind’ (The Merchant of Venice, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Henry V), ‘Knock, Knock! Who’s there?’ (Macbeth), ‘The world is my oyster’ (The Merry Wives of Windsor), ‘Break the ice’ (The Taming of the Shrew), to name just a few. But getting people involved in human interactions, whether they are participants themselves, or spectators experiencing a live performance, is essential for an understanding of what Shakespeare intended. Live, the words and their meaning are given social, relational and, above all, emotional context. In short, I believe that Shakespeare would be turning in his grave if he knew that the majority of people who first come to his plays, come to them via the classroom. Dry text, read by uninterested and uninformed students, just as ignorant of how to speak this stuff when they enter the classroom as they are when they leave it. It is as if, in a hundred years, in order to understand the phenomena of soap operas, we were asked to read a script in class of, say, the British soap Eastenders. In order to get a feel for this work, we’d surely have to see it first. Reading it could never give us the humour, violence and sheer speed of it. We would leave the classroom vowing never to see a show like this one and certainly never to go to the dreadful East End. Not the greatest analogy, perhaps, but you get the point. Art needs to be seen in its intended context

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to be truly understood – not read about third-hand in a classroom. It does strike me as poor that our leading playwright, William Shakespeare, the one we hold up to the entire world as a beacon of British artistry, lyricism and passion, is hated and feared by the vast majority of pupils in his own country. Unless we are fortunate enough to have had an inspired and inspiring teacher, this is the case for most of us. I have met too many adults who have shied away from Shakespeare because, as children, they had received stilted, incomprehensible, instruction in his work. It is surely beholden on all British schools, at primary level onward (why not before?), to find a lively and vibrant method of passing this passion for Shakespeare on to their pupils. As Mrs Bird did for me. We should have great sympathy for British children traumatized by Shakespeare, by the way. After all, in non-English-speaking countries, Shakespeare is generally presented in a modern, translated version. So much easier than our 400-year-old text. British kids deserve to get all the help they can to find their way to the heart of these great works. *** Our company’s contribution to the passing on of a passion for Shakespeare was a week of filming extracts for a BBC Education Department programme on Julius Caesar. The format was fairly simple. We were filmed discussing the themes in a

Paterson Joseph

particular scene. Then we’d play the scene simply, examining the themes again, afterwards replaying the scene using exercises devised by our assistant director, Gbolohan Obeisan. It was both satisfying and frustrating, this filming week. It was exhausting to have to go through the play again in minute detail in the afternoon and then perform the same scenes again at night. I’m not sure if I’d agree to do the same thing again while performing in an equally draining show. Tiredness was already beginning to sneak up on me; I could feel that the long stretch before us was going to test every ounce of my stamina, both artistic and physical. And, basically, I was really missing home. The summer holidays had started and my family were going away without me. It was great to know they were getting a break but frustrating not to be able to join them. That is part of the actor’s lot but, obviously, not the best part. It certainly isn’t conducive to a happy home life and might go some way to explaining the high level of relationship break-ups there is amongst actors. *** On a brighter note, we learnt that the Russians, specifically the producers of their Shakespeare Festival, were excited by our production and were confirming an invitation to perform at the famous Moscow Art Theatre in November 2012. This was an amazing piece of news, on top of the great reviews and almost universal approval that the show was now receiving. A rare moment in my career. I’ve had shows that I’ve loved, but not many other people in the profession have clicked with. Or shows that my fellow actors and directors

enjoyed immensely that received scant praise and little success outside of the profession itself. It was not common for me to be part of a show that seemed to have critical, public and professional praise all round. A moment to savour. And so, I ran the streets and lanes of Stratford, skirting the River Avon as it wound its way through the Warwickshire countryside. I shopped in the quaint little town. When time allowed, I relaxed in the tiny yard at the back of my rickety cottage, soaking up the sun’s rays before plunging myself every night, and twice on Thursdays and Saturdays, into the darkness of the theatre. Finally, I slept peacefully in my wonky cottage as the days turned into weeks and our triumphant Stratford run finally drew to a close. The tantalizing joys of a London run loomed large. However, another huge and, ultimately, gamechanging challenge lay before us.

Published by Methuen Drama, Julius Caesar and Me by Paterson Joseph MW EZEMPEFPI RS[

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! Kate Mulvany

“I have the exact same spinal curvature as the real Richard… The chronic pain and shame he refers to are very real to me”

Photo by Rush.

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Kate Mulvany

Photo by Prudence Upton.

The Conscience of the King Last year, Kate Mulvany won acclaim in the role of Richard III for Australia’s Bell Shakespeare Company. Here she tells us about her uniquely personal interpretation of one of Shakespeare’s most controversial characters. Interview by Pat Reid

PAT REID: Tell us about your experience of playing Richard, and what you got from it. KATE MULVANY: “I spent much of

2017 performing as Richard III for the Bell Shakespeare Company – Australia’s very own company devoted to Shakespeare’s works. It was an extraordinary experience. Although I am a woman, I played Richard as a man, which gave a further strangeness to the character. To hear lines of misogyny come out

of the mouth of a female actor, playing them straight as a man, added a further ‘discomfort’ for the audience, I suppose. Lines that would normally get a bit of a sexist titter got nervous laughs or horrified gasps… “It was a fascinating insight into gender, performer and audience relationship. I also worked as dramaturg on the production for two years before we started rehearsals, so that gave me a lot of time to really delve into not just Richard, but all of the characters in his life, and view them through this genderbending prism. “I also have the exact same spinal curvature as the real Richard, so for the first time in 20 years as an actor I was allowed to fully reveal it. I have had to hide my scoliosis from audiences – usually with costuming and lighting and blocking. However, with Richard III, I was free to (literally) expose myself. The chronic pain and shame he refers to in the play are very real to me. Although I shakespeare magazine

! Kate Mulvany “I have had to hide my scoliosis from audiences. With Richard III, I was free to expose myself ” don’t agree with his politics, I can empathise completely with the way he walks in the world. I felt a very deep, unexpected, sincere care for him. “As a result of this insight, I changed the ending of the play and gave Richard a soliloquy, after being wounded by Richmond – I stole it from King Henry VI, Part 3. I had Richard start with ‘I have often heard my mother say I came into the world with my legs forward…’ and end on ‘I am myself alone’. I wanted Richard to use his final moments to question the audience on whether he was born a monster or made one by his family, and by society.” What have you learned about Shakespeare that would have surprised your younger self? KM: “That he would be part of my life at all!

I grew up in outback Australia. Shakespeare was not an option for us at school – there was no access to any theatrical studies. But somehow, fate led me to studying drama at

university in the city. And it was there that I was introduced to Shakespeare. I fell in love with the drive of his ideas, the muscularity of the language, the epic in the domestic, the domestic in the epic… Since then, I have found myself performing regularly in Shakespeare’s works – often as male characters. Cassius. Claudius. Richard. Lady Macbeth. I have no idea how I got here, but I’m so glad I did.” Which Shakespeare character most resembles you? KM: “Richard III, physically. Beatrice (Much

Ado About Nothing), personally.”

If I ask you to give me a Shakespeare quotation, which is the first one that comes to your mind? KM: “‘Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and

tomorrow…’ (Macbeth). It’s a simple but profound favourite – heartbreaking and hopeful all at once.” Photo by Prudence Upton.

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Kate Mulvany

Photo by TBC.

What's your favourite Shakespeare-related fact, myth, story or anecdote? KM: “I love that Shakespeare was a bower

bird. He borrowed from myths, legends, publications and anecdotes all the time. It means that when you read a Shakespearean work you get a whole treasure trove of other references that are all wonderful, timeless gifts from the playwright himself. “I also love that Shakespeare was an actor. You can feel it in his words. He gives you lines and characters that you can’t help but feel he has said aloud as he wrote them – they trip off the tongue and curl round the mouth so addictively. And they are the basis of

extraordinary characterisations and narratives that comes from an actor’s pen, fervently and subconsciously writing for himself...” You have the power to cast anyone in the world (actor or otherwise) to play any Shakespearean character. Who do you choose – and which role do they play? KM: “Trump. As one of the Plebeians in Julius

Caesar. But not one with any lines. Just to make him shut up and listen!”

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BRANAGH. DENCH. McKELLEN. ALL IS TRUE 7XVEXJSVH LIVI [I GSQI -X´W XLI RI[ 7LEOIWTIEVI ½PQ from the director of Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing, Hamlet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, As You Like It… and Thor.