Shakespeare's Spooks

Poor old Banquo. He gets killed, comes back as a ghost, and doesn't even get to say anything spectral. He just sits there at the table, shaking his gory locks. (Pardon the pun - I could never resist a bad pun.)

Anyways, happy Halloween! Curl up on the couch with a bowl of candy and watch some Macbeth. 

Jon Finch's Macbeth

Ian McKellen's Macbeth

Patrick Stewart's Macbeth

Not Quite Normal

I saw the National Theater not-quite-Live broadcast of Kenneth Branagh's Macbeth  last night, and realized that, for some unfathomable reason, when I think "three witches in Macbeth", the first line that pops into my head isn't any of the good ones that rhyme or sound awesomely spooky; it's this stupid line in 1.3 where the first witch is telling the others how she tried to bum some chestnuts of some woman, who told her to get lost. My only explanation is that I must have really liked the sound of the word "aroint" when I first heard it, and it stuck in my brain. Try it! Arooooooint aroint aroint aroint aroint.

Anyways, I enjoyed Branagh's Macbeth  a lot, even though they cut the whole "aroint" bit. The staging (basically involving people churning through a long pit of mud running down the nave of a deconsecrated church) was really fun to watch, and the performances of Branagh and Alex Kingston as Lady Macbeth, while not as bone-chilling as those of other filmed Macbeths, were very engaging in their vulnerability and brittleness.

Happy St. Crispin's Day!

It's October 25th, which means it's the feast day of Saints Crispin and Cripsian, and, more importantly, the 598th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt, the thrilling set-piece around which Shakespeare's Henry V  is constructed. Of course, today St. Crispin's Day is mostly remembered for the famous speech Shakespeare gives Henry in order to inspire his bedraggled troops before the great battle begins. It goes something like this:

For some proper Crispin's Day speeches, check out the following: 

Laurence Olivier (Film, 1944)

Richard Burton (1951)

Mark Rylance (Globe Theater, 1997)

Jamie Parker (Globe Theater, 2012)

Kenneth Branagh (Film, 1989)

Hm. Can't seem to find a clip of Tom Hiddleston's version from the recent Hollow Crown  series. If anyone finds it, drop me a comment and I'll put it up. 

 Edit:  Some Hiddleston, courtesy of vigilant readers! Not the complete speech, sadly, but better than nothing!

Tom Hiddlestone (The Hollow Crown, 2012)

Expensive Educations

I am probably being slightly unfair to Fellowes. I have not yet seen his new Romeo and Juliet , but he has reportedly taken pains to preserve the most quotable lines, so Juliet apparently does say "Wherefore art thou Romeo?" and not the more comprehensible "Why are you Romeo?" However, the great remainder of less-quotable lines appear to have been twisted out of all recognizable shape, and the overall implications of Fellowes's flippant remarks are a bit distressing.

Far be it from me to claim that Shakespeare's 400-year-old language is easy to understand. It's not. However, the language barrier isn't nearly as substantial as certain expensively educated people might think. Take a ten-year-old kid to a performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream  and she'll be able to tell you exactly what is going on, even if she thinks an eglantine is a sort of pastry. Anyone can appreciate Shakespeare. The language may seem foreign at first, but the story, the characters and - crucially - the way everything comes together in performance make it comprehensible. 

I am of the opinion that adaptations of Shakespeare's plays, even apparent hatchet-jobs such as Fellowes's (and an upcoming biker-gang-themed take on Cymbeline, the premise of which has left me entirely baffled) should be embraced and encouraged. The Globe's education advisor, Fiona Banks, summed it up nicely when she said that "[adaptations] have the potential to help us re-imagine and re-discover a wealth of wonderful literature. But they are not a prerequisite for their enjoyment by the non-Oxbridge educated members of the population."

The figo for thy expensive education, Mr. Fellowes. 

OkQueenMab

Online dating meets Shakespeare! The possibilities are endless. How would the compatibility algorithm handle Kate and Petruchio? Does Viola's self-summary mention that she likes dressing up as a boy? Have Beatrice and Benedick blocked each other, or are they flirting furiously through private messages? Does Miranda's "Message Me If..." section just say "YOU'RE A MAN"?

This comic is inspired by the  Stratford Festival's 2013 production of Romeo and Juliet . Their season ends this coming week and they're offering $29 tickets for certain performances. Go while you still can! It's a long time till next May.

The Law's the Thing

Featuring Portia from The Merchant of Venice, another one of Shakespeare's great cross-dressing heroines. I always wondered why Portia, after her triumphant legal victory in the courts of Venice, decided not to pursue a legal career. She was clearly more informed about Venetian law than any of the men in court, and could spot a sneaky, underhanded loophole from a mile away. And we're supposed to believe she goes happily back to Belmont to keep house for that well-meaning damp rag Bassanio? Pssssh.

This comic is inspired by the Stratford Festival's 2013 production of The Merchant of Venice . I've never particularly cared for Merchant  as a play; I'd previously seen two stage productions and one film version, none of which really connected with me. However, the Stratford production, starring Scott Wentworth as Shylock, was phenomenal and, for a self-proclaimed cynic such as myself, surprisingly powerful. If you're within striking distance of Ontario, it closes next week. Get your tickets now!

Government Shutdown Special

Shakespeare really is remarkably versatile. I came up with half-a-dozen appropriate quotes for this, but, as I've always been partial to the Extremely Regional Captains Scene in Henry V , I went with this one.

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