A stick-figure Shakespeare comic by Mya Lixian Gosling
Halloween might be past, but it’s still the ghosts’ high noon over here in Hamlet-land!
Consulting pocket dramaturg: Kate Pitt
In case, like me, you are incurably geeky, here’s an article on possible candidates for “hebanon”: Would Shakespeare’s poisons and drugs work in reality?
And, if you want a better comic about the European adder, check out Savage Chickens: A Suspicious Death.
On November 2nd I sat down, via Skype, with my pocket dramaturg Kate Pitt to watch Netflix’s The King together. Having been forewarned, we sat down with alcohol.
Let’s clear this up right now: The only thing fundamentally wrong with The King is that it claims to be an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henry IV parts 1 & 2 and Henry V. This is its original sin, albeit one only obvious to people familiar with the plays. Had the creators envisioned The King as an independent mud-and-blood period piece, covering the same historical events as Shakespeare’s plays but not explicitly based on them, I probably would have enjoyed it. However, by yoking their piece to Shakespeare, The King’s creators effectively shot themselves in the foot with a longbow (if that’s even physically possibly) by inviting viewers to constantly compare it with the source material.
Things were not helped by scriptwriter and Falstaff actor Joel Edgerton’s comments on Shakespeare:
“We’ve written ‘Henry IV’ and ‘Henry V’ as a period film, but with our own dialogue. For lack of a better word, [it’s] ‘Game Of Thrones’ meets Shakespeare only in that, you can watch ‘Game Of Thrones’ and understand what’s going on. I feel like, with complete deference to Shakespeare, there is something that happens when even the most intelligent people watch Shakespeare. They feel stupid, because he does the kind of roundabout version of telling you simple things. So, we just wanted to let the audience understand exactly what’s going on, and not just some people, but everybody,” he explained. (Source: Indiewire.com)
I’m not going to dwell on this too much, but the idea that “even the most intelligent people” can’t understand Shakespeare’s language is infuriating on many, many levels. Yes, Shakespeare can be totally unintelligible, but that is almost entirely the fault of the method of delivery, rather than the raw material. Do you have to try a bit harder to understand Shakespeare than “regular” English? Yes, unquestionably. But that doesn’t make it NOT WORTH TRYING.
So, to sum up: I’m all in favor of making Shakespeare accessible to new audiences who otherwise would not be exposed to his works. That’s why I’m drawing this comic, after all. However, if you’re going to do that, you have to at least vaguely respect the source material. Otherwise you’re just making a rod for your own back. I’ll address the main rod The King made for itself later on, but for now, and for your entertainment, here is how Kate and I processed our experience on Twitter.
Read MoreHey! If, like my parents, you’re not on Twitter but are interested in reliving my experience at the Blackfriars Conference last week, I’ve collected my main tweets on the subject here for your convenience. You’ll notice I had a strong focus on bears, as opposed to, you know, scholarly insight. If you want to read more about all the fantastic scholars and practitioners who presented at the conference, check out the American Shakespeare Center blog coverage.
For a quick overview of the conference (and a sneaky photo of yours truly checking her phone like a boss), check out this article: Blackfriars Conference brings hundreds of Shakespearians to Staunton.
And now! On to business! Or should I said… on to bearsness? (No, I definitely should not say that…)
Read MoreForgot to prepare a Shakespearean-themed Halloween costume this year? No worries! I’ve got you covered.
Consulting pocket dramaturg: Kate Pitt
Don’t forget to check out my other Halloween-themed comics! Happy Halloween, everyone!
Polonius is still talking…
Consulting pocket dramaturg: Kate Pitt
I’m off next week, as I’ll be partying at the Blackfriars Conference hosted by the American Shakespeare Center (see below), but Hamlet will be back the week after that! And it’s going to be spooOOooOOOoopy….
I'm going to be at the Blackfriars Conference at the American Shakespeare Center next week, nerding out with tons of fellow Shakespeare nerds and bear enthusiasts. I'm also running a Three-Panel workshop, which you should totally come to if you want to learn all my deepest, darkest artistic and story-telling secrets.
WHO: Me!
WHAT: A workshop on stick-figure basics and how to use them in three panels to explore just about any element of Shakespeare's plays!
WHERE: I don't know exactly where yet, but somewhere in Staunton, VA!
WHEN: Friday, October 25, 12:00pm-1:00pm
WHY: Because I love sharing how I approach my work and learning how it can be adapted for a variety of educational purposes.
HOW: Register for the Blackfriars Conference and come to Staunton! (I realize this is a thing that most of you will not being doing, but I thought I'd let you know anyways.)
OK, we’ve spent enough time with the angsty prince of Denmark. Let’s check in with some other members of the court.
Consulting pocket dramaturg: Kate Pitt
HE WILL BE TALKING
I'm going to be at the Blackfriars Conference at the American Shakespeare Center next week, nerding out with tons of fellow Shakespeare nerds and bear enthusiasts. I'm also running a Three-Panel workshop, which you should totally come to if you want to learn all my deepest, darkest artistic and story-telling secrets.
WHO: Me!
WHAT: A workshop on stick-figure basics and how to use them in three panels to explore just about any element of Shakespeare's plays!
WHERE: I don't know exactly where yet, but somewhere in Staunton, VA!
WHEN: Friday, October 25, 12:00pm-1:00pm
WHY: Because I love sharing how I approach my work and learning how it can be adapted for a variety of educational purposes.
HOW: Register for the Blackfriars Conference and come to Staunton! (I realize this is a thing that most of you will not being doing, but I thought I'd let you know anyways.)
OK! Let’s wrap this scene up and move along home!
Consulting pocket dramaturg: Kate Pitt
WHO YOU GONNA CALL??
Tune in next week, when… Polonius talks a lot! Wait, that’s not exactly an exciting teaser, is it…
