THE
ARTS
4184 Shakespeare
Like all schoolchildren at the time, we had to take a Shakespeare play as part of our ‘O’ level English Literature. In our case it was ‘Julius Caesar’. I have seen the Marlon Brando film, but have never seen it on stage – indeed Shakespeare’s ‘histories’ remain a gap in my education; though this early grounding did make me aware of how often his quoted passages are taken out of context . Thus, for example, in Julius Caesar the much quoted ‘There is a tide in the affairs on men…’ actually led to the defeat at Philippae. Indeed, for a long time I hated his work. This was perhaps because of the compulsion at school, but more likely because of the way that – being in blank verse – they were declaimed rather than acted (even by Laurence Olivier). But, as I saw more and more of them, I came to recognise Shakespeare’s genius. I now realize that he was the most talented playwright ever; and nothing short of a miracle when he was one of the first to take up the English language for such a purpose.
‘Hamlet’ is my favourite drama, simply because of its wondrous use of language. I have now seen many performances, though perhaps not one of the highest quality - not even the one with Judi Dench as Gertrude.
‘Midsummer’s Night Dream’ is my favourite ‘comedy’, because of the richness of the situations as much as of the language. We have seen a number of renditions, though regrettably not Peter Brook’s wonderful one, of which the best was that by Bryden at the Cottesloe.
In the case of ‘Anthony and Cleopatra’ – we saw a great performance by Judi Dench, in her fifties, opposite Anthony Hopkins at his peak.
‘Twelth Night’ is another of my favourites, and – in the cross gartering scene – has another of his ‘misplaced’ famous quotes (this time the one about ‘Some are born to greatness…’)
‘Macbeth’ is not my favourite play, even though it is a classic tragedy, but it is that of Sarah our daughter. Again, we have seen many performances, but not necessarily the definitive ones.
‘Richard III’ – we have seen a number of productions, but the best – by the RSC - starred Alan Howard, supported by Barbara Leigh-hunt and David Suchet.
‘Much Ado About Nothing’ was the subject of a lovely staging by the National with Penelope Wilton and Michael Gambon.
The RSC production of the ‘The Comedy of Errors’ was notable for starring Ian Richardson and Alec McCowen as the twins.
‘The Taming of the Shrew’ was performed by the RSC with Sinead Cusack – an excellent actress.
‘Romeo and Juliet’ again was put on by the RSC, but this time by another, younger, Cusack sister, who was awful. When the bed got stuck coming on stage for the bedroom scene, she froze and the nurse had to literally force her down onto some cushions to continue the scene.
‘Timon of Athens’ is surprisingly very close to the modern plays of Becket .
‘King Lear’ I still find difficult, even after seeing it several times.
‘The Tempest’ is also difficult, but enjoyable.
‘The Winter’s Tale’ – which we saw at the Globe, as well as elsewhere - is supposedly a comedy but is still very dark.
‘Cymbeline’ is unusual in its use of a gallery of gods, but is really a marvelous clockwork piece.
‘Pericles’ I can’t even remember!
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