Theatre Australia

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Is Shakespeare "as boring as bat shit "?

Sun, 9 Nov 2008, 10:00 pm
stinger102 posts in thread
When I was in high school and Shakespeare was compulsory, I used to love the stories (plenty of sex and violence) but hated the language. Why could he have not said the same thing in plain and simple words? And why should we Aussies have to learn about old Pommie poets anyway? When I was at uni in the 70s, I had a small part in the scottish play. I had one long speech to remember. It was most daunting, until it was pointed out to me that it was written in iambic pentameter, so that once the actor got into the rhythm, the actual words just seemed to flow. As I matured, I began to appreciate the whole canon more and more. I realised that Shakespeare had contibuted more to the development of the English language than any other single person (with the possible exception of Chaucer). Moreover, it was not only great literature, but if you could tap into the language, it was great theatre as well. Nowadays, it stikes me that any theatre actor worth his or her salt has done, and yearns to do more Shakespeare, as an important aspect of their artistic development. Not only that, but the plays never seem to lose their audience appeal. Finally, I regard myself as a devotee of Australian dramatic works and historical narratives. I value our national heritage to the point of jingoism. Having said that, I regard Shakespeare as just as much a part of our heritage as Britain's. I therefore categorically disagree with the above proposition.

Well.

Mon, 10 Nov 2008, 08:06 pm
I find the ending of Hamlet truly farcical and in addition while I do understand his inability to act against Claudius is the essential tragedy of the piece it simply irritates the hell out of me. I love The Scottish tragedy, Much Ado About Nothing is my favourite what? It's not a comedy although it can be very funny it's not a pastoral although some of it is outdoors. I do like it though. I also like The Shrew with due deference to it's total lack of political correctness and I also really like some of the later more difficult ones The Tempest and The Winters tale come to mind. If I'm not careful I could end up giving you a rated list of the lot. Mind you Timon of Athens is a yawn (Yes I have read it, once.) Titus Andronicus of course gives Quentin Tarantino a run for his money what with kids being turned into pies and so on. I think I'll stop now. Is that all there is? Well if that's all there is my friend, then let's keep dancing. www.tonymoore.id.au

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