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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.
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That play...

Wed, 12 Nov 2008, 10:34 pm
Grant Malcolm

Snap, Logos. I was fortunate to direct that play in the New Fortune Theatre in 1997.

The experience was unmarred except for an early omen and a single incident. 

The climactic confrontation was a tightly choreographed piece that included a moment where Macbeth throws down his sword refusing to fight. Undeterred, Banquo charges across the stage at the unarmed Macbeth, his sword raised and makes a downward slash as Macbeth performs a forward roll retrieving his sword to rise behind Banquo. The downward slash neatly masked the fact that Macbeth's forward roll occured a good metre upstage and well clear of the charging Banquo. Worked a treat for the first couple of weeks but returning for a later performance I was concerned to see the downward slash slipping sideways in danger of becoming a swipe at Macbeth's legs as they flew through the air in the roll.

I called in the fight choreographer for some remedial work with the actors. In spite of this work, on the closing night, an enthusiastic Banquo swiped again at Macbeth's legs with a heavy steel sword smashing into the back of Macbeth's calf. Thankfully Macbeth was wearing a sturdy pair of boots that reduced the impact to severe bruising. His howls of rage as he climbed the stairs and was chased off across the balcony had a particular edge that night. He needed to be supported on stage for his final curtain call but was back in to lend a hand with bump out the next day.

The early omen was, well, ominous. Our designer was preparing huge coloured banners and flags sporting devices based on the Macbeth heraldic crest. The early sketches included stylised suggestions of the crest but the designer was keen to research and employ the authentic item. I turned up to the workshop one day to pitch in and found her in the midst of painting a 1.5m image of my family crest on a 11 metre length of cloth. "No", she replied, "That's the Macbeth crest." And dragged a heavily bookmarked tome as evidence.

Macbeth and Malcolm clans share the same family crest.

:jawdrop:

Regards
Grant

--
Director, actor and administrator of this website

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Is Shakespeare "as boring as bat shit "?— stinger9 Nov 2008
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