How to Kill a Shakespeare

             BBC's short reproduction of The Winter's Tale--loved by those who do not care to read the play in its entirety--reduces the internal conflict inside the characters by cutting their lines down by more than 90%. This gives plenty of room for each character to be taken completely out of context, and in doing so BBC has created a world far from believable in which all characters are perfectly flat. It has  embarrassingly become something not nearly related to Shakespeare in all respects save, perhaps, the plot.

     

            Watching this video was has increased my respect for the emotional struggles Shakespeare seems to understand very well and portray artistically on stage. It is so sad how BBC totally annihilates this. As a few examples: Leontes, in this rendition, is always a malevolent fiend who loves to be angry. His act in front of his wife is horrifying, and his behavior to Camillo simply cold and cruel. Camillo demonstrates no hint of loyalty or compassion to his King at all, and Leontes personality never even comes out.

     In comparison to the live 3-hour professional production, this video is mockery. Earlier, I came to love the Leontes as an anguished man who represented the sad potential for those who let jealousy reign in their hearts, which makes his redemption so much sweeter. Camillo played as genuine and affable, grieved by the pain of a man he loved before he revealed the truth to Polixenes as if to demonstrate the internal battle of deciding right from wrong. This lessons are not here in BBC's professional Shakespeare squashing.

         The true beauty of Shakespeare comes in the window it provides into our own hearts and emotions. Take away the lines of the characters, and pull the blinds on the dynamism of their personality. Take away that personality and you are reduced to flat, stale plot. You will have successfully murdered the poor 16th Century man.

Posted by Erik on 1:33 PM · Comments (3) · Full article

First Shakespeare Play!

I feel like I finally understand a little better why Shakespeare has such world-wide acclaim. Although I have read many of his plays, I never caught the full vision of Shakespeare until tonight-- the first time that I have actually gone to a live Shakespeare play:  this one A Winter's Tale. If productions are rated according to the emotive content they evoke, then this production in Cedar City, Utah was perfect.

To me it is almost audible the conversation that the planners of the play must have had before the play, in which they were discussing the concept of it all. What I can hear them answer which contributed to that success is the question of how they were going to make all the details of casting work out. For me, it was the interaction that sparked the emotive power behind the words first recorded on the page.

I would have liked to have been present at the casting of these characters to see what they looked for. The interplay of personalities, words, and emotion behind each character made the production come to life for me. So really all I am trying to say is that much more than before, I am a convert to Shakespeare. He had a motive and a message that seemed to be so clear that only could be conveyed through a medium more powerful than the written word alone. I loved it.

Posted by Erik on 8:09 PM · Comments (4) · Full article