The Friendly Shakespeare

Recently I picked up a used copy of a book by Norrie Epstein entitled The Friendly Shakespeare.  The title was the immediate draw.  Skimming through it was enough to warrant grabbing it to add to my collection.  While not exactly a scholarly treatise, it is a great informal treatment of Shakespeare and his works.

Admittedly, things did not start out on a promising note with the book.  The subtitle, "A Thoroughly Painless Guide to the Best of the Bard" does imply that it is a bit judgmental.  What constitutes "The Best"?  Apparently King John is not, as I discovered when I skimmed the book looking for information prior to viewing the play (see 4/12/15 post).  The section on Antony and Cleopatra was considerably more helpful.

As one might expect, the book has much material on Hamlet.  The design of the book is such that it is perfect for dropping in, reading a section or two and putting it aside for another time.  I'll add it to the collection entirely for that purpose.  If anything seems worthy of subsequent sharing, you'll see it here.

The Egyptian Play

Finishing the trifecta of Fathom Events big screen broadcasts of Stratford productions this year was Antony and Cleopatra.  Having enjoyed the previous two broadcasts (see 3/8/15 and 4/12/15 posts), I was not about to miss this one.  Plus, it was a chance to see Antony and Cleopatra for the first time.

Having neither seen nor read the play before, a little bit of research was in order.  Helpful was the Folger Library edition of the play.  The notes and essays provided a quick introduction and gave me an idea of what to expect.  I noticed the extensive number of scenes in the play, the most in a Shakespearean work.  The research was enough to whet the appetite for the coming performance.

Another draw was the opportunity to see several actors whose previous performances had been very impressive.  Geraint Wyn Davies played Antony.  I had seen him in Season Two of Slings and Arrows (see 1/18/15 post).  Tom McCamus, who had starred in the 2014 Stratford production of King John, played Enobarbus.  Ben Carlson, who starred as Hamlet in the 2008 Stratford production (see 11/17/13 post), was Octavius Caesar.  All three were excellent in their roles in this production.  Equally noteworthy was Yanna McIntosh as Cleopatra.  A captivating performer, hopefully I'll have the opportunity to see her in future performances.

Overall, the production was solid.  The set was minimal, but it worked.  Considering the number of scenes, some of which are very short, having a lot of props and scenery could prove difficult.  A lot is left to the imagination of the audience members.  One notable lack was the contraption to raise a mortally wounded Antony to Cleopatra in her monument.  He was carried by his attendants, apparently having already climbed up the monument.  It would have been interesting to see him hoisted to the top, but the lack of this was not a huge issue.  Plus, I had nothing against which to compare it; perhaps this is a typical staging for the scene.

I did notice that the play felt long.  It had a running time of nearly 3 hours, and it seemed to drag late in the second half.  I had not noticed that during King Lear or King John.  Perhaps it was a function of Antony dying in Act IV and not appearing at all in Act V.

According to the Playbill distributed at the theatre, 2014 was the first year of a ten-year project at Stratford to stage and to record the entire Shakespearean canon.  It has given me a ten-year bucket list.  Three down, a bunch more to go.  Happily, the next one that I see, Hamlet, will be in person.

Another Modified Soliloquy

It was while yawning through a rather dry essay entitled "The Hamlet Stage Tradition" in Interpreting Hamlet that I was sent on another chase.  In a footnote, which incidentally took almost the entire page, was a mention of a poem by William Hamilton entitled "A Soliloquy--In Imitation of Hamlet."  A library search did not yield any hard copies in the area, but no matter.  The full text was readily available on the Internet (http://www.poetrynook.com/poem/soliloquy-6).

In the spirit of Mark Twain's adaptation of Hamlet's soliloquies (see 6/22/14 post), here is another presented for your reading enjoyment.

A Soliloquy

by William Hamilton

IN IMITATION OF HAMLET.

My anxious soul is tore with doubtful strife,
And hangs suspended betwixt death and life;
Life! death! dread objects of mankind's debate;
Whether superior to the shocks of fate,
To bear its fiercest ills with stedfast mind,
To Nature's order piously resign'd,
Or, with magnanimous and brave disdain,
Return her back the' injurious gift again.
O! if to die, this mortal bustle o'er,
Were but to close one's eyes, and be no more;
From pain, from sickness, sorrows, safe withdrawn,
In night eternal that shall know no dawn;
This dread, imperial, wondrous frame of man,
Lost in still nothing, whence it first began:
Yes, if the grave such quiet could supply,
Devotion's self might even dare to die,
Lest hapless victors in the mortal strife,
Through death we struggle but to second life.
But, fearful here, though curious to explore,
Thought pauses, trembling on the hither shore:
What scenes may rise, awake the human fear;
Being again resum'd, and God more near;
If awful thunders the new guest appal,
Or the soft voice of gentle mercy call.
This teaches life with all its ills to please,
Afflicting poverty, severe disease;
To lowest infamy gives power to charm,
And strikes the dagger from the boldest arm.
Then, Hamlet, cease; thy rash resolves forego;
God, Nature, Reason, all will have it so:
Learn by this sacred horror, well supprest,
Each fatal purpose in the traitor's breast.
This damps revenge with saintary fear,
And stops ambition in its wild career,
Till virtue for itself begin to move,
And servile fear exalt to filial love.
Then in thy breast let calmer passions rise,
Pleas'd with thy lot on earth, absolve the skies.
The ills of life see Friendship can divide;
See angels warring on the good man's side.
Alone to Virtue happiness is given,
On earth self-satisfied, and crown'd in Heaven.

Bad Quarto

This Hamlet moment was dropped directly into my e-mail inbox.  Actually, it was grabbed by the spam filter and sent to junk mail, but it appeared to be safe, so I removed it from the collection of messages about male enhancement and clothing sales.  As it turned out, it was good enough to become the subject of a post.

The Taffety Punk Theatre Company of Washington, D.C., is staging Hamlet, but it's not the version most people would expect.  Their take is the First (or Bad) Quarto.  Discussion of this edition of Shakespeare's play surfaced in a previous post (see 11/23/14).  The Hartford Stage version of Hamlet that I saw (see 11/16/14 post) included a scene from the First Quarto that was discarded before the Second Quarto and Folio editions of the play became the mainstream ones.

It appears that Taffety Punk is taking things a step further by staging the First Quarto in its entirety.  The e-mail that dropped into my junk folder was an advertisement for it, including a link to a trailer.  As I type this, the trailer is available on the company's website.  While it does pique (this) one's curiosity, it does not really make me wish that a trip to D.C. were practicable over the next several weeks.  It's rather one of those, "Eh, interesting.  Moving on..." encounters.  If any readers are out that way, though, and are interested, though, consider this a helpful bit of information.

P.S.  Wouldn't Quarto be a great name for a dog?  "Bad quarto!  Bad quarto!"

Hamlet Gift

My family has become well-versed in my Hamlet fascination.  A recent shopping trip led my brother to pick up an item for the ever-growing Hamlet collection.  (Thanks Nick!)  It was a vinyl recording entitled Sir William Walton Conducts His Great Film Music.  (Not exactly the pithiest title ever.)  The collection includes excerpts of the music from Sir Laurence Olivier's Shakespearean films:  Henry V, Hamlet and Richard III.

The album represents a very short collection of music.  Side One, the Richard III excerpts, runs 17:52.  Side Two, the Hamlet and Henry V excerpts, runs 19:25.  The Hamlet portion, all 4:16 of it, consists of the Funeral March that appears in both the opening and the closing of Olivier's film.  It is an excellent recording, albeit very brief.  I guess that might be expected, though.  As the album liner notes state, Walton's score amounted to only approximately 50 minutes of the 150-minute film.

All in all, Walton's album is a welcome addition to the collection.  If nothing else, pristine, roughly forty-year-old vinyl with a Hamlet connection is a great find.