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Shakespeare anniversary
Nov. 9th, 2023 09:50 amYesterday marked 400 years since the publication of the First Folio. To mark the event, there’s a flurry of TV programmes; discussions and screenings of the plays. Sunday evening’s Talking Shakespeare, which included archive interviews with actors, was good.*
The Secret Life of Books on BBC4 yesterday evening featured Simon Russell Beale talking about the First Folio and the earlier, quarto editions and how there is really no such thing as a definitive version of Shakespeare’s plays. He also recited, quite beautifully, some of the more famous speeches. Later, on BBC2, came Shakespeare: rise of a genius. Oh dear. The actor playing Shakespeare channelled Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell, i.e. one facial expression throughout and a lot of gazing into the distance. I was irresistibly reminded of Ben Miller’s ‘the actor Wolf Hall’ in the wonderful Upstart Crow. The scenes of ‘Shakespeare’s London’ were intercut with interviews, some insightful, some, I thought, quite mad. We also saw clips from films: Anthony Hopkins in Titus Andonicus (he was just Hannibal Lecter), Ian Holm as Richard III and Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo. My heart sank when I realised this was part one of a series. The fact is that very little is known about Shakespeare’s life. In my opinion, you would learn more about Shakespeare from Simon Russell Beale’s half-hour than from watching the entire ‘genius’ series. I think he’s a really great actor, yet he’s not a household name.
*One of the most interesting anecdotes came from Helen Mirren, about the time when Olivier was playing Othello at the National (a production I saw). One night, he was so astonishingly brilliant that the entire cast clustered in the wings, so as not to miss a word. When he came off stage, Olivier walked past everyone and locked himself in his dressing room. After a while, people started knocking on the door. ‘Are you all right, Larry?’ ‘Larry, are you all right? You were astounding tonight.’ ‘I know!’ came the reply. ‘But I don’t know WHY!’ Oh the despair of knowing you’ve given a wonderful performance and can never repeat it.
The Secret Life of Books on BBC4 yesterday evening featured Simon Russell Beale talking about the First Folio and the earlier, quarto editions and how there is really no such thing as a definitive version of Shakespeare’s plays. He also recited, quite beautifully, some of the more famous speeches. Later, on BBC2, came Shakespeare: rise of a genius. Oh dear. The actor playing Shakespeare channelled Mark Rylance as Thomas Cromwell, i.e. one facial expression throughout and a lot of gazing into the distance. I was irresistibly reminded of Ben Miller’s ‘the actor Wolf Hall’ in the wonderful Upstart Crow. The scenes of ‘Shakespeare’s London’ were intercut with interviews, some insightful, some, I thought, quite mad. We also saw clips from films: Anthony Hopkins in Titus Andonicus (he was just Hannibal Lecter), Ian Holm as Richard III and Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo. My heart sank when I realised this was part one of a series. The fact is that very little is known about Shakespeare’s life. In my opinion, you would learn more about Shakespeare from Simon Russell Beale’s half-hour than from watching the entire ‘genius’ series. I think he’s a really great actor, yet he’s not a household name.
*One of the most interesting anecdotes came from Helen Mirren, about the time when Olivier was playing Othello at the National (a production I saw). One night, he was so astonishingly brilliant that the entire cast clustered in the wings, so as not to miss a word. When he came off stage, Olivier walked past everyone and locked himself in his dressing room. After a while, people started knocking on the door. ‘Are you all right, Larry?’ ‘Larry, are you all right? You were astounding tonight.’ ‘I know!’ came the reply. ‘But I don’t know WHY!’ Oh the despair of knowing you’ve given a wonderful performance and can never repeat it.
