I finally finished the RSC's newest interpretation of Hamlet. Even if you aren't a Shakespeare fan, this is an awesome show. David Tennant (Doctor Who) is Hamlet. If you need someone to play someone playing someone who has gone cuckoo-bananas, he's the man. Wow! He made the language seem natural and modern. Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard) is Claudius. We almost always see him in a good-guy role; he made an excellent villain. Wow! He also managed to make the language modern and natural. As many times as I have read and watched the play, I picked up some new understanding of the play from the performances of these two men.
I've always been of fan of Shakespeare. I was that weirdo in high school. My students always fought me about the Bard, but this interpretation, I believe, would change their perception. It wasn't overdone and pompous, as many of the film versions are. (I love you, Kenneth Branagh, but, come on. Your Hamlet was waaaayyy over the top.) It even had some new themes to explore: public life vs. private life; and how we behave when no one is watching, when we think no one is watching, and when we know someone is watching.
I think it's time to dust off the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. I would download it to the Kindle, but I would get annoyed going back and forth with the footnotes.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment