You don’t read Shakespeare. Shakespeare reads YOU.

BH reading shakespeare

Whilst it sounds trite, I’m increasingly beginning to believe this.

Part of this comes from the Pony Tail Shakespeare project, I’m sure. With a gap of 400+ years now between the works and our readings, we’re constantly confronted with attitudes which are at a variance with ours.  Example?  This month it’s The Taming of the Shrew, with some ‘interesting’ ideas about marriage, domestic violence, and ‘men vs. women’.

Mostly, though, it comes from being a teacher of Shakespeare …

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Crimes Against Shakespeare 002

BH Andolosia in Prison
NO-ONE bites their thumb at Mr Shakespeare …

It’s not just online, in the hallowed halls of the BBC, that we find Crimes Against Shakespeare …

Oh no!

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PTS 03/017: Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes …

BH DavidBowie-portrait
Is it me, or would Bowie have made a terrific Richard?

Henry VI part III, Act III

RICHARD: ‘I can add colours to the chameleon,

Change shapes with Proteus for advantages’  (III.ii.191-192)

I’ll come back to Bowie’s song when I finally hit Richard III in August, because when I revisited the lyrics, I couldn’t avoid staring thoughtfully for a while.  I will remind Richard that:

‘And every time I thought I’d got it made,

It seemed the taste was not so sweet.’

Like Bolinbroke in RII, like Macbeth – like almost everyone in Shakespeare, let’s face it – the anticipation, the chase, is far better than the conquest, when it comes to the crown.

In the meantime, nothing seems to stay the same in Act III …

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Crimes Against Shakespeare 001

BH Crimes Against Shakespeare 001

First in a series, I suspect.

Thanks BBC. Oh, the sweet, sweet irony of your copy … I said I was a big fan of yours – on this blog – only this morning!

Next week:  Can you guess which character says this line in Romeo & Juliet?

‘Lend me your ears’ … BBC Audio

BH BBC Macbeth image
By the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes …

For someone who almost famously doesn’t watch TV, I’m a remarkably big fan of the BBC.  What I DO spend is an awful lot of time listening to the radio – for news, sport, and entertainment.  I’m always dazzled by the quality of the drama they produce, and I really enjoy their Science Fiction adaptations – another obssession of mine.

But, it’s also an absolute treasure trove of radio programming about Shakespeare … both factual stuff and performances.

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PTS 03/016: Young Skywalker is in pain …

BH young skywalker is in pain
THIS is the look I’m talking about …

Henry VI part III, act II

In Act I, I wondered about how Richard might respond to the loss of the father he seems so close to, and explored the ongoing death of chivalry and nobility.

It doesn’t take long to see both of these ideas addressed in Act II …
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The first disabled Richard III?

BH mat fraser as riii
Mat Fraser

‘I am the first person who owns the body portraying the man. It’s hugely exciting for me.’ 

I’ll read or listen to almost anything about Richard III, and chanced upon this today. I’ve not seen the programme, but some of you will recognise Mat Fraser from American Horror Story:  Freak Show.  For those of you who don’t know him, he describes himself as a ‘thalidomider’.  He’ll soon be playing Richard in Hull …

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The ‘Sleepy Hollow’ that is Eastcheap

BH Boarshead Eastcheap

I’ve made a small addition to my ‘Thy name?  Thy quality?’ page recently, talking briefly about my choice of the tavern’s name for my site title.  In the course of this I was wonderfully surprised to find …

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PTS 02/015: The Henry VI (II) Soundtrack Album …

bh-wurlitzer

Slightly late, not least because all the songs I could think of seemed to be about Jack Cade.

What have I missed?

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‘A delightful society’ …

holinshedYou are holding in your hands one of the most interesting, influential – and readable – books in British history.

Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland have long been famous as the key source of Shakespeare’s history plays.  Given the role of Shakespeare’s view of Tudor history in shaping English nationalism, Holinshed’s long-term influence on British culture and English literature can hardly be overstated.  Michael Wood (intro), Holinshed Chronicles  (The Folio Society:  London, 2012)

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