October
Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 4, No. 686. Friday, 29 October 1993. From: Peter Scott <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Friday, 29 Oct 1993 06:47:55 -0600 (CST) Subject: Hamlet on CBC Radio HAMLET TAKES TO THE AIRWAVES The production stars Kenneth Branagh and two famous former Hamlets. (London, Ontario Free Press staff) There is a quality to radio that spreads a unique, dark texture to Shakespeare's Hamlet. Whether with wind and ill weather roaring as a backdrop, or with the occasional visit from background music, such effects let the sinister and psychological gain a special advantage in pinning down and holding the mind's eye. Such an audio odyssey can be explored over four hours Monday and Tuesday nights when CBC Stereo's The Arts Tonight presents Hamlet, a production of the BBC in association with the Renaissance Theatre Company. The radio production is the effort of Kenneth Branagh, who, besides boasting an extensive list of stage productions of Shakespeare's work, has also brought the playwright to the screen with film versions of Much Ado About Nothing and Henry V. STELLAR CAST: Branagh adapted, produced, co-directed and starred in this radio presentation, and in this effort has engaged two famous former Hamlets, Derek Jacobi and John Gielgud, who appear as Hamlet's father and uncle. Rounding out the cast are Judi Dench as Gertrude, Richard Briers as Polonius, Sophie Thompson as Ophelia, James Wilby as Laertes, Christopher Ravenscroft as Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and Emma Thompson as the Player Queen. Using a fuller text than usual, Branagh's adaptation aims to give characters the latitude to develop the full political and social context of the play. Elsinore's stony corridors and sinister nooks and crannies take on a rare chill. Branagh played Hamlet with the Renaissance Theatre Company in 1988 and repeated it in a new Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company production. In between, he recorded this production for radio. This Monday and Tuesday, 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 4, No. 685. Friday, 29 October 1993. From: Kung-yu Chin <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Thursday, 28 Oct 1993 22:08:50 -0500 (UTC -05:00) Subject: New Historicism Applications? Hi, I am newly introduced to New Historicism and find it a powerful approach. As most New Historicists seem to be experts on English Renaissance, could someone enlight me with some NH applications in other time period literature? I assume the Engish Romantic period would be a not bad guess? Chin/Kansas
Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 4, No. 684. Friday, 29 October 1993. From: William Godshalk <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Thursday, 28 Oct 1993 22:23:18 -0400 (EDT) Subject: Ohio Shakespeare Conference: Abstracts Ohio Shakespeare Conference Reminder Abstracts for the Conference are due November 1 - i.e., next Monday. Since time time is running out, some writers are sending their abstracts by e-mail to the above address. Of course, we are still accepting conventional mail at Department of English University of Cincinnati Cincinnati, OH 45221-0069 Bill Godshalk and Jonathan Kamholtz
Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 4, No. 683. Friday, 29 October 1993. From: Georgianna Ziegler <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Thursday, 28 Oct 1993 14:32:49 -0500 Subject: 4.0667 Q: Costuming Comment: Re: SHK 4.0667 Q: Costuming Hi Melissa-- The reference you have from Queen Henrietta Maria is actually found on p. 10 of Theatre Notebook, vol. 23 (1968). It is given in the context of concern voiced by William Laud of Christ Church College, Oxford, concerning stage materials and "apparel" which were being sent up to Hampton Court for a production of "The Royal Slave" in January 1636/37. He wanted to protect the University property, and the Queen writes back to reassure him. Laud's comments are taken from his "Works" edited by J. Bliss (1853), vol. v, pp. 144-6, and 153-4. The Queen's remarks are from "Bodleian Quarterly Record," 1918, II, pp. 151-2.
Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 4, No. 682. Friday, 29 October 1993. From: Stephen Orgel <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Thursday, 28 Oct 1993 10:19:41 -0700 (PDT) Subject: 4.0679 Two Re: Videos: Q: *Ado*; Catalog Comment: Re: SHK 4.0679 Two Re: Videos: Q: *Ado*; Catalog There is now a VCR made by AIWA that will play tapes in all formats through US video machines, and will also enable one to copy them in the US format. It lists for $479, but I've seen it advertised in NY for around $300; I bought one, and the quality, except for an occasional peculiar moment, is fine, and the color is really beautiful. This enables me to play a whole bunch of British and Italian tapes, including the Olivier MV, now available in US format, which is terrific, and even better, a 12N with Guinness as Malvolio, Richardson as Sir Toby, Plowright as Viola, and Tommy Steele (!) as Feste--this works better than you might think, though the songs have dated rather badly. The Italian tapes--Strehler's great Lear and Tempest--seem to me worth the price of the whole setup. I've no idea where one obtains European videos (I bought these on the spot), but since our library just acquired the whole set of Strehler tapes, there must be some US distributor. Hooking the whole thing up is so simple that I didn't even need to get one of my undergraduates to do it. Stephen Orgel