The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 8.0865.  Thursday, 21 August 1997.

[1]     From:   Bill Gelber <
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        Date:   Wednesday, 20 Aug 1997 08:57:51 -0700
        Subj:   Re: SHK 8.0864   Re: Performance

[2]     From:   Tim Richards <
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        Date:   Thursday, 21 Aug 1997 10:15:41 +0800
        Subj:   SHK 8.0864   Re: Performance

[3]     From:   Merri Neidorff <
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        Date:   Wednesday, 20 Aug 1997 17:58:55 -0400
        Subj:   Thank you


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Bill Gelber <
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Date:           Wednesday, 20 Aug 1997 08:57:51 -0700
Subject: 8.0864   Re: Performance
Comment:        Re: SHK 8.0864   Re: Performance

It is too easy to dismiss a play (your comment on Two Gents) as "pretty
bad" and the performances as good, when too often the opposite is the
case: if a play seems "bad" in performance it may be that the
performers, and, by inference, the director, have not realized it well.
This was certainly the case, I thought, at the RSC in 1991 when I heard
several audience members denigrate Troilus and Cressida while admiring
the director's work on this "inferior" play.

Sincerely,
Bill Gelber

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Tim Richards <
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Date:           Thursday, 21 Aug 1997 10:15:41 +0800
Subject: Re: Performance
Comment:        SHK 8.0864   Re: Performance

Ed Peschko wrote:
>Some, like Two Gentleman of Verona, are pretty bad,
>but I think that has more to do with the quality of the *play itself*
>rather than the BBC's handling of it.

I watched the BBC version of Macbeth while rehearsing a part in the play
myself, and was amazed at how dull it was.  Reducing such a fast-paced,
exciting play to such a plodder was quite an impressive feat.

>PS: where else are you going to find Cymbeline, or The Winter's Tale,
>or Titus Andronicus performed?

This is a good point; I recently watched the BBC Pericles after a
reading of the play, and I doubt I'd be able to find it on video
anywhere else.  There was a movie version of The Winter's Tale out in
cinemas early this year, though, but I didn't get to see it (though I
have seen it onstage).

I wonder if it's about time for someone to recreate the BBC's project
and refilm all the plays in a new series... or is this an impractical
dream?

Tim Richards.

[3]-------------------------------------------------------------
From:           Merri Neidorff <
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Date:           Wednesday, 20 Aug 1997 17:58:55 -0400
Subject:        Thank you

Many thanks for the answers, on and off-list, to my recent inquiry about
the jazz MND with Louis Armstrong.

Merri Neidorff