November
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.2600 Wednesday, 14 November 2001 From: Billy Houck <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Tuesday, 13 Nov 2001 13:14:11 EST Subject: MND Tops Survey Last year, approximately 3,000 surveys were sent by the Educational Theatre Assocation to high schools with Thespian Troupes. Out of 822 responses, these are the results of the most-done plays in the 2000-2001 school year: 1. A Midsummer Night's Dream 2. Fiddler on the Roof 3. (a tie) Harvey, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, The Crucible 6. Guys and Dolls 7. Once Upon a Mattress 8. Arsenic and Old Lace 9. Rumors 10. (another tie) You Can't Take It With You, Bye Bye Birdie This is the fourth year in a row that A Midsummer Night's Dream has come in first. Billy Houck Sponsor, Thespian Troupe 648 Arroyo Grande High School _______________________________________________________________ S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List Hardy M. Cook,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The S H A K S P E R Webpage <http://ws.bowiestate.edu> DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the editor assumes no responsibility for them.
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.2599 Wednesday, 14 November 2001 [1] From: Bonnie Melchior <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Tuesday, 13 Nov 2001 11:45:06 -0600 Subj: Re: SHK 12.2584 Re: Does Goneril Commit Suicide? [2] From: W. L. Godshalk <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 15:25:47 -0500 Subj: Re: SHK 12.2593 Re: Does Goneril Commit Suicide? [1]----------------------------------------------------------------- From: Bonnie Melchior <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Tuesday, 13 Nov 2001 11:45:06 -0600 Subject: 12.2584 Re: Does Goneril Commit Suicide? Comment: Re: SHK 12.2584 Re: Does Goneril Commit Suicide? Bill Godshalk comments that, since deception is a major theme in *Lear*, Edmund might well be deceived in his view that Goneril has committed suicide: > I might argue that deception is a major theme in King Lear. Lear is > deceived, in one way and another, by all this daughters, and > Gloucester by both his sons. Albany appears to be deceived by > Goneril. Lear is deceived by Kent; Edgar is deceived by Edmund, and > Edgar as Poor Tom deceives Lear et al. Lear appears to die deceived (I > think, and the Folio addition seems to support such a reading). Given > this view of the play, I would not be surprised if Edmund is also > deceived in the last scene. In all the deceptions he mentions, however, the audience has been apprised that there is deception (either by seeing actions that contradict others or by having a character announce an intent to deceive). If there is no overt evidence of deception, it does not seem valid to assume it. If we do not assume that a text includes important information on motive and character, it becomes a Rorschach inkblot that means anything we want it to mean. Character, then, would not structured by information in the text, and it might well be important how many children had Lady Macbeth. Bonnie Melchior [2]------------------------------------------------------------- From: W. L. Godshalk <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2001 15:25:47 -0500 Subject: 12.2593 Re: Does Goneril Commit Suicide? Comment: Re: SHK 12.2593 Re: Does Goneril Commit Suicide? "Reading versus viewing is a good distinction," writes David Bishop. But we have to keep several things in mind. We do not all watch a play with the same amount of comprehension. A viewer or auditor who has seen the play before (or, indeed, many times) will usually see and hear more than the first timer. Of course, we also have to take into account the abilities, proclivities, learning, intelligence, etc., of the viewers or auditors. Further, viewers/auditors will generally not be listening at the same level of intensity throughout the play. Some may have read the play before coming to the theatre -- and this could have happened in Shakespeare's time with King Lear (Q1 1608). But let's assume that our hypothetical viewer in 1608 cannot read, and beyond that is not the sharpest needle in the pack. He's also had a few draughts of ale, and is pretty weary (he's standing far back in the pit) by Act 5. So he misses what Edmund says while lying on the stage. But he does see a bloody dagger, and on the little evidence he has, he assumes that Regan has knifed Goneril, and while Goneril is dying of the knife wound, she confesses that she has poisoned her sister. It seems to me that this scenario is just as likely as one in which a playgoer catches all the words, understands them, and assumes that Edmund is telling the truth when he says that Goneril has committed suicide. Unfortunately, our dull viewer can't read, so he can't find a copy of Q1 and read the scene -- as we can. Yours, Bill Godshalk _______________________________________________________________ S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List Hardy M. Cook,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The S H A K S P E R Webpage <http://ws.bowiestate.edu> DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the editor assumes no responsibility for them.
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.2598 Wednesday, 14 November 2001 From: Mike Jensen <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Tuesday, 13 Nov 2001 09:02:56 -0800 Subject: 12.2591 Re: MND Dumb Show Comment: Re: SHK 12.2591 Re: MND Dumb Show Hey, Peter, you read my article about the novelisation! >The Max Reinhardt - William Dieterle 1935 film of MND was originally >intended to begin with the war of the Athenians with the Amazons, as >Russell Jackson's recent article on the screenplay shows. What is more, >since a still showing the battle found its way into a 'novelisation' of >the film, it looks likely that the material was shot and then discarded. Actually, the BLB type book you mention does not have a photo of the battle, nor is the battle described in the detail you find in the scenes that were filmed, leading me so think it probably was not. It is mentioned only in retrospect. Many years ago, Theseus, king of the ancient city of Athens, was away, waging a war against Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons... Theseus and his men had been gone from Athens for some time. His people were anxiously awaiting news from him. One day one of the carrier pigeons that he had taken with him returned to its cage in the city of Athens bearing a message tied to its wing. The little piece of parchment was unfolded with eager hands. The king had been victorious, but more than that, the king was bringing home Hippolyta, queen of the Amazons to be his wife! (*Warner Bros. Present Max Reinhardt's Production of A Midsummer Nights' Dream by William Shakespeare*, Fictionization by Helen Davidson. New York: Engel-van Wiseman Book Corporation, 1935, p.p. 9 & 10) That is everything written about the battle. It is summed up, not narrated, in less than a page and a half, including the post-battle pigeon and parchment. The book then continues as described in my *Shakespeare Bulletin* article, with the proclamation being created and hung, and the mechanicals laboring at their jobs, with photographs of the hung proclamation, viewed by Quince and a donkey, and some of the mechanicals at work. Allow me to seize this opportunity to thank Russell Jackson once again, as I did in the article, for publishing his findings on the Reinhardt/Dieterle film, which gave me something to build upon, and for being so generous with his time by confirming a couple of my guesses, and checking something in a library to which he had access, when I was a continent and an ocean away. Russell is an excellent and generous scholar, and one of my heroes. Buy his *Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Films*. BTW, Peter, I heard you are working on a film book too. I'm looking forward to it, and wish you much success with it. All the best, Mike Jensen _______________________________________________________________ S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List Hardy M. Cook,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The S H A K S P E R Webpage <http://ws.bowiestate.edu> DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the editor assumes no responsibility for them.
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.2597 Wednesday, 14 November 2001 From: Thomas Larque <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Tuesday, 13 Nov 2001 15:33:38 -0000 Subject: 12.2595 Re: "most wonderful"--Twelfth Night Comment: Re: SHK 12.2595 Re: "most wonderful"--Twelfth Night >Nevertheless, I've always felt that the audience must have been >delighted and amused at Shakespeare's manipulations of the dramatic >irony inherent in the situation. Doubly so because of the gender of the >actors. "Most wonderful" is not only an expression of Olivia's feelings, >whatever they may be, but equally a direct address to the audience, made >comic by our awareness of costumes' abilities to switch genders. One point that I'd be interested to hear discussed is whether costume would also be the main contributor to Viola and Sebastian's twinning. In other words, do people think that Shakespeare's Company might have had access to real twin boy actors? (or more than one pair to satisfy the multiple twinnings in "Comedy of Errors"). I suppose that it is probably more likely that the actors simply looked alike, or were made to look alike, as in most modern productions. Has anybody ever seen "Twelfth Night" or "Comedy of Errors" performed by real twins? I imagine that a pair of female twins might be particularly effective as Viola and Sebastian (and would cause less confusion in the audience than male twins, since audiences seem to accept women playing men - in the pantomime Prince Charming tradition - more easily than they accept men playing women, which is often interpreted by the audience as comical or homosexual). Thomas Larque. "Shakespeare and His Critics" http://shakespearean.org.uk _______________________________________________________________ S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List Hardy M. Cook,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The S H A K S P E R Webpage <http://ws.bowiestate.edu> DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the editor assumes no responsibility for them.
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 12.2596 Tuesday, 13 November 2001 From: John Drakakis <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. > Date: Tuesday, 13 Nov 2001 10:58:26 -0000 Subject: 12.2584 Almereyda Hamlet Screenplay Comment: RE: SHK 12.2584 Almereyda Hamlet Screenplay A query. Is his screenplay published, and can one purchase a copy? Cheers, John Drakakis _______________________________________________________________ S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List Hardy M. Cook,This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. The S H A K S P E R Webpage <http://ws.bowiestate.edu> DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the editor assumes no responsibility for them.