The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 24.0476 Friday, 11 October 2013
From: Hardy M. Cook <
Date: Friday, October 11, 2013
Subject: Q: The Hollow Crown vs. The War of the Roses
When Poor Yorick closed, I purchased many DVDs of Shakespeare play that I did not own. One of those was The War of the Roses set.
Last week, I watched The Hollow Crown Richard II, after which, I decided to watch The War of the Roses Richard II.
The Hollow Crown Richard II version cut the text. What I missed the most from these excisions was the Gloucester subplot. The War of the Roses Richard II version was close to full-text.
The Hollow Crown Richard II version had presentational, cinematic production values. The War of the Roses Richard II had representational production values and was recorded before a live theatrical audience.
In the end, I much preferred The Hollow Crown Richard II to The War of the Roses version, which I found rather wooden.
I was wondering if anyone else would care to comment about these two productions or series.