The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 8.0828. Thursday, 7 August 1997.
From: John Drakakis <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Thursday, 7 Aug 1997 01:51:37 +0100
Subject: 8.0821 Re: JC at the First Globe
Comment: RE: SHK 8.0821 Re: JC at the First Globe
Thanks to Gabriel Egan for drawing attention to the problems of dating
the first performance of Julius Caesar. I wonder though, if the
reference in Hamlet to Polonius's having played Caesar may not also be a
reference to an earlier performance of the play in which the actor
playing Polonius had actually played Caesar. I'm aware that this is
rather tenuous, but one of the reasons for referring to this might have
been to remind an audience of the actor's last major appearance (though
that might not be the only reason), and also to joke at the actor's
expense as well as at the dramatic character's?
I suppose this raises the question of what constitutes theatrical
"evidence" and must it always be "documentary" in the strictly archival
sense.
Cheers,
John Drakakis
