The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 13.0099 Thursday, 17 January 2002
From: Alan Dessen <This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.>
Date: Wednesday, 16 Jan 2002 14:50:20 -0500 (EST)
Subject: 13.0088 Re: Pregnant Gertrude
Comment: Re: SHK 13.0088 Re: Pregnant Gertrude
I have nothing to add to the discussion of how playgoers will "read" or
react to a visibly pregnant Gertrude. I am reminded, however, of one of
my favorite theatre anecdotes--with the joke at my expense. In the
1980s I saw a production of *Henry VIII* in which an actor I much admire
played Cranmer in distinctive white make-up, applied so heavily that it
called attention to itself. When I queried him after the show, he said
that he had two explanations. The first was for the general public:
that Cranmer was a scholar who rarely saw the light of day, etc. The
other explanation was for me alone: that after over twenty years of
playing a wide assortment of roles, in the series of performances that
summer he finally had the opportunity to use up the white make-up he had
accumulated. What then happens to my instant symbolic interpretation?
Alan Dessen
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