October
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 23.0434 Friday, 26 October 2012
From: Gerald E. Downs <
Date: October 24, 2012 8:10:45 PM EDT
Subject: Re: Lear 5.3
Steven Urkowitz continues:
> We were disputing around the last scene in LEAR where
> the line “Save him, save him” happens immediately after
> Edgar has mortally wounded Edmund. The Oxford/Norton
> texts . . . take the speech from Albany and give it instead
> to ALL, like, say, Albany and Goneril and the Herald and
> the soldier(s) . . . and who else?
As I’ve noted, STM has “all” twice in a row (after the eyeskip omission was interpolated), which prefixes reasonably mean (Melchiori) “some” and “others.” It would be up to the players to assign the speeches and to vary the exclamations. All though my hero van Dam suggested “All” in 1935, which suggests itself as a misreading to the unlikely “Alb”, both prefixes are probably mistaken (as I’ve argued).
> I was . . . surprised when I saw this ALL speech prefix,
> since Q and F both read, clear as clear can be, “Alb.”
Q1 gets lots of speeches wrong, many of which are followed by or mishandled in the derivative F. Agreement being neither here nor there, it comes down to textual criticism. The received speech headings of the corrupt texts have no more authority than the sense they make. It won’t do to tease a “Shakespeare moment” out of the text when another s.p. is more sensible; As Marion Trousdale observed years ago, just about anything can be tortured to a meaning (or spoken as if one cared). The evidence begins with the more clear examples of corruption, which in their numbers should encourage students (College students? Of course not!) to analyze more texts than the obviously erroneous.
> the Textual Companion sends one to Blayney, and then
> one finds that the cited Blayney work must be The Texts
> of King Lear and their Origins. So through Interlibrary Loan
> I got hold of Peter’s magnificent book. And then I spent quite
> a while with his index, trying to find where he discussed his
> bold choice of ALL over ALB.
I was going to suggest earlier that the answer wasn’t in Volume 1, but it’s always worthwhile to look into Blayney’s exceptional book. Blayney reserved almost all textual analysis for Volume 2, as it were(n’t). Stone doesn’t have an index, so watch out.
> [Blayney's] literary interpretation of Albany’s role, quite
> other than my own, led him to figure that of all the people
> on stage at that moment, Albany was the least likely to
> say about Edmund, “Save him.”
I agree with Blayney, as explained in another post, but I doubt he asks who was the most likely speaker, since he assumes, with Steven, foul-papers copy (a big mistake). Blayney follows van Dam in assuming a misreading.
> Now, yes, Peter Blayney knows more about Early
> Modern printing than anyone in the bibliographical forest,
> but his opinions about Albany’s characteristics and
> whether or not Shakespeare might have given that line to
> Albany or to ALL are based solely on his taste, not his
> immense bibliographical acumen.
That’s not quite true. Misreading is often judged by such acumen. And “taste” is not a very good substitute for “textual analysis.” Nevertheless, Urkowitz is right to observe that bibliographical expertise doesn’t confer bibliographical certainty on textual judgments.
> In citing Blayney’s . . . speculation without his own
> clear explanation that the idea is . . . speculation, the
> . . . Oxford/Norton editions throw lit-crit dust as if it were
> (like so much of Peter Blayney’s published bibliographic
> analysis) textual gold. (I don’t mean to disparage literary
> critical ideas, but we really should separate them from
> verifiable textual fact. ALL in this case is a neat idea; ALB
> is a fact, or rather several facts in Q and F.)
Actually, Blayney’s pronouncement of foul-papers is a literary judgment, though Wells and Taylor treat it as bibliographically founded. Steven took that misstep himself in this case, but he’s right that an incomplete citation is misleading. They may have got it from Halio. But in lieu of an explanation the citation belongs, apparently, to van Dam.
> Does Alb. / All matter all that much? As a director I say
> “yes.” It can, if you want to give the actor playing Albany
> yet another chance to demonstrate that Shakespeare is
> “working” this character richly, densely.
If you want to inform the actor you can tell him about the corruptions in Q1 and F that suggest the mis-ascriptions may not be Shakespeare’s work at all, dense or not.
> “Okay, Albany wants Edmund defeated but still alive . . .
Goneril has just murdered her own sister to get Edmund for herself. She’s the Queen of all the land. It’s far more likely that she stops the fight to preserve her hopes.
> Teach your students how to distinguish theory and evidence.
> Teach them to verify data.
OK. I’ve repeated some of Stone’s analyses of speech-prefix error in Q1. What is Steven’s take on them? Teach students to examine all the evidence and to consider opposing opinions as fairly as possible.
I’ll examine another Goneril/Edmund exchange corrupted in all the texts and suggest that it leads to another mistaken speech heading. Stone is the best place to start on that one, as usual.
Gerald E. Downs
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 23.0433 Friday, 26 October 2012
From: Patty Winter <
Date: October 24, 2012 5:36:35 PM EDT
Subject: Change in U.S. distributor for Shakespeare’s Globe & National Theatre
Shakespeare’s Globe and the National Theatre have both recently changed U.S. distributors for their cinema broadcasts. If, like me, you have lost access to one or both film series because of those changes, please keep reading . . . .
The National Theatre has a cinecast of “Timon of Athens” coming up next week (Nov. 1). Those of us in the San Francisco Bay Area who want to see it will have to drive to SF or Berkeley. Previously, there were also theaters in all the other Bay Area counties that carried NT Live.
The situation is even worse for Shakespeare’s Globe: the nearest screenings to us now are in Southern California. So much for this year’s films of “All’s Well,” “Much Ado,” and “Doctor Faustus” . . . .
If you have been negatively affected by these changes, here are the relevant websites to view more information and contact the companies involved:
http://www.byexperience.net/event_national_theatre.html
http://microsites.nationaltheatre.org.uk/61172/venues-amp-booking/us-venues.html
(venue list)
http://onscreen.shakespearesglobe.com/
http://www.screenvision.com/cinema-events/globe/
http://www.screenvision.com/cinema-events/much-ado/ (venue list)
Please pass this information along to anyone else you know who might want to express their feelings about the situation.
Patty
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 23.0432 Friday, 26 October 2012
From: American Shakespeare Center <
Date: Oct 24, 2012 1:22 PM
Subject: Two More Titles at the Blackfriars Playhouse this Fall
Two More Titles at the Blackfriars Playhouse this Fall
Five shows just aren’t enough this Fall, so ASC Education’s Staged Reading Series brings two more Early Modern plays to the Blackfriars Playhouse. Regional actors come together, scripts in hand, to perform lesser known works.
Edmund Ironside by Anonymous
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Directed by Dane Leasure
King Edmund II liberates the English from foreign rule in this exhilarating ride full of violent energy and inventive language.
An Humorous Day’s Mirth by George Chapman
Sunday, November 4, 2012
Presented by the 2012/13 MBC MFA Company, Roving Shakespeare
Jealous husbands, absurd courtiers, failing Puritans, and lustful monarchs collide in this pun-filled comedy of manners.
These staged readings begin at 7:30 p.m., with pre-show workshops beginning at 7:00 p.m.
Pay What You Will, suggested donation $5.
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 23.0431 Friday, 26 October 2012
From: Hardy M. Cook <
Date: Friday, October 26, 2012
Subject: Cambridge University Press iPad Apps
On Tuesday, Cambridge University Press will be launching its Shakespeare’s Historic Plays on the iPad at an invitation-only event at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London (RADA).
Details have not been released to my knowledge, but I assume the History Plays will join the recently released, October 11th, 2012, iPad apps Macbeth: Explore Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet: Explore Shakespeare that are currently available in the Apple Apps Store (£9.99 in the UK and $13.99 in the US).
The invitation I received last week reads as follows:
“The official launch of our new Shakespeare app at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) is now just one week away. Experts will be on hand to run through the exciting features of the app, and you will even have the unique opportunity to try out your favourite characters in an acting lesson from the trained professionals at RADA! Not to mention there will be plenty of drinks and nibbles.”
Of the Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet apps already released, CUP boasts, “Students getting to grips with two of Shakespeare’s most famous plays have a new option to boost their knowledge: Cambridge University Press’ Explore Shakespeare apps.”
The Macbeth: Explore Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet: Explore Shakespeare “include the text, photos of professional performances, glossary definitions, notes and plot summaries, as well as audio performances including actors like Fiona Shaw, Michael Sheen and Kate Beckinsdale.” / “The apps also use word clouds, a themeline and character circles to dig deeper into the plays, as well as an option to separate sections of the play by character – ‘perfect for learning your lines, or for studying a particular character’s story’.” / “Cambridge University Press teamed up with developer Agant to make the apps.”
I have been exploring Shakespeare The Tempest from Luminary Digital Media and the Sonnets by William Shakespeare app from Arden, Faber and Faber, and Touch Press. Both are excellent. However, because I am working on the Poems and because I have a co-edited electronic edition of the Shake-speares Sonnets (1609) <http://www.library.utoronto.ca/utel/ret/shakespeare/1609inti.html> that was used as “Live Text” in the Octavo release, I have spent more time with the Sonnets app; it has far exceed my expectations: Cf. http://shaksper.net/current-postings/318-july/28685-new-dvd-shakespeares-sonnets? .
I welcome reactions, reviews, and so on about this increasingly numerous group of iPad apps.
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 23.0430 Friday, 26 October 2012
From: Hardy M. Cook <
Date: Friday, October 26, 2012
Subject: Sorry, Thanks, and Faster Hosting
Sorry, folks. I had a recall for hard drive in my iMac and because my hard drive had already failed I thought the chances of having to have the replacement were small so I did not scrupulously check my backup. Well, you can guess. I had to have hard drive replaced and my clone failed to boot, so . . . Well, I am still recovering and apologize to those who have submitted and have been waiting to see your submissions posted.
Once again, let me thank all who wrote to me after my “moment of doubt.” I simply so not have time to reply to everyone but be assured I have read your message and you have my sincere thanks.
As always, I gladly look forward to any private correspondences about anything related to SHAKSPER, either the mailings or the web site.
Also, I am pleased to announce that Ron Severdia founder of PlayShakespeare.com and designer and host of new SHAKSPER web site has upgraded the server that hosts SHAKSPER. It is a noticeably faster machine. I encourage all who are interested to take the web site SHAKSPER.net for a spin. You might want to try a search of the archives during your test drive.
Best wishes,
Hardy