Much Ado on Broadway, Game of Thrones at the RSC, and Macbeth at the Met
Plus: A German Richard III lost his horse *and* his sword
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Stand back all ye Game of Thrones-Shakespeare parallels, an “immersive” play about the mad king arrives at the Royal Shakespeare Company this summer.2
"Shakespeare is the greatest name in English literature, and his plays have been a constant source of inspiration to me and my writing. Not only that, he faced similar challenges in how to put a battle on stage, so we are in good company."
The Met is getting a new Macbeth in the fall with an insane cast. (Lise Davidsen, Quinn Kelsey, Ryan Speedo Green…)
“Sword Strikes Playgoer During ‘Richard III’ in Berlin.”
This is not the first case of injury onstage for Eidinger…In 2016, the actor told the newspaper Die Zeit that he had once injured himself during a performance of “Hamlet” at the Barbican Center in London, when he slipped, hit his head on a concrete balcony and lost consciousness…The audience, according to Eidinger, thought it was all part of the play.
Tempest at a youth hostel at Berkeley Shakespeare.
Ticketholders could avail themselves of the chance to stay at the hostel overnight, in community with cast and crew, rather than drive home alone in the dark. Accordingly, activities such as a 10:00 p.m. movie, guided group stretching, and nature hikes were planned…
Poems on the Underground was inspired by an ex-pat New Yorker + As You Like It.
One evening about 40 years ago, Judith Chernaik was taking part in a reading of “As You Like It” when she had a flash of inspiration…Why not put poems in the Underground, London’s busy subway system?
Lavina Jadhwani’s ADO is up at Indy Shakes directed by Dawn Monique Williams.
Romero + Juliet “fuses the filmmaking world of George Romero, famous for Night of the Living Dead, with William Shakespeare’s timeless tragedy.”
An immersive Tempest in Brooklyn with “Butoh-inspired movement” and Shostakovich.
The Bardy Bunch mashes up “more than a dozen Shakespearean tragedies with the sunny pop anthems of two iconic '70s television families.”
Who is your favorite audience member? (Dan Radcliffe)
My other favorite audience member…I was doing a play in the UK called Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead…he came in to the first act, had a foot long sandwich…ate the entire sandwich…and then went to sleep – and he’s front row by the way…some people are are weird.
Suffolk’s wife was Chaucer’s granddaughter and Suffolk (probably) spent two years writing her love poetry from French jail.4
Hot Hamnet Hamlet’s Romeo will be set in a “‘version of now' Verona” and inspired by Sliding Doors (1998).
“Macbeth is the worst.” -Guy Who Fixes the Swords (with Henry IV Part I close behind – ecce signum)
What is the best piece of advice you have ever received? (Damian Lewis)
Don’t read your reviews. I was told this by a guy called Tim Pigott-Smith, who was a wonderful actor, and he was directing me in Hamlet. I was playing Hamlet – this was early, I was about 24. He said, “Just know yourself the strengths and the weaknesses of the production and of your performance, and don’t read any reviews.” Excellent advice.
The Glasgow Shakespeare Society is (potentially) the world’s second oldest.
Backstage at Coriolanus with Aufidius (+bonus Sting in him)
Romeo and Juliet at University of Nevada, Reno on the cover of “American Theatre”
“Watching Ben Carlson and Tom Rooney do the tent scene in the second act – for me that was worth the price of admission.”
Hamnet roundup: merch – blanket, book, and candle + tourism bump + no, Ian McKellen didn’t “brutally diss” it (“if this were played”, etc.)
A gentle reminder from APT that climate change is a thing. (still)
Southern Shakes has Tempest-themed coffee specials including “Miranda’s Meadow Matcha.”
Bob Jones University cut Macbeth lines “related to the devil, witchcraft, and other sins.” (But…how? That’s…most of the play)
Recommendations
Bat bombs and rocket cats.6 via Histories + “pigeons transmogrified”
Investigative journalism via rock opera location scouting via ChinaTalk7
Guillermo del Toro nerding out on NYPL Frankenstein material is a delight.8
“I can No More Cease to Love you than I can Cease to Love my Self” (1772)
“Gaucher wore glasses for the duel. Renaud poked them as a flex.” via @sahelanth
Marat’s bloodstained L’Ami du Peuple is in the French National Library. via George Dillard
The podcast Prop Talk is incredible. Please enjoy this story about Ben Affleck tossing turkeys into a lake. (I think this is the movie in question.)
Like this one.
It was a silly place.
Also prohibited was the playing of silly games, as it had apparently become common practice to pull men’s hoods off their shoulders.
Alice’s first two husbands died in battles depicted in Shakespeare – #1 at Harfleur (H5, dysentery), #2 at Orleans (1H6, cannon splinter to the face) – and we see #3 get his head chopped off by the least terrifyingly named pirate in the canon in 2H6.
I defy anyone to watch this and not feel full Luddite when the automatic tea dispenser enters the scene. [insert AI discourse here]
“Ultimately the project got canned because it was decided that nuclear weapons would be more effective.”
“I won’t touch it…Oh, I will, what the hell” (booping books, always a delight + Shelley spouse #1 engagement ring = beautiful, Fragments of Shelley’s skull smashed to bits so Lord Byron couldn’t use it as a drinking cup = something else)
I am appreciating all the WOTR focus in this week’s newsletter. Or shall we call it, correctly, ahem ahem, the First Tetralogy focus? ;-)