When you set out to read Shakespeare chronologically, you run into a few problems. First, and most obvious, no one can agree on the correct chronology for Shakespeare. Did he write the cycle of Henry VI plays first? Or did he write The Taming of the Shrew? Or, should we say, The Taming of A Shrew? […]
Five Truths: Stanislavski, Brecht, Brook, Artaud & Grotowski
During my debut stage appearance in Romeo and Juliet at the tender age of 14, I adopted the stage name Antonin Brechtanislavski. A ridiculous, self-conscious, and pretentious AF nod towards my theatrical heroes. So it was with some glee many years later when I came across the National Theatre’s Five Truths production. The same scene, Ophelia, […]
‘All The World’s A Stage’ by Shakespeare: Poetry Reading (Video)
Today I’m reading Jaques’ iconic monologue from As You Like It (Act II Scene VII Line 139). One of my favourite monologues in all of Shakespeare. Of course, there’s Lear’s ‘Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks!’ Lear himself being a perfect representation of what Jaques refers to as ‘second childishness’. Then there’s countless lines from […]
How to Adapt Shakespeare (A John Dryden Case Study)
The word ‘adapt’ has its etymological root in the Latin ‘adaptare’, meaning ‘to make fit’. And today I’m going to attempt (or essay upon) how one might adapt Shakespeare, make his work fit, into the cultural, political, and historical context of their time. We’ll do this by looking at one of the most interesting adaptors of […]