Shakespeare’s comedy of a midsummer night’s dream, with illustration by W. Heath Robinson. Published 1914 by Constable & Co.
See the complete book here.
Illustration by Brian Froud for A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Froud did the concept art for the Jim Henson films, The Dark Crystal (1982) and Labyrinth (1986). I will try to post some concept art for those films when I get the chance.
Scan by me from the marvellous book, The Land of Froud (1977).
Peter O’Toole, Orson Welles and Ernest Milton discuss Hamlet with host Huw Wheldon on Monitor (1963).
Part II of ‘A midsummer night’s dream’ by William Shakespeare; with illustrations by Arthur Rackham. Published 1908 by Doubleday, Page & Co. See part I here.
See the complete book here.
Part I of ‘A midsummer night’s dream’ by William Shakespeare; with illustrations by Arthur Rackham. Published 1908 by Doubleday, Page & Co. See part II here.
See the complete book here.
Waiting with bated breath for the much awaited BBC trilogy, ‘The Hollow Crown,’ - a stunning new series of filmed adaptations of four of Shakespeare’s best-loved history plays; Richard II, Henry IV parts I & 2 and Henry V on BBC Two this summer. Why don’t we live in England? Ben Whishaw, Jeremy Irons and Tom Hiddleston play Richard II, Henry IV and Henry V respectively.
Was interested enough already, but the cast for Richard II alone also includes Patrick Stewart, Rory Kinnear, David Morrissey, David Suchet, Lindsay Duncan, James Purefoy, Clémence Poésy and David Bradley. Line up Simon Russell Beale, Julie Walters, Alun Armstrong, Geoffrey Palmer, Iain Glen, Michelle Dockery, Maxine Peake, John Hurt, Anton Lesser and Paterson Joseph for the other adaptations and I’m totally sold.
After the Assassination - An extract from the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Julius Caesar, which was adapted for television and shown on BBC Four over the weekend.
Shame on the BBC for scheduling this magnificent production opposite an England match, which ensured it went almost overlooked.
Critics have been singing its praises though, and I can join their number. Modern settings for Shakespeare are nothing new, but I suspect transposing the entire play to an (unnamed) state in Africa is something unseen before. Paterson Joseph leads the cast as Brutus, but he’s by no means alone in standing out in an impressive cast that includes Cyril Nri as Cassius, Jeffery Kissoon as Caesar, Ray Fearon as Mark Antony, and Adjoa Andoh as Portia.
The staging is intriguing too. The camera is conspiritorial for the appropriate scenes, but when the staging calls for crowds and open spaces, it cuts back to the stage production in Stratford. I’m not sure if it was a deliberate choice or budgetary restrains, but the reminder that this is a stage production that’s been simply lifted onto television isn’t a bad thing, showing each medium to have its strengths.
Definitely worth checking out if you have any interest in the Bard.
Holy crap, Alan Cumming in Macbeth. YES PLEASE.
But it’s in Glasgow DAMNIT.
Seriously, his Hamlet was the freaking best.
Joss Whedon: Hey! You guys wanna write a book together?
J. K. Rowling: Sure.
Suzanne Collins: Why not?
Shakespeare: If it is to be of a tragical nature, then I doth not protest!
Beginning of the book: Unimportant characters die.
Middle of the book: Favorite characters died.
End of the book: Everyone is dead.
George R.R. Martin: They didn't suffer enough.
