The Bill / Shakespeare Project [dot] com: Recent Comments

Comment on Act Five: The Premature Resolution Episode

Kevin Landis — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:32:31 GMT

I've never liked the ending to this play. Actually, except for the two scenes involving the dog and the letter tearing scene, I'd just as soon forget about the play entirely. I don't like the end of Love's Labor's Lost either, but it does seem believeable (maybe there really was a Love's Labor's Won that gives us the happy ending we want).

Comment on Act One: Setting the Scene, Meeting the Gents

Kevin Landis — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 05:22:54 GMT

I love the letter tearing scene. It has so many opportunities to mate physical actions to the words. So many hidden cues for a good actress to uncover.

Just charming.

Comment on A Word (or two) About Names

bill-w — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:16:24 GMT

btw, one more note on pronunciation:

Boyet is NOT pronounced "bo-YEA" (like the actor Charles Boyer), but rather "boy-ET"...

the clue comes in the final scene when Berowne rhymes "honey-tongued Boyet" to the preceding line's "debt"...

Comment on What to Cut, Part Two

Kevin Landis — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:17:31 GMT

For me, Richard III is a tough play. It is one of my favorites, but when I look at it closely, I find it a little weak. I even edit it when I listen to it on the road, something I don't do with any other play. So why is it one of my favorites? Richard, of course.

Here are my edits.

First, I'm treating it as the fourth part of a four part series, not as a stand alone play. Making it a stand alone play requires a different approach.

Second, in addition to the changes below, individual lines can be cut or combined throughout the play, except for the opening soliloquy (that's sacred territory).

Third, cut Margaret. I don't think she really adds much. Shakespeare disposed of her properly in 3 Henry VI. The audience knows her story, and knows what a rotten person she was.

Fourth, cut the Duchess of York. I think her role is to testify how rotten Richard was as a child. I don't care whether he was a rotten child; I care about his rottenness now. Furthermore, there's no dramitic basis for her charges. We meet Richard in 2 Henry VI, and watch him in 3 Henry VI. In both plays, he is the brave soldier, and loyal son and brother. He saves his father's life, he rescues Edward, he keeps the Yorkist cause alive. Not until the middle of 3 Henry VI do we discover his true ambition, and not until the end do we see how far he will go to get the crown. We do not need the Duchess's words to dislike Richard at the end of the play, Richard's actions take care of that.

I.3: Cut some of the insults.

II.1: Cut some of the oaths completely, and shorten the others. Cut all of Edward's lamentations about ordering Clarence's death, while having to spare the life of a nobleman's servant.

II.2: Cut most of Clarence's children's lines, and cut back on the pity party.

II.3: Cut all. We know that troubles approach, and we know that a child on the throne means ill times ahead. Remember, we saw it in 1 Henry VI.

II.4: Shorten.

III.7: Trim all of the long passages.

IV.4: Cut some of the exchanges between Richard and Elizabeth. Most of the rest of the scene is already eliminated because I got rid of Margaret and the Duchess of York.

V.3: Eliminate some of the ghosts. Reduce Richard's self-examination. It's not very good. Reduce Richard's speech to the troops.

Comment on Now...

bill-w — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:16:09 GMT

Yeah, Kierman does go a bit far at times... but I think she may be on to something here.

As for determined: during Shakespeare's day, three meanings that might fit (according to the OED):

decided or resolved upon
ordained or fixed beforehand
defined or distinctly marked

Take your pick, they could all work depending on the interpretation.

Interesting insight on the "amble"...

Comment on Now...

Kevin Landis — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:16:34 GMT

What a way to open a play. I love this soliloquy.

I have a few random thoughts.

One, I think Pauline Kiernan tries a little too hard to find sexual innuendo in Filthy Shakespeare. I'm not saying she's wrong, but some of her examples seem to be something of a stretch. Afterall, sometimes a banana is just a banana.

Second, the meaning of "determined." Has Richard decided to be a villian, or is he fated to be a villian? I don't have easy access to the OED, so I don't know if both meanings of determined were current in Shakespeare's time. I lean more towards fated (see 3 Henry VI, V.6 "since the heavens have shaped my body so, //Let hell make crooked my mind to answer it." I also tend to see Richard as a scrouge, clearing away all the Yorkist and Lancastrian riff-raff for Richmond.

Be careful about the words "amble" and "ambling." Shakespeare uses them correctly, but every scholarly explanation I've seen is either wrong or worthless when refering to a horse's amble. Nymphs are sexy when they amble, but horses are easy-going when they amble. I have two passions, Shakespeare and horses (two of which are amblers). More on this when you get to As You Like It.

Comment on By (fill in the blank), Try as I Might, I Just Don't Get the Tri...

Kevin Landis — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:54:28 GMT

When I "hear" the passage in my mind's ear, I hear the pace quickening, with Anne taking the pauses and Richard responding immediately, until Anne says, "Well, well, put up your sword."

The mood changes at that point (indicated by Anne's use of "your sword" instead of "thy sword"), the pace slows, and each character takes the pause, with Anne considering what she is about to do, and Richard becoming the penitent suitor.

But you're right, there is a lot for the actors to play with.

Comment on By (fill in the blank), Try as I Might, I Just Don't Get the Tri...

bill-w — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 15:51:05 GMT

or maybe half and half... with the pace accelerating... so that the effect is her becoming drunk on his words...

the actors would need to play around with this to see what works for their particular chemistry, I think...

Comment on By (fill in the blank), Try as I Might, I Just Don't Get the Tri...

Kevin Landis — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 18:22:21 GMT

I take it to be an acting cue. Lady Anne is being won over at this time.

Each pause is thinking time, mostly for Anne.

Comment on Historical Inaccuracies in a Tragical History (or is that Historical Tragedy?)

Lisa Otero — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 18:08:25 GMT

Nice work, Bill. Thanks!