shakespeare meets wainwright meets wilson

this has been by far the most enjoyable night at a theater in quite a while – the words of the bard combined with rufus wainwright’s music and robert wilson’s perfect ability to create a mood on stage through lightning, directing and choosing perfect actors for perfect parts – two and a half hours slipped by and i never noticed, i was enraptured by the music, the dancing, the acting and the undying words of shakespeare – there can be no better way to celebrate 400 years sonnets than that

shadows, large, small, loud, bright, silent, just a whisper, then loud and overwhelming – saucy fool, majestic queen, a dark lady, a light youth, a great poet, a nasty rival, a little (or not so much so) love-good – a whirlwind of emotions created through references to different music through the ages – so suddenly you feel directly plunged into brecht’s threepenny opera, the world of french chansons, baroque finery, swoony-cheesy love ballads or pop-art musicals – every lover of good music and shakespeare will be as ardently in love with it as me – i would watch it again and again and again until i have no more tears left to shed, no more laughs left to laugh and all my energy is spent – a gripping experience for all senses – a feast for body, mind and soul

and in the end this is all that can be said (or sung)

hamlet on dvd

to be released december 28th 2009 – too bad, i won’t be able to import it directly – ah well, wherefore have we amazon?

shakespeare # 7 – summer edition

three cheers for the BBC

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David To Reprise Role Of Hamlet For BBC

David has signed up to reprise his role of Hamlet for BBC Two.

He will be joined by key cast members from the RSC production, including Patrick Stewart as Claudius.

BBC Two controller Janice Hadlow said the 180-minute screen production of Hamlet was “a wonderful opportunity to bring one of the great stage successes of last year to a wider audience”.

Tickets for the stage performances, which opened in Stratford-Upon-Avon and later moved to London, sold out in hours.

After his debut appearance, the Guardian called Tennant the “best Hamlet in years”.

In February his return to the stage as Hamlet was named the event of the year in the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers’ Choice Awards.

The full press release from the RSC can be seen below:

The Royal Shakespeare Company’s award-winning production of Hamlet, directed by RSC Chief Associate Director Gregory Doran, and with David Tennant in the title role, will premiere on BBC Two later this year.

Produced by Illuminations, the screen version of Shakespeare’s great tragedy will retain the quality and tone of the critically acclaimed stage production but filming will take place on location. All key original members of the cast, including Patrick Stewart as Claudius, are confirmed to star in this special 180 minute production, alongside the same creative team.

RSC Artistic Director Michael Boyd said; “We are very pleased that this RSC production will be seen by so many people when broadcast. As the show was sold out for its entire run, this is a really great opportunity for our work to be seen by so many who could not come to the theatre and see it on stage.”

Filming begins in June for broadcast later this year on BBC Two. Broadcasts in the US and Japan will follow in 2010. Illuminations previously worked with Doran and the RSC on the filmed version of Macbeth with Antony Sher and Harriet Walter. Chris Seager will be in post as Director of Photography; Robert Jones, who designed the stage production, will also design the film and, as on stage, the music is composed by Paul Englishby, the movement director is Mike Ashcroft and the fight director is Terry King.

John Wyver is the producer for Illuminations and Bethan Jones is Executive Producer for BBC Wales. The project was commissioned by Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama Commissioning and George Entwistle, Controller, BBC Knowledge Commissioning.

The director Gregory Doran said “Contrary to press reports at the time, the RSC always had plans to make a recording of this production but had the inevitable long journey in getting the cast together again and securing funding for this project. The Hamlet cast and the RSC are all really delighted that we now have the chance to share this show with audiences around the world, and I would like to thank all those involved in making this plan a reality at last”

Janice Hadlow, Controller BBC Two said “It’s a wonderful opportunity to bring one of the great stage successes of last year to a wider audience.”

To support the new film of Hamlet, a rich online BBC site is being created in collaboration with the RSC. It will feature behind-the-scenes stills and footage; specially shot interviews with the actors talking about their characters and how they’ve approached the play; further interviews, with the director and other key backstage personnel; and a comprehensive range of links through to the full depth of BBC Learning’s content on Shakespeare and RSC Education’s content on Shakespeare in performance.

George Entwistle, Controller, BBC Knowledge Commissioning said “We hope we can use our experience in building compelling online sites to encourage a large TV audience to pursue their interest in Hamlet and Shakespeare as far as possible, off the back of a superb TV version of the play.”

shakespeare #6

i ♥ hamlet

the english countryside

first impressions – dandelions sneezed onto the fields like showers of yellowness – sighted from the plane, while landing in london-stansted – london underground: where’s “mind the gap”, no “mind the gap” – miss you “mind the gap” – also, no vampire-boy (sorry, steffi) – then, picture the scene – paddington station: bathroom and me paying 30 pence to go through the barrier but sadly only succeeding in pushing my bag through and then having to climb underneath it myself, looking suspiciously as if i had not paid at all

train to bath: lovely english countryside, very romantic and picturesque, but is it really or is it just because i am in the “romantic south” and expect it to be? – fields divided by hedgerows, boats on canals, small idyllic train stations and bridges

bath itself is beautiful – morning had broken all foggy and gray – just one hour later, sun is bright and pretty, bells are ringing in honour of st. george and bath is awake and alive, looking every bit like one stepped back in time to the 18th century – i managed the whole touristy load and still felt perfectly cool – it’s really as if i was in jane austen’s time, going to the pump room to take the waters, chatting at the assembly rooms, walking on the gravel walk – touristy, but just what you ought to do in bath – and i did see many handsome men – one slightly looked like vampire-boy from the distance – i was not able to get a good shot, so i brought something else

a party i attended was quite entertaining – had a discussion of literary themes with some very nice boys – might have been flirting, while quizzing them – but took my leave as soon as their talk turned to economy, politics and disease – men, what frightful creatures they are – never but spending just a moment in fruitful conversation with us poor women, before returning to their ceaseless worrying about the world’s turning to their desires

moving on to stratford-upon-avon – thou should’st be amused – thy eternal verses are used in ev’ry shop and ev’ry tavern throughout this town – quoted by actors, vicars, children, teachers thy words shall live for evermore and thus give life to thee! – shakespeare, if indeed he really was shakespeare, would be dearly amused by the cult that’s made of him in stratford – you can see the place where he wooed his wife (more like got her pregnant and then disappeared off to london to pursue the stage – not quite so romantic, but still …), visit his grave in holy trinity, the only place that’s truly shakesperean here, as he’s really there (dead and all) and see where he was born (or not!) – and it seems like people are inspired by this environment to spout out their own frightful verses and pretend literary greatness – indeed, i also felt the place’s magic in the very marrow of my bones, but indeed, i am amused, like shakespeare would have been – but then shakespeare was never really shakespeare, was he? – i am entranced by the whole mystery that surrounds him and he is still and will be for evermore my hero

best of all – the life, love & legacy exhibition at shakespeare’s birthplace with short films about him and with the very best scenes of one of my all-time favourite dr who episode

manchester – horrible, smelly, dirty, loud city and a hostel room full of disgusting, smelly, moaning, grunting, snoring men – the only good thing about the rain is my new pussy cat umbrella, which i proudly walked around the dirty, smelly, wet city – good shopping, though and i spent some happy pounds on useless and usefull nonsense – unfortunately, no manchester united fanstore to be found and no man united fan memorabilia to be seen anywhere – running up and down streets and round and round in circles in shopping centres did not help – no ronnie badge, key chain or anything whatsoever – like he doesn’t exist

liverpool, on the other hand is rather pretty and boasts two liverpool fc fanshops right in the middle of the city – me likey a lot and me buyey some nice presents – overall a good day there, but still no comparison to lovely south england and the romantic, historic haunts of bath and stratford

stratford and shakespeare

on to stratford this afternoon and goodbye to internet for a while – but imagine me in this quaint little hotel for the next nights and happy to be where dear old will spent his latter days

mine at last

the shakespeare sonnets are mine at last – i might be a hopeless romantic, but i’m a romantic with style – spending a friday night at home, with shakespeare sonnets and hot chocolate – what more can a girl want? – the velvety voice of david tennant makes up for all the stupdity of real life men and príncipes

shakespeare #5

shakespeare and david

the first wish is the one dearest in my heart and it grieves me painfully, that i have yet a whole long month to wait, till i can hold it in my hands

Shakespeare’s Sonnets, one of the most remarkable collections of poetry, was first published in 1609, 400 years ago, by Mr Thomas Thorpe. Naxos AudioBooks marks the occasion with a selection of 80 of the finest, read by leading actors. The selection includes famous ones such as ‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day’ as well as lesser well-known sonnets though of equally fine stature.

usually i am not a fan of audiobooks, but shakespeare’s sonnets, read by david tennant? – ahh, need i add more? – here’s a link to a sample – it makes me ache for more, so much more – from shakespeare and david with love

england

long have i been dreaming of a vacation to all the literary places in england and most of all stratford-upon-avon – birthplace of william shakespeare – i know, i know, the house called his birthplace isn’t even the real one anymore, but i don’t care – neither do i care for the whole debate, if shakespeare really was shakeaspeare or maybe someone else indeed – i just wanna go and see the place for myself – so, this year i’ll be celebrating the bard’s birthday in style – i’ll be in stratford!

and, what’s more, the shakespeare hall of fame will have opened by then – and, from the looks of it, david tennant will have made the lucky number 13 – oh joy!

during my week-long stay i will also try and go down to bath to visit a friend and jane austen’s haunts, then make my way up to manchester, where a dear old friend of ours spents his days;) and from where i fly back home – i am frightfully excited, even though i have no idea, how i’ll manage transport and accomodations yet, but i am sure, it’ll all fall into place quite naturally

shakespeare #4

i’m back and just in time for yet another vote – this one combines two of my favourite people in the whole wide world of time and space – shakespeare and david tennant – so, who’d you put in the shakespeare hall of fame, huh? – vote here

uh, isn’t he simply delicious and such a genius? – now, see both of them together – an unbelievable amount of genius and great words – the doctor and the bard, together to save the world – such an amazing adventure and you wish, you’d have been right there with them to see and hear for yourselves – i know, i do!

shakespeare #3

shakespeare #2

shakespeare #1