I've finally finished (re-)reading the plays of "William Shakespeare" (most of them, at any rate – I wasn't going to torture myself by reading three sophomoric accounts of England's most lacklustre king, Henry VI, or the early comedies - these are challenging enough at the best of times when most of the jokes need explaining - or plays named after little known ancient figures like Titus Andronicus or Cymbeline).
Never a man to break my word, I now present you with the definitive list of Shakespeare’s Top Ten Plays – in reverse order to ensure maximum suspense:
[Tabor roll]
10. Richard III – without a shadow of a doubt, Shakespeare's best early stab at rewriting history. So good that Laurence Olivier remade the rewrite, casting himself as a mad king with a hunchback, an enormous proboscis and the most famous opening line of them all.
[Tutti with hammy nasal accents] "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of Yooorkk."
9. Much Ado about Nothing – King Charles I may have been wrong about his divine right to rule, but he was right about this one, writing "Benedick and Beatrice" next to the title of his copy. Their badinage (so much better than Petruchio and Katherina's exchanges in The Taming of the Shrew or anything in Love’s Labour’s Lost) was so good that Kenneth Branagh made Shakespeare sexy for a new generation with his 1993 film version.
8. The Winter’s Tale – deservedly famous for the stage direction "Exit, pursued by a bear" (which kills him. by the way), the play's correct title is The Winter's Tale rather than A Winter's Tale, vital knowledge for anyone who wants to bluff their way through Shakespeare. The convoluted plot, premised on insane jealousy and nicked by Shakespeare from someone or other, as most of his plots were, could have seen this descend to the level of "Othello Lite", but the lightness of touch and the fact that everything ends happily makes this one of his best, if weirdest, comedies.
7. Macbeth – I get so irritated by people who call this The Scottish Play that, like Blackadder, I am going to take every opportunity to say, "Macbeth". Arguably Macbeth's greatest plus point is its length – it's Shakespeare's second shortest play. Macbeth also contains lots of good quotes ("Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" is particularly easy to remember) as well as one of the most misquoted lines in the canon, "Lead on Macduff" – that's the misquotation, by the way. Tolkien, who claimed to dislike Shakespeare – but then he disliked a lot of things – wasn't too proud to borrow plot material from Macbeth. In Macbeth, some witch prophesies that "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth" and he gets done in by Macduff, who was delivered by caesarean section – geddit?; in Lord of the Rings, some elf prophesies that a witch-king would not die "by the hand of man" and one of Tolkien's chaste warrior-maidens does him in.
6. Midsummer-Night’s Dream – I hope you appreciate the way I've used the olde worlde title for this. Probably not worth bothering with if you're in bluff mode, as some pedant is bound to find you out. One of the great things about this play is that you don't need to be forever referring to the list of characters at the front of your copy, as most of the roles are distinctive and easily remembered (if you can tell your Puck from your Bottom). Okay, apart from Lysander, Helena, Demetrius and Hermia, who are all in love with each other at various times. Well, they are if you are to believe some twat called Green, who made sure he got his contract renewed at Sussex University by droning on about the "sodomitical elements", "homoeroticism", "lesbianism" and "compulsory heterosexuality" in the play. A terrfic romp best viewed on the lawn of a country house in England in July. Take windcheaters and umbrellas.
Never a man to break my word, I now present you with the definitive list of Shakespeare’s Top Ten Plays – in reverse order to ensure maximum suspense:
[Tabor roll]
10. Richard III – without a shadow of a doubt, Shakespeare's best early stab at rewriting history. So good that Laurence Olivier remade the rewrite, casting himself as a mad king with a hunchback, an enormous proboscis and the most famous opening line of them all.
[Tutti with hammy nasal accents] "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of Yooorkk."
9. Much Ado about Nothing – King Charles I may have been wrong about his divine right to rule, but he was right about this one, writing "Benedick and Beatrice" next to the title of his copy. Their badinage (so much better than Petruchio and Katherina's exchanges in The Taming of the Shrew or anything in Love’s Labour’s Lost) was so good that Kenneth Branagh made Shakespeare sexy for a new generation with his 1993 film version.
8. The Winter’s Tale – deservedly famous for the stage direction "Exit, pursued by a bear" (which kills him. by the way), the play's correct title is The Winter's Tale rather than A Winter's Tale, vital knowledge for anyone who wants to bluff their way through Shakespeare. The convoluted plot, premised on insane jealousy and nicked by Shakespeare from someone or other, as most of his plots were, could have seen this descend to the level of "Othello Lite", but the lightness of touch and the fact that everything ends happily makes this one of his best, if weirdest, comedies.
7. Macbeth – I get so irritated by people who call this The Scottish Play that, like Blackadder, I am going to take every opportunity to say, "Macbeth". Arguably Macbeth's greatest plus point is its length – it's Shakespeare's second shortest play. Macbeth also contains lots of good quotes ("Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow" is particularly easy to remember) as well as one of the most misquoted lines in the canon, "Lead on Macduff" – that's the misquotation, by the way. Tolkien, who claimed to dislike Shakespeare – but then he disliked a lot of things – wasn't too proud to borrow plot material from Macbeth. In Macbeth, some witch prophesies that "none of woman born shall harm Macbeth" and he gets done in by Macduff, who was delivered by caesarean section – geddit?; in Lord of the Rings, some elf prophesies that a witch-king would not die "by the hand of man" and one of Tolkien's chaste warrior-maidens does him in.
6. Midsummer-Night’s Dream – I hope you appreciate the way I've used the olde worlde title for this. Probably not worth bothering with if you're in bluff mode, as some pedant is bound to find you out. One of the great things about this play is that you don't need to be forever referring to the list of characters at the front of your copy, as most of the roles are distinctive and easily remembered (if you can tell your Puck from your Bottom). Okay, apart from Lysander, Helena, Demetrius and Hermia, who are all in love with each other at various times. Well, they are if you are to believe some twat called Green, who made sure he got his contract renewed at Sussex University by droning on about the "sodomitical elements", "homoeroticism", "lesbianism" and "compulsory heterosexuality" in the play. A terrfic romp best viewed on the lawn of a country house in England in July. Take windcheaters and umbrellas.
[Nos. 1-5 to follow]
4 comments:
My first grade teacher read Macbeth to us. She somehow was able to translate it successfully to a seven year old reading level. We took parts of the play and performed them to our parents for Halloween, iambic pentameter and all! Of course it was several years later before I could appreciate the literature aspect but Mrs. Lee whetted our interest at an early age.
By the way I was the third witch. Our (abbreviated) lines were placed on the inside of the cauldron. I still remember them.
A witch, eh. I wonder what SB would make of that ...
Our school librarian has managed to get the grade 3's and 4's enthusiastic about Shakespeare - which is a wonderful feat.
I've got the Naxos series of Shakespeare's plays which intersperses a narrator talking you through the play with the more famous lines, which is just perfect for young listeners.
Books in the running brooks
And good in everything
And I was and remain,
Hopelessly in love with sweet Rosalind
Post a Comment