I've been thinking about what makes Shakespeare different on the page vs. the stage, and part of it, of course, is the pace. I have a vague memory that I have posted recently about how much deeper a reader can dive into a metaphor -- in the theater it zooms past and is gone. But a reader, who can go back over a line as many times as she might like, can get bogged down in a way that's just not an option for a viewer. The actors will be moving on, no matter how much you might like to ruminate.
I have decided that I'd rather see Shakespeare's more lyrical stuff on the stage, because there's just too much parsing to do as a reader. (This insight occurred to me in a conversation about the merits and failings of Richard II, which I found to be rather a painful read.) That might be why I hated the sonnets when I read them all in a row. But it also pops up in comedies: there's lots of rhyme, which is always harder to untangle, and so a person with a certain bent (determined, let's say, instead of obsessive), can slow down too far.
So I am moving slowly through Comedy of Errors despite its brevity, thinking that I might like to watch it when I'm done. Any favorite productions you can recommend? Any Shakespeare in your reading pile this week?
Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing was the first Shakespeare I watched and I still love it. My husband loves his Hamlet despite (or maybe because of) the 4 hour running time.
Posted by: Linda | March 07, 2015 at 07:31 PM
Have you seen the Richard II from the BBC's The Hollow Crown? It's fabulous Shakespeare, really top-notch acting, with Ben Whishaw turning in a revelatory performance as Richard. It's certainly not the easiest play to read, but this makes it easy to watch.
Posted by: MrsDarwin | March 07, 2015 at 08:53 PM