sign in sign up
<<
Home , Julian Curry, Sonnet 30

CAM ISSN 1751-5653(Print) ISSN 1751-5661(Online)

Issue 19 – December 2010

ISSN 1751 -5661 2010 – A Year in Reviews . I cannot recall a more exciting year for Shakespearean literary events and publications. When I think about 2010’s great publications, I am drawn to Arden’s controversial release of Double Falsehood , James Shapiro’s best-selling Contested Will , John Pitcher’s long - awaited edition of The Winter’s Tale , and Stanley Wells’ Shakespeare, Sex, and Love . This is not even mentioning the number of RSC editions of the plays, Barbara Hodgdon’s Arden 3 edition of (which is now the editorial benchmark by a long measure), and Julian Curry’s Shakespeare on Stage (for which Will has provided a review in this edition). But now I’ve gone and mentioned them! Readers, there’s so much to look forward to in 2011 – ’s final play ( Richard II ) and John Jowett’s (f or Arden) being just the tip of the scholarly iceberg. Happy Holidays from all of us at the bookshop! See you in the new year! Best Wishes, Matt Kubus (Bookshop Assistant) and Will Sharpe (Editor) Paterson is a poet first and actually like most of them? Or Reading Shakespeare’s foremost. It would have been far perhaps Paterson thinks he is better for him to write a series of presenting something more like Don Paterson poems in response to John Ruskin’s love-hate account of Faber and Faber £17.99 Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Venice, confining our appreciation ISBN 9780571245024 to his taste? His starting point is unfortunate, as he seems to thinks most of them Part of Paterson’s problem is his are overrated. Paterson fatal assumption that the Sonnets extinguishes (or at least deflates) are autobiographical and are many of the poems: ‘This isn’t a printed in a discernible, narrative great poem’ ( 2); ‘Another sequence. He (mis)reads them as dull one’ (); ‘Not much to true expressions of love, rather than see here, folks’ (Sonnet 41); ‘I’d as highly artificially shaped poems cheerfully send this one into the about love. This leads him to unanthologised dark‘ (Sonnet 68); paraphrase nearly all of them ‘Oh enough already’ (Sonnet 72); which, as a poet himself, he knows ‘Let it go, man’ (Sonnet 80); ‘This is is surely the kiss of death to any The following review has kindly pretty dull stuff’ (Sonnet 98), ‘Pretty poem. been provided by Dr. Paul average effort, really’ (Sonnet 111), Edmondson, Director of Education ‘a cheap trick’ (); and In its more positive moments, for the Shakespeare Birthplace ‘very little interest for the Paterson’s account is not without Trust. It was originally published on contemporary reader’ (Sonnet occasional flashes of insight. Of bloggingshakespeare.com, entitled 144). He dismisses Sonnets 27 and (‘Th’expense of spirit in “Extinguishing Shakespeare’s 29 (which have meant a lot to a waste of shame’), for example, Sonnets”. You can find the piece readers over the centuries) as ‘two he comments ‘in the syntax of its in its original form at duffers’ (p. 86) and suggests that disgusted litany, it sounds to me like www.bloggingshakespeare.com/e Sonnet 30 (which he calls ‘facile’) George Herbert’s “Prayer”, only xtinguishing-shakespeares-sonnets would be better without its final read backwards in a mirror.’ . This is the sonnet which Occasionally, he demonstrates his “Thursday 4 November sees the ends: ‘But if the while I think on specialist interest in poetry but publication of Reading thee, dear friend,/All losses are sometimes through jargon. I Shakespeare’s Sonnets: A New restored, and sorrows end.’ But the suspect I won’t be alone in finding Commentary by multi-prize-winning whole point of this couplet is to turn some of this unintelligible. Scottish poet Don Paterson. It is us away from the poet’s morose His commentary is larded with handsomely presented by Faber self-reflections, and to admit a and Faber and will attract a great slang and asides to popular ‘thee’, a ‘dear friend’ who rescues culture. This could be finely deal of attention. the poet from isolation. employed, but he lets it run away

As I settled down to read it I There are too many facetious with him. At worst this takes us into became more and more frustrated asides: ‘the poem is nothing to some sweeping generalizations. At by its tone of voice, the shout about’ (Sonnet 17), ‘this one point during his commentary assumptions Paterson is making conceit looks like a ten-car pile-up’ on Sonnet 35 he divides up male about the Sonnets, and the kinds of (Sonnet 52) and, worse, ‘given how sexuality into heterosexual and comments he is inviting us to dodgy it was, running it on to the homosexual and generalises about engage with. Without doubt, this is menu from my local Chinese how people of different sexualities one of the most self-indulgent takeaway is going to improve it’ understand the relationship studies of the Sonnets I’ve ever (Sonnet 98 when followed by between love and sex (p. 107). seen (and they have certainly Sonnet 99). Why produce a five- Elsewhere, in the context of sexual inspired many shelves of misguided hundred page commentary on frustration and Sonnet 129, he says criticism over the centuries). Shakespeare’s Sonnets if you don’t that ‘many priests [in the Roman Catholic Church] signed up because they were career In the past five years, having had And Furthermore paedophiles’ (p. 390). Such jibes great success with the more do not sit easily in a commentary generalised volumes dedicated to Weidenfeld & Nicolson £20.00 on Shakespeare, or indeed single dramatists, the ISBN 9780297859673 ‘Companion’ series has moved in anywhere. the direction of specificity,

Shakespeare’s Sonnets deserve far focusing on a particular topic in better treatment than this (an the field of English Renaissance index, bibliography, a few notes, Drama: Shakespeare’s last plays, and a list of further reading would Shakespeare’s poetry, have been nice, too). and

tragedy, Shakespeare’s history

This book ought to be a cause for plays, Shakespeare on stage, on celebration: a brand new reading film, et cetera, et cetera, et of some of the greatest poems by cetera. The latest addition to the a much-lauded contemporary series on English Renaissance poet. tragedy (complete with a detailed

chronology of the development of The party will have to go with a the genre) professes to develop swing without me.” If we think of the earlier volume the renewed interest in staging Scenes from my Life (2005) as a (Paul Edmondson) non- in a pictorial history of Judi Dench’s life scholarly way. and career, then we can describe The Cambridge Companion The volume is divided into two And Furthermore as an to English Renaissance parts, the first of which accompanying narrative account Tragedy / The Cambridge contextualizes the recurring that fills in more of the detail and Introduction to themes within the plays of the fleshes out her story. genre. Each of the essays in this Put together with the help of her Shakespeare’s Poetry section is mindful of the classical biographer John Miller, And Emma Smith and Garrett A. inheritance of the dramatists, as Furthermore is a roughly well as their ability to adapt and Sullivan Jr. (ed.) / Michael chronological collection of thoughts, revolutionize the way in which anecdotes, and memories. Her Schoenfeldt these stories were re-written, preface claims that this is far from a Cambridge Univ. Press £17.99 / £13.99 staged, and received. Andrew ISBN 9780521734646 / 9780521705073 straight autobiography, and, sure Hadfield’s essay, ‘Tragedy and the enough, reading this book is more Nation State,’ was of particular like sitting down for a chat with an interest insofar as it accounted for old friend and looking through their the socio-political interests of the photograph albums. Beginning with dramatists as well as those who her childhood and early career at may have viewed the original in 1957, her account performances of the plays. Many takes in five decades of private and of the essays refer to Norton and public life, and brings us right up to Sackville’s 1558 tragedy, date with her 2010 role as Titania in A Gorboduc , which is often Midsummer Night’s Dream for Peter considered to be the first dramatic Hall at the Kingston Rose Theatre. tragedy in English. Much of the Warm and witty throughout, what volume’s strength can be impresses is the sheer diversity of Cambridge University Press attributed to the General Editors, roles across stage and screen and continues to distinguish itself from Emma Smith and Garrett A the infectious enthusiasm with which the elite set of academic Sullivan, who compiled a seamless she recalls it all. There are some publishers. Especially with regard anthology whose essays speak to wonderful ‘behind the scenes’ stories to Shakespeare studies, one another. The example of on forgetting her lines, less than Cambridge’s commitment to Gorboduc is testimony to that. glamorous film locations, long producing the finest scholarship in Part two performs various readings running practical jokes with friends, the field can be best exemplified of selected plays that one will trying her hand at directing and by its production of texts that often find in an anthology of getting ready for the Academy range from the most advanced Renaissance drama: The Spanish Awards ceremony. My favourite scholarly monographs to Tragedy , Edward II , The involves a troublesome pair of high- introductory anthologies for the Changeling , and ‘Tis Pity She’s a heeled shoes worn under her use of under- and post-graduate Whore being just a few. The book costume as Elizabeth I in the film students. In the past quarter is a refreshing compilation of the Shakespeare in Love that resulted in alone, Cambridge released John latest scholarship that will be a endless retakes! Astington’s Actors and Acting in much-needed accompaniment to Shakespeare’s Time (reviewed students of Renaissance drama. There are also more serious musings below), as well as two introductory (Matt Kubus) on what it means to her to be an volumes: The Cambridge actor, and why theatre remains her Companion to English first love. She talks passionately Renaissance Tragedy and The about the mystery of theatre, the Cambridge Introduction to importance of telling a good story, Shakespeare’s Poetry. and the discipline and routine that working in theatre provides. She also system in the acting world. Shakespeare on Stage reveals the simple pre- performance Meanwhile, in any acting company Julian Curry ritual she has practised for many a variety of plays of all genres were Nick Hern Books £14.99 years. Favourite roles are discussed being performed by the same small ISBN 9781848420779 (Titania), as are those she missed out group of actors, and consideration is on (Grizabella in Cats ) and those she given to whether assignment of roles struggled to make sense of (Regan in relied on the actors’ versatility, or ). were to a certain extent type-cast,

and if so, how much of the actor’s Some of the anecdotes and own personality was allowed to photographs may well be familiar to appear in the performance. readers of her previous book but, as the title suggests, there is still much In support of these discussions, facts here to enjoy that is new in this and figures come thick and fast, so second volume. It’s clear that this much so that at times the reader collection is not to be her final word, can be somewhat in sympathy with so perhaps we can look forward to the line quoted in Chapter 4 from sitting down with her and those : ‘like such who photograph albums again in the study to know how many knots was As I’ve commented in these pages future. in Hercules’ club’ (3.3.41-3)! before, the robust strand of However, a comprehensive Shakespearean performance (Emma Mulveagh) appendix of principal actors and an criticism that believes in the pathway extensive index helps keep track of to the eternal verities of Actors and Acting in who did what, and where, so the Shakespeare’s characters lying details can be kept in order and Shakespeare’s Time within their unwitting ciphers – the serve towards building up the bigger actors who have personated them – John H. Astington picture of performance in that is a rose by another name that smells Cambridge University Press £15.99 period. ISBN 9780521140775 as sweet. I am, of course, referring to One such detail is the almost what is an apparent reinvigoration of obsessive noting of the age of an New Criticism, the early twentieth actor when taking on certain roles century scholarly pursuit – which, added to other facts, leads to undertaken in the study rather than interesting conclusions about the on the stage – which sought to age, range, and physical qualities of describe Shakespeare’s characters apprentices; the performance of as though they were real people. female roles; the development of Clearly Freud and his followers had a adults within the company; and the big hand in this, as the quest for the on-stage relationship of an psyche drove attempts to strip away apprentice to his master. All these, the veneer of a part to find its then, inform the analysis of two plays deepest motivations. From roughly performed by the Kings’ Men for the 1960s to the end of the century, The first three words of the title of which the original cast lists still exist. however (and these are all huge John H. Astington’s book, Actors and generalisations for the expediency of Acting in Shakespeare’s Time , tell Finally, a word of warning about the space), criticism was taken off the you exactly what you’re getting. last three words of the title. Unlike psychiatrist’s couch and thrust into With only passing mentions of the first three, these are more loosely various political arenas. Why stay companies and playhouses, this applied, as the book actually covers within a literary work when it can be book is about the men themselves a time span of roughly 100 years, sent out into the world to contest (and remember, it was only men 1558-1660, and in fact much of the gender equalities, social back then) engaged in the work of data is drawn from performances in disenfranchisement, racism, being actors. the 1620’s-30’s, years after hegemonies of language, colonial

Shakespeare’s death. Presumably oppression … well, the point is that Personal involvement in the ‘art of the terms ‘Renaissance’ or authors in search of a character stage-playing’ is examined at an ‘Elizabethan/Stuart’ don’t have the became a serious scholarly faux pas. educational, apprenticeship, and same marketing appeal as professional level. Acting in plays at ‘Shakespeare’. However, since Fast forward ten years and studies of grammar school was justified as a Shakespeare was himself only part of this kind have re-entered through the means of improving oratorical skills in the creative process in a thriving back door to be presented as a new Latin, although they often went far theatre culture, it is good to read a guest, when in fact they represent beyond that remit to the extent that book that does not quote the one who had been thrown out, in the choral training schools, these compulsively from or refer exclusively now back with a change of clothes performances could compete with to Shakespeare, yet studying his and a false beard. Of course, in the those of the professional companies. theatrical working environment still real world, impervious – as it always is The means and methods for adds to our understanding of his part – to the assaults of the academy, apprenticeship by training and in the process. interest in what actors thought about employment in are the roles they play never went away. described in detail as, unlike other (Roxanne Bennis) The trouble is that often the great professions such as grocers or actors’ private insights into a part, goldsmiths, there was no established shall we say, failed to match the Guild to regulate the apprenticeship potency of their stage interpretations. Witness this from anything about an otherwise lost also on offer, three for the price of Olivier speaking to Ken Tynan in a production for posterity from its two. New York Times interview about his major protagonists is one of the reluctance to play : stated aims of Curry’s Introduction: ‘What would I not give for Edmund He [Anthony Quayle] said, "The most Kean’s account of his King Lear!’ He difficult are the ones that are admits that, at the very least, trying complaining all the time, the ones to get them to recall anything about that moan. is all right their productions, including, because he's positive," he said, "but hopefully, ‘how they acted’ or ‘what you know what you hate about Titus, they did’ may be the best we can he's always going 'Oh,' 'Aw,' 'Aw, hope for. It is like a desire – as look', 'Oh, fancy them doing that to Stephen Greenblatt had it – to speak me,' 'Oh,' 'Oh,' 'Oh,'--and how many with the dead, only in this case while ways are there of saying 'oh, oh'? It's the dead are still alive. Inevitably, very tough on your imagination, on problems of memory dog other your resourcefulness, and it's also a interviewees: Judi Dench on very great strain physically." He said (even the most cursory bit of mental Othello was all of that and you have Part of the charm and allure of the arithmetic will tell you that that one Shakespeare Bookshop is the to black up as well. must have been quite a long time relationship it has made with the It is hard to know whether this kind of ago) for example. Still, most are authors of the books that it sells. diction is merely defensive, or a within the compass of living memory: Authors from all over the world have calculated disingenuousness ’s being the most been kind enough to come to us to disguised as an inability to speak recent. This is not the first volume to sign copies of our books for the profoundly about one’s art in order walk the line between a scholarly visitors of Shakespeare’s birthplace, to throw reporters off the scent, and, attempt at illuminating the plays and as well as for the Stratford faithful. ultimately, not have to do any more an indulgence of our fetish for We have to thank James Shapiro, bloody interviews. Of course, there rehearsal diaries of famous actors. especially, for signing additional are many actors and directors who Yet it is slightly different in that it is a copies of Contested Will and for his speak with wonderful insight and series of interviews with actors – and kind praise of the shop as the ‘finest precision about what they do, and I there’s quite a roll-call here – rather Shakespeare bookshop in the world’. suppose it’s fair to say that both sides than a series of essays by actors in are represented in this volume. Curry volumes such as the Players of There are signed copies of plenty in tells us in his Introduction that the Shakespeare series, or Cambridge’s the Bookshop at the moment. Most late Paul Scofield, one of the last Performing Shakespeare’s Tragedies notably are Greg Doran’s century’s great actors, ‘sent a Today . It is a noble enterprise in Shakespeare Almanac , Stanley charmingly self-deprecatory theory, but of course it still ends up Wells’ Shakespeare, Sex, & Love , and postcard asking to be excused, being merely a series of interviews James Shapiro’s Contested Will , any claiming not to be much good at that are more illuminating about the of which would make the ideal interviews’. Hmmm. Still, others that people being interviewed than the holiday gift for that pesky, did say yes are very good at mysteries of a set of roles that have impossible-to-shop-for interviews: on Titus; borne 400 years’ worth of energetic Shakespearean in your life. on Rosalind; and reinterpretation and show no signs of on are very slowing down any time soon. Still, why thoughtful and articulate subjects, not? This is a highly entertaining volume, rich in idiosyncrasy, personal and there are some real superstar names that will no doubt generate reflection (which is usually considered and fruitful), and, often, chinks of light as much interest in themselves as in what they can reveal to us about shed on these the most enduring and Shakespeare’s characters. Kevin mysterious of artworks.

Spacey speaks with candour about (Will Sharpe) his Richard II, Ian McKellen remembers his Macbeth (though perhaps that verb needs to hedged in with scare quotes): Special Offers

JC: You had a talisman from the witches that you re-examined in the The RSC Complete Works Hardback light of the bulb. with slipcase is on offer for just £15! It IM: Did I? is with great pride that we are able to provide this offer for you all this This is not a further insinuation that holiday season. For a limited time mistrustful actors are reluctant to talk only, we are able to sell this, the about their work to parasitic scholars newest of the complete works, with (Curry is in fact an actor himself), but hardback and slipcase for the an understandable difficulty in bargain price of £15. It is the perfect remembering a thirty-four-year-old gift for the holiday season, but one The Shakespeare Bookshop performance. It is a neat reminder would need an inordinately large T. +44 (0) 1789 292176 that theatre is the most ephemeral stocking to even attempt to stuff this [email protected] medium there is, and capturing item into! RSC single editions are www.shakespearebookshop.com