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Shakespeare Magazine 08 celebrates the Shakespeare event of 2015: Benedict Cumberbatch's Hamlet. Our 10-page feature explores Benedict's Shakespearean story and includes beautiful images and a full Barbican review. Also this issue: our essential visitor's guide to Shakespeare's Stratford-upon-Avon (with a nod to Stratford, Ontario). Plus! Shakespeare in Scotland, Shakespeare Video Games, Richard III in California, and Painting Shakespeare with artist Rosalind Lyons.
Citation preview
At last A magazine with all the Will in the world
Issue 8FREE
Hamlet
Sweet HomeShakespearersquos Stratford-upon-Avon itrsquos our essential guide
Screen Savers
Video Games The future of
Shakespeare
Native Tongues
The sound of Shakespeare
in Scotland
Painting the BardThe haunting Shakespeare art of Rosalind Lyons
Shakespearersquos hottest ticketBENEDICT CUMBERBATCH
is Burning at the Barbican
At last A magazine with all the Will in the world
HamletShakespearersquos hottest ticket
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCHis Burning at the Barbican
Welcometo Issue 8 of Shakespeare Magazine
Welcome
SHAKESPEARE magazine 3
Phot
o D
avid
Ham
mon
ds
Shakespeare is our greatest most discussed most studied most written-about author And yet we Shakespeare fans are often made to feel that the Bard is some minor niche obsession that cuts us o from what everyone else is getting excited about
So itrsquos great for us when Shakespeare becomes headline news ndash and I mean real news as opposed to the mediarsquos endlessly recycled Shakespeare non-stories
Which brings me to Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet Undoubtedly a real news story and a real Shakespeare story right now it feels like the biggest thing to hit London since Henry VIIIrsquos fourth stag party
e papers have been having a eld day reporting on every aspect of Benrsquos Barbican performances Some of it has been trivial sure But itrsquos also touched on interesting subjects What is accepted theatre etiquette ndash for journalists as well as fans Why is Hamlet such a pinnacle for actors And what happens if you move its most famous speech to the start of the play
So this issue wersquore unashamedly celebrating Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet If yoursquore new to Shakespeare you probably donrsquot know that he wasnrsquot actually the most popular and successful playwright of his day But 400 years later hersquos the undisputed number one And thatrsquos denitely something to shout about
Enjoy your magazine
Pat Reid Founder amp Editor
Contents
Shakespeare Magazine Issue Eight
August 2015
Founder amp Editor Pat Reid
Art Editor Paul McIntyreStaff Writers
Brooke omas (UK)Mary Finch (US)
WritersLiz Barrett
Andrew Bretz Paul F Cockburn Rosalind LyonsHelen Mears
Jen RichardsonChief Photographer
Piper WilliamsThank You
Mrs Mary Reid Mr Peter Robinson
Merchant Taylorsrsquo School CrosbyWeb design
David HammondsContact Us
shakespearemagoutlookcomFacebook
facebookcomShakespeareMagazineTwitter
UKShakespeareWebsite
wwwshakespearemagazinecom
4 SHAKESPEARE magazine
At last A magazine with all the Will in the world
Issue 8FREE
Hamlet
Sweet HomeShakespearersquos Stratford-upon-Avon itrsquos our essential guide
Screen Savers
Video Games The future of
Shakespeare
Native Tongues
The sound of Shakespeare
in Scotland
Painting the BardThe haunting Shakespeare art of Rosalind Lyons
Shakespearersquos hottest ticketBENEDICT CUMBERBATCH
is Burning at the Barbican
6 Big Ben
Itrsquos the Shakespeare event of the Year Benedict Cumberbatch is Hamlet
18 No Place Like Home
Back to where it all began exploring Shakespearersquos home town Stratford-upon-Avon
28 Painting Shakespeare
Magical haunting and dream-like the Shakespeare art of Rosalind Lyons
34 Killing the King
Actor Aidan OrsquoReilly tells us how hersquos preparing to play Shakespearersquos Richard III
39 Bonnie Prince Billy
You havenrsquot heard Shakespeare until yoursquove heard it in the original Scottishhellip
44 e Gamersquos Afoot
Could the dizzying digital world of video games be
$amp()+-0$10$234)5$67(7)8$)0$8$9)7)))62$726)2)+-0$)($22)034
$amp$amp()+-)$amp((01+2$amp$amp()+-amp01-2())+34amp3amp5
lsquoMatthew Jenkinsonrsquos careful alterations of some of Shakespearersquos most important plays may give us less than 50 of each playrsquos
lines but they convey far more than that percentage of each playrsquos theatrical power Moreover they belong 100 to the highest
traditions of both teaching and performing Shakespearersquos playsrsquo Professor Michael Dobson Director of the
Shakespeare Institute Stratford-upon-Avon and Professor of Shakespeare
Studies University of Birmingham
Order now from wwwjohncattbookshopcom
Coming soon Vol 3 A Mid-summer Nightrsquos Dream Twelfth Night and The Tempest
Benedict Cumberbatch
6 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Big BenldquoHow weary stale at and unprotable Seem to me all the uses of this worldrdquo [I 2]
Perhaps the quintessentially English actor Benedict Cumberbatch is taking on the quintessentially English poet and playwright William Shakespeare His new Hamlet is the fastest-selling production in London history but which other Shakespeare roles has Benedict played And how does he feel about tackling The Big One
Words Helen Mears Photos Johan Persson
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 7
Lyndsey Turnerrsquos 2015 production of Hamlet
features striking set designs by Es Devlin
Benedict Cumberbatch
8 SHAKESPEARE magazine
and Romeo and Juliet playing Orlando and Benvolio respectively
Shakespeare does not feature again in Cumberbatchrsquos CV Instead he worked his way through acclaimed TV work such as his portrayal of Steven Hawking in 2004 bio-drama Hawking and his role as the troubled artist Vincent Van Gogh in 2010rsquos Van Gogh Painted with Words and film roles in Atonement (2007) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) before breaking big in 2010 with the BBCrsquos Sherlock The programme was a world-wide success and propelled Cumberbatch onto the acting A-list Since then he has featured in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) 12 Years a Slave (2014) and two of the Hobbit films (2013-14) in which he voiced the dragon Smaug He also made a huge success of The Imitation Game (2014) in which he played codebreaker Alan Turing
Now Benedict is returning to Shakespeare with vengeance with two major roles on stage as tragic hero Hamlet and on BBC TV as arch-villain Richard III in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses A taster came in the BBCrsquos Lifetime of British Drama promo where he beautifully recites the Seven Ages of Man speech from As You Like It over clips from classic BBC dramas past and present
Incredibly Cumberbatch is himself a distant descendant of Richard III The actor read Carol Ann Duffyrsquos specially-composed poem lsquoRichardrsquo at his ancestorrsquos re-interment at Leicester Cathedral in March 2015 He felt honoured to have been involved and it seemed particularly apt that he was filming the role of Richard at the time of this historic event ldquoHaving just played his very different Shakespearean characterisationrdquo
Benedict will be seen as Richard III in the second cycle of the BBCrsquos The Hollow Crown
Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos professional relationship with Shakespeare began early in his career back in 2001 He appeared in the New Shakespeare Companyrsquos productions in Regentrsquos Park playing the King of Navarre in Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost and Demetrius in A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream As he told Whatrsquos On Stage in 2005 ldquoThey were my first two professional roles in the theatrerdquo In the interview he also stated that Shakespeare was his favourite all-time playwright This presumably influenced his decision to return to Regentrsquos Park in 2002 for As You Like It
ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at Richard Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Benedict with Martin Freeman (left) in the BBCrsquos Sherlock
Rehearsals for Hamlet July 2015
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 9
he commented ldquoI was intrigued to see what the real historical event would be like and to be a part of this extraordinary moment of remembrance Then what really sealed the deal was this beautiful poemrdquo
Benedict feels that the discovery of Richardrsquos remains has changed peoplersquos perceptions ldquoI think the debate in historical and archaeological terms about the reality of him and his kingship is whatrsquos extraordinary to witness nowrdquo
He also recognises the perilous appeal of Shakespearersquos Richard ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at him necessarilyrdquo he said ldquobut once he had you in his beamhellip Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Cumberbatch was boldly instrumental in Dame Judi Denchrsquos appearance in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses He attended a Shakespearean workshop event at which the veteran actress was appearing When the audience were asked if they had any questions he leapt into action asking ldquoWould you like to be in Richard III with merdquo Dame Judi naturally accepted
And fans of Sherlock will already know that Andrew Scott who played criminal mastermind Moriarty will also be appearing in The Wars of the Roses as the French King Louis
But itrsquos Cumberbatchrsquos run as Hamlet
at Londonrsquos Barbican that is arguably the Shakespeare event of 2015 It sold out in record time (although the venue promise that day tickets will be available for each performance) as fans worldwide fought for their chance to see Benedict play the Dane It is clearly the fruition of a dream for Cumberbatch Indeed when asked at 2012rsquos Cheltenham Literary Festival which play he would choose if he could only perform one more stage role he opted for Hamlet ldquoEvery actor wants to have a go at itrdquo he said ldquoand I want to have my go at it and I will But wersquore working out when and howrdquo
Well the ldquowhen and howrdquo is right now Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos career has come full circle from his first professional performance of Shakespeare to playing his dream role If yoursquore lucky enough to have a ticket yoursquoll be witnessing the most talked-about and feverishly-anticipated theatrical event in years If not therersquos always those queues for day tickets Wersquoll see you there
Hamlet runs at the Barbican Theatre London until 31 October
Shakespeare On Sale SAVE 25
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The complete collection of comedies histories and tragedies all in compact 5rdquo x 8rdquo unabridged paperback editions The lowest-priced editions available for todayrsquos educators students actors and Shakespeare lovers of every kind
Complete and unabridged text of a play plus a comprehensive study guide with scene-by-scene summaries explanations and discussions of the plot a question-and-answer section and more
Calla Editionsreg
Books of Distinction for the Contemporary Bibliophile Our premium imprint features impeccable hardcover reproductions
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Plus Morehellip
G A L L E RYamp R E V I E WFor a generation of Cumberbatch fans lsquoBenedict at the Barbicanrsquo is the
most sensational and controversial Shakespeare production of a lifetime
Images Johan Persson Words Liz Barrett
Hamlet
ldquoTo be or not to be ndash that is the questionrdquo [III 1]Controversially the playrsquos most iconic speech was moved to the beginning As we went to press however this decision had apparently been reversed
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 11
Benedict Cumberbatch
12 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoA villain kills my father and for that I his sole son do this same villain send To heavenrdquo [III 3]
ldquorsquoTis in my memory lockrsquod And you yourself shall keep the key of itrdquo [I 3]Ophelia (Siacircn Brooke)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 13
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
Sale 99 through September 30 for iOS and Android
Download Shakespeare300 Today
Shakespeare300com
Back to SchoolSale
Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
At last A magazine with all the Will in the world
HamletShakespearersquos hottest ticket
BENEDICT CUMBERBATCHis Burning at the Barbican
Welcometo Issue 8 of Shakespeare Magazine
Welcome
SHAKESPEARE magazine 3
Phot
o D
avid
Ham
mon
ds
Shakespeare is our greatest most discussed most studied most written-about author And yet we Shakespeare fans are often made to feel that the Bard is some minor niche obsession that cuts us o from what everyone else is getting excited about
So itrsquos great for us when Shakespeare becomes headline news ndash and I mean real news as opposed to the mediarsquos endlessly recycled Shakespeare non-stories
Which brings me to Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet Undoubtedly a real news story and a real Shakespeare story right now it feels like the biggest thing to hit London since Henry VIIIrsquos fourth stag party
e papers have been having a eld day reporting on every aspect of Benrsquos Barbican performances Some of it has been trivial sure But itrsquos also touched on interesting subjects What is accepted theatre etiquette ndash for journalists as well as fans Why is Hamlet such a pinnacle for actors And what happens if you move its most famous speech to the start of the play
So this issue wersquore unashamedly celebrating Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet If yoursquore new to Shakespeare you probably donrsquot know that he wasnrsquot actually the most popular and successful playwright of his day But 400 years later hersquos the undisputed number one And thatrsquos denitely something to shout about
Enjoy your magazine
Pat Reid Founder amp Editor
Contents
Shakespeare Magazine Issue Eight
August 2015
Founder amp Editor Pat Reid
Art Editor Paul McIntyreStaff Writers
Brooke omas (UK)Mary Finch (US)
WritersLiz Barrett
Andrew Bretz Paul F Cockburn Rosalind LyonsHelen Mears
Jen RichardsonChief Photographer
Piper WilliamsThank You
Mrs Mary Reid Mr Peter Robinson
Merchant Taylorsrsquo School CrosbyWeb design
David HammondsContact Us
shakespearemagoutlookcomFacebook
facebookcomShakespeareMagazineTwitter
UKShakespeareWebsite
wwwshakespearemagazinecom
4 SHAKESPEARE magazine
At last A magazine with all the Will in the world
Issue 8FREE
Hamlet
Sweet HomeShakespearersquos Stratford-upon-Avon itrsquos our essential guide
Screen Savers
Video Games The future of
Shakespeare
Native Tongues
The sound of Shakespeare
in Scotland
Painting the BardThe haunting Shakespeare art of Rosalind Lyons
Shakespearersquos hottest ticketBENEDICT CUMBERBATCH
is Burning at the Barbican
6 Big Ben
Itrsquos the Shakespeare event of the Year Benedict Cumberbatch is Hamlet
18 No Place Like Home
Back to where it all began exploring Shakespearersquos home town Stratford-upon-Avon
28 Painting Shakespeare
Magical haunting and dream-like the Shakespeare art of Rosalind Lyons
34 Killing the King
Actor Aidan OrsquoReilly tells us how hersquos preparing to play Shakespearersquos Richard III
39 Bonnie Prince Billy
You havenrsquot heard Shakespeare until yoursquove heard it in the original Scottishhellip
44 e Gamersquos Afoot
Could the dizzying digital world of video games be
$amp()+-0$10$234)5$67(7)8$)0$8$9)7)))62$726)2)+-0$)($22)034
$amp$amp()+-)$amp((01+2$amp$amp()+-amp01-2())+34amp3amp5
lsquoMatthew Jenkinsonrsquos careful alterations of some of Shakespearersquos most important plays may give us less than 50 of each playrsquos
lines but they convey far more than that percentage of each playrsquos theatrical power Moreover they belong 100 to the highest
traditions of both teaching and performing Shakespearersquos playsrsquo Professor Michael Dobson Director of the
Shakespeare Institute Stratford-upon-Avon and Professor of Shakespeare
Studies University of Birmingham
Order now from wwwjohncattbookshopcom
Coming soon Vol 3 A Mid-summer Nightrsquos Dream Twelfth Night and The Tempest
Benedict Cumberbatch
6 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Big BenldquoHow weary stale at and unprotable Seem to me all the uses of this worldrdquo [I 2]
Perhaps the quintessentially English actor Benedict Cumberbatch is taking on the quintessentially English poet and playwright William Shakespeare His new Hamlet is the fastest-selling production in London history but which other Shakespeare roles has Benedict played And how does he feel about tackling The Big One
Words Helen Mears Photos Johan Persson
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 7
Lyndsey Turnerrsquos 2015 production of Hamlet
features striking set designs by Es Devlin
Benedict Cumberbatch
8 SHAKESPEARE magazine
and Romeo and Juliet playing Orlando and Benvolio respectively
Shakespeare does not feature again in Cumberbatchrsquos CV Instead he worked his way through acclaimed TV work such as his portrayal of Steven Hawking in 2004 bio-drama Hawking and his role as the troubled artist Vincent Van Gogh in 2010rsquos Van Gogh Painted with Words and film roles in Atonement (2007) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) before breaking big in 2010 with the BBCrsquos Sherlock The programme was a world-wide success and propelled Cumberbatch onto the acting A-list Since then he has featured in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) 12 Years a Slave (2014) and two of the Hobbit films (2013-14) in which he voiced the dragon Smaug He also made a huge success of The Imitation Game (2014) in which he played codebreaker Alan Turing
Now Benedict is returning to Shakespeare with vengeance with two major roles on stage as tragic hero Hamlet and on BBC TV as arch-villain Richard III in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses A taster came in the BBCrsquos Lifetime of British Drama promo where he beautifully recites the Seven Ages of Man speech from As You Like It over clips from classic BBC dramas past and present
Incredibly Cumberbatch is himself a distant descendant of Richard III The actor read Carol Ann Duffyrsquos specially-composed poem lsquoRichardrsquo at his ancestorrsquos re-interment at Leicester Cathedral in March 2015 He felt honoured to have been involved and it seemed particularly apt that he was filming the role of Richard at the time of this historic event ldquoHaving just played his very different Shakespearean characterisationrdquo
Benedict will be seen as Richard III in the second cycle of the BBCrsquos The Hollow Crown
Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos professional relationship with Shakespeare began early in his career back in 2001 He appeared in the New Shakespeare Companyrsquos productions in Regentrsquos Park playing the King of Navarre in Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost and Demetrius in A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream As he told Whatrsquos On Stage in 2005 ldquoThey were my first two professional roles in the theatrerdquo In the interview he also stated that Shakespeare was his favourite all-time playwright This presumably influenced his decision to return to Regentrsquos Park in 2002 for As You Like It
ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at Richard Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Benedict with Martin Freeman (left) in the BBCrsquos Sherlock
Rehearsals for Hamlet July 2015
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 9
he commented ldquoI was intrigued to see what the real historical event would be like and to be a part of this extraordinary moment of remembrance Then what really sealed the deal was this beautiful poemrdquo
Benedict feels that the discovery of Richardrsquos remains has changed peoplersquos perceptions ldquoI think the debate in historical and archaeological terms about the reality of him and his kingship is whatrsquos extraordinary to witness nowrdquo
He also recognises the perilous appeal of Shakespearersquos Richard ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at him necessarilyrdquo he said ldquobut once he had you in his beamhellip Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Cumberbatch was boldly instrumental in Dame Judi Denchrsquos appearance in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses He attended a Shakespearean workshop event at which the veteran actress was appearing When the audience were asked if they had any questions he leapt into action asking ldquoWould you like to be in Richard III with merdquo Dame Judi naturally accepted
And fans of Sherlock will already know that Andrew Scott who played criminal mastermind Moriarty will also be appearing in The Wars of the Roses as the French King Louis
But itrsquos Cumberbatchrsquos run as Hamlet
at Londonrsquos Barbican that is arguably the Shakespeare event of 2015 It sold out in record time (although the venue promise that day tickets will be available for each performance) as fans worldwide fought for their chance to see Benedict play the Dane It is clearly the fruition of a dream for Cumberbatch Indeed when asked at 2012rsquos Cheltenham Literary Festival which play he would choose if he could only perform one more stage role he opted for Hamlet ldquoEvery actor wants to have a go at itrdquo he said ldquoand I want to have my go at it and I will But wersquore working out when and howrdquo
Well the ldquowhen and howrdquo is right now Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos career has come full circle from his first professional performance of Shakespeare to playing his dream role If yoursquore lucky enough to have a ticket yoursquoll be witnessing the most talked-about and feverishly-anticipated theatrical event in years If not therersquos always those queues for day tickets Wersquoll see you there
Hamlet runs at the Barbican Theatre London until 31 October
Shakespeare On Sale SAVE 25
Since 1941 Dover Publications has built its reputation by offering remarkable books at amazing prices Discover our fi ne catalog of the works of William Shakespeare
The complete collection of comedies histories and tragedies all in compact 5rdquo x 8rdquo unabridged paperback editions The lowest-priced editions available for todayrsquos educators students actors and Shakespeare lovers of every kind
Complete and unabridged text of a play plus a comprehensive study guide with scene-by-scene summaries explanations and discussions of the plot a question-and-answer section and more
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Plus Morehellip
G A L L E RYamp R E V I E WFor a generation of Cumberbatch fans lsquoBenedict at the Barbicanrsquo is the
most sensational and controversial Shakespeare production of a lifetime
Images Johan Persson Words Liz Barrett
Hamlet
ldquoTo be or not to be ndash that is the questionrdquo [III 1]Controversially the playrsquos most iconic speech was moved to the beginning As we went to press however this decision had apparently been reversed
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 11
Benedict Cumberbatch
12 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoA villain kills my father and for that I his sole son do this same villain send To heavenrdquo [III 3]
ldquorsquoTis in my memory lockrsquod And you yourself shall keep the key of itrdquo [I 3]Ophelia (Siacircn Brooke)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 13
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
Sale 99 through September 30 for iOS and Android
Download Shakespeare300 Today
Shakespeare300com
Back to SchoolSale
Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Welcometo Issue 8 of Shakespeare Magazine
Welcome
SHAKESPEARE magazine 3
Phot
o D
avid
Ham
mon
ds
Shakespeare is our greatest most discussed most studied most written-about author And yet we Shakespeare fans are often made to feel that the Bard is some minor niche obsession that cuts us o from what everyone else is getting excited about
So itrsquos great for us when Shakespeare becomes headline news ndash and I mean real news as opposed to the mediarsquos endlessly recycled Shakespeare non-stories
Which brings me to Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet Undoubtedly a real news story and a real Shakespeare story right now it feels like the biggest thing to hit London since Henry VIIIrsquos fourth stag party
e papers have been having a eld day reporting on every aspect of Benrsquos Barbican performances Some of it has been trivial sure But itrsquos also touched on interesting subjects What is accepted theatre etiquette ndash for journalists as well as fans Why is Hamlet such a pinnacle for actors And what happens if you move its most famous speech to the start of the play
So this issue wersquore unashamedly celebrating Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet If yoursquore new to Shakespeare you probably donrsquot know that he wasnrsquot actually the most popular and successful playwright of his day But 400 years later hersquos the undisputed number one And thatrsquos denitely something to shout about
Enjoy your magazine
Pat Reid Founder amp Editor
Contents
Shakespeare Magazine Issue Eight
August 2015
Founder amp Editor Pat Reid
Art Editor Paul McIntyreStaff Writers
Brooke omas (UK)Mary Finch (US)
WritersLiz Barrett
Andrew Bretz Paul F Cockburn Rosalind LyonsHelen Mears
Jen RichardsonChief Photographer
Piper WilliamsThank You
Mrs Mary Reid Mr Peter Robinson
Merchant Taylorsrsquo School CrosbyWeb design
David HammondsContact Us
shakespearemagoutlookcomFacebook
facebookcomShakespeareMagazineTwitter
UKShakespeareWebsite
wwwshakespearemagazinecom
4 SHAKESPEARE magazine
At last A magazine with all the Will in the world
Issue 8FREE
Hamlet
Sweet HomeShakespearersquos Stratford-upon-Avon itrsquos our essential guide
Screen Savers
Video Games The future of
Shakespeare
Native Tongues
The sound of Shakespeare
in Scotland
Painting the BardThe haunting Shakespeare art of Rosalind Lyons
Shakespearersquos hottest ticketBENEDICT CUMBERBATCH
is Burning at the Barbican
6 Big Ben
Itrsquos the Shakespeare event of the Year Benedict Cumberbatch is Hamlet
18 No Place Like Home
Back to where it all began exploring Shakespearersquos home town Stratford-upon-Avon
28 Painting Shakespeare
Magical haunting and dream-like the Shakespeare art of Rosalind Lyons
34 Killing the King
Actor Aidan OrsquoReilly tells us how hersquos preparing to play Shakespearersquos Richard III
39 Bonnie Prince Billy
You havenrsquot heard Shakespeare until yoursquove heard it in the original Scottishhellip
44 e Gamersquos Afoot
Could the dizzying digital world of video games be
$amp()+-0$10$234)5$67(7)8$)0$8$9)7)))62$726)2)+-0$)($22)034
$amp$amp()+-)$amp((01+2$amp$amp()+-amp01-2())+34amp3amp5
lsquoMatthew Jenkinsonrsquos careful alterations of some of Shakespearersquos most important plays may give us less than 50 of each playrsquos
lines but they convey far more than that percentage of each playrsquos theatrical power Moreover they belong 100 to the highest
traditions of both teaching and performing Shakespearersquos playsrsquo Professor Michael Dobson Director of the
Shakespeare Institute Stratford-upon-Avon and Professor of Shakespeare
Studies University of Birmingham
Order now from wwwjohncattbookshopcom
Coming soon Vol 3 A Mid-summer Nightrsquos Dream Twelfth Night and The Tempest
Benedict Cumberbatch
6 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Big BenldquoHow weary stale at and unprotable Seem to me all the uses of this worldrdquo [I 2]
Perhaps the quintessentially English actor Benedict Cumberbatch is taking on the quintessentially English poet and playwright William Shakespeare His new Hamlet is the fastest-selling production in London history but which other Shakespeare roles has Benedict played And how does he feel about tackling The Big One
Words Helen Mears Photos Johan Persson
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 7
Lyndsey Turnerrsquos 2015 production of Hamlet
features striking set designs by Es Devlin
Benedict Cumberbatch
8 SHAKESPEARE magazine
and Romeo and Juliet playing Orlando and Benvolio respectively
Shakespeare does not feature again in Cumberbatchrsquos CV Instead he worked his way through acclaimed TV work such as his portrayal of Steven Hawking in 2004 bio-drama Hawking and his role as the troubled artist Vincent Van Gogh in 2010rsquos Van Gogh Painted with Words and film roles in Atonement (2007) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) before breaking big in 2010 with the BBCrsquos Sherlock The programme was a world-wide success and propelled Cumberbatch onto the acting A-list Since then he has featured in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) 12 Years a Slave (2014) and two of the Hobbit films (2013-14) in which he voiced the dragon Smaug He also made a huge success of The Imitation Game (2014) in which he played codebreaker Alan Turing
Now Benedict is returning to Shakespeare with vengeance with two major roles on stage as tragic hero Hamlet and on BBC TV as arch-villain Richard III in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses A taster came in the BBCrsquos Lifetime of British Drama promo where he beautifully recites the Seven Ages of Man speech from As You Like It over clips from classic BBC dramas past and present
Incredibly Cumberbatch is himself a distant descendant of Richard III The actor read Carol Ann Duffyrsquos specially-composed poem lsquoRichardrsquo at his ancestorrsquos re-interment at Leicester Cathedral in March 2015 He felt honoured to have been involved and it seemed particularly apt that he was filming the role of Richard at the time of this historic event ldquoHaving just played his very different Shakespearean characterisationrdquo
Benedict will be seen as Richard III in the second cycle of the BBCrsquos The Hollow Crown
Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos professional relationship with Shakespeare began early in his career back in 2001 He appeared in the New Shakespeare Companyrsquos productions in Regentrsquos Park playing the King of Navarre in Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost and Demetrius in A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream As he told Whatrsquos On Stage in 2005 ldquoThey were my first two professional roles in the theatrerdquo In the interview he also stated that Shakespeare was his favourite all-time playwright This presumably influenced his decision to return to Regentrsquos Park in 2002 for As You Like It
ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at Richard Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Benedict with Martin Freeman (left) in the BBCrsquos Sherlock
Rehearsals for Hamlet July 2015
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 9
he commented ldquoI was intrigued to see what the real historical event would be like and to be a part of this extraordinary moment of remembrance Then what really sealed the deal was this beautiful poemrdquo
Benedict feels that the discovery of Richardrsquos remains has changed peoplersquos perceptions ldquoI think the debate in historical and archaeological terms about the reality of him and his kingship is whatrsquos extraordinary to witness nowrdquo
He also recognises the perilous appeal of Shakespearersquos Richard ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at him necessarilyrdquo he said ldquobut once he had you in his beamhellip Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Cumberbatch was boldly instrumental in Dame Judi Denchrsquos appearance in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses He attended a Shakespearean workshop event at which the veteran actress was appearing When the audience were asked if they had any questions he leapt into action asking ldquoWould you like to be in Richard III with merdquo Dame Judi naturally accepted
And fans of Sherlock will already know that Andrew Scott who played criminal mastermind Moriarty will also be appearing in The Wars of the Roses as the French King Louis
But itrsquos Cumberbatchrsquos run as Hamlet
at Londonrsquos Barbican that is arguably the Shakespeare event of 2015 It sold out in record time (although the venue promise that day tickets will be available for each performance) as fans worldwide fought for their chance to see Benedict play the Dane It is clearly the fruition of a dream for Cumberbatch Indeed when asked at 2012rsquos Cheltenham Literary Festival which play he would choose if he could only perform one more stage role he opted for Hamlet ldquoEvery actor wants to have a go at itrdquo he said ldquoand I want to have my go at it and I will But wersquore working out when and howrdquo
Well the ldquowhen and howrdquo is right now Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos career has come full circle from his first professional performance of Shakespeare to playing his dream role If yoursquore lucky enough to have a ticket yoursquoll be witnessing the most talked-about and feverishly-anticipated theatrical event in years If not therersquos always those queues for day tickets Wersquoll see you there
Hamlet runs at the Barbican Theatre London until 31 October
Shakespeare On Sale SAVE 25
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The complete collection of comedies histories and tragedies all in compact 5rdquo x 8rdquo unabridged paperback editions The lowest-priced editions available for todayrsquos educators students actors and Shakespeare lovers of every kind
Complete and unabridged text of a play plus a comprehensive study guide with scene-by-scene summaries explanations and discussions of the plot a question-and-answer section and more
Calla Editionsreg
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Plus Morehellip
G A L L E RYamp R E V I E WFor a generation of Cumberbatch fans lsquoBenedict at the Barbicanrsquo is the
most sensational and controversial Shakespeare production of a lifetime
Images Johan Persson Words Liz Barrett
Hamlet
ldquoTo be or not to be ndash that is the questionrdquo [III 1]Controversially the playrsquos most iconic speech was moved to the beginning As we went to press however this decision had apparently been reversed
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 11
Benedict Cumberbatch
12 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoA villain kills my father and for that I his sole son do this same villain send To heavenrdquo [III 3]
ldquorsquoTis in my memory lockrsquod And you yourself shall keep the key of itrdquo [I 3]Ophelia (Siacircn Brooke)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 13
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
Sale 99 through September 30 for iOS and Android
Download Shakespeare300 Today
Shakespeare300com
Back to SchoolSale
Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Contents
Shakespeare Magazine Issue Eight
August 2015
Founder amp Editor Pat Reid
Art Editor Paul McIntyreStaff Writers
Brooke omas (UK)Mary Finch (US)
WritersLiz Barrett
Andrew Bretz Paul F Cockburn Rosalind LyonsHelen Mears
Jen RichardsonChief Photographer
Piper WilliamsThank You
Mrs Mary Reid Mr Peter Robinson
Merchant Taylorsrsquo School CrosbyWeb design
David HammondsContact Us
shakespearemagoutlookcomFacebook
facebookcomShakespeareMagazineTwitter
UKShakespeareWebsite
wwwshakespearemagazinecom
4 SHAKESPEARE magazine
At last A magazine with all the Will in the world
Issue 8FREE
Hamlet
Sweet HomeShakespearersquos Stratford-upon-Avon itrsquos our essential guide
Screen Savers
Video Games The future of
Shakespeare
Native Tongues
The sound of Shakespeare
in Scotland
Painting the BardThe haunting Shakespeare art of Rosalind Lyons
Shakespearersquos hottest ticketBENEDICT CUMBERBATCH
is Burning at the Barbican
6 Big Ben
Itrsquos the Shakespeare event of the Year Benedict Cumberbatch is Hamlet
18 No Place Like Home
Back to where it all began exploring Shakespearersquos home town Stratford-upon-Avon
28 Painting Shakespeare
Magical haunting and dream-like the Shakespeare art of Rosalind Lyons
34 Killing the King
Actor Aidan OrsquoReilly tells us how hersquos preparing to play Shakespearersquos Richard III
39 Bonnie Prince Billy
You havenrsquot heard Shakespeare until yoursquove heard it in the original Scottishhellip
44 e Gamersquos Afoot
Could the dizzying digital world of video games be
$amp()+-0$10$234)5$67(7)8$)0$8$9)7)))62$726)2)+-0$)($22)034
$amp$amp()+-)$amp((01+2$amp$amp()+-amp01-2())+34amp3amp5
lsquoMatthew Jenkinsonrsquos careful alterations of some of Shakespearersquos most important plays may give us less than 50 of each playrsquos
lines but they convey far more than that percentage of each playrsquos theatrical power Moreover they belong 100 to the highest
traditions of both teaching and performing Shakespearersquos playsrsquo Professor Michael Dobson Director of the
Shakespeare Institute Stratford-upon-Avon and Professor of Shakespeare
Studies University of Birmingham
Order now from wwwjohncattbookshopcom
Coming soon Vol 3 A Mid-summer Nightrsquos Dream Twelfth Night and The Tempest
Benedict Cumberbatch
6 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Big BenldquoHow weary stale at and unprotable Seem to me all the uses of this worldrdquo [I 2]
Perhaps the quintessentially English actor Benedict Cumberbatch is taking on the quintessentially English poet and playwright William Shakespeare His new Hamlet is the fastest-selling production in London history but which other Shakespeare roles has Benedict played And how does he feel about tackling The Big One
Words Helen Mears Photos Johan Persson
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 7
Lyndsey Turnerrsquos 2015 production of Hamlet
features striking set designs by Es Devlin
Benedict Cumberbatch
8 SHAKESPEARE magazine
and Romeo and Juliet playing Orlando and Benvolio respectively
Shakespeare does not feature again in Cumberbatchrsquos CV Instead he worked his way through acclaimed TV work such as his portrayal of Steven Hawking in 2004 bio-drama Hawking and his role as the troubled artist Vincent Van Gogh in 2010rsquos Van Gogh Painted with Words and film roles in Atonement (2007) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) before breaking big in 2010 with the BBCrsquos Sherlock The programme was a world-wide success and propelled Cumberbatch onto the acting A-list Since then he has featured in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) 12 Years a Slave (2014) and two of the Hobbit films (2013-14) in which he voiced the dragon Smaug He also made a huge success of The Imitation Game (2014) in which he played codebreaker Alan Turing
Now Benedict is returning to Shakespeare with vengeance with two major roles on stage as tragic hero Hamlet and on BBC TV as arch-villain Richard III in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses A taster came in the BBCrsquos Lifetime of British Drama promo where he beautifully recites the Seven Ages of Man speech from As You Like It over clips from classic BBC dramas past and present
Incredibly Cumberbatch is himself a distant descendant of Richard III The actor read Carol Ann Duffyrsquos specially-composed poem lsquoRichardrsquo at his ancestorrsquos re-interment at Leicester Cathedral in March 2015 He felt honoured to have been involved and it seemed particularly apt that he was filming the role of Richard at the time of this historic event ldquoHaving just played his very different Shakespearean characterisationrdquo
Benedict will be seen as Richard III in the second cycle of the BBCrsquos The Hollow Crown
Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos professional relationship with Shakespeare began early in his career back in 2001 He appeared in the New Shakespeare Companyrsquos productions in Regentrsquos Park playing the King of Navarre in Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost and Demetrius in A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream As he told Whatrsquos On Stage in 2005 ldquoThey were my first two professional roles in the theatrerdquo In the interview he also stated that Shakespeare was his favourite all-time playwright This presumably influenced his decision to return to Regentrsquos Park in 2002 for As You Like It
ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at Richard Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Benedict with Martin Freeman (left) in the BBCrsquos Sherlock
Rehearsals for Hamlet July 2015
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 9
he commented ldquoI was intrigued to see what the real historical event would be like and to be a part of this extraordinary moment of remembrance Then what really sealed the deal was this beautiful poemrdquo
Benedict feels that the discovery of Richardrsquos remains has changed peoplersquos perceptions ldquoI think the debate in historical and archaeological terms about the reality of him and his kingship is whatrsquos extraordinary to witness nowrdquo
He also recognises the perilous appeal of Shakespearersquos Richard ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at him necessarilyrdquo he said ldquobut once he had you in his beamhellip Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Cumberbatch was boldly instrumental in Dame Judi Denchrsquos appearance in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses He attended a Shakespearean workshop event at which the veteran actress was appearing When the audience were asked if they had any questions he leapt into action asking ldquoWould you like to be in Richard III with merdquo Dame Judi naturally accepted
And fans of Sherlock will already know that Andrew Scott who played criminal mastermind Moriarty will also be appearing in The Wars of the Roses as the French King Louis
But itrsquos Cumberbatchrsquos run as Hamlet
at Londonrsquos Barbican that is arguably the Shakespeare event of 2015 It sold out in record time (although the venue promise that day tickets will be available for each performance) as fans worldwide fought for their chance to see Benedict play the Dane It is clearly the fruition of a dream for Cumberbatch Indeed when asked at 2012rsquos Cheltenham Literary Festival which play he would choose if he could only perform one more stage role he opted for Hamlet ldquoEvery actor wants to have a go at itrdquo he said ldquoand I want to have my go at it and I will But wersquore working out when and howrdquo
Well the ldquowhen and howrdquo is right now Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos career has come full circle from his first professional performance of Shakespeare to playing his dream role If yoursquore lucky enough to have a ticket yoursquoll be witnessing the most talked-about and feverishly-anticipated theatrical event in years If not therersquos always those queues for day tickets Wersquoll see you there
Hamlet runs at the Barbican Theatre London until 31 October
Shakespeare On Sale SAVE 25
Since 1941 Dover Publications has built its reputation by offering remarkable books at amazing prices Discover our fi ne catalog of the works of William Shakespeare
The complete collection of comedies histories and tragedies all in compact 5rdquo x 8rdquo unabridged paperback editions The lowest-priced editions available for todayrsquos educators students actors and Shakespeare lovers of every kind
Complete and unabridged text of a play plus a comprehensive study guide with scene-by-scene summaries explanations and discussions of the plot a question-and-answer section and more
Calla Editionsreg
Books of Distinction for the Contemporary Bibliophile Our premium imprint features impeccable hardcover reproductions
of some of the most beautiful books ever published Filled with breathtaking artwork and other deluxe features each Calla Edition
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To SAVE 25 Click Here
NO minimum order required bull Use Code WLA2 at checkout bull Expires 123115
Plus Morehellip
G A L L E RYamp R E V I E WFor a generation of Cumberbatch fans lsquoBenedict at the Barbicanrsquo is the
most sensational and controversial Shakespeare production of a lifetime
Images Johan Persson Words Liz Barrett
Hamlet
ldquoTo be or not to be ndash that is the questionrdquo [III 1]Controversially the playrsquos most iconic speech was moved to the beginning As we went to press however this decision had apparently been reversed
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 11
Benedict Cumberbatch
12 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoA villain kills my father and for that I his sole son do this same villain send To heavenrdquo [III 3]
ldquorsquoTis in my memory lockrsquod And you yourself shall keep the key of itrdquo [I 3]Ophelia (Siacircn Brooke)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 13
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
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Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
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Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
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Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
$amp()+-0$10$234)5$67(7)8$)0$8$9)7)))62$726)2)+-0$)($22)034
$amp$amp()+-)$amp((01+2$amp$amp()+-amp01-2())+34amp3amp5
lsquoMatthew Jenkinsonrsquos careful alterations of some of Shakespearersquos most important plays may give us less than 50 of each playrsquos
lines but they convey far more than that percentage of each playrsquos theatrical power Moreover they belong 100 to the highest
traditions of both teaching and performing Shakespearersquos playsrsquo Professor Michael Dobson Director of the
Shakespeare Institute Stratford-upon-Avon and Professor of Shakespeare
Studies University of Birmingham
Order now from wwwjohncattbookshopcom
Coming soon Vol 3 A Mid-summer Nightrsquos Dream Twelfth Night and The Tempest
Benedict Cumberbatch
6 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Big BenldquoHow weary stale at and unprotable Seem to me all the uses of this worldrdquo [I 2]
Perhaps the quintessentially English actor Benedict Cumberbatch is taking on the quintessentially English poet and playwright William Shakespeare His new Hamlet is the fastest-selling production in London history but which other Shakespeare roles has Benedict played And how does he feel about tackling The Big One
Words Helen Mears Photos Johan Persson
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 7
Lyndsey Turnerrsquos 2015 production of Hamlet
features striking set designs by Es Devlin
Benedict Cumberbatch
8 SHAKESPEARE magazine
and Romeo and Juliet playing Orlando and Benvolio respectively
Shakespeare does not feature again in Cumberbatchrsquos CV Instead he worked his way through acclaimed TV work such as his portrayal of Steven Hawking in 2004 bio-drama Hawking and his role as the troubled artist Vincent Van Gogh in 2010rsquos Van Gogh Painted with Words and film roles in Atonement (2007) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) before breaking big in 2010 with the BBCrsquos Sherlock The programme was a world-wide success and propelled Cumberbatch onto the acting A-list Since then he has featured in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) 12 Years a Slave (2014) and two of the Hobbit films (2013-14) in which he voiced the dragon Smaug He also made a huge success of The Imitation Game (2014) in which he played codebreaker Alan Turing
Now Benedict is returning to Shakespeare with vengeance with two major roles on stage as tragic hero Hamlet and on BBC TV as arch-villain Richard III in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses A taster came in the BBCrsquos Lifetime of British Drama promo where he beautifully recites the Seven Ages of Man speech from As You Like It over clips from classic BBC dramas past and present
Incredibly Cumberbatch is himself a distant descendant of Richard III The actor read Carol Ann Duffyrsquos specially-composed poem lsquoRichardrsquo at his ancestorrsquos re-interment at Leicester Cathedral in March 2015 He felt honoured to have been involved and it seemed particularly apt that he was filming the role of Richard at the time of this historic event ldquoHaving just played his very different Shakespearean characterisationrdquo
Benedict will be seen as Richard III in the second cycle of the BBCrsquos The Hollow Crown
Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos professional relationship with Shakespeare began early in his career back in 2001 He appeared in the New Shakespeare Companyrsquos productions in Regentrsquos Park playing the King of Navarre in Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost and Demetrius in A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream As he told Whatrsquos On Stage in 2005 ldquoThey were my first two professional roles in the theatrerdquo In the interview he also stated that Shakespeare was his favourite all-time playwright This presumably influenced his decision to return to Regentrsquos Park in 2002 for As You Like It
ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at Richard Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Benedict with Martin Freeman (left) in the BBCrsquos Sherlock
Rehearsals for Hamlet July 2015
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 9
he commented ldquoI was intrigued to see what the real historical event would be like and to be a part of this extraordinary moment of remembrance Then what really sealed the deal was this beautiful poemrdquo
Benedict feels that the discovery of Richardrsquos remains has changed peoplersquos perceptions ldquoI think the debate in historical and archaeological terms about the reality of him and his kingship is whatrsquos extraordinary to witness nowrdquo
He also recognises the perilous appeal of Shakespearersquos Richard ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at him necessarilyrdquo he said ldquobut once he had you in his beamhellip Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Cumberbatch was boldly instrumental in Dame Judi Denchrsquos appearance in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses He attended a Shakespearean workshop event at which the veteran actress was appearing When the audience were asked if they had any questions he leapt into action asking ldquoWould you like to be in Richard III with merdquo Dame Judi naturally accepted
And fans of Sherlock will already know that Andrew Scott who played criminal mastermind Moriarty will also be appearing in The Wars of the Roses as the French King Louis
But itrsquos Cumberbatchrsquos run as Hamlet
at Londonrsquos Barbican that is arguably the Shakespeare event of 2015 It sold out in record time (although the venue promise that day tickets will be available for each performance) as fans worldwide fought for their chance to see Benedict play the Dane It is clearly the fruition of a dream for Cumberbatch Indeed when asked at 2012rsquos Cheltenham Literary Festival which play he would choose if he could only perform one more stage role he opted for Hamlet ldquoEvery actor wants to have a go at itrdquo he said ldquoand I want to have my go at it and I will But wersquore working out when and howrdquo
Well the ldquowhen and howrdquo is right now Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos career has come full circle from his first professional performance of Shakespeare to playing his dream role If yoursquore lucky enough to have a ticket yoursquoll be witnessing the most talked-about and feverishly-anticipated theatrical event in years If not therersquos always those queues for day tickets Wersquoll see you there
Hamlet runs at the Barbican Theatre London until 31 October
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The complete collection of comedies histories and tragedies all in compact 5rdquo x 8rdquo unabridged paperback editions The lowest-priced editions available for todayrsquos educators students actors and Shakespeare lovers of every kind
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Plus Morehellip
G A L L E RYamp R E V I E WFor a generation of Cumberbatch fans lsquoBenedict at the Barbicanrsquo is the
most sensational and controversial Shakespeare production of a lifetime
Images Johan Persson Words Liz Barrett
Hamlet
ldquoTo be or not to be ndash that is the questionrdquo [III 1]Controversially the playrsquos most iconic speech was moved to the beginning As we went to press however this decision had apparently been reversed
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 11
Benedict Cumberbatch
12 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoA villain kills my father and for that I his sole son do this same villain send To heavenrdquo [III 3]
ldquorsquoTis in my memory lockrsquod And you yourself shall keep the key of itrdquo [I 3]Ophelia (Siacircn Brooke)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 13
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
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Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Benedict Cumberbatch
6 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Big BenldquoHow weary stale at and unprotable Seem to me all the uses of this worldrdquo [I 2]
Perhaps the quintessentially English actor Benedict Cumberbatch is taking on the quintessentially English poet and playwright William Shakespeare His new Hamlet is the fastest-selling production in London history but which other Shakespeare roles has Benedict played And how does he feel about tackling The Big One
Words Helen Mears Photos Johan Persson
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 7
Lyndsey Turnerrsquos 2015 production of Hamlet
features striking set designs by Es Devlin
Benedict Cumberbatch
8 SHAKESPEARE magazine
and Romeo and Juliet playing Orlando and Benvolio respectively
Shakespeare does not feature again in Cumberbatchrsquos CV Instead he worked his way through acclaimed TV work such as his portrayal of Steven Hawking in 2004 bio-drama Hawking and his role as the troubled artist Vincent Van Gogh in 2010rsquos Van Gogh Painted with Words and film roles in Atonement (2007) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) before breaking big in 2010 with the BBCrsquos Sherlock The programme was a world-wide success and propelled Cumberbatch onto the acting A-list Since then he has featured in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) 12 Years a Slave (2014) and two of the Hobbit films (2013-14) in which he voiced the dragon Smaug He also made a huge success of The Imitation Game (2014) in which he played codebreaker Alan Turing
Now Benedict is returning to Shakespeare with vengeance with two major roles on stage as tragic hero Hamlet and on BBC TV as arch-villain Richard III in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses A taster came in the BBCrsquos Lifetime of British Drama promo where he beautifully recites the Seven Ages of Man speech from As You Like It over clips from classic BBC dramas past and present
Incredibly Cumberbatch is himself a distant descendant of Richard III The actor read Carol Ann Duffyrsquos specially-composed poem lsquoRichardrsquo at his ancestorrsquos re-interment at Leicester Cathedral in March 2015 He felt honoured to have been involved and it seemed particularly apt that he was filming the role of Richard at the time of this historic event ldquoHaving just played his very different Shakespearean characterisationrdquo
Benedict will be seen as Richard III in the second cycle of the BBCrsquos The Hollow Crown
Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos professional relationship with Shakespeare began early in his career back in 2001 He appeared in the New Shakespeare Companyrsquos productions in Regentrsquos Park playing the King of Navarre in Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost and Demetrius in A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream As he told Whatrsquos On Stage in 2005 ldquoThey were my first two professional roles in the theatrerdquo In the interview he also stated that Shakespeare was his favourite all-time playwright This presumably influenced his decision to return to Regentrsquos Park in 2002 for As You Like It
ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at Richard Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Benedict with Martin Freeman (left) in the BBCrsquos Sherlock
Rehearsals for Hamlet July 2015
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 9
he commented ldquoI was intrigued to see what the real historical event would be like and to be a part of this extraordinary moment of remembrance Then what really sealed the deal was this beautiful poemrdquo
Benedict feels that the discovery of Richardrsquos remains has changed peoplersquos perceptions ldquoI think the debate in historical and archaeological terms about the reality of him and his kingship is whatrsquos extraordinary to witness nowrdquo
He also recognises the perilous appeal of Shakespearersquos Richard ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at him necessarilyrdquo he said ldquobut once he had you in his beamhellip Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Cumberbatch was boldly instrumental in Dame Judi Denchrsquos appearance in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses He attended a Shakespearean workshop event at which the veteran actress was appearing When the audience were asked if they had any questions he leapt into action asking ldquoWould you like to be in Richard III with merdquo Dame Judi naturally accepted
And fans of Sherlock will already know that Andrew Scott who played criminal mastermind Moriarty will also be appearing in The Wars of the Roses as the French King Louis
But itrsquos Cumberbatchrsquos run as Hamlet
at Londonrsquos Barbican that is arguably the Shakespeare event of 2015 It sold out in record time (although the venue promise that day tickets will be available for each performance) as fans worldwide fought for their chance to see Benedict play the Dane It is clearly the fruition of a dream for Cumberbatch Indeed when asked at 2012rsquos Cheltenham Literary Festival which play he would choose if he could only perform one more stage role he opted for Hamlet ldquoEvery actor wants to have a go at itrdquo he said ldquoand I want to have my go at it and I will But wersquore working out when and howrdquo
Well the ldquowhen and howrdquo is right now Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos career has come full circle from his first professional performance of Shakespeare to playing his dream role If yoursquore lucky enough to have a ticket yoursquoll be witnessing the most talked-about and feverishly-anticipated theatrical event in years If not therersquos always those queues for day tickets Wersquoll see you there
Hamlet runs at the Barbican Theatre London until 31 October
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The complete collection of comedies histories and tragedies all in compact 5rdquo x 8rdquo unabridged paperback editions The lowest-priced editions available for todayrsquos educators students actors and Shakespeare lovers of every kind
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Plus Morehellip
G A L L E RYamp R E V I E WFor a generation of Cumberbatch fans lsquoBenedict at the Barbicanrsquo is the
most sensational and controversial Shakespeare production of a lifetime
Images Johan Persson Words Liz Barrett
Hamlet
ldquoTo be or not to be ndash that is the questionrdquo [III 1]Controversially the playrsquos most iconic speech was moved to the beginning As we went to press however this decision had apparently been reversed
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 11
Benedict Cumberbatch
12 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoA villain kills my father and for that I his sole son do this same villain send To heavenrdquo [III 3]
ldquorsquoTis in my memory lockrsquod And you yourself shall keep the key of itrdquo [I 3]Ophelia (Siacircn Brooke)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 13
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
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Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Perhaps the quintessentially English actor Benedict Cumberbatch is taking on the quintessentially English poet and playwright William Shakespeare His new Hamlet is the fastest-selling production in London history but which other Shakespeare roles has Benedict played And how does he feel about tackling The Big One
Words Helen Mears Photos Johan Persson
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 7
Lyndsey Turnerrsquos 2015 production of Hamlet
features striking set designs by Es Devlin
Benedict Cumberbatch
8 SHAKESPEARE magazine
and Romeo and Juliet playing Orlando and Benvolio respectively
Shakespeare does not feature again in Cumberbatchrsquos CV Instead he worked his way through acclaimed TV work such as his portrayal of Steven Hawking in 2004 bio-drama Hawking and his role as the troubled artist Vincent Van Gogh in 2010rsquos Van Gogh Painted with Words and film roles in Atonement (2007) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) before breaking big in 2010 with the BBCrsquos Sherlock The programme was a world-wide success and propelled Cumberbatch onto the acting A-list Since then he has featured in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) 12 Years a Slave (2014) and two of the Hobbit films (2013-14) in which he voiced the dragon Smaug He also made a huge success of The Imitation Game (2014) in which he played codebreaker Alan Turing
Now Benedict is returning to Shakespeare with vengeance with two major roles on stage as tragic hero Hamlet and on BBC TV as arch-villain Richard III in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses A taster came in the BBCrsquos Lifetime of British Drama promo where he beautifully recites the Seven Ages of Man speech from As You Like It over clips from classic BBC dramas past and present
Incredibly Cumberbatch is himself a distant descendant of Richard III The actor read Carol Ann Duffyrsquos specially-composed poem lsquoRichardrsquo at his ancestorrsquos re-interment at Leicester Cathedral in March 2015 He felt honoured to have been involved and it seemed particularly apt that he was filming the role of Richard at the time of this historic event ldquoHaving just played his very different Shakespearean characterisationrdquo
Benedict will be seen as Richard III in the second cycle of the BBCrsquos The Hollow Crown
Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos professional relationship with Shakespeare began early in his career back in 2001 He appeared in the New Shakespeare Companyrsquos productions in Regentrsquos Park playing the King of Navarre in Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost and Demetrius in A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream As he told Whatrsquos On Stage in 2005 ldquoThey were my first two professional roles in the theatrerdquo In the interview he also stated that Shakespeare was his favourite all-time playwright This presumably influenced his decision to return to Regentrsquos Park in 2002 for As You Like It
ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at Richard Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Benedict with Martin Freeman (left) in the BBCrsquos Sherlock
Rehearsals for Hamlet July 2015
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 9
he commented ldquoI was intrigued to see what the real historical event would be like and to be a part of this extraordinary moment of remembrance Then what really sealed the deal was this beautiful poemrdquo
Benedict feels that the discovery of Richardrsquos remains has changed peoplersquos perceptions ldquoI think the debate in historical and archaeological terms about the reality of him and his kingship is whatrsquos extraordinary to witness nowrdquo
He also recognises the perilous appeal of Shakespearersquos Richard ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at him necessarilyrdquo he said ldquobut once he had you in his beamhellip Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Cumberbatch was boldly instrumental in Dame Judi Denchrsquos appearance in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses He attended a Shakespearean workshop event at which the veteran actress was appearing When the audience were asked if they had any questions he leapt into action asking ldquoWould you like to be in Richard III with merdquo Dame Judi naturally accepted
And fans of Sherlock will already know that Andrew Scott who played criminal mastermind Moriarty will also be appearing in The Wars of the Roses as the French King Louis
But itrsquos Cumberbatchrsquos run as Hamlet
at Londonrsquos Barbican that is arguably the Shakespeare event of 2015 It sold out in record time (although the venue promise that day tickets will be available for each performance) as fans worldwide fought for their chance to see Benedict play the Dane It is clearly the fruition of a dream for Cumberbatch Indeed when asked at 2012rsquos Cheltenham Literary Festival which play he would choose if he could only perform one more stage role he opted for Hamlet ldquoEvery actor wants to have a go at itrdquo he said ldquoand I want to have my go at it and I will But wersquore working out when and howrdquo
Well the ldquowhen and howrdquo is right now Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos career has come full circle from his first professional performance of Shakespeare to playing his dream role If yoursquore lucky enough to have a ticket yoursquoll be witnessing the most talked-about and feverishly-anticipated theatrical event in years If not therersquos always those queues for day tickets Wersquoll see you there
Hamlet runs at the Barbican Theatre London until 31 October
Shakespeare On Sale SAVE 25
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The complete collection of comedies histories and tragedies all in compact 5rdquo x 8rdquo unabridged paperback editions The lowest-priced editions available for todayrsquos educators students actors and Shakespeare lovers of every kind
Complete and unabridged text of a play plus a comprehensive study guide with scene-by-scene summaries explanations and discussions of the plot a question-and-answer section and more
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Plus Morehellip
G A L L E RYamp R E V I E WFor a generation of Cumberbatch fans lsquoBenedict at the Barbicanrsquo is the
most sensational and controversial Shakespeare production of a lifetime
Images Johan Persson Words Liz Barrett
Hamlet
ldquoTo be or not to be ndash that is the questionrdquo [III 1]Controversially the playrsquos most iconic speech was moved to the beginning As we went to press however this decision had apparently been reversed
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 11
Benedict Cumberbatch
12 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoA villain kills my father and for that I his sole son do this same villain send To heavenrdquo [III 3]
ldquorsquoTis in my memory lockrsquod And you yourself shall keep the key of itrdquo [I 3]Ophelia (Siacircn Brooke)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 13
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
Sale 99 through September 30 for iOS and Android
Download Shakespeare300 Today
Shakespeare300com
Back to SchoolSale
Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Benedict Cumberbatch
8 SHAKESPEARE magazine
and Romeo and Juliet playing Orlando and Benvolio respectively
Shakespeare does not feature again in Cumberbatchrsquos CV Instead he worked his way through acclaimed TV work such as his portrayal of Steven Hawking in 2004 bio-drama Hawking and his role as the troubled artist Vincent Van Gogh in 2010rsquos Van Gogh Painted with Words and film roles in Atonement (2007) and The Other Boleyn Girl (2008) before breaking big in 2010 with the BBCrsquos Sherlock The programme was a world-wide success and propelled Cumberbatch onto the acting A-list Since then he has featured in Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) 12 Years a Slave (2014) and two of the Hobbit films (2013-14) in which he voiced the dragon Smaug He also made a huge success of The Imitation Game (2014) in which he played codebreaker Alan Turing
Now Benedict is returning to Shakespeare with vengeance with two major roles on stage as tragic hero Hamlet and on BBC TV as arch-villain Richard III in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses A taster came in the BBCrsquos Lifetime of British Drama promo where he beautifully recites the Seven Ages of Man speech from As You Like It over clips from classic BBC dramas past and present
Incredibly Cumberbatch is himself a distant descendant of Richard III The actor read Carol Ann Duffyrsquos specially-composed poem lsquoRichardrsquo at his ancestorrsquos re-interment at Leicester Cathedral in March 2015 He felt honoured to have been involved and it seemed particularly apt that he was filming the role of Richard at the time of this historic event ldquoHaving just played his very different Shakespearean characterisationrdquo
Benedict will be seen as Richard III in the second cycle of the BBCrsquos The Hollow Crown
Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos professional relationship with Shakespeare began early in his career back in 2001 He appeared in the New Shakespeare Companyrsquos productions in Regentrsquos Park playing the King of Navarre in Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost and Demetrius in A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream As he told Whatrsquos On Stage in 2005 ldquoThey were my first two professional roles in the theatrerdquo In the interview he also stated that Shakespeare was his favourite all-time playwright This presumably influenced his decision to return to Regentrsquos Park in 2002 for As You Like It
ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at Richard Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Benedict with Martin Freeman (left) in the BBCrsquos Sherlock
Rehearsals for Hamlet July 2015
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 9
he commented ldquoI was intrigued to see what the real historical event would be like and to be a part of this extraordinary moment of remembrance Then what really sealed the deal was this beautiful poemrdquo
Benedict feels that the discovery of Richardrsquos remains has changed peoplersquos perceptions ldquoI think the debate in historical and archaeological terms about the reality of him and his kingship is whatrsquos extraordinary to witness nowrdquo
He also recognises the perilous appeal of Shakespearersquos Richard ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at him necessarilyrdquo he said ldquobut once he had you in his beamhellip Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Cumberbatch was boldly instrumental in Dame Judi Denchrsquos appearance in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses He attended a Shakespearean workshop event at which the veteran actress was appearing When the audience were asked if they had any questions he leapt into action asking ldquoWould you like to be in Richard III with merdquo Dame Judi naturally accepted
And fans of Sherlock will already know that Andrew Scott who played criminal mastermind Moriarty will also be appearing in The Wars of the Roses as the French King Louis
But itrsquos Cumberbatchrsquos run as Hamlet
at Londonrsquos Barbican that is arguably the Shakespeare event of 2015 It sold out in record time (although the venue promise that day tickets will be available for each performance) as fans worldwide fought for their chance to see Benedict play the Dane It is clearly the fruition of a dream for Cumberbatch Indeed when asked at 2012rsquos Cheltenham Literary Festival which play he would choose if he could only perform one more stage role he opted for Hamlet ldquoEvery actor wants to have a go at itrdquo he said ldquoand I want to have my go at it and I will But wersquore working out when and howrdquo
Well the ldquowhen and howrdquo is right now Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos career has come full circle from his first professional performance of Shakespeare to playing his dream role If yoursquore lucky enough to have a ticket yoursquoll be witnessing the most talked-about and feverishly-anticipated theatrical event in years If not therersquos always those queues for day tickets Wersquoll see you there
Hamlet runs at the Barbican Theatre London until 31 October
Shakespeare On Sale SAVE 25
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The complete collection of comedies histories and tragedies all in compact 5rdquo x 8rdquo unabridged paperback editions The lowest-priced editions available for todayrsquos educators students actors and Shakespeare lovers of every kind
Complete and unabridged text of a play plus a comprehensive study guide with scene-by-scene summaries explanations and discussions of the plot a question-and-answer section and more
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Plus Morehellip
G A L L E RYamp R E V I E WFor a generation of Cumberbatch fans lsquoBenedict at the Barbicanrsquo is the
most sensational and controversial Shakespeare production of a lifetime
Images Johan Persson Words Liz Barrett
Hamlet
ldquoTo be or not to be ndash that is the questionrdquo [III 1]Controversially the playrsquos most iconic speech was moved to the beginning As we went to press however this decision had apparently been reversed
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 11
Benedict Cumberbatch
12 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoA villain kills my father and for that I his sole son do this same villain send To heavenrdquo [III 3]
ldquorsquoTis in my memory lockrsquod And you yourself shall keep the key of itrdquo [I 3]Ophelia (Siacircn Brooke)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 13
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
Sale 99 through September 30 for iOS and Android
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Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Benedict with Martin Freeman (left) in the BBCrsquos Sherlock
Rehearsals for Hamlet July 2015
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 9
he commented ldquoI was intrigued to see what the real historical event would be like and to be a part of this extraordinary moment of remembrance Then what really sealed the deal was this beautiful poemrdquo
Benedict feels that the discovery of Richardrsquos remains has changed peoplersquos perceptions ldquoI think the debate in historical and archaeological terms about the reality of him and his kingship is whatrsquos extraordinary to witness nowrdquo
He also recognises the perilous appeal of Shakespearersquos Richard ldquoYou wouldnrsquot look twice at him necessarilyrdquo he said ldquobut once he had you in his beamhellip Hersquos a very dangerous charming powerful manrdquo
Cumberbatch was boldly instrumental in Dame Judi Denchrsquos appearance in The Hollow Crown The Wars of the Roses He attended a Shakespearean workshop event at which the veteran actress was appearing When the audience were asked if they had any questions he leapt into action asking ldquoWould you like to be in Richard III with merdquo Dame Judi naturally accepted
And fans of Sherlock will already know that Andrew Scott who played criminal mastermind Moriarty will also be appearing in The Wars of the Roses as the French King Louis
But itrsquos Cumberbatchrsquos run as Hamlet
at Londonrsquos Barbican that is arguably the Shakespeare event of 2015 It sold out in record time (although the venue promise that day tickets will be available for each performance) as fans worldwide fought for their chance to see Benedict play the Dane It is clearly the fruition of a dream for Cumberbatch Indeed when asked at 2012rsquos Cheltenham Literary Festival which play he would choose if he could only perform one more stage role he opted for Hamlet ldquoEvery actor wants to have a go at itrdquo he said ldquoand I want to have my go at it and I will But wersquore working out when and howrdquo
Well the ldquowhen and howrdquo is right now Benedict Cumberbatchrsquos career has come full circle from his first professional performance of Shakespeare to playing his dream role If yoursquore lucky enough to have a ticket yoursquoll be witnessing the most talked-about and feverishly-anticipated theatrical event in years If not therersquos always those queues for day tickets Wersquoll see you there
Hamlet runs at the Barbican Theatre London until 31 October
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The complete collection of comedies histories and tragedies all in compact 5rdquo x 8rdquo unabridged paperback editions The lowest-priced editions available for todayrsquos educators students actors and Shakespeare lovers of every kind
Complete and unabridged text of a play plus a comprehensive study guide with scene-by-scene summaries explanations and discussions of the plot a question-and-answer section and more
Calla Editionsreg
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Plus Morehellip
G A L L E RYamp R E V I E WFor a generation of Cumberbatch fans lsquoBenedict at the Barbicanrsquo is the
most sensational and controversial Shakespeare production of a lifetime
Images Johan Persson Words Liz Barrett
Hamlet
ldquoTo be or not to be ndash that is the questionrdquo [III 1]Controversially the playrsquos most iconic speech was moved to the beginning As we went to press however this decision had apparently been reversed
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 11
Benedict Cumberbatch
12 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoA villain kills my father and for that I his sole son do this same villain send To heavenrdquo [III 3]
ldquorsquoTis in my memory lockrsquod And you yourself shall keep the key of itrdquo [I 3]Ophelia (Siacircn Brooke)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 13
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
Sale 99 through September 30 for iOS and Android
Download Shakespeare300 Today
Shakespeare300com
Back to SchoolSale
Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Shakespeare On Sale SAVE 25
Since 1941 Dover Publications has built its reputation by offering remarkable books at amazing prices Discover our fi ne catalog of the works of William Shakespeare
The complete collection of comedies histories and tragedies all in compact 5rdquo x 8rdquo unabridged paperback editions The lowest-priced editions available for todayrsquos educators students actors and Shakespeare lovers of every kind
Complete and unabridged text of a play plus a comprehensive study guide with scene-by-scene summaries explanations and discussions of the plot a question-and-answer section and more
Calla Editionsreg
Books of Distinction for the Contemporary Bibliophile Our premium imprint features impeccable hardcover reproductions
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Plus Morehellip
G A L L E RYamp R E V I E WFor a generation of Cumberbatch fans lsquoBenedict at the Barbicanrsquo is the
most sensational and controversial Shakespeare production of a lifetime
Images Johan Persson Words Liz Barrett
Hamlet
ldquoTo be or not to be ndash that is the questionrdquo [III 1]Controversially the playrsquos most iconic speech was moved to the beginning As we went to press however this decision had apparently been reversed
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 11
Benedict Cumberbatch
12 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoA villain kills my father and for that I his sole son do this same villain send To heavenrdquo [III 3]
ldquorsquoTis in my memory lockrsquod And you yourself shall keep the key of itrdquo [I 3]Ophelia (Siacircn Brooke)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 13
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
Sale 99 through September 30 for iOS and Android
Download Shakespeare300 Today
Shakespeare300com
Back to SchoolSale
Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
G A L L E RYamp R E V I E WFor a generation of Cumberbatch fans lsquoBenedict at the Barbicanrsquo is the
most sensational and controversial Shakespeare production of a lifetime
Images Johan Persson Words Liz Barrett
Hamlet
ldquoTo be or not to be ndash that is the questionrdquo [III 1]Controversially the playrsquos most iconic speech was moved to the beginning As we went to press however this decision had apparently been reversed
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 11
Benedict Cumberbatch
12 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoA villain kills my father and for that I his sole son do this same villain send To heavenrdquo [III 3]
ldquorsquoTis in my memory lockrsquod And you yourself shall keep the key of itrdquo [I 3]Ophelia (Siacircn Brooke)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 13
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
Sale 99 through September 30 for iOS and Android
Download Shakespeare300 Today
Shakespeare300com
Back to SchoolSale
Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Benedict Cumberbatch
12 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoA villain kills my father and for that I his sole son do this same villain send To heavenrdquo [III 3]
ldquorsquoTis in my memory lockrsquod And you yourself shall keep the key of itrdquo [I 3]Ophelia (Siacircn Brooke)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 13
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
Sale 99 through September 30 for iOS and Android
Download Shakespeare300 Today
Shakespeare300com
Back to SchoolSale
Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 13
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
Sale 99 through September 30 for iOS and Android
Download Shakespeare300 Today
Shakespeare300com
Back to SchoolSale
Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
ldquoBut in my terms of honour I stand aloofrdquo [V 2]Laertes (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith)
Benedict Cumberbatch
14 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Battle of the HamletsDoes Benedictrsquos Hamlet vanquish Maxine Peakersquos acclaimed recent version
I f early reviews were to be believed the Barbicanrsquos Hamlet was clearly designed for the Cumberbitch crowd a tacky term used to describe female fans of Benedict Cumberbatch A Hamlet-lite so to
speak to appeal to a Hollywood crowdWhat really riled one reviewer in particular was
the moving of the lsquoto be or not to bersquo soliloquy from Act 3 to the opening line of the play An odd choice yes but personally Irsquom all for reinterpreting Shakespeare
By the time I caught the performance three weeks into the run the Barbican had already made the decision to return the line to its original home Now the play opens to Hamlet crouched on the
floor listening to Nat King Colersquos Nature Boy before Horatio breaks his train of thought
And so begins one of the most opulent stagings of Shakespeare I have ever seen While I didnrsquot find the actual performances lsquoHollywoodrsquo in their grandeur the same could not be said for the set design Set within the Danish court the stage is bathed in a haunting glow of candlelight as the second scene sees the royal family gather round a huge dining table to celebrate the hasty nuptials of Claudius and Gertrude
If anything the set design was too detailed and I often found myself mesmerised by the scenery rather than the live performances being enacted in front of me But thatrsquos not a criticism of the acting rather
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
Sale 99 through September 30 for iOS and Android
Download Shakespeare300 Today
Shakespeare300com
Back to SchoolSale
Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
ldquoO Hamlet speak no more ou turnrsquost mine eyes
into my very soulrdquo [III 4]
Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
Benedict Cumberbatch
SHAKESPEARE magazine 15
a round of applause to the talented set designers lighting crew and choreographers (I wonrsquot spoil it for anyone yet to catch it live or in the cinema but therersquos one particular scene right before the interval with just Claudius on stage back to the audience that drew gasps from the crowd and the most enthusiastic mid-play applause Irsquove ever heard)
Saying that I was lucky enough to catch Maxine Peakersquos Hamlet in Manchester last year and I found it hard not to compare the two The settings couldnrsquot have been more different Peakersquos in the centre of the Royal Exchangersquos round theatre with hardly any props or stage furniture allowing the audience to fully immerse itself into the performance Cumberbatchrsquos on a traditional stage surrounded by a movie-like set
While Peake brought a manic calculating slyness to the role of the tragic prince Cumberbatchrsquos Hamlet was a sensitive intelligent thoughtful interpretation with fantastic comic timing In fact my theatre buddies and I all agreed that wersquod love to
see him in a Shakespearean comedy role Much Adorsquos Benedict say
Ciaran Hindsrsquo Claudius is a much quieter interpretation than Irsquove seen before but it works well within the cast Indeed the cast is a beautiful amalgamation of theatre stalwarts young up-and-comers (Sian Brooke as Ophelia is tragically captivating her final scenes beautifully interpreted and realised) and big screen icons
What yoursquore left with when the final bow is taken is a sense of fulfilment While I preferred Peakersquos Hamlet Cumberbatch delivered a truly memorable performance And the man doesnrsquot half provide bang for your buck the sweat pouring off him as he receives the fatal blow from Laertesrsquo poisoned sword
So a Hollywood setting yes but a masterful reinterpretation of a Shakespearean classic that will appeal to Cumberbatch and Bard fans alike
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
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Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
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Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Benedict Cumberbatch
16 SHAKESPEARE magazine
ldquoAnd yet to me what is this quintessence
of dustrdquo [II 2]
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
Sale 99 through September 30 for iOS and Android
Download Shakespeare300 Today
Shakespeare300com
Back to SchoolSale
Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Shakespeare300 offers students and theatregoers alike a unique take on all the plays presented in concise (300 word) introductions synopses and infographics written by New York Times bestselling author James Reese
Shakespeare300 provides bull portable insight into Shakespearersquos plays bull original content including introductions and synopsesbull colorful charts infographics and a wealth of extras
Shakespearean Neologisms Insults and a detailed Timeline
Shakespeare300 is perfect for bull anyone desiring a better understanding of Shakespearersquos remarkable
(yet sometimes intimidating) canonbull students seeking a fun and thorough study guide-on-the-gobull theatregoers looking to brush up on their Shakespeare by quickly
reviewing the Bardrsquos complex plots and characters prior to any production
Release date August 1 2014 Category EducationDevice iPhone iPad Android Back to School Special Price 99
All you need to knowbefore the curtain goes upor the test goes down
Sale 99 through September 30 for iOS and Android
Download Shakespeare300 Today
Shakespeare300com
Back to SchoolSale
Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Stratford-upon-Avon
18 SHAKESPEARE magazine
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Even more than London there is one place above all that is
green and pleasant landhellip
Words Helen MearsPictures Helen Mears and Susan Braund
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 19
We could be in any small picturesque English town with its medieval church half-timbered Tudor buildings shops
restaurants and delightful riverside walks But Stratford-upon-Avon is not just any town Itrsquos one of the best-known most-visited and probably most-loved locations in England Thatrsquos because itrsquos the birthplace of William Shakespeare Itrsquos also the place he seems to have considered his home After all Shakespeare grew up there went to school there and spent his final days there
So here is Shakespeare Magazinersquos on-the-ground guide to Stratford-upon-Avon Here yoursquoll find hints and tips for first-time visitors and returning aficionados alike What to see the best ways to see it where to stay where to eat and how to get around while yoursquore there Are you ready Then letrsquos start our tourhellip
The BirthplaceSurely the must-visit spot for any self-respecting Bardolator this is where it all began ndash the six-roomed Merchantrsquos House on Henley Street where in April 1564 Mary Shakespeare wife of glover John gave birth to their famous son William e house is approached
NO PLACE LIKE HOME
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
20 SHAKESPEARE magazine
through the Shakespeare Centre on the left-hand side of the Birthplace A short exhibition shows you items such as a prized First Folio and the foot of Stratfordrsquos Old Market Cross from where glover John Shakespeare would have sold his wares
A walk through the gardens leads to the house itself You enter through the self-contained annexe where William and Anne Shakespeare spent the rst years of their married life and where their children Susannah Judith and Hamnet were born e annexe was later occupied by Williamrsquos sister Joan You can walk through the parlour and the dining room to Johnrsquos workshop where he produced gloves and other leather goods
A staircase leads to two bedrooms one for the girls one for the boys and a loft space is visible where the apprentices would have slept Finally you reach the birth room the main bedroom in which William and his seven siblings were born
Guides are on-hand in all rooms to tell you their history and other gems of information Complete your visit by watching classic Shakespearean speeches performed in the garden by resident acting troupe Shakespeare Aloud and then picking up some souvenirs in the gift shop and excellent bookshop
e ve house ticket is the best value giving you entry to all of the properties (Harvard House is a current alternative to New Place) and allowing you to view Shakespearersquos Grave in Holy Trinity Church
The Avon and Boat tripsA walk along the Avon is a must in any season e gentle stroll from the RSC to Holy Trinity Church will take you past drooping willows smoothly sailing swans and green parkland For a dierent perspective on the town you can take a boat trip along the river itself Starting from near the RSC eatre you cruise gently down to the church where Shakespeare was baptised and buried before turning back and heading past the theatre and under Clopton Bridge Itrsquos a bridge that William himself would have known built as it was around 1480 e Avon is very pretty everywhere you look are the incredible tame (and always hungry) swans and picturesque houseboats e banks are lined with weeping willows that just might have been the inspiration for poor Opheliarsquos watery end in Hamlet If you would rather take a slower self-driven trip there are rowing boats canoes and small speedboats for hire Beware though these are not as easy to control as they look and you may well spend a good proportion of your allotted time relearning how to row and avoiding
Stratford-upon-Avon
The birth room at Shakespearersquos Birthplace
Molly from Shakespeare Aloud in the Birthplace garden
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
SHAKESPEARE magazine 21
other hapless river trac Boat trips typically last for around 40 minutes and are especially pleasant in the late afternoon when the sun sets slowly behind the church steeple For added luxury you can take a restaurant cruise where afternoon tea or an evening meal are served on board or as a quicker cheaper alternative you could take the chain ferry across the Avon e ferry dates from 1937 and is the last of its kind in the UK
Nash House and New PlaceAs well as the Henley Street property the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust care for four other locations in and around Stratford all associated with Williamrsquos family Nash House and New Place were adjoining properties e former was the home of Judith Shakespeare and her husband while the latter was the family home that William purchased in 1597 at the time the second most expensive house in the town Sadly it was demolished by a subsequent owner but the Trust are currently undertaking a massive renovation of the site is means that the properties will not be open to the public until 2016 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Shakespearersquos death
Hallrsquos CroftA brief walk from New Place will take you to Hallrsquos Croft the home of Susannah Shakespeare and her husband the physician John Hall is is an interesting property in its own right and is partly set up to show how a practising physician would have worked at the time A special mention too must go e Arter the award winning independent craft shop adjoining the building and to the beautiful garden in which open air performances of Shakespearersquos plays are sometimes performed
Stratford-upon-Avon
Holy Trinity Church viewed from the Avon
Nash House and New Place
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
22 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Anne Hathawayrsquos CottageA short distance from Stratford is Shottery where you can nd the beautiful cottage which was the home of the Hathaway family Set in yet another lovely garden this is the house in which Anne Hathaway grew up and was courted by the young William John Shakespeare served with Anne Hathawayrsquos father on the town council so their children probably knew each other from a young age e family remained associated with the cottage for several centuries and have spun many a yarn about the young lovers the veracity of which are highly questionable However the stone oor of the kitchen is original and we know that William must have walked those stones many many times
Mary Ardenrsquos Farme last of the Shakespeare properties is Mary Ardenrsquos Farm Shakespearersquos mother lived here and itrsquos where she probably took the infant William when plague broke out in Stratford shortly after his birth Open from March to November only the farm is run as a working
Tudor farm with costumed guides caring for the buildings and the animals Itrsquos a great place for a family day out with plenty to see and do and numerous activities running ere are daily falconry shows archery animals to feed and games to play You can even treat yourself to a genuine Tudor meal in the cafe ndash pottage and home-baked breads are a speciality
What if you donrsquot have a care town itself is fairly small and all the main attractions are within walking distance However the easiest way to get around and to enable a visit to Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage and Mary Ardenrsquos farm is to the Hop On-Hop O$ City Sightseeing bus is will take you to all the main town locations and also to Shottery and Wilmcote A day ticket will give you unlimited access to the buses and allow you to visit all of the Shakespeare properties e bus can be picked up by the statue of Touchstone the jester at the top end of Henley Street
Walking ToursAnother excellent way to see the main sites of Stratford and to learn some of the historical tales of the town is to take a walking tour
Stratford-upon-Avon
Anne Hathawayrsquos Cottage
Mary Ardenrsquos Farm
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
ere are several options depending on the type of tour yoursquod like e town guides run historical tours of the town every day (yes every day) of the year For those who like to be a bit more daring there are evening ghost walks led by costumed guides who will tell you some of the spooky tales of Stratford Both of these tours start from the Swan Water Fountain on the riverside
Or if you like the idea of being guided by Shakespeare himself on a Saturday (and Monday to Saturday through the summer holidays) there are town walks led by the man himself (or someone who looks an awful lot like him) ese run from Tudor World on Sheep Street an interesting museum in the house that belonged to the man who was allegedly the model for Sir John Falsta
Holy Trinity ChurchAnother must-see is the townrsquos 13th century church with its distinctive spire that dominates the view from the river Remember that if you have a ticket to the Birthplace properties your visit to the grave is free e church is famous for being where William Shakespeare was baptised on 26 April 1564 e old font that was used for the baptism is displayed in the chancel along with copies of both the register of baptism for April 1564 and the register of burials for April 1616 where Shakespearersquos name can be clearly seen Also in the chancel in front of the altar are the Shakespeare family graves Williamrsquos bears its infamous curse
ldquoGOOD FRIEND FOR JESUS SAKE FOREBEAR
TO DIGG THE DVST ENCLOSED HERE
BLESTE BE YE MAN YT SPARES THESE STONES
AND CURSED BE HE YT MOVES MY BONESrdquo
On the wall above the grave is the egy of
Shakespeare Itrsquos one of the few images which was produced within the lifetime of Anne Shakespeare and probably one of the most authentic likenesses of her husband
The Guildhall and King Edwardrsquos SchoolDirectly opposite the site of New Place stand the Guildhall and the townrsquos old grammar school Both of these places have links to the Shakespeare family King Edwardrsquos School is where the young William is believed to have studied and itrsquos probably where he $rst encountered the classical texts which so inspired him As the son of a town councillor he would have been entitled to a place e old school is sometimes open to visitors at weekends or during the holidays but the school has just won a lottery grant which should enable them to open it as a permanent attraction e Guildhall was sometimes host to groups of travelling players and so it could be the site where young William $rst saw theatrical performances It is widely believed that John Shakespeare owing to his role as town baili was responsible for supervising the whitewashing of the medieval Doom Painting
Stratford-upon-Avon
SHAKESPEARE magazine 23
The Guildhall Doom Painting
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
24 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Stratford-upon-Avon
is has been recovered and is now once again visible above the chancel arch
The Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre and the riversidee riverside park is home to several interesting sights It is from here that you can get a view of the Clopton Bridge pick up a river cruise feed the swans and admire the Gower Memorial e memorial was presented to the town in 1888 and features a statue of Shakespeare seated upon a plinth overlooking statues of four of his best known characters ese are Hamlet Prince Hal Sir John Falsta and Lady Macbeth who represent Comedy History Philosophy and Tragedy Closer to the theatre is the beautiful Swan Water Fountain unveiled in 1996 If you see the water frothing fear not it seems to be a sport amongst local youngsters to ll the fountain with washing up liquid on a regular basis
e Royal Shakespeare Company eatre was built in 1932 but has recently undergone a complete refurbishment in both the main and the Swan theatres e building reopened
in 2010 with both theatres having been converted to boast thrust stages and curved galleries similar in shape to the original Elizabethan playhouses e world renowned Royal Shakespeare Company performs here throughout the year staging plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries as well as by newer authors ey also run an education programme exhibitions family activities during the school holidays and theatre tours To see Stratford from an entirely dierent angle take the lift up the 36 metre high tower for spectacular views across the town
Where to eat and drinkStratford has an excellent range of eateries to suit all tastes and budgets ere is pub grub afternoon teas world cuisine ne dining pizza pasta and sh and chips Many restaurants oer pre-theatre menus and if yoursquove been on a town walk you may nd that you can get discount vouchers for your food ere are many pubs in Stratford including the Garrick Inn the oldest pub in the town where you can taste the Shakesbeer specially brewed to celebrate Shakespearersquos 450th Birthday in 2014 If you want to spot RSC cast members relaxing after their shows e Dirty Duck on Waterside is the place to drink
Where to stayAgain Stratford-upon-Avon has a good variety of hotels bed and breakfasts and holiday homes All the main chains have hotels in the town from budget brands to the luxury names ere is an excellent choice of bed and breakfast establishments in and around the town again these will suit all tastes and budgets Airbnb also has an interesting range of rooms $ats and houses to rent in Stratford However be sure to book early especially for the prime summer months
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
wwwshakespeareorguk
The Gower Memorial Will and Prince Hal
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Many places around the world have been named after Stratford-upon-Avon the birthplace and home of William
Shakespeare And many of those Stratfords are home to theatre festivals of varying sizes Stratford in the state of Victoria in Australia has an annual Shakespeare festival still going every year while Stratford in Connecticut in the USA had a major theatre from the mid 1950s to the mid 1980s Stratford Ontario in Canada however stands out among these towns and festivals not merely in scope but in international reputation and prestige
In 1950 Canada had no home-grown tradition of classical theatre Certainly Shakespeare was performed but there had been a strong anti-theatrical movement in Canada throughout the 19th century whose effects still lingered throughout the first half of the 20th As a cultural icon Shakespeare was edifying to be sure but certainly not to be performed The Stratford Festival changed all of that for Canada
In the late 1940s the local newspapers and government of the town conceived of the idea of revitalising Stratfordrsquos sagging economy by capitalising on the name of the town and its
long association with the Bard They banded together and under the leadership of Tom Patterson they brought over Tyrone Guthrie and Alec Guinness for the first season in 1953 Guthrie had famously directed Gielgud in Hamlet at Elsinore Castle in Denmark and had been the manager of the Old Vic in London He wanted to create an acting space that echoed the original Globe theatre where actors were surrounded by the audience in contrast to the proscenium arch theatres that dominated the London and New York scenes
From the first performance which took place inside a giant circus-style tent on the banks of the Avon River the festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performance The thrust stage of the Festival Theatre designed by Tanya Moiseiwitsch has been recognised as one of the great innovations in stage design of the 20th century Generations of actors have had to learn how to address an audience on three sides of them sometimes only an armrsquos length away
The festival has been central to the careers of Canadian actors such as Christopher Plummer Martha Henry and even William Shatner Actors from the US and UK have sought to play the festival as well including Peter Ustinov Christopher Walken and Jessica Tandy Indeed these international stars not only lend credibility but have indelibly marked the festival For instance Maggie Smithrsquos performance as Rosalind in As You Like It in the 1977 and 1978 seasons is legendary in the company and the town
Today the festival has expanded to include multiple performance spaces a theatre school university accredited courses and the largest theatrical costume shop in North America It has started countless careers inspired companies such as Torontorsquos Soulpepper Theatre and helped shape the Canadian theatre landscape for over 50 years
Stratford Festival ndash Ontario Canada wwwstratfordfestivalca
MEANWHILE IN CANADATherersquos more than just one Stratford you know And the one in Ontario Canada has a world-renowned Shakespeare Festival gives us a tour
Stratford Ontario
SHAKESPEARE magazine 25
ldquoFrom the rst performance the Festival worked to create a new aesthetic of Shakespearean performancerdquo
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Planning to perform a short selection
from ShakespeareThe 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology contains 18 abridged scenes including monologues from 18 of Shakespearersquos best-known plays Every scene features interpretive stage directions and detailed performance and monologue notes all ldquoroad testedrdquo at the Folger Shakespeare Libraryrsquos annual Student Shakespeare Festival
THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of Shakespearersquos language intact e scenes and monologues in this anthology have been selected with both teachers and students in mind providing a complete toolkit for an unforgettable performance audition or competition
NICK NEWLIN has performed a comedy and variety act for international audiences for more than 30 years Since 1996 he has conducted an annual teaching artist residency with the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC
The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespearecom
The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology includes one scene with monologue from each of these plays
ldquoLays the groundwork for a truly fun and sometimes magical
experience guided by a sagacious knowledgeable and intuitive educator Newlin is a staunch advocate for students learning
Shakespeare through performancerdquo mdashLibrary Journal
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Assembled for the first time in a single volume
this poster collection is an IDEAL GIFT for any theatre bu or
designer seeking inspiration
1100 posters of Shakespearersquos plays designed by an international roster of artists representing 55 countries featuring posters from the 1800s to present day
Presenting Shakespeare 1100 Posters from Around the World
by Mirko Ilic and Steven Heller Preface by Julie Taymor
$5000 middot pound3000 Hardcover middot 320 pages ISBN 978-1-61689-292-0 October 2015
PUBLISHED BY
Princeton Architectural Press
DISTRIBUTED IN EUROPE BY
Abrams amp Chronicle Books
AVAILABLE FROM Amazon and your local bookstores
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Roaslind Lyons
28 SHAKESPEARE magazine
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
For UK artist Rosalind Lyons the Bard is a constant presence in her creative life She tells us how Shakespeare inspired the haunting and dreamlike works that adorn these pages
Words and paintings by Rosalind Lyons
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 29
Left The Roaring Boys
PAINTING SHAKESPEARE
Shakespeare has long been at the heart of my work sometimes directly and obviously in the subjects and often in the titles But always Shakespearersquos words characters and stories are there in my head when I am painting ndash a perpetual conscious and unconscious presence
My style echoes that of the Renaissance painters and Elizabethan portraits and these inuences combined with a life-long love of Shakespeare made my rst visit to Shakespearersquos Globe pivotal I experienced a powerful sense of connection and recognition Here suddenly ideas and themes with which I had been so long preoccupied were brought to life
I subsequently gained access to the Globe to draw and later spent some time
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
as Artist in Residence there at experience prompted more in-depth exploration not only of Shakespeare and painting but of the relationship between painting and theatre ere are of course the strong visual connections ndash both are spaces for spectacle and illusion But also compelling ideas of transformation imagination storytelling and identity And overall the theme of ambiguity e blurring of boundaries between reality and ction male and female light and shadow past and present I am fascinated by how we respond to history how we re-present and re-imagine the past And the gures in my paintings are imagined as belonging to both now and then ndash itting back and forth across the threshold between past and present between Shakespearersquos time and our own modern world
I have painted some specic characters from Shakespeare but many subjects of my paintings are anonymous e gures are unknown their place purpose role is a mystery is anonymity is unsettling ere are clues in the setting in the costumes ndash or perhaps I should just say in the clothes they are wearing ndash but the context is not obvious I am fascinated by the dramatic convention of cross-dressing ndash and particularly the inherent confusion as with Rosalind (As You Like It) and Viola (Twelfth Night) in the idea of a boy playing a girl playing a boy Many of the characters I invent are androgynous their gender and age uncertain is ambiguity of identity interests me in the context of visual illusion and theatrical transformation the idea of inbetween-ness and something unresolved
Like theatre my paintings are concerned with inventing characters and the creation
Right No More Yielding But A
Dream
Roaslind Lyons
30 SHAKESPEARE magazine
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
of an imaginary world and I am particularly attracted to the fools fairies and witches In A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream the fairiesrsquo actions may seem malevolent or benign or just mischievous but there is denitely a dark side an underlying sense of threat
e Fool too is intriguing Shakespearersquos fools frequently describe themselves or are referred to as a nobody but are unquestionably much more e fool is an outsider concerned with but at the same time separate from the story He ndash or sometimes she ndash doesnrsquot quite belong anywhere but seems to exist on the boundary between the familiar and the uncanny
I am attracted to the strange to mystery and shadows and try to express through my images a strong feeling that it could be that or maybe something else As Orsino says at the conclusion of Twelfth Night ldquoA natural perspective that is and is notrdquo While making a painting and even when it is nished I donrsquot know really who my characters are ndash they remain elusive But I like not knowing and ultimately meanings always change and depend on individual perceptions
My experience at the Globe led to a particular fascination with the ambiguous and protean quality of the theatrical performer how their identity transforms and uctuates I was attracted by this when watching
Rosalind Lyons
SHAKESPEARE magazine 31
Above A Midwinter Nightrsquos Dream
Right Three Fools
Far right Following Darkness
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
rehearsals observing actors shift between self and impersonation between dierent realities and identities When they are not acting they ndash metaphorically and often literally ndash melt into the shadows I am interested too in the physical and symbolic threshold between lsquoonrsquo and lsquoorsquo-stage the transformation inherent in an actor moving from the wings onto the stage assuming another self and another identity Particularly evocative is the fact that actors were colloquially known as shadows in the Elizabethan playhouses ndash suggesting something unknowable and insubstantial In the Prologue to Henry V Shakespeare has the Chorus describe the players as lsquociphersrsquo implying deception and secrecy
Artists in the past who have tackled Shakespeare have generally produced images that directly illustrate the text or represent famous actors or scenes from a particular performance Today as well as on the stage Shakespearersquos plays are frequently re-imagined in very successful lm and TV adaptations but I have struggled to nd more than a handful of contemporary ne artists who have engaged with Shakespeare on any level Perhaps Shakespeare as a subject is seen by some as too traditional too lsquopopularrsquo or simply just too lsquooldrsquo But in the theatre and in literature there is an ever-increasing enthusiasm for innovative interpretations of the plays and for me Shakespeare is a constant inspiration
e Prologue of Henry V also urges the audience to ldquoPiece out our imperfections with your thoughtsrdquo to liberate the imagination and create another kind of reality to shape our own fantasies within the ldquowooden Ordquo of the theatre In my paintings I endeavour to do the same
Explore the work of Rosalind Lyons at wwwrosalindlyonscom
Above These Two Creatures Below Therersquos Magic In Thy Majesty
Roaslind Lyons
32 SHAKESPEARE magazine
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
$amp()+-01
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Aidan OrsquoReilly
34 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Looking for Richard Aidan OrsquoReilly is playing Shakespearersquos baddest monarch
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 35
Killing the KingKilling the King
You are legally blind having been diagnosed with retinoblastoma as an infant How did this impact on your acting aspirations and early careerldquoMy parents did a good job raising me I never grew up thinking of it as a handicap or thinking it could hold me back from what I wanted to do I couldnrsquot play sports at all so I think my parents were grateful that I had something that I was passionate about from a very young age
ldquoI went to a public elementary school with a program designed for the blind so it felt very natural for me to be the way that I was And acting has always been part of thatrdquo
You went to RADA in London Was there a reason why you wanted to train in England and not in the USldquoItrsquos always been an ambition of mine to travel as far and wide as possible Also my hero growing up was Peter OrsquoToole ndash I read his autobiography in high school and learned he had gone to RADA and decided I wanted to go there too So I auditioned there not knowing that RADA is arguably the best drama school in the English-speaking world Consequently I was quite relaxed at the audition which is probably why I got in My ignorance can sometimes serve me well Going to RADA was a life-changing
Aidan OrsquoReilly is an actor with an inspiring story Legally blind since he was six months old he forged a passion for drama at an early age Aidan went on to gain a BA with honours from Londonrsquos Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before touring for three years with the American Shakespeare Center In 2012 Aidan was diagnosed with sarcoma a rare cancer He bounced back in 2014 after intensive treatment and is now cancer-free We spoke to Aidan as he prepared to play the title role in Richard III for Californiarsquos Marin Shakespeare Company We asked him to share his story and to give us his take on one of Shakespearersquos most fascinating characters
Interview by Jen Richardson
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Aidan OrsquoReilly
36 SHAKESPEARE magazine
experience I was lucky enough to have contact with brilliant professors and Irsquom still in awe of the students I went to school with I wouldnrsquot trade that experience for anythingrdquo After graduating from RADA you went on the road with the American Shakespeare Center Tell us a bit about thatldquoThat was one of the happiest times of my life In many ways I got spoiled I was a working actor 11 months out of the year touring nationally seeing parts of the US I had never been to before doing plays I loved and working with directors who were vehemently faithful and respectful to the text When I wasnrsquot on the road I was in residence at the Blackfriars Playhouse in Staunton Virginia with many extraordinary actors I was very lucky to be thererdquo
Three years ago you were diagnosed with sarcoma How did you overcome this enormous challenge and return to the stage in 2014ldquoThe only reason Irsquom still alive is because of my mother Lily and my wife Jocelynn Also I was fortunate that we caught it before it had spread and it was on my leg and away from any major organs
ldquoI am very grateful for my team of doctors at UCSF who did an incredible job in my treatment and follow-up care Irsquom glad to be back to workrdquo Yoursquore now due to play Richard III with Marin Shakespeare Company Howrsquos it going so farldquoAt this point Irsquom in the paperwork stage of things A lot of reading the Henry VIs biographies of Richard as well as performance history of the play itself Irsquom doing a fair amount of limping around my apartment as well I canrsquot wait to get into rehearsals next weekrdquo Tell us about Marin Shakespeare Company and what appealed to you about working with themldquoRobert and Lesley [Currier MSCrsquos Artistic Director and Managing Director] are fascinating people Their intelligence and humour is contagious Without question there is a lot to be learned from themrdquo Richard IIIrsquos remains were discovered in 2012 and reburied this year Is all the new information about Richard influencing your portrayalldquoYes and no My job isnrsquot to play the historical Richard but the Richard that Shakespeare has
Aidan believes that Richard IIIrsquos obsession with control is what causes his downfall
ldquoPeter OrsquoToole was my hero He went to RADA so I wanted to go there toordquo
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Crowning glory Aidan with Marin Shakespearersquos Robert Currier
created Itrsquos helpful to know the facts of the situation in order to gain insight into what has been changed in Shakespearersquos version of events
ldquoI met with a friend of mine who is a retired surgeon who walked me through the medical information that has come to light on Richardrsquos body and I will certainly use that to inform my physical choicesrdquo Unlike many actors yoursquore the right age to play the historical Richard III Do you feel Richardrsquos relative youth has been overlookedldquoI do Richard is a young man who believes he is hardened by the experiences he and his family endured during the War of the Roses and believes himself to be beyond human emotions and the lsquorestrictionsrsquo of a conscience He isnrsquot He pays the bill for the horrible things he does That lack of self-knowledge is not exclusive to youth but I feel it makes him more sympathetic and relatable to an audiencerdquo Some people think Richard III shows Shakespeare delivering a highly effective piece of Tudor propaganda Where do you stand on thatldquoI think Shakespeare has a soft spot for outsiders and underdogs Although his plays sometimes work within the confines of the biases of Elizabethan society he canrsquot help but make his lsquovillainsrsquo fascinating human beings
For as horrible as Richard is itrsquos amazing to see how audiences relate and respond to himrdquo Which other important themes do you feel Shakespeare deals with in the playldquoThe history plays are full of extraordinary people who waste their lives and intelligence who sacrifice their humanity in pursuit of the crown Itrsquos still happening today What is the attraction of power Richard never pauses to think of why he wants the crown or if hersquod be any good as king Turns out hersquos not but itrsquos this bizarre obsession with control that propels him to kill everyone off thatrsquos in his way Itrsquos also fascinating that the one character that is consistently kind to Richard is his father York
ldquoI think an argument can be made that Richard in his warped way is trying to live up to the image he has of his father Of course York is dead and gone by the time Richard III begins but you can glean a lot about Richardrsquos inner workings in the way he speaks about his father Of course itrsquos foolish to try to answer questions that Shakespeare doesnrsquot and Irsquom not trying to say this solves a mystery but I think itrsquos interesting Itrsquos only an element itrsquos not the answerrdquo Richard III is listed as a historical play in the First Folio but in the quarto edition it is termed a tragedy Which category would you put the play in and whyldquoI think of the history plays from Richard II to Richard III as one vast play an epic that encompasses all the categories I think if you look at Richardrsquos progression through those plays you see a great mind warped by the War of the Roses and that certainly adds to the tragic element I think of Richard III as the final chapter of a great epicrdquo
Aidan OrsquoReilly stars in Marin Shakespeare Companyrsquos Richard III from 4-27 September
Aidan OrsquoReilly
SHAKESPEARE magazine 37
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 39
BonniePrince
Brian Ferguson as Hamlet in the Citizens Theatre
production Photo by Tim Morozzo
BillyWilliam Shakespeare is undoubtedly Englandrsquos Bard But how is he viewed north of the border Our Caledonian correspondent surveys the state of Shakespeare in Scotland and meets esteemed outdoor theatre company Bard in the Botanics
Words Paul F Cockburn
T owards the end of May this year a BBC Scotland afternoon news bulletin surprisingly turned its attention to a forthcoming production of
ldquoone of William Shakespearersquos best loved playsrdquo ndash A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream However this particular production wasnrsquot considered newsworthy because it came from an amateur group based in Dumfries and Galloway Not even that the Crossmichael Drama Club were one of just seven amateur Scottish groups taking part in the Royal
Shakespeare Companyrsquos Open Stages project which aims to help amateur companies extend their repertoires
No the lsquohookrsquo was how this new production was Shakespeare ldquobut no as you micht ken itrdquo Because it had been reimagined in Scots as A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme
As it happens writer John Burns says that his principle reason for translating A Midsimmer Nichtrsquos Dreme was simply the intuition that it being in Scots would work to the benet of the production ldquoItrsquos not
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Scotland Shakes
40 SHAKESPEARE magazine
so much that 16th century English canrsquot do certain things more that using Scots brings it closer to a Scottish audience and to audiences who might think Shakespeare too fancyrdquo he says ldquoI feel too that Scots can catch the sheer physical power of Shakespearersquos language He writes lines you really feel physically when you say them out loud My intention was to use Scots to produce a text that was actable and which would be accessible and enjoyable for the audience and the Scots was a major part of thatrdquo
Arguably translating Shakespeare into Scots ndash viewed by many as a distinct language from English ndash is just one way of nding the continued relevancies of Shakespearersquos writing with the here and now Certainly John Burns was keen to see if Scots ldquocould match the way Shakespeare switches tonehellip from broad at times bawdy humour to moments that are more serious or even sinisterrdquo
Yet there is a wider perspective whether wersquore discussing translation into Scots or saying Shakespearersquos words with a Scottish accent Willy Maley and Andrew Murphy in their introduction to Shakespeare and Scotland (published by Manchester University Press in 2004) go as far as describing the translation of Shakespearersquos Macbeth into
Scots as ldquoa patriotic actrdquo not least because of ldquothe political commitment implicit in translating from English to Scots reversing the dominant dubbing practice in lmsrdquo
Glasgow-based novelist and playwright Alan Bissett ndash who actively campaigned for a Yes vote during last yearrsquos Independence Referendum ndash has since written about how since the 1970s Scottish theatre had ldquoa deep engagement with the shifting beast of Scottish politicsrdquo Although Bissett was focusing primarily on original works by Scottish playwrights and directors itrsquos worth pointing out that Shakespeare ndash despite there being absolutely no evidence to prove he ever travelled north of Carlisle ndash has played his own part in this
As Maley and Murphy point out ldquoScotlandhellip never had precisely the same relationship with the Bard as England has but has experienced a fraught process of appropriation incorporation and resistancerdquo In part this is because Shakespeare ndash in his latter career ndash was among the rst lsquoBritishrsquo writers Many of his later plays ndash Cymbeline King Lear even Hamlet ndash were produced
A tartan-clad Antipholus and Dromio in Bard in the Botanicsrsquo The Comedy of Errors
Brian Fergusonrsquos Hamlet Citizens Theatre production Photo by Tim Morozzo
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
under the patronage of Scotlandrsquos King James VI (aka James I of England) Each in their own way can be said to touch on ldquothe matter of Britainrdquo the complex relationship between the constituent elements of Jamesrsquos new lsquounitedrsquo kingdom which the Stuart monarch was determined to see joined into one
at never quite happened of course Even after the 1707 Act of Union Scotland retained its own legal educational and religious systems along with an accompanying sense of Scottish identity ndash which survived even the height of the British empire Yet from the 1970s on there have been notable changes in how Shakespeare is treated by Scotlandrsquos producing theatre companies Several years ago Glasgowrsquos Citizens eatre delivered a powerful Romeo and Juliet in part because of their decision to set the action in a present-day sectarian West of Scotland ndash with accents to match
ldquoEnglish-accented Shakespeare carries a specic resonance in Scotland one that directors usually choose to avoidrdquo points out Mark Fisher a freelance journalist critic and author of the forthcoming book How to Write About eatre
ldquoIrsquom not sure exactly when attitudes started to change but Irsquod say the argument in favour of Scottish-accented productions had been pretty much won by the 1990s By that time companies such as Raindog and directors such as Hamish Glen had been making a point of casting very Scottish productions of Shakespearerdquo
One example of how things had progressed even by 1992 was the late Kenny Irelandrsquos production of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream his rst as Artistic Director at Edinburghrsquos Royal Lyceum ldquoHe cast the mechanicals with Scottish accents and everyone else with English accentsrdquo Mark Fisher explains ldquois I said in my review was a fundamental error ndash or some such phrase e message it sent out was that people with Scottish accents were foolish gures of fun whereas people with English accents were serious gures of respect
ldquoIreland reacted furiously to my review
and made the case that he had based the casting of the mechanicals around (the actor) Andy Gray who has a Scottish accent In other words the meaning I inferred had not been deliberate I think itrsquos true to say however that Ireland never cast a Shakespeare like that againrdquo
Gordon Barr is Artistic Director of Glasgow-based Bard in the Botanics Scotlandrsquos only professional Shakespeare company (see following pages)
ldquoWersquove never gone out of our way to make Scottish versions of these texts nor have we gone out of our way to have classical traditional voicesrdquo he says ldquoMost of our core actors have made their careers up here so we think of them as Scottish actors
ldquoat is important to us to not overly look outwards for the acting company As much as possible we work with people who are based in Scotland Wersquore regularly producing Shakespeare here and we want to be a part of the training to ensure that there is a range of strong classical actors hererdquo
Citizens Theatre wwwcitzcouk
Owen Whitehaw as the Fool and David Hayman as Lear in Citizens Theatrersquos King LearPhoto by Tim Morozzo
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 41
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It takes Rosalind and Orlando into the open air
ldquoTouring is something that we have wanted to do for years but was something that we could not afford
to do without fundingrdquo says Gordon Barr Artistic Director of Scotlandrsquos only professional outdoor Shakespeare festival Bard in the Botanics If therersquos any irony attached to the companyrsquos first major tour of Scotland which took place in early 2015 itrsquos that the performances of their acclaimed Romeo and Juliet ndash featuring a cast of five ndash were played exclusively indoors
ldquoNobody is touring classical theatre in Scotland at the minute so itrsquos important to usrdquo Barr adds ldquoOur work is so much about accessibility One of the joys of being outdoors is that people come to see the work who wouldnrsquot buy a ticket for a theatre If you can bring a picnic sit out on the grass while watching the show it feels easier more accessible But people canrsquot come from Thurso to Glasgow for a night just to see a production of Shakespeare They should be able to see it in Thurso So that is kind of where the urge to tour came fromrdquo
Bard in the Botanics has presented outdoor Shakespeare within the grounds of Glasgowrsquos Botanic Gardens since 2003 This yearrsquos lsquoUnlikely Wondersrsquo season presented new productions of Loversquos Labourrsquos Lost The Merchant of Venice Richard II and A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream in lsquoreprsquo between 24 June and 1 August
The companyrsquos founder Scott Palmer Barr explains had done a lot of his training at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival one of the
biggest in North America ldquoWith the kind of drive and enthusiasm that only Americans have he managed to convince the entire city of Glasgow that outdoor Shakespeare would work and that the weather wasnrsquot going to be a problemrdquo
Two years later Palmer moved on and Barr ndash originally involved as a director ndash succeeded him as Artistic Director ldquoIf anyone then had said that I would end up spending 12 years running an outdoor Shakespeare festival I wouldnrsquot have believed themrdquo he says in his office hidden behind some of the Botanicsrsquo gardening sheds ldquoI very quickly fell in love with it once I started working here Despite all the trials and tribulations that outdoor theatre in Scotland brings with it therersquos just something magical and special about it Itrsquos a very close-knit company and thatrsquos sort of kept us all here as long as we have beenrdquo
While the annual summer season of Shakespeare plays in the Botanics will remain at the centre of what the company does ndash ldquoOtherwise Bard in the Botanics becomes a rather strange namerdquo ndash Barr is very much
Out of the GardenThis year has seen Glasgowrsquos Bard in the Botanics do something completely unexpected They went out on a tour of ndash whisper it ndash indoor venueshellip
Scotland Shakes
42 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Scotland Shakes
SHAKESPEARE magazine 43
focused on building on the touring side ldquoBecause it was our first ever tour we
did end up taking Romeo and Juliet to the established Scottish touring circuitrdquo he adds ldquoIt takes a while to build up relationships with the smaller venues thatrsquos going to be an ongoing process for us Even so we were taking Romeo and Juliet to places like Mull and Stranraer ndash communities and venues that havenrsquot had a lot of classical theatre coming through themrdquo
The choice of play was deliberate too ldquoIt was a production that was ready to go which had received five star reviews and sold out its extended run in the Botanics in 2012 So we knew that the work was good but therersquos no doubt that for a first tour we wanted to make it easier for the venues to sell it Most venues know they can find an audience for Romeo and Julietrdquo
In time he hopes that audiences around the rest of Scotland will come to trust the Bard in the Botanics name sufficiently to take on the less familiar plays
ldquoYou just donrsquot know how quickly a community is going to turn out for Henry IV yetrdquo he says ldquoHopefully three or four tours down the line theyrsquore going to turn out for Bard in the Botanics ndash and if it happens to be
Henry IV well thatrsquos greatrdquo Given their reimagining of A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream as a 1920s burlesque musical is there a particular Bard in the Botanics approach to Shakespeare
ldquoOur kind of unofficial motto is lsquoBe Bold Be Braversquordquo Barr says ldquoIf wersquore continuing to stage these plays around 400 years after Shakespearersquos death I think therersquos an urgency to ask lsquoWhyrsquo It is important to question lsquoWhat is the story that we want to tellrsquo I want to see how these plays intersect with history and todayrsquos society not to present museum pieces
ldquoItrsquos always with an eye to try to release something thatrsquos within the textrdquo Barr insists ldquoWersquore not remotely interested in innovation for innovationrsquos sake The plays are masterpieces thatrsquos essentially why wersquore still doing them 400 years later But to reveal something thatrsquos unexpected or new thatrsquos important to usrdquo
Bard in the Botanics
wwwbardinthebotanicscouk
Rosalind and Audrey in the forest Bard in the Botanicsrsquo As You Like It
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory stf 2016 Season co-production with Tobacco Factory Theatres
HAMLET By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 11 February ndash Sat 26 March 2016 In repertoire with Allrsquos Well That Ends Well Mon 25 ndash Wed 27 April Sat 30 April 2016
The most famous play in world drama Hamlet turns a new face to every decade So many elements - political madness sex murder ndash all brought together in a drama that is both a thriller and the profoundest meditation on our human condition
ldquoThrilling workrdquo The Guardian on Romeo amp Juliet
ldquoBullseyerdquo WhatsOnStage on Romeo amp Juliet
Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory Friends Priority Booking opens Wed 23 September 10am wwwstf-theatreorguk
Tobacco Factory Theatres Members Priority Booking opens Wed 16 September 10amwwwtobaccofactorytheatrescom
Public Booking opens Wed 30 September 10am
Tobacco Factory Box Office 0117 902 0344
ALLrsquoS WELL THAT ENDS WELL By William ShakespeareDirected by Andrew HiltonMain run Thu 31 March ndash Sat 23 April 2016 In repertoire with Hamlet Thu 28 ndash Fri 29 April Sat 30 April
A young woman using skills bequeathed her by her father saves the French Kingrsquos life and is rewarded with the right to choose her own husband But what if the chosen one wonrsquot play the game How can she get him into bed How can she make him love her
ldquo There is something approaching real magic hererdquo The Arts Desk on The School for Scandal
Phot
os M
ark
Dou
et
Dorothea Myer Bennett in Richard III
Benjamin Whitrow and Julia Hills in The School For Scandal
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Made in our studio at the bottom of Hope Mountain in North Wales each of the real page fragment pendants is unique made from salvaged old
books many over a century old e beautiful old paper is sealed under glass and placed inside silver-plated bronze or sterling silver settings
We also turn Shakespearersquos words into eye-catching designs which are printed onto specialist paper and sealed under glass
Our Shakespeare jewellery can be found at the Royal Shakespeare Company gift shop in Stratford-upon-Avon and at Shakespearersquos Globe in
London as well as online at wwwscribbeliciouscom
Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order
Email infoscribbeliciouscom
At Scribbelicious we are all about the words Wear your love for literature on your sleeve and
close to your heart
ldquoFor the apparel oft proclaims the manrdquo
ndash Polonius (Hamlet)
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Having conquered Hollywood and vanquished the global entertainment industry video games now
on our culture So where does the Bard stand in all of this We sent a Shakespeare scholar to investigatehellip
Words Andrew Bretz
Shakespeare video games
46 SHAKESPEARE magazine
The GamersquosAfootSilent Hill is one
big-name game which includes Shakespeare references
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 47
German cardboard
Macbeth dating from the early1800s
Hamlet reimagined Ryan Northrsquos To Be Or Not To Be
When you walk into the wood panelled Victorian Gothicism of the Gail Kern Paster Reading Room at the
Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC video games are probably the last thing on your mind Buried deep within the archives however are a set of fragile cardboard gures printed in Germany in the early 1800s representing each of the main characters of Macbeth
Nineteenth century German children would play with these gures on small cardboard stages no bigger than a dollhouse ey could replicate the story as it was told in Shakespeare or use their imagination to change the ending letting Lady Macbeth survive and bringing Duncan back from the dead if they so chose e limits of the game were the limits of their imagination
Today the lsquogamicationrsquo of Shakespeare is a big business from Ryan Northrsquos choose-your -own -adventure edition of Hamlet To Be Or Not To Be to IDW Gamesrsquos upcoming Kill Shakespeare board game based on the comic of the same name Gamifying Shakespeare is ltering into schools libraries and the theatrical world as well with the University of California at Davis the Stratford Festival in Ontario the Globe eatre in London and the London Metropolitan Archives all experimenting with video game elements in exhibits productions and research
Why video games In a sense this is the logical next step in the media development of Shakespeare Hersquos everywhere in other media books movies merchandise But video games e answer for that depends on who you ask
StorytellingOccasionally individuals or publishing houses develop video games that try to tell the story of say Hamlet yet this is relatively rare One example would be Elsinore a time-looping narrative adventure game set in the world of the play Players play the game as
Ophelia who wakes up knowing that in four days the entire court will be dead and she must do something to stop it e problem is that she is stuck in a time loop reliving the same four days over and over again
at said Shakespearersquos presence in the video game industry tends to be focused on citation rather than adaptation of the plays at is video games for Xbox Playstation and other popular gaming systems often just cite Shakespearersquos plays as a part of a common cultural heritage ese games donrsquot restage say Hamlet but they quote the play In these cases Shakespeare is used to establish a point of identication for the audience His writing tells the audience something about the character or the situation
Given that audiences are supposed to be able to identify the quotations as Shakespearean it is unsurprising that Hamlet is the most popular text for game designers to cite In e Elder Scrolls Online for instance a merchant NPC (non -player character) quotes Polonius when players interact saying ldquoNeither a borrower nor a lender berdquo e words establish the NPCrsquos role as a merchant while tting the medieval world of the game In the game LA Noire upon picking up a fake shrunken head at a crime scene a detective leaps into high melodrama with ldquoAlas poor Yorick I knew him Horatiordquo e quotation and the clever voice acting establish
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Shakespeare video games
48 SHAKESPEARE magazine
the characterrsquos strait -laced yet macabre sense of humour
Sometimes citing Shakespeare is a part of a critique of a larger theme In the game Mass Eect the Elcor are a race of elephantine aliens who preface all statements with a description of the emotion they are feeling and who speak in a slow monotonous drone As players interact with the expansive world they can discover a number of advertisements for an all-Elcor Hamlet e idea of the Elcor actor ndash the ultimate in a at wooden performer ndash having to preface ldquoTo be or not to berdquo with ldquomorose ruminationrdquo goes beyond the simple humour of a bad Shakespeare performance It subtly asks what it is about acting (and especially voice acting) that is valuable
Shakespeare can appear in video games not merely as a marker or contextualisation tool but as a part of a puzzle For example in the game Silent Hill 3 players must arrange a set of Shakespeare anthologies on a bookshelf in an abandoned shopping mall in order to proceed in the game At the hardest level the puzzle clue takes the form of a poem that references all the major tragedies Romeo and Juliet King Lear Macbeth Othello and of course Hamlet e bloody nature of the tragedies ts with the bloody nature of the Silent Hill series of games which fall into the survival horror genre
Popular video games have also served as the inspiration for games that engage with Shakespeare in a more direct way For
example Daniel Fischlin at the University of Guelph in Ontario Canada led a team that created a Flash game called rsquoSpeare Itrsquos a scrolling arcade -style game suggesting the rsquo80s hit Galaga which sees players identifying and navigating through a series of enemies who turn into words upon being destroyed e player progresses through the levels by collecting the correct words to create Shakespearean quotes learning Shakespearean trivia along the way
ImmersionOne of the most exciting aspects of video games is the ability to immerse the player in the world of the game in a way that other media simply cannot do Being able to walk around Prosperorsquos cell Julietrsquos balcony or to stand before the ghost of Hamletrsquos father as he cries out ldquoList list O listrdquo ndash these experiences are made possible through video game technology
Students of Scenic Arts at the University of Hildesheim in Germany created Projekt ARIEL or SturmMOD in 2008 using a lsquomodrsquo (or modication) to the engine that runs the game Far Cry 1 e performance art project allowed users to experience Prosperorsquos island interacting with certain parts and exploring others Players could walk around an imaginative rendition of Prosperorsquos cell and witness or interact with elements of the play including di$erent characters like Caliban Prospero and Miranda
Four days to save the Danish court Elsinore
Another Hamlet reference this time in LA Noire
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Shakespeare video games
SHAKESPEARE magazine 49
Gina Bloom at the University of California at Davis is presently spearheading a project that will be demonstrated in the lobby of the Stratford Festival theatre in Ontario Canada this summer e project Play the Knave A Shakespeare Performance Videogame lets users design a virtual performance space and then perform a scene from a Shakespeare play inhabiting this constructed space with an avatar As a Davis insider explains ldquoWe use a kinect motion capture camera to capture the userrsquos skeletal data so that players use their entire bodies to control their avatarrsquos gestures onscreen all the while reciting the lines from Shakespearersquos scenerdquo is literally immerses the players in the scene
Shakespearersquos Globe eatre in London took another tactic regarding immersion in the production of the game Hemmingsrsquo Play Company Hosted on the Playground portion of the Globersquos website and thus aimed at an audience of children the game has players taking on the role of Hemmings an Elizabethan bear who leads a troupe of theatrical animals such as Kit the Cat Dekker the Dog and Slye the Fox
e turn-based game leads players through the vagaries of Elizabethan theatre practice from patronage to lost props and the plague By the end of the game players must earn enough money to rebuild the Globe after it burns down during a performance of Henry VIII
Also from Shakespearersquos Globe are two innovative video experiences created for children aged ve to 11 e rst Exploring
Shakespeare features two boys on a tour of the Globe theatre who sneak o to explore backstage e video illustrates four plays using short animations that are keyed to things the boys nd backstage e technology combines live action lm and animation to create an interactive touchable game Filled with mini -games quizzes and interesting facts about Shakespeare the game allows players to click through the narrative or to stop and learn more as they go along
e second video called Staging It uses the same technology as the rst lm but this time is for the 11-16 age group In this game e Globe has lmed two actors performing famous duologues from A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream and Macbeth on the Globe stage Rather than shoot it once the actors have performed their lines in dierent ways (happy $irtatious defensive and so on) creating several dierent clips per line Players can watch each of the clips and add their choice to a dynamic storyboard to build up their nal scene Impressively the platform allows for up to 1000000 dierent combinations of clips
Apps and Mini-GamesItrsquos when you start to look outside of the realm of popular video game platforms like Xbox or Playstation that Shakespeare
Silent Hill 3 Brush up your Shakespeare if you want to survive
Hemmingsrsquo Play Company from Shakespearersquos Globe
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Shakespeare video games
50 SHAKESPEARE magazine
really starts to pop up wherever you look e ubiquity of Shakespeare is especially noticeable when you start to look at apps and mini -games designed for phones and tablets
In 2012 Big Fish Games released an iPhone and iPad game called Hamlet that featured all the main characters of Shakespearersquos play but transposed them into a save -the -princess narrative puzzle game A time traveller lands in Denmark and accidentally kills Hamlet and so players must complete his journey for him saving Ophelia and killing Claudius e Shakespearean content is minimal and heavily adapted and yet it ts with the puzzle format in which Shakespeare tends to be found in video games
e Chronicles of Shakespeare Romeo amp Juliet and e Chronicles of Shakespeare A Midsummer Nightrsquos Dream are lusciously-illustrated puzzle games for the PC In them players act as one of the characters from the plays gathering items and clues through a Shakespearean environment
Among the literally thousands of apps related to Shakespeare that can be found for the iPad or Android tablet are
e Shakespearean Insult Creator which generates invectives drawn from a wholly Shakespearean vocabulary So next time you want to call someone a jerk try something more like ldquoou fusty folly fallen fustilarianrdquo
e Shakespeare Translator which translates ldquonormal English words and phrases into the words of Shakespeare himselfrdquo
e Shakespeare Fortune Cookie which provides short quotes from the plays and a small trivia game
Shakespeare or Die a game that scrambles the words of famous quotations from the plays and asks you to identify the play and character who spoke the line If you make a mistake however beware the witches
ese apps are either explicitly games or they are coming out of a game -like impulse to make Shakespeare more accessible to everyone with an internet connection
Brave New WorldsIn a world where Shakespeare is an industry counted in the millions of dollars per year it is so easy to forget that Shakespearersquos plays are just that ndash plays ere is a sense of joy and fun and happiness embedded in the experience of watching them Games are one of the ways that people over the centuries have tried to recapture that elusive sense of playfulness within Shakespeare So it makes perfect sense that now with the advent of digital technologies Shakespeare is moving into the digital world with a vengeance
From big studio games like e Elder Scrolls to small apps that can be downloaded for free from talking bears to immersive performance experiences Shakespeare is everywhere in video games Rather than being an undiscovered country into which the Bard is only just beginning to emerge games have in fact engaged with Shakespeare and his works for hundreds of years And they will probably continue to do so for hundreds of years to come
rsquoSpeare is a scrolling arcade-style game with added Shakespeare trivia
Hamlet is a Shakespeare-themed puzzle from Big Fish Games
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Literary Fiction Book Review
ldquoPetersonrsquos novel is a lush tale of noir ction in the spirit of the appealing
thief utilizing all his wits against almost insurmountable oddsrdquo
Published in the USA by Ram Press Available in paperback Kindle Audible Audio and iTunes Editions On sale at Amazoncom BampN Books-A-Million Indie Bound et al
The Folger Shakespeare Library is the worldrsquos largest repository of Shakespeareana and English Renaissance books manuscripts and objets drsquoart Nobody alive knows
it for 25 years Thatrsquos why he is the perfect candidate to pull off an inside job and heist from the libraryrsquos underground bank vault a priceless artifact that can rock the
foundation of English Literature
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Meet thy makers
Helen Mears fell into bardolatry during her teenage years and has
never recovered She is a volunteer steward at Shakespearersquos Globe
which ensures a regular diet of the Bard She teaches English Film and Media at Suffolk New College and is a specialist in teaching Shakespeare using active methods Her favourite Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second History Tetralogy She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced Teaching of Shakespeare very soon Find her on Twitter hipster_hels
Paul F Cockburn is an Edinburgh-based freelance magazine journalist
who specialises in writing about arts and culture equality issues and
popular science Hersquos sufficiently grey-haired for his English Literature training to have sort of overlapped
with The BBC Television Shakespeare project saving at least some of the
plays from death by academiaFind him on Twitter paulfcockburn
Jen Richardson first fell in love with Shakespeare as a 15-year-old schoolgirl
ldquoHe got under my skin and hersquos still there todayrdquo After training with a Manchester-based drama tutor she went on to pursue an acting career Drama remains a great interest but her focus is now on sharing
her passion for Shakespeare through her writing In her spare time Jen is
generally down in Stratford-upon-Avon sitting on her favourite bench behind
Holy Trinity Church Find her on Twitter The_JenJen
Andrew Bretz is a sessional instructor of English Literature and Drama
specialising in early modern drama He has taught at Wilfrid Laurier
University the University of Guelph Brock University and McMaster
University For the past two years he has taught a special summer intensive
at Ontariorsquos Stratford Festival His PhD dissertation was on the representation of sexual violence on the early modern
stage Find him on Twitter AndrewBretz001
Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine
Rosalind Lyons is a painter who has exhibited widely in both mixed and solo shows with work in UK
and international private collections A life-long love of Shakespeare is
reflected in many of her paintings and a particular recent focus is
Shakespearersquos Globe theatre where she spent a period as artist-in-residence She is currently studying for a PhD
in Painting and Shakespearean Theatre at Anglia Ruskin University
in Cambridge Find her on Twitter roslyons
52 SHAKESPEARE magazine
Contributors
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
Next issue
ldquoBe bloody bold and resoluterdquo
MACBETHMichael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
LOVE SEX ampSHAKESPEARE
ldquoWe will always be haunted by the questionlsquoWhat inspired Shakespearersquos greatest poetryrsquo
In her captivating debut novel Andrea Chapinoers a brilliant solutionrdquo
James Shapiro author of 1599 A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
Published in the UK by Penguin on 26 March pound799
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE
FRESH APPROACHES TO ACTING SHAKESPEARE
Original PronunciationCue-scriptsPhysical trainingWorkshops and Consultancy
wwwpassioninpracticecompassionpractice
PASSION IN PRACTICE