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Tag Archives: Hamlet
Memory, forgetting, and performance
Rebekah Brooks and others testifying to the Leveson Inquiry claim to have staggeringly poor memories of events. Zoe Williams, in her Guardian article of 11 May commented “You couldn’t live a life with this bad a memory. Never mind that you’d … Continue reading
Shakespeare’s minds diseased: mental illness and its treatment
Shakespeare was clearly fascinated by mental illness, many characters displaying a variety of symptoms from Lear’s madness, Jaques’ melancholy, Timon’s bitter cursing, Macbeth’s visions and Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking, to the obsessiveness of Leontes. It’s usually accepted that Shakespeare was influenced in medical matters by … Continue reading
International Women’s day: remembering Mary Cowden Clarke
Every year on 8 March International Women’s Day celebrates the achievements of women. All round the world women still suffer serious inequality, and education is one area to which even in the Western world women were denied equal access until … Continue reading
Daniel Radcliffe and the story of child actors: Young Roscius comes of age
Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is making the transition to adult actor, starring in the newly-released film The Woman in Black. He seems to have survived the experience of spending his teenage years acting in this successful series of films … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare on Stage, Stratford-upon-Avon
Tagged Charles Dickens, Daniel Radcliffe, film, Hamlet, Harry Potter, Infant Phenomenon, Infant Roscius, King Edward's School, Master Betty, Master Grossmith, Master Herbert, Miss Lee Sugg, Nicholas Nickleby, The Woman in Black, Young Roscius
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How chances it they travel? Players in Stratford-upon-Avon
Historian Dr Robert Bearman has contributed today’s post, which revolves around a chance discovery which he made recently in the Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive. Those wishing to know more about Shakespeare’s life may fantasise about making a major archival … Continue reading
Shakespeare and the birds at Christmas
There’s no doubt that Shakespeare loved the birds he saw and heard around him. He refers time and again to their behaviour, and particularly their song. Romeo and Juliet disagree over whether they hear larks or nightingales, in Macbeth, the … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Shakespeare's World
Tagged birds, cockerel, Hamlet, robin, Shakespeare, wren
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Lawyers inspiring Shakespeare
Among the beautiful Tudor portraits at the National Portrait Gallery is this one of a dignified elder stateman, Thomas Sackville, painted around 1601 by J de Critz the Elder. The label, as well as detailing his role in government, mentions … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare's World, Sources
Tagged Gorboduc, Hamlet, Hanery VI Part 3, Inns of court, King Lear, Shakespeare, Thomas Sackville, tragedy
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Michael Sheen’s Hamlet and the vision of Philip K Dick
In my last post I mentioned that Michael Sheen was talking on the radio about the life of the science fiction writer Philip K Dick who inspired his Hamlet. The broadcast will be repeated on Friday 9 December at 11pm, and … Continue reading
Posted in Legacy, Plays and Poems, Shakespeare on Stage
Tagged Hamlet, Michael Sheen, Philip K Dick, Shakespeare, Young Vic
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Is Hamlet a callous, egocentric villain?
According to author John Updike, “Hamlet is in fact the callous, egocentric villain of Hamlet”. This view was recently quoted in a posting on the Shakespeare Bulletin board SHAKSPER. That’s quite a condemnation of probably the most famous of all … Continue reading
Michael Sheen’s Hamlet: driving out the feminine side
For centuries, critics have noted Hamlet’s effeminacy: his inability to act decisively, that description as a “delicate and tender prince”. In the eighteenth century the great actor David Garrick was criticised for “giving a kind of feminine sorrow” to his … Continue reading
Posted in Plays and Poems, Shakespeare on Stage
Tagged feminine, Hamlet, Ian Rickson, madness, Michael Sheen, psychiatry, Richard Eyre, Shakespeare, Tony Howard, women, Young Vic
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