Esses últimos dias, o blog não colocou nenhuma postagem em respeito às festas natalinas. E, provavelmente, terá um tempo para as festas de fim de ano. Mas, voltará com força total e renovado para o ano de 2010!
Então, para todos os seguidores, desejo um Feliz Natal atrasado! e um ótimo ano novo... tudo de bom,principalmente, saúde, paz e felicidades!!!
E até breve!!! Feliz Ano Novo!!
domingo, 27 de dezembro de 2009
quarta-feira, 23 de dezembro de 2009
Soneto 65
Se bronze, pedra, terra, mar sem fim
Estão sob o jugo da mortalidade,
Como há de o belo enfrentar fúria assim
Se, como a flor, é só fragilidade?
Como há de o mel do estio respirar
Frente o cerco dos dias, que é implacável,
Se nem rochas o podem enfrentar
Nem porta de aço ao Tempo é impermeável?
Diga-me onde, horrível reflexão,
Pode o belo do Tempo se ocultar?
Seu passo é retardado por que mão?
Quem pode a ruína do belo evitar?
Só se eu este milagre aqui fizer
E a tinta ao meu amor um brilho der.
Espero que tenham gostado!! Feliz Natal!! Agora só próxima semana...
Estão sob o jugo da mortalidade,
Como há de o belo enfrentar fúria assim
Se, como a flor, é só fragilidade?
Como há de o mel do estio respirar
Frente o cerco dos dias, que é implacável,
Se nem rochas o podem enfrentar
Nem porta de aço ao Tempo é impermeável?
Diga-me onde, horrível reflexão,
Pode o belo do Tempo se ocultar?
Seu passo é retardado por que mão?
Quem pode a ruína do belo evitar?
Só se eu este milagre aqui fizer
E a tinta ao meu amor um brilho der.
Espero que tenham gostado!! Feliz Natal!! Agora só próxima semana...
segunda-feira, 21 de dezembro de 2009
Tema e legado dos sonetos shakespearianos
Temas ~
Os sonetos de Shakespeare são, frequentemente, mais sexuais e prosaicos que as coleções de sonetos contemporâneas de outros poetas. Uma interpretação disto é que os sonetos de Shakespeare são, em parte, uma imitação ou uma paródia da tradição de sonetos amorosos petrarquistas que dominou parte da poesia européia durante três séculos. O que Shakespeare faz é converter a "madonna angelicata" em um jovem ou a formosa dama em uma dama morena. Shakespeare viola também algumas regras sonetísticas que haviam sido estritamente seguidas por outros poetas: fala de males humanos que não tem nada a ver com o amor (soneto 66), comenta assuntos políticos (soneto 124), faz gracejos sobre o amor (soneto 128), parodia a beleza (soneto 130), joga com os papéis sexuais (soneto 20), fala abertamente sobre sexo (soneto 129) e inclusive introduz engenhosos matizes pornográficos (soneto 151).
Legado ~
Além de situar-se ao final da tradição sonetística petrarquista, os sonetos de Shakespeare podem também ser vistos como um protótipo, ou inclusive como o começo, de um novo tipo de moderna poesia amorosa. Após Shakespeare ser descoberto durante o século XVIII — e não só na Inglaterra — os sonetos cresceram em importância durante o século XIX.
A importância e influência dos sonetos se demonstram na inumerável série de traduções que se tem feito deles. Até hoje, só nos países de língua germânica, já foram feitas centenas de traduções completas desde 1784. Não há nenhuma língua importante que não tenham sido traduzidos, incluindo o Latim, Turco, Japonês, Esperanto, etc.; e até em alguns dialetos.
Texto encontrado no site: Arte Poética de Arnaldo Poesia.
Os sonetos de Shakespeare são, frequentemente, mais sexuais e prosaicos que as coleções de sonetos contemporâneas de outros poetas. Uma interpretação disto é que os sonetos de Shakespeare são, em parte, uma imitação ou uma paródia da tradição de sonetos amorosos petrarquistas que dominou parte da poesia européia durante três séculos. O que Shakespeare faz é converter a "madonna angelicata" em um jovem ou a formosa dama em uma dama morena. Shakespeare viola também algumas regras sonetísticas que haviam sido estritamente seguidas por outros poetas: fala de males humanos que não tem nada a ver com o amor (soneto 66), comenta assuntos políticos (soneto 124), faz gracejos sobre o amor (soneto 128), parodia a beleza (soneto 130), joga com os papéis sexuais (soneto 20), fala abertamente sobre sexo (soneto 129) e inclusive introduz engenhosos matizes pornográficos (soneto 151).
Legado ~
Além de situar-se ao final da tradição sonetística petrarquista, os sonetos de Shakespeare podem também ser vistos como um protótipo, ou inclusive como o começo, de um novo tipo de moderna poesia amorosa. Após Shakespeare ser descoberto durante o século XVIII — e não só na Inglaterra — os sonetos cresceram em importância durante o século XIX.
A importância e influência dos sonetos se demonstram na inumerável série de traduções que se tem feito deles. Até hoje, só nos países de língua germânica, já foram feitas centenas de traduções completas desde 1784. Não há nenhuma língua importante que não tenham sido traduzidos, incluindo o Latim, Turco, Japonês, Esperanto, etc.; e até em alguns dialetos.
Texto encontrado no site: Arte Poética de Arnaldo Poesia.
sexta-feira, 18 de dezembro de 2009
Violence in Shakespeare: Suicide, Murder, and Combat in Shakespeare's Plays
Texto retirado do site Shakespeare On-line. Link do site: http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/violenceinshakespeare.html.
Elizabethan and Jacobean audiences reveled in shocking drama. While patrons liked a good comedy, they consistently packed the theatres to see the newest foray into treachery, debauchery, and murder. Scenes of bloodshed were staged with maximum realism. An account of the props required for George Peele's The Battle of Alcazar (1594), for example, lists three vials of blood and a sheep's lungs, heart, and liver. Kyd's Spanish Tragedy calls for an arbor with a dead body swinging from it (as described in Karl J. Holzknecht's, The Backgrounds of Shakespeare's Plays).
Some of Shakespeare's most violent plays were by far his most popular during his lifetime. Although modern audiences are often repulsed by its gore and brutality, Titus Andronicus was a huge success in Tudor England, coveted by several of the finest touring companies. And certainly it is no coincidence that Shakespeare's most profound psychological masterpieces have their share of sensational melodrama. Shakespeare often deviated from his sources to include more titillating details. Hamlet's father is poisoned with a potion so potent that it immediately causes bubbling scabs on his body; King Duncan is lured to Macbeth's castle to be slaughtered in his bed, and so on. Presented here are those characters who meet their ends violently -- those who feel "death's eternal cold" through murder, treason, suicide, and bloody combat.
Suicide
We have no friend
But resolution and the briefest end.
Antony and Cleopatra (4.15.91-2)
Brutus (Julius Caesar)
Brutus, knowing that he has lost the battle with Antony and Octavius, convinces a servant to hold his sword as he throws himself upon it.
Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra)
Cleopatra chooses the deadly venom of two asps as her method of suicide.
Goneril (King Lear)
Goneril, the depraved scoundrel who concocts nefarious schemes against her father, Lear, and her husband, the Duke of Albany, commits suicide when her plots are exposed.
Juliet (Romeo and Juliet)
As she kisses her beloved Romeo one final time, Juliet stabs herself with Romeo's dagger and falls dead upon his body.
Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)
Although we are told in Act 5, Scene 5 that Lady Macbeth is dead, it is not until the closing lines of the play that we learn her death was a suicide: ..."his fiend-like queen,
Who, as 'tis thought, by self and violent hands
Took off her life. (5.7.100-2)
Mark Antony (Antony and Cleopatra)
Antony falls on his own sword but lives longs enough to meet one final time with Cleopatra.
Cassius (Julius Caesar)
Cassius, certain that he will soon be captured by Antony and Octavius, kills himself with his sword.
Ophelia (Hamlet)
Ophelia, driven insane by Hamlet's cruelty and the murder of her beloved father, plunges from a tree branch into the current below. Although her fall is an accident, Ophelia makes no attempt to save herself, and thus her drowning is viewed as a suicide.
Othello (Othello)
When Othello discovers that his wife, Desdemona, whom he has murdered, is not guilty of adultery, he drives a dagger into his chest and falls dead beside Desdemona's body.
Portia (Julius Caesar)
Convinced that her husband, Brutus, will not be able to defeat Antony and his army, Portia commits suicide in her Roman home.
Romeo (Romeo and Juliet)
Carrying the fast-acting poison he has purchased from an apothecary in Act 5, Scene 1, Romeo arrives at the tomb of Juliet. He believes her to be dead and drinks the fatal potion, exclaiming, "Thus with a kiss I die." (5.3.121).
Timon (Timon of Athens)
Wandering through the wilderness, Timon can no longer take the hypocrisy of mankind. He is found dead in his cave -- an apparent suicide.
Murder
Truth will come to light,
murder cannot be hid long.
The Merchant of Venice (2.2.76-7)
Desdemona (Othello)
Unjustly accused of adultery, Desdemona is smothered to death by her jealous husband, Othello.
Banquo (Macbeth)
Out horseback riding with his son, Fleance, Banquo is cornered by three murderers hired by Macbeth. Banquo is slain but Fleance escapes.
Lady Macduff (Macbeth)
Lady Macduff is chased down and slaughtered offstage by Macbeth's henchmen. Her son is also killed by the murderers.
Polonius (Hamlet)
Acting as a spy for King Claudius, Polonius hides behind a curtain in Gertrude's chamber to listen to her conversation with Hamlet. Hearing a noise, Hamlet stabs through the curtain and kills the old eavesdropper.
Cordelia (King Lear)
A murderer hired by the evil Edmund hangs Cordelia in her cell.
Emilia (Othello)
Emilia is stabbed by her husband, Iago, when she reveals his role in the plot against Desdemona and Cassio.
Lavinia (Titus Andronicus)
After being raped and mutilated by Tamora's two sons, Chiron and Demetrius, Lavinia is murdered by her own father, Titus, to spare her further shame.
Gertrude (Hamlet)
The Queen drinks from the poisoned chalice of wine intended for Hamlet. She dies exclaiming, "The drink, the drink! I am poison'd" (5.2.320).
Claudius (Hamlet)
Hamlet stabs Claudius with the poisoned rapier and then forces him to drink from the poisoned goblet.
Titus Andronicus (Titus Andronicus)
Saturninus kills Titus Andronicus after Titus reveals that he has baked Tamora's two sons in the meat pie that Saturninus and Tamora are eating.
Tamora (Titus Andronicus)
Tamora is stabbed to death with a butcher's knife by her arch nemesis, Titus Andronicus, at the gruesome dinner party arranged for the Emperor.
Regan (King Lear)
Regan is poisoned by her sister, Goneril, after she sets her sights on Goneril's lover, Edmund.
Assassination and Execution
There is no sure foundation set on blood,
No certain life achieved by other's death.
King John (4.2.104-5)
Hamlet's Father (Hamlet)
Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, assassinated Hamlet's father by pouring the "juice of cursed hebenon" (1.5.63) in his ear while he slept in his orchard. Hebenon is a folk name for Henbane, the expressed juice of the fresh plant, Hyoscyamus niger. Other folk names for Henbane include Black Nightshade, Cassilago, Devil's Eye, and Jupiter's Bean. The death of Hamlet's father was inspired by a real event in 1538, when the Duke of Urbino was killed by a poisoned lotion rubbed into his ears by his barber.
Duke of Clarence (Richard III)
The pitiful Clarence is wrongfully arrested and jailed in the Tower by his brother, Richard. One night as he awakens from a terrifying nightmare, two henchmen sent by Richard burst into his cell. Clarence pleads for his life but one of the assassins stabs him. To ensure Clarence is dead, the first murderer drowns him in a "malmsey-butt", a cask of sweet wine also containing the severed heads of two hogs.
Richard II (Richard II)
King Richard II, usurped by Bolingbroke, later Henry IV, is taken to the Tower of London. Contemplating remarks made by Bolingbroke, a nobleman named Exton mistakenly believes that Bolingbroke desires Richard dead, and he takes his henchmen to Richard's cell and kills him.
Henry VI (3 Henry VI)
The pious but ineffectual Henry VI is stabbed to death in his Tower of London cell. His assassin is the villainous Richard, Duke of Gloucester, soon to become Richard III.
Coriolanus (Coriolanus)
A group of merciless conspirators, spurred on by the leader of the Volscians, Aufidius, surround and stab Coriolanus in the play's final scene.
Julius Caesar (Julius Caesar)
Conspirators fearing a return to tyranny close in on Caesar and stab him to death.
Duncan (Macbeth)
The noble King of Scotland is murdered in his sleep by Macbeth during his visit to Macbeth's castle, Dunsinane.
Aaron (Titus Andronicus)
Aaron, sentenced to death by the new emperor, Lucius, is to be buried up to his neck in the sand and starved to death.
Killed in Combat
I have no words;
My voice is in my sword.
Macbeth (5.8.6-7)
Macbeth (Macbeth)
Macduff and Macbeth fight ferociously in hand-to-hand combat, before Macduff appears holding Macbeth's severed head.
Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet)
Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt, the cousin of his darling Juliet. Enraged that Romeo will not defend his honor, Mercutio challenges Tybalt to a duel. Romeo attempts to separate the two, but Tybalt fatally wounds Mercutio. As he dies, Mercutio cries, "A plague o' both your houses!/They have made worms' meat of me." (3.1.108-9).
Tybalt (Romeo and Juliet)
Romeo challenges Tybalt to a duel after Tybalt kills Romeo's cousin, Mercutio. The fight is short and Romeo leaves Tybalt dead on the ground.
Richard III (Richard III)
The Earl of Richmond, later Henry VII, slays the outrageous villain on Bosworth field.
Hamlet (Hamlet)
Hamlet is stabbed with the end of Laertes' poisoned rapier.
Laertes (Hamlet)
During the final climatic fencing match, Laertes and Hamlet scuffle and their rapiers are accidentally exchanged. Hamlet grabs Laertes poisoned rapier and wounds Laertes. Laertes soon dies from the injury.
Hotspur (1 Henry IV)
Young Prince Hal duels and mortally wounds the honor-driven Hotspur on the battlefield. Hotspur manages to render a final speech, but dies before he can finish his last thoughts.
Edmund (King Lear)
The malicious villain is mortally wounded in a duel with Edgar.
Paris (Romeo and Juliet)
Romeo kills Paris in a duel before Juliet's tomb. Romeo promises the dying Paris that he will lay him beside Juliet.
Elizabethan and Jacobean audiences reveled in shocking drama. While patrons liked a good comedy, they consistently packed the theatres to see the newest foray into treachery, debauchery, and murder. Scenes of bloodshed were staged with maximum realism. An account of the props required for George Peele's The Battle of Alcazar (1594), for example, lists three vials of blood and a sheep's lungs, heart, and liver. Kyd's Spanish Tragedy calls for an arbor with a dead body swinging from it (as described in Karl J. Holzknecht's, The Backgrounds of Shakespeare's Plays).
Some of Shakespeare's most violent plays were by far his most popular during his lifetime. Although modern audiences are often repulsed by its gore and brutality, Titus Andronicus was a huge success in Tudor England, coveted by several of the finest touring companies. And certainly it is no coincidence that Shakespeare's most profound psychological masterpieces have their share of sensational melodrama. Shakespeare often deviated from his sources to include more titillating details. Hamlet's father is poisoned with a potion so potent that it immediately causes bubbling scabs on his body; King Duncan is lured to Macbeth's castle to be slaughtered in his bed, and so on. Presented here are those characters who meet their ends violently -- those who feel "death's eternal cold" through murder, treason, suicide, and bloody combat.
Suicide
We have no friend
But resolution and the briefest end.
Antony and Cleopatra (4.15.91-2)
Brutus (Julius Caesar)
Brutus, knowing that he has lost the battle with Antony and Octavius, convinces a servant to hold his sword as he throws himself upon it.
Cleopatra (Antony and Cleopatra)
Cleopatra chooses the deadly venom of two asps as her method of suicide.
Goneril (King Lear)
Goneril, the depraved scoundrel who concocts nefarious schemes against her father, Lear, and her husband, the Duke of Albany, commits suicide when her plots are exposed.
Juliet (Romeo and Juliet)
As she kisses her beloved Romeo one final time, Juliet stabs herself with Romeo's dagger and falls dead upon his body.
Lady Macbeth (Macbeth)
Although we are told in Act 5, Scene 5 that Lady Macbeth is dead, it is not until the closing lines of the play that we learn her death was a suicide: ..."his fiend-like queen,
Who, as 'tis thought, by self and violent hands
Took off her life. (5.7.100-2)
Mark Antony (Antony and Cleopatra)
Antony falls on his own sword but lives longs enough to meet one final time with Cleopatra.
Cassius (Julius Caesar)
Cassius, certain that he will soon be captured by Antony and Octavius, kills himself with his sword.
Ophelia (Hamlet)
Ophelia, driven insane by Hamlet's cruelty and the murder of her beloved father, plunges from a tree branch into the current below. Although her fall is an accident, Ophelia makes no attempt to save herself, and thus her drowning is viewed as a suicide.
Othello (Othello)
When Othello discovers that his wife, Desdemona, whom he has murdered, is not guilty of adultery, he drives a dagger into his chest and falls dead beside Desdemona's body.
Portia (Julius Caesar)
Convinced that her husband, Brutus, will not be able to defeat Antony and his army, Portia commits suicide in her Roman home.
Romeo (Romeo and Juliet)
Carrying the fast-acting poison he has purchased from an apothecary in Act 5, Scene 1, Romeo arrives at the tomb of Juliet. He believes her to be dead and drinks the fatal potion, exclaiming, "Thus with a kiss I die." (5.3.121).
Timon (Timon of Athens)
Wandering through the wilderness, Timon can no longer take the hypocrisy of mankind. He is found dead in his cave -- an apparent suicide.
Murder
Truth will come to light,
murder cannot be hid long.
The Merchant of Venice (2.2.76-7)
Desdemona (Othello)
Unjustly accused of adultery, Desdemona is smothered to death by her jealous husband, Othello.
Banquo (Macbeth)
Out horseback riding with his son, Fleance, Banquo is cornered by three murderers hired by Macbeth. Banquo is slain but Fleance escapes.
Lady Macduff (Macbeth)
Lady Macduff is chased down and slaughtered offstage by Macbeth's henchmen. Her son is also killed by the murderers.
Polonius (Hamlet)
Acting as a spy for King Claudius, Polonius hides behind a curtain in Gertrude's chamber to listen to her conversation with Hamlet. Hearing a noise, Hamlet stabs through the curtain and kills the old eavesdropper.
Cordelia (King Lear)
A murderer hired by the evil Edmund hangs Cordelia in her cell.
Emilia (Othello)
Emilia is stabbed by her husband, Iago, when she reveals his role in the plot against Desdemona and Cassio.
Lavinia (Titus Andronicus)
After being raped and mutilated by Tamora's two sons, Chiron and Demetrius, Lavinia is murdered by her own father, Titus, to spare her further shame.
Gertrude (Hamlet)
The Queen drinks from the poisoned chalice of wine intended for Hamlet. She dies exclaiming, "The drink, the drink! I am poison'd" (5.2.320).
Claudius (Hamlet)
Hamlet stabs Claudius with the poisoned rapier and then forces him to drink from the poisoned goblet.
Titus Andronicus (Titus Andronicus)
Saturninus kills Titus Andronicus after Titus reveals that he has baked Tamora's two sons in the meat pie that Saturninus and Tamora are eating.
Tamora (Titus Andronicus)
Tamora is stabbed to death with a butcher's knife by her arch nemesis, Titus Andronicus, at the gruesome dinner party arranged for the Emperor.
Regan (King Lear)
Regan is poisoned by her sister, Goneril, after she sets her sights on Goneril's lover, Edmund.
Assassination and Execution
There is no sure foundation set on blood,
No certain life achieved by other's death.
King John (4.2.104-5)
Hamlet's Father (Hamlet)
Claudius, Hamlet's uncle, assassinated Hamlet's father by pouring the "juice of cursed hebenon" (1.5.63) in his ear while he slept in his orchard. Hebenon is a folk name for Henbane, the expressed juice of the fresh plant, Hyoscyamus niger. Other folk names for Henbane include Black Nightshade, Cassilago, Devil's Eye, and Jupiter's Bean. The death of Hamlet's father was inspired by a real event in 1538, when the Duke of Urbino was killed by a poisoned lotion rubbed into his ears by his barber.
Duke of Clarence (Richard III)
The pitiful Clarence is wrongfully arrested and jailed in the Tower by his brother, Richard. One night as he awakens from a terrifying nightmare, two henchmen sent by Richard burst into his cell. Clarence pleads for his life but one of the assassins stabs him. To ensure Clarence is dead, the first murderer drowns him in a "malmsey-butt", a cask of sweet wine also containing the severed heads of two hogs.
Richard II (Richard II)
King Richard II, usurped by Bolingbroke, later Henry IV, is taken to the Tower of London. Contemplating remarks made by Bolingbroke, a nobleman named Exton mistakenly believes that Bolingbroke desires Richard dead, and he takes his henchmen to Richard's cell and kills him.
Henry VI (3 Henry VI)
The pious but ineffectual Henry VI is stabbed to death in his Tower of London cell. His assassin is the villainous Richard, Duke of Gloucester, soon to become Richard III.
Coriolanus (Coriolanus)
A group of merciless conspirators, spurred on by the leader of the Volscians, Aufidius, surround and stab Coriolanus in the play's final scene.
Julius Caesar (Julius Caesar)
Conspirators fearing a return to tyranny close in on Caesar and stab him to death.
Duncan (Macbeth)
The noble King of Scotland is murdered in his sleep by Macbeth during his visit to Macbeth's castle, Dunsinane.
Aaron (Titus Andronicus)
Aaron, sentenced to death by the new emperor, Lucius, is to be buried up to his neck in the sand and starved to death.
Killed in Combat
I have no words;
My voice is in my sword.
Macbeth (5.8.6-7)
Macbeth (Macbeth)
Macduff and Macbeth fight ferociously in hand-to-hand combat, before Macduff appears holding Macbeth's severed head.
Mercutio (Romeo and Juliet)
Romeo refuses to fight Tybalt, the cousin of his darling Juliet. Enraged that Romeo will not defend his honor, Mercutio challenges Tybalt to a duel. Romeo attempts to separate the two, but Tybalt fatally wounds Mercutio. As he dies, Mercutio cries, "A plague o' both your houses!/They have made worms' meat of me." (3.1.108-9).
Tybalt (Romeo and Juliet)
Romeo challenges Tybalt to a duel after Tybalt kills Romeo's cousin, Mercutio. The fight is short and Romeo leaves Tybalt dead on the ground.
Richard III (Richard III)
The Earl of Richmond, later Henry VII, slays the outrageous villain on Bosworth field.
Hamlet (Hamlet)
Hamlet is stabbed with the end of Laertes' poisoned rapier.
Laertes (Hamlet)
During the final climatic fencing match, Laertes and Hamlet scuffle and their rapiers are accidentally exchanged. Hamlet grabs Laertes poisoned rapier and wounds Laertes. Laertes soon dies from the injury.
Hotspur (1 Henry IV)
Young Prince Hal duels and mortally wounds the honor-driven Hotspur on the battlefield. Hotspur manages to render a final speech, but dies before he can finish his last thoughts.
Edmund (King Lear)
The malicious villain is mortally wounded in a duel with Edgar.
Paris (Romeo and Juliet)
Romeo kills Paris in a duel before Juliet's tomb. Romeo promises the dying Paris that he will lay him beside Juliet.
quarta-feira, 16 de dezembro de 2009
Loja Virtual
Olá pessoal!!
Vocês já imaginaram comprar os materiais estrangeiros, principalmente, em língua inglesa de Shakespeare pela Internet?
Pois é, com o mundo virtual, as coisas estão mais ao nosso alcance. E quem não se adapta as novas tecnologias fica de fora dos benefícios que esta ferramenta pode oferecer.
A gente não precisa mais se deslocar de casa para a livraria ou outro lugar, basta ter um computador com conexão a rede, e alguns instantes nos transportamos para o mundo virtual.
Pesquisando preços de livros e outros materiais, encontrei um site que já até havia mencionado antes, no qual há um espaço para venda de livros do Shakespeare. O que estamos esperando? Vamos navegar urgente!!!
Quem sabe compramos até mais barato do que aqui em Fortaleza. E, provavelmente, encontremos mais opções na net mesmo. O link do site é: http://astore.amazon.com/mrwillshakand-20.
Aproveitem! Comprem e leiam!!
Vocês já imaginaram comprar os materiais estrangeiros, principalmente, em língua inglesa de Shakespeare pela Internet?
Pois é, com o mundo virtual, as coisas estão mais ao nosso alcance. E quem não se adapta as novas tecnologias fica de fora dos benefícios que esta ferramenta pode oferecer.
A gente não precisa mais se deslocar de casa para a livraria ou outro lugar, basta ter um computador com conexão a rede, e alguns instantes nos transportamos para o mundo virtual.
Pesquisando preços de livros e outros materiais, encontrei um site que já até havia mencionado antes, no qual há um espaço para venda de livros do Shakespeare. O que estamos esperando? Vamos navegar urgente!!!
Quem sabe compramos até mais barato do que aqui em Fortaleza. E, provavelmente, encontremos mais opções na net mesmo. O link do site é: http://astore.amazon.com/mrwillshakand-20.
Aproveitem! Comprem e leiam!!
segunda-feira, 14 de dezembro de 2009
Latest News
Texto foi retirado de um site de shakespeare:
The wait is over. John Barton's lectures on Playing Shakespeare featuring now world famous RSC actors, Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love, Iris), Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler's List), and Peggy Ashcroft (A Passage to India), Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings, Gods and Monsters), Patrick Stewart (X-Men, Star Trek: The Next Generation), and David Suchet (Agatha Christie's Poirot), and others, will now be available on DVD. The release date is scheduled for June 2 in the USA:
"Sit in on nine intensive acting workshops conducted by the legendary John Barton of the Royal Shakespeare Company. How does this world-renowned troupe make classic plays accessible to modern audiences, without compromising the text's integrity? How do actors search Shakespeare's verse for hidden clues to their characters' motivations? How do they balance intellect and passion to make theatre's most famous soliloquies seem fresh?"
The 4 disc, 456 minute set comes with:
o 20-page viewer's guide includes key points, discussion questions, avenues for further learning, a history of the RSC, and "Vocabulary of Verse and Stage."
o Actor biographies and RSC stage credits
o Exclusive web extras
PBS has a new streaming video portal at pbs.org/video. It is slick and easy to use, like Hulu.com (where, by the way, you will also find several PBS titles streaming in a commercial venue). Now much of the great quality programming heretofore available only by purchasing DVDs or using your Netflix account can be enjoyed free in streaming format online. Available programming includes American Experience, American Masters, FrontLine, NOVA, Great Performances, Masterpiece Classic, Nature, The NewsHour, and others. Users can browse by program or browse by topic.
It is now possible to own An Age of Kings, from BBC Warner. It is a 5-disc, 947 minute extravaganza, first telecast in the US in 1961 starring then largely unkown actors like Sean Connery, Judi Dench and Robert Hardy. The 75 minute episodes had such names as "The Hollow Crown," "The Band of Brothers," "Uneasy Lies the Head" and are truly memorable.
There has been a huge flap over a supposed authentication of the so-called Jansen portrait of Shakespeare. It turns out to be not so, but it is an interesting story. See my blog posts, Jansen Portrait Authentic?, and Shakespeare Portrait: Smoke, No Light, Portait Redux, and Shakespeare Portrait: The Empire (of experts) Strikes Back.
The wait is over. John Barton's lectures on Playing Shakespeare featuring now world famous RSC actors, Judi Dench (Shakespeare in Love, Iris), Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler's List), and Peggy Ashcroft (A Passage to India), Ian McKellen (The Lord of the Rings, Gods and Monsters), Patrick Stewart (X-Men, Star Trek: The Next Generation), and David Suchet (Agatha Christie's Poirot), and others, will now be available on DVD. The release date is scheduled for June 2 in the USA:
"Sit in on nine intensive acting workshops conducted by the legendary John Barton of the Royal Shakespeare Company. How does this world-renowned troupe make classic plays accessible to modern audiences, without compromising the text's integrity? How do actors search Shakespeare's verse for hidden clues to their characters' motivations? How do they balance intellect and passion to make theatre's most famous soliloquies seem fresh?"
The 4 disc, 456 minute set comes with:
o 20-page viewer's guide includes key points, discussion questions, avenues for further learning, a history of the RSC, and "Vocabulary of Verse and Stage."
o Actor biographies and RSC stage credits
o Exclusive web extras
PBS has a new streaming video portal at pbs.org/video. It is slick and easy to use, like Hulu.com (where, by the way, you will also find several PBS titles streaming in a commercial venue). Now much of the great quality programming heretofore available only by purchasing DVDs or using your Netflix account can be enjoyed free in streaming format online. Available programming includes American Experience, American Masters, FrontLine, NOVA, Great Performances, Masterpiece Classic, Nature, The NewsHour, and others. Users can browse by program or browse by topic.
It is now possible to own An Age of Kings, from BBC Warner. It is a 5-disc, 947 minute extravaganza, first telecast in the US in 1961 starring then largely unkown actors like Sean Connery, Judi Dench and Robert Hardy. The 75 minute episodes had such names as "The Hollow Crown," "The Band of Brothers," "Uneasy Lies the Head" and are truly memorable.
There has been a huge flap over a supposed authentication of the so-called Jansen portrait of Shakespeare. It turns out to be not so, but it is an interesting story. See my blog posts, Jansen Portrait Authentic?, and Shakespeare Portrait: Smoke, No Light, Portait Redux, and Shakespeare Portrait: The Empire (of experts) Strikes Back.
sábado, 12 de dezembro de 2009
Globe Theatre- Seconde Part.
Texto extraído do site absolute Shakespeare.
Watching a play.
Unlike today’s spectacles, a Shakespearean playhouse-goer really had to use their imagination; there were no backdrops, no lighting to speak of, horrific acoustics, and few if any props. As such watching a play would involve watching the actors exaggerating their movements for patrons in the galleries and shouting their lines to be heard by all.
Much of the illusion of a play had to occur in the viewer’s own imagination, the only notable exceptions, being the colorful use of costumes, heralds, banners, the odd cannon, and the dramatic use of the balcony’s and arras. Because there was no artificial lighting, plays typically occurred in the early afternoon, lasting from 2 pm until roughly 4 or 5 pm.
Plays performed.
The first play we know of that was performed at Shakespeare's famous playhouse was Julius Caesar in 1599 when a Swiss tourist Thomas Platter recorded in his diary that on September the 21st " we witnessed an excellent performance of the tragedy of the first Emperor Julius Caesar " said to be performed by some 15 actors.
Other plays known to have been performed by Shakespeare and rest of his acting troupe were Hamlet (1600-1601), Twelfth Night Or What You Will (1601), Richard II (February 7th 1601) Troilus and Cressida (1601-1602), All’s Well That Ends Well (circa 1602), Timon of Athens (c1604), King Lear (1605), Macbeth (1606), Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1607) possibly The Tempest in 1610, The Two Noble Kinsmen in 1611, Shakespeare’s "lost" play Cardenio in 1612 and Henry VIII in 1613.
Burnt to the ground and rebuilt again.
Tragedy struck the playhouse when amidst a performance of Henry VIII on June the 29th, 1613, a cannon fired during the play ignited the playhouse's thatched roof burning the playhouse to the ground. Rebuilt just one year later, the famous playhouse again opened its doors for business but on the opposite side of the Thames river in 1614, with the original's dangerous straw thatched roof now wisely replaced with tiles.
End of an era.
In 1642 as Puritanical forces made their presence felt in England, playhouses no longer were a place of laughter but one of evil sin. Predictably then, all of England’s playhouses were promptly closed down to protect the good people of England. Just two years later in 1644, where Hamlet was once performed, the famous playhouse was taken down, its presence replaced by housing instead. One of the greatest eras in playhouse was at an end...
Today’s Replica.
Though the original playhouse is no longer with us, we can enjoy a very close approximation of it today in Southwark, the very same place the original was built in.
However the 1996 approximation is just that; first the replica's exits had to be enlarged to comply with today’s rather more stringent fire regulations (few existed when the original burnt down!) and the new replica despite being built of the very same oak and deal timbers, is not in the same Maiden Lane (called Park Street today) location of the original, but is nearby.
The attention to detail has been painstaking; even the thatched roof made of Norfolk reeds has been faithfully recreated. Today with play’s being performed there, only a little imagination is needed to recreate watching a play in Shakespeare’s time...
Acting: Safe if you had the right connections...
Before the advent of Shakespearean and Elizabethan playhouse, there were no true playhouses or acting troupes in England.
Instead, traveling actors recreated religious plays held at market squares, inns or make shift stages. These actors traveled the country and were regarded as little more than layabouts or vagabonds. So when playhouse emerged in the late 1500s, acting was still considered a pretty vulgar profession to practice.
There were enemies of actors especially officials who could easily arrest actors for vagrancy. Only actors enjoying noble protection were safe, The Lord Chamberlain's Men were safe by virtue of first being sponsored by The Lord Chamberlain of Elizabeth I and later by King James’ patent and patronage of Shakespeare’s acting troupe.
Famous actors who performed at the Playhouse: Richard Burbage.
Of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (Later named The King’s Men to honour King James I), perhaps the acting troupe’s most famous actor was not William Shakespeare who legend has it played King Hamlet’s ghost, but was Richard Burbage.
Inheriting the smaller Blackfriar’s playhouse from his father who built it, and the son of James Burbage who initially ran the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Richard Burbage was considered the greatest Elizabethan actor of them all, playing such challenging roles as Hamlet, King Lear and Othello.
His influence on Shakespeare is not certain but many have speculated that Shakespeare wrote the tragic figures of Othello, King Lear and Hamlet with this subtle-performing actor in mind.
Other Actors in The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.
Despite the fame accompanying Shakespeare and Richard Burbage’s association with the acting troupe, many others were famous in The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.
Will Kemp who was a comic actor in their troupe, originally was one of the shareholder’s in the famous playhouse. He is thought to have played amongst other characters, that of Falstaff in the King Henry IV plays, certainly Peter, a servant to Juliet’s nurse in Romeo and Juliet and in all probability, Bottom, a weaver in A Midsummer Night’s dream.
Instead of staying with The Lord Chamberlain’s men, he left the other actors in 1599 to pick up his contribution to the new playhouse and instead Morris danced his way from London to Norwich.
Unhappy with this, he then danced across the Alps to take up acting at The Rose, one of the famous playhouse's competitors.
Arguably replacing Will Kemp in the more famous comic roles of Shakespeare’s plays was Robert Armin. Most famous for his role as the deceptively wise Fool in King Lear, Robert Armin also distinguished himself as the insightful clown Feste in Twelfth Night and as Touchstone in As You Like It.
John Hemminges, known to us in history as one of the actors (the other was Henry Condell) who compiled The First Folio, from which all records of Shakespeare’s plays are derived was with The Lord Chamberlain’s Men from, 1594, later becoming its manager.
Augustine Phillips was known as a musician and jig writer; a merry jig or dance always followed the conclusion of a play.
Thomas Pope joined in 1594, becoming a co-owner of the famous playhouse and playing comic roles like Will Kemp before him, thought to include that of Falstaff in the King Henry IV plays before passing away in 1604.
Will Sly joined The Lord Chamberlain’s men in 1594 along with Shakespeare at the same time. Along with becoming a co-owner in 1605, he also became a co-owner in the Blackfriar’s playhouse in 1608.
The plot to kill Queen Elizabeth.
Shakespeare and his famous playhouse, also distinguished themselves in controversy. In 1601, Sir Gilly Meyrick asked The Lord Chamberlain’s Men to perform Richard II for two pounds. This was an old play and it was only the money that convinced the actors to perform it.
However the reason Meyrick wanted the play performed was because of its anti-monarchic message; King Richard II, a rightful king is removed from power for being a tyrant who breaks his own laws to be replaced by those who understood his subjects better.
Meyrick was obviously hoping that a well-attended performance the very day before the Essex rebellion began, would generate public sympathy for those attempting to kill Queen Elizabeth.
The Essex rebellion failed, The Earl of Essex and most of his supporters being killed. Shakespeare and the rest of the Chamberlain’s Men were questioned for their part in this conspiracy, only having to play before the Queen as a consequence.
There is still some doubt as to whether Shakespeare could really not have known what he was doing. Perhaps Shakespeare may have been sympathetic to the conspirators? Little is known with complete certainty.
Watching a play.
Unlike today’s spectacles, a Shakespearean playhouse-goer really had to use their imagination; there were no backdrops, no lighting to speak of, horrific acoustics, and few if any props. As such watching a play would involve watching the actors exaggerating their movements for patrons in the galleries and shouting their lines to be heard by all.
Much of the illusion of a play had to occur in the viewer’s own imagination, the only notable exceptions, being the colorful use of costumes, heralds, banners, the odd cannon, and the dramatic use of the balcony’s and arras. Because there was no artificial lighting, plays typically occurred in the early afternoon, lasting from 2 pm until roughly 4 or 5 pm.
Plays performed.
The first play we know of that was performed at Shakespeare's famous playhouse was Julius Caesar in 1599 when a Swiss tourist Thomas Platter recorded in his diary that on September the 21st " we witnessed an excellent performance of the tragedy of the first Emperor Julius Caesar " said to be performed by some 15 actors.
Other plays known to have been performed by Shakespeare and rest of his acting troupe were Hamlet (1600-1601), Twelfth Night Or What You Will (1601), Richard II (February 7th 1601) Troilus and Cressida (1601-1602), All’s Well That Ends Well (circa 1602), Timon of Athens (c1604), King Lear (1605), Macbeth (1606), Pericles, Prince of Tyre (1607) possibly The Tempest in 1610, The Two Noble Kinsmen in 1611, Shakespeare’s "lost" play Cardenio in 1612 and Henry VIII in 1613.
Burnt to the ground and rebuilt again.
Tragedy struck the playhouse when amidst a performance of Henry VIII on June the 29th, 1613, a cannon fired during the play ignited the playhouse's thatched roof burning the playhouse to the ground. Rebuilt just one year later, the famous playhouse again opened its doors for business but on the opposite side of the Thames river in 1614, with the original's dangerous straw thatched roof now wisely replaced with tiles.
End of an era.
In 1642 as Puritanical forces made their presence felt in England, playhouses no longer were a place of laughter but one of evil sin. Predictably then, all of England’s playhouses were promptly closed down to protect the good people of England. Just two years later in 1644, where Hamlet was once performed, the famous playhouse was taken down, its presence replaced by housing instead. One of the greatest eras in playhouse was at an end...
Today’s Replica.
Though the original playhouse is no longer with us, we can enjoy a very close approximation of it today in Southwark, the very same place the original was built in.
However the 1996 approximation is just that; first the replica's exits had to be enlarged to comply with today’s rather more stringent fire regulations (few existed when the original burnt down!) and the new replica despite being built of the very same oak and deal timbers, is not in the same Maiden Lane (called Park Street today) location of the original, but is nearby.
The attention to detail has been painstaking; even the thatched roof made of Norfolk reeds has been faithfully recreated. Today with play’s being performed there, only a little imagination is needed to recreate watching a play in Shakespeare’s time...
Acting: Safe if you had the right connections...
Before the advent of Shakespearean and Elizabethan playhouse, there were no true playhouses or acting troupes in England.
Instead, traveling actors recreated religious plays held at market squares, inns or make shift stages. These actors traveled the country and were regarded as little more than layabouts or vagabonds. So when playhouse emerged in the late 1500s, acting was still considered a pretty vulgar profession to practice.
There were enemies of actors especially officials who could easily arrest actors for vagrancy. Only actors enjoying noble protection were safe, The Lord Chamberlain's Men were safe by virtue of first being sponsored by The Lord Chamberlain of Elizabeth I and later by King James’ patent and patronage of Shakespeare’s acting troupe.
Famous actors who performed at the Playhouse: Richard Burbage.
Of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (Later named The King’s Men to honour King James I), perhaps the acting troupe’s most famous actor was not William Shakespeare who legend has it played King Hamlet’s ghost, but was Richard Burbage.
Inheriting the smaller Blackfriar’s playhouse from his father who built it, and the son of James Burbage who initially ran the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, Richard Burbage was considered the greatest Elizabethan actor of them all, playing such challenging roles as Hamlet, King Lear and Othello.
His influence on Shakespeare is not certain but many have speculated that Shakespeare wrote the tragic figures of Othello, King Lear and Hamlet with this subtle-performing actor in mind.
Other Actors in The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.
Despite the fame accompanying Shakespeare and Richard Burbage’s association with the acting troupe, many others were famous in The Lord Chamberlain’s Men.
Will Kemp who was a comic actor in their troupe, originally was one of the shareholder’s in the famous playhouse. He is thought to have played amongst other characters, that of Falstaff in the King Henry IV plays, certainly Peter, a servant to Juliet’s nurse in Romeo and Juliet and in all probability, Bottom, a weaver in A Midsummer Night’s dream.
Instead of staying with The Lord Chamberlain’s men, he left the other actors in 1599 to pick up his contribution to the new playhouse and instead Morris danced his way from London to Norwich.
Unhappy with this, he then danced across the Alps to take up acting at The Rose, one of the famous playhouse's competitors.
Arguably replacing Will Kemp in the more famous comic roles of Shakespeare’s plays was Robert Armin. Most famous for his role as the deceptively wise Fool in King Lear, Robert Armin also distinguished himself as the insightful clown Feste in Twelfth Night and as Touchstone in As You Like It.
John Hemminges, known to us in history as one of the actors (the other was Henry Condell) who compiled The First Folio, from which all records of Shakespeare’s plays are derived was with The Lord Chamberlain’s Men from, 1594, later becoming its manager.
Augustine Phillips was known as a musician and jig writer; a merry jig or dance always followed the conclusion of a play.
Thomas Pope joined in 1594, becoming a co-owner of the famous playhouse and playing comic roles like Will Kemp before him, thought to include that of Falstaff in the King Henry IV plays before passing away in 1604.
Will Sly joined The Lord Chamberlain’s men in 1594 along with Shakespeare at the same time. Along with becoming a co-owner in 1605, he also became a co-owner in the Blackfriar’s playhouse in 1608.
The plot to kill Queen Elizabeth.
Shakespeare and his famous playhouse, also distinguished themselves in controversy. In 1601, Sir Gilly Meyrick asked The Lord Chamberlain’s Men to perform Richard II for two pounds. This was an old play and it was only the money that convinced the actors to perform it.
However the reason Meyrick wanted the play performed was because of its anti-monarchic message; King Richard II, a rightful king is removed from power for being a tyrant who breaks his own laws to be replaced by those who understood his subjects better.
Meyrick was obviously hoping that a well-attended performance the very day before the Essex rebellion began, would generate public sympathy for those attempting to kill Queen Elizabeth.
The Essex rebellion failed, The Earl of Essex and most of his supporters being killed. Shakespeare and the rest of the Chamberlain’s Men were questioned for their part in this conspiracy, only having to play before the Queen as a consequence.
There is still some doubt as to whether Shakespeare could really not have known what he was doing. Perhaps Shakespeare may have been sympathetic to the conspirators? Little is known with complete certainty.
sexta-feira, 11 de dezembro de 2009
Shakespeare's Globe Theatre- First Part
Este texto é sobre o teatro de Shakespeare, encontrado no site: Absolute Shakespeare. Esta é a primeira parte, depois terá uma continuação....
The Globe Theatre also known as the Shakespeare Globe Theatre was not only one of most famous playhouse’s of all time, but the play house where Shakespeare performed many of his greatest plays. Built from oak, deal, and stolen playhouse frames, the 3 storey, 3000 capacity Globe Theatre, co-owned by William Shakespeare has become almost as famous as the playwright himself.
History: Shakespeare needs a new playhouse to compete.
The 1598 decision to build the famous playhouse came about as the answer to many of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men’s problems. With the end of a lease on the Blackfriars Theatre in 1597, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (Shakespeare, J & R Burbage, G Byran, John Hemminges, Augustine Phillips, Thomas Pope and Will Sly) had no where else to readily perform their plays.
This acting troupe needed a new playhouse and fast as their rivals, The Admiral’s Men already had the the Rose Playhouse to perform their plays.
Clearly the Lord Chamberlain’s Men would need a playhouse to compete, but there was one little problem; a lack of money.
Paying for the Playhouse: Shareholders become the key.
Though James and Richard Burbage of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men had money, there still wasn’t enough. Instead they came up with a novel idea; they would each own 25 % of the new playhouse whilst the rest of The Lord Chamberlain’s men would each chip in the remaining 50%. This, the Chamberlain’s men did, Shakespeare and the other four members of the acting troupe each owning a 12.5 % share when Will Kemp another member of the troupe, backed out.
Sure enough the playhouse was completed, opening in 1599. Not only could the circular playhouse hold up to 3000 patrons but it turned out to be a good earner, earning Shakespeare and his troupe both money from hiring out the playhouse and from ticket sales for their own performances there.
Theft builds the Playhouse.
Construction of the famous playhouse, set near the Thames in a place called Bankside in Southwark, began in early 1599. Said to be built by Cuthbert Burbage, brother of the famous Shakespearean actor Robert Burbage and son of James Burbage.
Interestingly the famous playhouse was not the Burbage son’s first choice for a playhouse since they already had one in "The Theatre", the first of its kind in London and an inheritance from his father. Unfortunately for Shakespeare and the rest of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the lease of the land it was built on expired in 1597.
Theoretically this playhouse should have reverted to the landlord Giles Allen as well. Instead Burbage tore it down and then discretely removed several 12 inch oak beams, transporting them to Bankside where they formed the structural frame for a 100 foot circular polygon, the heart of the new playhouse's structure.
Location, location, location.
Though located near the river Thames, Shakespeare’s playhouse was not in fact in central London but rather an outlying district called Southwark. Southwark had a "colorful" reputation of being not too different from what we would call a "bad" district today, certainly not the place to find respectable gentry.
Yet the famous playhouse by attracting commoners and gentry alike, brought people of all classes together in a region renowned for bear-baiting and other less than respectable activities.
Nonetheless, elements of England’s strict class divisions remained; commoners were in the courtyard by comparison with England’s gentry and nobility which were seated in the galleries or the balconies.
That playhouses could even exist at all was in part due to its Southwark location; it was outside the jurisdiction of a disapproving central London bureaucracy...
Advertising
To announce the arrival of the new playhouse, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men took the bold move of flying a flag with Hercules carrying a Globe on his shoulders to announce the imminent performance of Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar.
The Playhouse's motto and crest.
True to it’s name, above the main entrance was inscribed the words "Totus mundus agit histrionem" (the whole world is a playhouse), a phrase echoed in As You Like It ("All the world’s a stage"). A crest displaying Hercules bearing the globe on his shoulders finished the effect...
General Appearance.
Built to the engineering standards of 1599, the famous playhouse was a large circular structure, three stories high. A small straw hatched roof only partially covered the circular structure, giving it an appearance very much like a modern day football stadium where the center is uncovered.
In the center, pushed up against one interior side, extended the 5 feet high main stage. At the back of this stage facing the interior walls were two doors and a main entrance consisting of a central curtain. Behind this were changing rooms for the actors. To get back on stage, they would emerge from the arras or the two sidedoors at stage level. Above this stage was a balcony, flanked by two further balconies serving as playhouse boxes.
On the third level was a small house like structure supported by columns from the stage where announcements were made and the playhouse's flag would often fly, advertising plays currently being performed.
Again like a stadium, three rows of seating forming circular bands wrapped around the interior. These galleries at two pennies, cost more, but offered the comfort of seating. Those in the central uncovered courtyard had to stand through what could be a three hour performance, rain or shine.
"All the World’s a Stage".
Set in the middle of the playhouse, the playhouse's 44 wide by 26 foot long stage stood five foot off the ground, low enough to command a good view to courtyard watchers yet high enough to discourage the occasional stage jumper.
Two doors allowed actors backstage to enter, this being closed in by a central arras or hanging curtain. Above this was a balcony famously used in Romeo and Juliet when Romeo hears Juliet cry "Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo". Similarly, the arras would have been pulled away in The Tempest to reveal the touchingly innocent scene of Miranda playing chess with Ferdinand and was also used for Hamlet’s stabbing of Polionius in Hamlet.
Balconies to be seen in...
The balcony above the stage was not the only balcony in the playhouse. As mentioned, the central balcony was flanked by two balconies for the wealthy to be seen in just as celebrities today pick boxes and seats at sports games were they are likely to be noticed by today’s media. Even vanity existed in the 1500’s.
Cost of entry.
Open to all for the modest fee of just one-penny (roughly 10 % of a worker’s daily wage), you could stand in the yard at the center of the playhouse. Without an overhead roof, such a view was exposed, but with the stage set at eye level some 5 feet off the ground, you got the closest view in the house. For a little more (roughly two pennies), you could pay to sit in one of the playhouse's three circular galleries; the gentry with time on their hands and comfort on the minds frequently paying more for the comfort and status, the gallery seats conferred.
The Globe Theatre also known as the Shakespeare Globe Theatre was not only one of most famous playhouse’s of all time, but the play house where Shakespeare performed many of his greatest plays. Built from oak, deal, and stolen playhouse frames, the 3 storey, 3000 capacity Globe Theatre, co-owned by William Shakespeare has become almost as famous as the playwright himself.
History: Shakespeare needs a new playhouse to compete.
The 1598 decision to build the famous playhouse came about as the answer to many of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men’s problems. With the end of a lease on the Blackfriars Theatre in 1597, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men (Shakespeare, J & R Burbage, G Byran, John Hemminges, Augustine Phillips, Thomas Pope and Will Sly) had no where else to readily perform their plays.
This acting troupe needed a new playhouse and fast as their rivals, The Admiral’s Men already had the the Rose Playhouse to perform their plays.
Clearly the Lord Chamberlain’s Men would need a playhouse to compete, but there was one little problem; a lack of money.
Paying for the Playhouse: Shareholders become the key.
Though James and Richard Burbage of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men had money, there still wasn’t enough. Instead they came up with a novel idea; they would each own 25 % of the new playhouse whilst the rest of The Lord Chamberlain’s men would each chip in the remaining 50%. This, the Chamberlain’s men did, Shakespeare and the other four members of the acting troupe each owning a 12.5 % share when Will Kemp another member of the troupe, backed out.
Sure enough the playhouse was completed, opening in 1599. Not only could the circular playhouse hold up to 3000 patrons but it turned out to be a good earner, earning Shakespeare and his troupe both money from hiring out the playhouse and from ticket sales for their own performances there.
Theft builds the Playhouse.
Construction of the famous playhouse, set near the Thames in a place called Bankside in Southwark, began in early 1599. Said to be built by Cuthbert Burbage, brother of the famous Shakespearean actor Robert Burbage and son of James Burbage.
Interestingly the famous playhouse was not the Burbage son’s first choice for a playhouse since they already had one in "The Theatre", the first of its kind in London and an inheritance from his father. Unfortunately for Shakespeare and the rest of The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the lease of the land it was built on expired in 1597.
Theoretically this playhouse should have reverted to the landlord Giles Allen as well. Instead Burbage tore it down and then discretely removed several 12 inch oak beams, transporting them to Bankside where they formed the structural frame for a 100 foot circular polygon, the heart of the new playhouse's structure.
Location, location, location.
Though located near the river Thames, Shakespeare’s playhouse was not in fact in central London but rather an outlying district called Southwark. Southwark had a "colorful" reputation of being not too different from what we would call a "bad" district today, certainly not the place to find respectable gentry.
Yet the famous playhouse by attracting commoners and gentry alike, brought people of all classes together in a region renowned for bear-baiting and other less than respectable activities.
Nonetheless, elements of England’s strict class divisions remained; commoners were in the courtyard by comparison with England’s gentry and nobility which were seated in the galleries or the balconies.
That playhouses could even exist at all was in part due to its Southwark location; it was outside the jurisdiction of a disapproving central London bureaucracy...
Advertising
To announce the arrival of the new playhouse, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men took the bold move of flying a flag with Hercules carrying a Globe on his shoulders to announce the imminent performance of Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar.
The Playhouse's motto and crest.
True to it’s name, above the main entrance was inscribed the words "Totus mundus agit histrionem" (the whole world is a playhouse), a phrase echoed in As You Like It ("All the world’s a stage"). A crest displaying Hercules bearing the globe on his shoulders finished the effect...
General Appearance.
Built to the engineering standards of 1599, the famous playhouse was a large circular structure, three stories high. A small straw hatched roof only partially covered the circular structure, giving it an appearance very much like a modern day football stadium where the center is uncovered.
In the center, pushed up against one interior side, extended the 5 feet high main stage. At the back of this stage facing the interior walls were two doors and a main entrance consisting of a central curtain. Behind this were changing rooms for the actors. To get back on stage, they would emerge from the arras or the two sidedoors at stage level. Above this stage was a balcony, flanked by two further balconies serving as playhouse boxes.
On the third level was a small house like structure supported by columns from the stage where announcements were made and the playhouse's flag would often fly, advertising plays currently being performed.
Again like a stadium, three rows of seating forming circular bands wrapped around the interior. These galleries at two pennies, cost more, but offered the comfort of seating. Those in the central uncovered courtyard had to stand through what could be a three hour performance, rain or shine.
"All the World’s a Stage".
Set in the middle of the playhouse, the playhouse's 44 wide by 26 foot long stage stood five foot off the ground, low enough to command a good view to courtyard watchers yet high enough to discourage the occasional stage jumper.
Two doors allowed actors backstage to enter, this being closed in by a central arras or hanging curtain. Above this was a balcony famously used in Romeo and Juliet when Romeo hears Juliet cry "Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo". Similarly, the arras would have been pulled away in The Tempest to reveal the touchingly innocent scene of Miranda playing chess with Ferdinand and was also used for Hamlet’s stabbing of Polionius in Hamlet.
Balconies to be seen in...
The balcony above the stage was not the only balcony in the playhouse. As mentioned, the central balcony was flanked by two balconies for the wealthy to be seen in just as celebrities today pick boxes and seats at sports games were they are likely to be noticed by today’s media. Even vanity existed in the 1500’s.
Cost of entry.
Open to all for the modest fee of just one-penny (roughly 10 % of a worker’s daily wage), you could stand in the yard at the center of the playhouse. Without an overhead roof, such a view was exposed, but with the stage set at eye level some 5 feet off the ground, you got the closest view in the house. For a little more (roughly two pennies), you could pay to sit in one of the playhouse's three circular galleries; the gentry with time on their hands and comfort on the minds frequently paying more for the comfort and status, the gallery seats conferred.
segunda-feira, 7 de dezembro de 2009
Intiman’s Othello: trust no one
Este texto foi retirado de um blog também sobre shakespeare. Este é o link: http://shakespeare.com/blog/2009/07/21/intimans-othello/
Boa leitura!
I picked up a button at the Intiman Theatre’s Othello Friday night:
Trust No One
Othello
intiman.org
Silly motto for Othello: sure, don’t trust Iago…but do trust your own wife.
But it seemed curiously apropos in regard to Bart Sher. My wife and I subscribed for the last time to the Intiman this year, on the promise the Bart would direct this Othello. We figured he wasn’t long for this town – with so much Broadway success in musicals and an opera or two, he’s already moved his family back to New York – so we decided we’d catch another of his jaunty, but typically not very trenchant, Shakespeare productions one last time.
But no – Bart couldn’t be bothered. Sure, he retains the title of Artistic Director, and even prevailed upon the board to let him pick the next one – but after casting the lead roles, he let the Theatre for a New Audience, with Diane Arbus’s widower’s daughter helming the production, reprise their much praised New York production.
Alas, Bart’s actors weren’t up to the task. Iago spoke in some East European accent, raising questions from the first scene: how did he expect no one to recognize his voice while speaking from the shadows to taunt Desdemona’s father that the Moor was making the beast with two backs with her?
And the actor who played Othello was not only short on stature – the soul of his Othello seemed stunted too, so we never really understood why we should care he met such a tragic fate – he seemed so likely to meet one in any case, given the circumstances.
Othello hinges on whether the actors playing Iago and the title guy can pull off the continuous series of scenes that start with Othello in no doubt as to his wife’s fidelity, and end with him completely convinced she’s cuckolded him, kneeling to swear a perverse second marriage to revenge and Iago, his unlikely paramour in that passion. This production failed to convince. Oh sure, they went through the motions, and Othello at least was well spoken. But the audience remained skeptical, and nary a shocked sigh was heard as the curtain closed on intermission.
What a disappointment. I wish Bart all the best now that he’s finally made it back to New York after a decade spent in this stepping stone of a theater town. Seattle does too – people around here love the validation provided by having their more promising artists leave town and prove they can make it there, after making it in the anywhere we call here.
That’s why Seattle will remain an outpost of the national theatrical scene for the foreseeable future – suitable for tryouts and development projects, a kind of latter-day New Haven, but a true theater town – never, until it starts trusting no one, and hiring people who will stay for the duration, and make Seattle the place it does not quite dare to be at last.
But there’s the tragedy: it’s already too late. Even the actors are rarely local anymore. The Dust Bowl is here. It’s time to follow Bart to fresh woods and pastures new.
Let the last one leaving town turn out the lights – and then turn out the light.
Boa leitura!
I picked up a button at the Intiman Theatre’s Othello Friday night:
Trust No One
Othello
intiman.org
Silly motto for Othello: sure, don’t trust Iago…but do trust your own wife.
But it seemed curiously apropos in regard to Bart Sher. My wife and I subscribed for the last time to the Intiman this year, on the promise the Bart would direct this Othello. We figured he wasn’t long for this town – with so much Broadway success in musicals and an opera or two, he’s already moved his family back to New York – so we decided we’d catch another of his jaunty, but typically not very trenchant, Shakespeare productions one last time.
But no – Bart couldn’t be bothered. Sure, he retains the title of Artistic Director, and even prevailed upon the board to let him pick the next one – but after casting the lead roles, he let the Theatre for a New Audience, with Diane Arbus’s widower’s daughter helming the production, reprise their much praised New York production.
Alas, Bart’s actors weren’t up to the task. Iago spoke in some East European accent, raising questions from the first scene: how did he expect no one to recognize his voice while speaking from the shadows to taunt Desdemona’s father that the Moor was making the beast with two backs with her?
And the actor who played Othello was not only short on stature – the soul of his Othello seemed stunted too, so we never really understood why we should care he met such a tragic fate – he seemed so likely to meet one in any case, given the circumstances.
Othello hinges on whether the actors playing Iago and the title guy can pull off the continuous series of scenes that start with Othello in no doubt as to his wife’s fidelity, and end with him completely convinced she’s cuckolded him, kneeling to swear a perverse second marriage to revenge and Iago, his unlikely paramour in that passion. This production failed to convince. Oh sure, they went through the motions, and Othello at least was well spoken. But the audience remained skeptical, and nary a shocked sigh was heard as the curtain closed on intermission.
What a disappointment. I wish Bart all the best now that he’s finally made it back to New York after a decade spent in this stepping stone of a theater town. Seattle does too – people around here love the validation provided by having their more promising artists leave town and prove they can make it there, after making it in the anywhere we call here.
That’s why Seattle will remain an outpost of the national theatrical scene for the foreseeable future – suitable for tryouts and development projects, a kind of latter-day New Haven, but a true theater town – never, until it starts trusting no one, and hiring people who will stay for the duration, and make Seattle the place it does not quite dare to be at last.
But there’s the tragedy: it’s already too late. Even the actors are rarely local anymore. The Dust Bowl is here. It’s time to follow Bart to fresh woods and pastures new.
Let the last one leaving town turn out the lights – and then turn out the light.
quarta-feira, 2 de dezembro de 2009
Jude Law is Hamlet
Eu já mencionei algumas vezes que Jude Law estava fazendo o papel de Hamlet no teatro londrino, e que aliás estava tendo repercussões por conta de algumas cenas de nu.Provavelmente, não poderia fazer a crítica da peça, porque não fui a cidade e não assisti ao espetáculo Ainda! Infelizmente! Mas, em breve, quem sabe.... Até lá... consegui no site oficial de Shakespeare , a crítica da peça. Leia, e opinem sobre a atuação deste ator. Ok? Let's go! link do site: http://shakespeare.com/blog/
It’s been over a week now since we saw Jude Law play Hamlet on Broadway. Before I let the experience slip into that oblivion from whose bourn no memory returns – beyond what I’ve already recorded in a couple of tweets – let me leave a fuller trace here.
As mentioned in a previous post, Rosalind and I had thought of returning to London [view of the theater] to see Jude in the Donmar production – but then discovered it was coming to New York after visiting Elsinore in between, and so decided to catch it closer to home. London on such short notice was always somewhat fantastical.
We found out about the run early, and secured front-row tickets [view from our seats] – on the extreme left, all by ourselves, with aisles on both sides – great for getting out at intermission. We were so close that when the action brought Jude down stage right, it almost seemed as if he were playing just for us – so close, that several times he even locked eyes with me, and seemed to scrutinize my face to gauge the audience reaction.
Whenever he did, he saw me lost in wonder for the most part, amazed at the performance he was giving. This Hamlet is Jude Law’s own personal star turn – and he not only knows it, he also proved himself quite up to it throughout. I’ve never seen such an energetic and intelligent Hamlet – with that energy manifested not merely in raw movement across the stage, but in the fire of instant comprehension flashing in his eyes, and the precisely nuanced way he tears into each phrase. Jude looks and sounds like he knows exactly why he’s saying every single word he says, with none of the usual glossing over the difficult parts and relying on rote recitation than nearly every other Hamlet I’ve ever seen has sometimes relied on.
Unfortunately Jude’s strength was also the weakness of this production. All the other important characters were minimized – or in the case of Ophelia, left to an actress not up to task (she played the friend in Lost in Austen). This was especially noticeable in the case of Gertrude, whose own personal struggle – in some ways even more interesting than Hamlet’s – was given shorter and shorter shrift as the play went on (she starred in the second part of The Jewel in the Crown). Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, in contrast, emerged as more major characters than usual, thanks to the passionate intimacy Jude lavishes on them in their scenes together.
The only other Hamlet I’ve seen who can hold a candle to Jude here is Kenneth Branagh in his film version. And it’s a pity he couldn’t direct Jude in this production, as originally planned (Branagh had to bow out due to a previous commitment to direct the movie Thor for Marvel comics…). His replacement was not up to the task.
The director first begins to fail Jude in the “To be or not to be” soliloquy. One way Jude helps communicate the text’s nuances to the audience is through supplementary gestures – he almost mimes the part as he speaks it. I’m not sure if this was Jude’s or the director’s idea, but it works out well until he reaches that object infamous among poor students quizzed on the play, the “bare bodkin:”
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin?
When Jude reaches that infamous phrase, he mimes slashing his wrist – and there this artifice fails him for the first time.
[Jude soliloquizing. Photo by Johan Persson, pulled from and linked back to the production website. I'll take it down if they ask - but why would they?] What anyone with the hubris to direct Hamlet should know – and should make sure their Hamlet knows – is that this soliloquy, though popularly misconstrued as a meditation on suicide, is not about suicide per se. Ever since he met the ghost and found an object for his anger, Hamlet has had no interest in committing suicide – “his affections do not that way tend,” any more than they do to lovesickness for Ophelia.
Rather this soliloquy is about Hamlet’s realization that for him to take open and violent revenge on Claudius would be, in effect, a kind of suicide – and like suicide would be a crime not so much against man, as against God, the king being God’s anointed representative on earth according to the reigning political theory of the time. (”The body is with the king, but the king is not with the body. The king is a thing…of nothing” came through loud and clear this time, thanks to the emphasis this production lends to Hamlet’s interactions with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. “Is thy Union here? Follow my mother” at the end didn’t fare so well, alas – but I suppose I’m the only one alive today who fully appreciates its significance.)
What Hamlet is saying here is, in contemporary terms, more like:
Why would anyone take shit from others -
His boss, jerks, women who don’t want him, judges,
Bureaucrats, rivals who get the promotion
He deserves – when he could just pull out a
Switchblade and settle the score?
Or even, given the political context:
– when he could just strap on a Bomb and get even at last?
That’s why there are still suicide overtones here. For Hamlet knows that when you assassinate a crowned king with his men at arms standing round about, you’re not going to live to see tomorrow. You might as well just blow yourself up – “hoist with his own petard” as he says in a related passage. And this is only the beginning of the director’s failure to mine the rich vein of “se offendendo” thematics in the play – the ways Ophelia, Hamlet, even Gertrude all kill themselves in ambiguous “self-(de)(of)fense,” thus fulfilling Aristotle’s dictum that the tragic emotions of pity and fear arise from our judgement that the scapegoat is, in the end, katharos (innocent).
But enough of what I would do if ever I got the chance to direct this play – or better, was brought in as a consultant to bat ideas around with the director and cast (like Hamlet himself, that is my dream job. Producers take note: my fee is very reasonable). You all would probably rather hear about the most important scene of this production – the scene at the stage door after the play.
For those of you who don’t know about this cherished Broadway tradition – and if you don’t, you’d better before you go – after every play or musical on the great white way, the actors greet their fans on the sidewalk outside the stage door, where they chat informally, sign programs, and pose for photos with them. [Jude from across the street]
Or at least, that’s what happens when a major movie or TV star isn’t involved. When it’s Jude Law doing Hamlet, all the other actors slink away to little or no fanfare while fans crowd the barricades, security people hover, and the big black SUV pulls up, ready for a quick getaway if trouble arises. Then the entire sidewalk is blocked off, the fans in the first holding pen scramble for position, and at last Jude emerges, alternating between the barricades on either side to do all the usual stuff but chat casually with fans – which given the screaming would be impossible. [Jude signing the program before ours]
I can understand the security – indeed, it seemed rather light, given the circumstances. After all, Jude’s ex-girlfriend Sienna Miller was starring in After Miss Julie just down the street – talk about “the pangs of despised love” – and who knows what might have happened if she decided to show up? Bodkins – “a long hairpin, usually with an ornamental head” – are quite out of fashion.
Fortunately the situation passed uneventfully this time, and we escaped with our playbill signed by this Hamlet’s only star. [our signed program] It was well worth the risk and effort – I highly recommend the production. But you’d better get yourself to Broadway before Pearl Harbor Day – when this spectacular production blows itself up – if you want to see it. Line up early for standing room tickets if you need to. You won’t be disappointed. I swear.
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