SHAKE ... SHAKE ... SHAKESPEARE!

Shake, shake, Shakespeare! Don't worry, I haven't started stammering like Horatia (the heroine of Georgette Heyer 's THE CONVENIENT MARRIAGE I've recenlty read, listened to and reviewed - HERE).  I'm just playing with another of my passions; Shakespeare. I've been actually shaken by Shakespeare these days. I never have  enough and  I was surprised by my very positive response to  these modern adaptations of his masterpieces because , usually, I'm not so very fond of modernizations. I've been watching 3  BBC productions of William Shakespeare's plays; Hamlet, The Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth

First I saw the brand new addition to my DVD collection, a co-production Royal Shakespeare Company/ BBC:   HAMLET (2010). Well - worth the money I spent! One of the best adaptations of Hamlet I've ever seen (and I've seen many,  both live and on DVD).

Gripping, tragic, funny at times and utterly absorbing. David Tennant's Hamlet is outstanding.  The rest of the cast are incredibly good, especially Mariah Gale as Ophelia - her madness is superb - and  Patrick Stewart  an unforgettable Claudius.
Gregory Doran's direction, the staging, lighting, RSC costumes & the breathtaking acting  make this an awesome piece of work. Effectively transferred from stage to screen keeping true to the minimalist but evocative sets, this is likely to become  the definitive Hamlet of the new generation and loved for years.

I especially appreciated the  leitmotiv of the camera surveillance: Hamlet's life is watched, he is not free and never really alone. Prisoner of a claustrophobic Elsinore, prisoner of his destiny. Then the symbolic presence of mirrors, prevailing in more than one scene, underlining the theme of reality / appearance. If you love Shakespeare's Hamlet, you can't miss this, though I agree with those who think that to see this fantastic production at the theatre would have been definitely magic.


In 2005 BBC produced 4 of Shakespeare's plays in a re-told modernized version. The series was called SHAKESPEARE RETOLD now available on DVD. This is the official site on BBC.
I laughed a lot, and for the first time, watching THE TAMING OF THE SHREW starring Sherley Henderson  and Rufus Sewell. I simply loved them: they are the most amusing and bizarre Katherine and Petruchio I've ever seen! In this adaptation Katherine Minola is a succesful politician, tipped for the leadership of her party. The only problem is, her awful temper has left her a 38 year old singleton, and everyone, from her party chairman to her sister, wants her to get married. An eccentric, fascinating , broken gentleman will propose to her and she will accept ...but just have a look at their wedding day! 







Unbelievable! I've always disliked this misogynistic, sexist, chauvinistic story but this time I couldn't but enjoy myself with no second thoughts.  Excellent re-telling by Sally Wainwright.

From this DVD, I also re-watched after long time, the re-telling of Macbeth, one of Shakespeare bloodier and gloomier tragedies. And bloody as well as gloomy this version is. Stellar cast and tense atmosphere for the tragedy of ambition and greed.   
Set in a three-star restaurant owned by celebrity chef Duncan Docherty (Vincent Regan), with Joe Macbeth (James McAvoy) as the sous chef and his wife, Ella (Keeley Hawes), as the Maître d'. Joe and his fellow chef Billy Banquo (Joseph Millson) are annoyed that Duncan takes credit for Joe's work, and that Duncan's son Malcolm (Toby Kebbell) has, in their opinion, no real flair for the business. Then they encounter three supernatural binmen who predict that Macbeth will get ownership of the restaurant, as will Billy's children.

Joe and Ella are inspired to hire Eastern European hitmen to kill Duncan, but the binmen subsequently warn that Macbeth should be wary of Peter Macduff (Richard Armitage), the head waiter. MacAvoy/Hawes are an incredible good match and Richard Armitage , in the smallish but important role of Macduff is as impeccable as usual.