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Well, Shakespeare wrote plays, so it's generally a good idea to see them in the theater, or watch cinema versions, rather than to read them. Once you have a goo
by scholia 11y ago
Well, Shakespeare wrote plays, so it's generally a good idea to see them in the theater, or watch cinema versions, rather than to read them. Once you have a good idea of he action and the character interactions, it's easier to read the language.
I once saw a performance of the "bad quarto" of Hamlet and it was a terrific play, even though the language was all over the place.
Kurosawa's Throne of Blood is a great version of MacBeth even if it's in Japanese.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throne_of_Blood https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Throne_of_Blood
- Steko 11y agore: plays, sure but I made an intentional comparison with Ibsen who is also a dramatist. re: Throne of Blood. Yeah it's great and that's sorta the point of wanting modern translations. Shakespeare, freed from the yoke of Old Elizabethan, can be more vital and approachable to modern audiences.
- jsprogrammer 11y agoWith plays it is often difficult to understand the words that are being spoken. At least with a written version you can see what words and sentences are being used instead of hearing mostly barely distinguishable utterances or words that don't seem to fit together. I have always thought it ridiculous that anyone would actually behave (assuming the play-worlds take place in our own or a similar world) in the manner that I have seen many Shakespearean plays acted out. I guess it is all for dramatic effect?
- scholia 11y agoAll true, sadly. However, good actors speak in ways that can be heard and understood, and good directors make the action understandable. (Understandable in context: you might be in a fairyland where the world is different.) It helps that when I studied Shakespeare I saw most of the productions in Stratford on Avon, but lots of plays are available on DVD now. In the old days, eg to take in Grigori Kozintsev's Hamlet, I had to go to the cinema three nights in a row....