Shakespeare Fans discussion

Hi all1!!

I hope you are doing well and getting by better than last year due to this too long pandemic!!!!

A partcipant in a previous group read asked..."whats the next group read?"

I have no idea of anyone is interested.

I am as usual juggling things...so I don't think i could be a discussion leader....but I can read a long and offer my thoughts.

I don't have any clue of plays to suggest.

Anyone out there inspired?


Discuss...LOL

I’m open to read, see and/or discuss any play this season. How about Macbeth? Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand star in a new production due out on Christmas (of all days!). It’s undoubtedly dark but I think there are more good versions of “The Scottish Play” to watch online than most of Shakespeare’s film adaptations.

Well..we certainly cross-posted here!!!

I just saw your response to call for viewers for the movie.

Gee...reading the play might be a damn fine idea!!!

Shall we see for a day or two and see if anyone is game?

I'll also send out a "bulletin" about the play, and the movie.

This could be very fun.

I would definitely do a group read if time permits!

Hello Candy and everyone. I'd love to join in a group read, but I think I'll give 'The Scotttish Play' a miss, as when we did a group read on it here a couple of years ago it was enough for me for a while.

I might be in for this. I choreographed the fights for a production at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 1987.

I love Macbeth. I’m in!

Sounds good.

Great idea! I’m in. Thanks!

I would love to join!

That sounds great. I don't know if I'll have enough time and energy to join you guys, but I'll keep it in mind!
I'm very intrigued by the (short) trailer, btw. I didn't know there's a new movie out.

I’m in!

All right!!!!


I'm going to set up discussion threads...

One act per week....


Also anyone want to be discussion leader?

Me too! I'm always in for The Scottish Play. Did not know about the new film version!

Candy wrote: "All right!!!!


I'm going to set up discussion threads...

One act per week....


Also anyone want to be discussion leader?"
Looks like we have one. :D

You've provided the discussion topic and structure; now people can just relay their thoughts and impressions on the play as the weeks proceed. And with a play as provocative as this one there shouldn't be any shortage of responses/reactions. If you like I'll kick start it with some overall thoughts going into the reading...

Of course please kick start us!!! Sounds great!

Nifty YouTube copy of Orson Welles' version:
https://youtu.be/95XBM1QTN-o

Of course, most movie versions will not follow the text strictly but I've found Roman Polanski's 1971 film to be remarkably faithful.

At the opposite end there's a free PLEX version of the infamous 2018 Kit Monkman film:
https://watch.plex.tv/movie/macbeth-2018

I think it's the most bizarre rendering of the play (with the text) that I've seen.

Akira Kurosawa's fuedal Japan Throne of Blood is still my favorite version of Macbeth despite not featuring a word of Shakespeare's text. To me it's pitch perfect in terms capturing the horror at the play's center. It's currently streaming on appletv and The Criterion Channel.

I'm in!

You know, I've tried a lot of streaming pps but not appletv. I might ctry in the winter. I often cancel a streaming service then binge a new one. I had a co-worker wh subscribed to ALL the streaming apps. I thoought that was pretty amazing LOL. They doid not have traditional cable so I suppose it's not that different just different ways of paying.

I want to watch that Kurosawa....I will put that on my list. We can surely imagien that the Coen Production will be wanting "to lock horns" with the Polanski and Kurosawa productions.

That's cool, Candy. There is no shortage of Macbeth productions - and, frankly, those you'll find on appletv can likely be found elsewhere. (For instance, a torrent of Polanski's film can be found here: https://sflix.to/watch-movie/free-mac.... It's a fine copy but it's always best to have a reliable ad blocker in place before you visit any torrent sourced site.)

I stumbled into a spirited 2020 production on YouTube given by Shakespeare's Globe in London geared toward high school students. Most of the text is left in tact and their approach is light and refreshing. It's a Macbeth with a lighter tone that might be a welcome change for anyone looking for a healthy dose of of humor with their horror:
https://youtu.be/WLxsLL0Dc_Q

have some time now so it would be great to discuss a play by my second favorite writer.

This (YouTube) film version of The Scottish Play is the most straightforward I've found. It's a 1970 British tv production with not very good production values (and only available as a VHS tape) but excellent performances from Michael Jayston as Macbeth and Barbara Leigh-Hunt as his lady. For them, the pace and inclusion of the complete text I recommend it:
https://youtu.be/UCXCXcrub5Q

Thank you! I'll take a look soonish....

Tom!!! Where are you?

And good gosh if Shakespeare is your second fave writer ho is your first?

Hi Candy . in cuyahoga falls ohio. and my favorite - hands down Rod Serling.

Aha. Yes Serling is amazing.

We miss you in the MacBeth discussion.

Are you up to going to the movie when you get back? You are coming back right?

hi candy, somehow i missed the macbeth posting. will try to keep up when the discussions start.
who are your favorite
writers?

Cormac McCarthy, Joseph Conrad, Herman Melville, William Burroughs, Anne Tyler, Bret Easton Ellis, john Irving, Toni Morrison too many to list!

Whar's the next group read, please?

Hmm...I wonder? Let's see if others respond.

I'm just about to watch the new MacBeth ...and then catch up on the group read posts.

I am writing a paper for a conference in Feb. I am half done....but I am slightly overwhelmed.

I'm almost finished my research. So I wouldn't be able to be a group leader.


But I can set things up and read along and post.....probably a little slower. That's why I'm not as quick at posting here right now...but I am around.

Anyone have some ideas? Requests? Suggestions?

How about a comedy, perhaps one of the lesser performed ones? The Merry Wives of Windsor? I see you considered a discussion of it back in 2016 or so, Candy. After The Scottish Play, something fun and inventively frivolous is what I'd like. :)

Good idea. I'm open minded...anyone else?

Candy, why don’t we start reading a good edition and perhaps others will join later. Just let me know which edition of the play you own or can obtain and I’ll get the same. Then we can at least talk about a host of things ‘Merry Wives’ related before a formal discussion commences - if one does.

Hi I just saw this and then...spent half an hour looking at my Shakespeare books. Na da. I do not have a copy of Merry Wives...not even in Signet!!!!

I do have a hard copy in the anthology but I don't see that helping.

I coan order an edition from the library if you, and others have a recommendation here.

I'm also hoping to hear from Tom Lane...I haven't seen him around for quite a while! Since we met at Shakespeare stature here in Chicago.

Tom?

I would like to join this. I don’t own a copy yet except in my 1 volume complete works, but I see the library where I work has the Arden and the Cambridge editions.

The Folger Library has a good edition of the text online, with synopses of the scenes and some accompanying essays, but it has no annotations:

https://shakespeare.folger.edu/shakes...

By the way, February 9 was the anniversary of Verdi’s opera “Falstaff,” based on this play, plus so e lines from Henry IV.

I'm interested to tag along in this discussion as M o W is one play I have not read or seen.

I’ve never read this play and would love to join.

I'd love to join the group read.

Nice to see some interest! I went ahead and ordered a used but pristine copy of the Arden edition of Merry Wives from Amazon for under $10. (If it's still on your library shelf, Bobby, pick it up if you can. :) ) The Arden editions, though not as handy as the old Signets or Folgers- which I had no qualms about marking up - are still among the best in terms of background, intros, notes and annotations.

I guess any edition will do. But it'd be nice if we all had the same one.

Hi, all. I'll be back for the next reading. "Merry Wives" sounds good. I haven't engaged it before, so would be fresh learning.

Hey great to see all the comments and interest here! Wonderful!

I have about 6 comedies in Signets...not the Merry Wives!

I'll have to order one up...

And Tom is going to EM CEE the discussion so thank you very much Tom.

Do we have a ball park time to begin?

If we are all gathering up copies...shall we start next week?

I'll start creating the discussion threads...and we can adapt the dates when you guys suggest....if it's quiet around here...then I'll set the dates for later....

Hi Candy,
Is it possible for you to create a Merry Wives Introduction thread? We still have a couple of weeks before commentary and general impressions on the play proper begins but it would be great to talk about what some us know or don’t know about the play before we commence. Has anyone seen a live production of it, for instance? What do we know about why it was written and/or performed originally? What is its reputation and/or performance history in the canon of plays? Or just what piques your interest in it to begin with? Some of these introductory considerations may be interesting to ponder. :)

Great idea!!!!

Hi...I started a "pre-game" thread here...great idea!

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Great. It's not to steal thunder from Tom as moderator. Just a kind of warm up/play perspective. It's a peculiar play. Certainly not performed often. Incidentally, if anyone wants to watch a recent performance of it online (for free) there's a YouTube copy of the 2018 RSC production here: https://youtu.be/dWidgvOlsTY.
It's pretty peculiar, too. lol

I produced an excerpt of the play a few years ago as part of a Shakespeare compilation, 'Shakespeare rattle n Roll'. The first performance was in The Harte and Garter hotel which faces Windsor Castle and is reputedly the successor to The Garter Inn where the play is set and may have been first produced (or some say it's where Shakespeare stayed while the play was produced in the castle). There are lots of references in the play to local landmarks, so he knew the area well, and a plaque in the nearby church to the owner of the Garter Inn. As to the 'peculiarity' of the play itself, yes. It's Falstaff without the politics, recognisably the same character but taken out of his Henry IV period and context. I never did fully get my head round it so I'm looking forward to the discussion.

Just as a nice companion/alternative to our group reading - there is a fine version of opera composer, Otto Nicolai 's Merry Wives on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/40zBzhOFIHc. It's very different from Verdi's Falstaff and follows Shakespeare's version more closely though the wives have a much bigger role. It's also (naturally) in German so be prepared. The English libretto can be found at the internet archive here: https://archive.org/details/merrywive... Makes for interesting reading, at any rate! The intro:

The plot of Nicolai's opera follows closely that of Shakespeare's comedy, though the action is confined entirely to the adventures of Falstaff with the merry wives, with the love of Fenton and Anne as an incident. Falstaff has lost his roystering followers, Bardolph, Pistol and Nym and we are also deprived of the unctuous Welsh parson. Sir Hugh Evan while, in return, the milksop character of Slender has been happily accentuated in the music. The action begins with the receipt by Mrs. Ford and Mrs. Page of Sir John's love-letters, and proceeds thereafter in close imitation of the original comedy, with the omission of the scenes which have no direct connection with the fat Knight's amatory adventures. Sir John is inveigled into two visits to the house of Mrs. Ford., with the familiar results. First he is carried out in a basket, covered with foul linen, and " thrown into the Thames, and cooled, glowing hot, in that surge, like a horse- shoe." The second time he encounters Ford' s cudgel. A third meeting is then arranged for Windsor Park, where Sir John^ after suffering much in his amiable dignity by reason of his absurd attitude (for which, to keep in countenance, he must needs find a parallel in classic mythology), is held up to ridicule after being tormented by the mock fairies, and then forgiven for the sake of the lesson learned by all, and the severity of the punishment suffered at the hands of the keen, witty, and light-hearted women.
The opera had its first production in Berlin, in May, 1849. In May, 1864, it was brought out in Italian (the title changed to " Falstaff") at Her Majesty's in London, and two years later Parisians made its acquaintance at the Theatre Lyrique as " Les Joyeuses Commeres de Windsor." In the version prepared for the American Opera the translator has taken a few liberties with the text in 01 Jer to make as much use as possible of Shakesperean phraseology, and has also filled out the dialogue in a degree with drafts from the comedy.

We seem to have hit the end of our discussion of The Merry Wives of Windsor...

Anyone up for another group read?

I am interested in these ones...even though we did do Pericles recently....my head wasn't in the discussion enough.

The Two Noble Kinsmen
The Merchant of Venice
Pericles
Titus

Sounds good.
A survey concluded that The Two Noble Kinsmen is the only play that no respondents at all had seen or read.
https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/...

Third vote for Two Noble Kinsmen