Shakespeare Fans discussion

great quote on cutting Shakespeare's text:

"It seems to me that we have come some distance in the last 25 years in understanding the rhythm of a Shakespeare play, how it operates, how one segment reacts on another. We have also come some way in understanding how to speak the verse. But we still cut the text like barbarians. Do we know what we cut? And don't we normally cut either to fit some preconceived theory for the production or because we simply can't make the passage work? I think my future direction in Shakespeare must be to reveal the total object as well as possible. I feel in my blood now that I know how."

-- (Tuesday, 29 July 1975), Peter Hall's Diaries: The Story of a Dramatic Battle

another great quote:

"On my instinct I have discovered a great deal about Shakespeare which I have always know in my head:
the way scene must follow scene;
the way lines are written for coming on and going off;
the way every scene has a thematic line five or six lines in, to catch the audience's attention so that they know what the scene is about."

-- (Wednesday, 10 December 1975), Peter Hall's Diaries: The Story of a Dramatic Battle

pjreads wrote: "great quote on cutting Shakespeare's text:
"It seems to me that we have come some distance in the last 25 years in understanding the rhythm of a Shakespeare play, how it operates, how one segment ..."

Would that there were more Peter Halls! I get so tired of directors who want to put on themselves rather than Shakespeare.

Thanks Pjreads, I'm going to order this up from the library.