Shakespeare Fans discussion

Well, I finally got round to seeing this. Martin has been kindly supplying me with these BBC versions.

I didn't take to the sets. Interesting, as was this one directed by Miller, or am I mistaken? I loved his All's Well's sets...These I didn't take to.

It is an odd play. I believe Tillyard wrote on it,and do you know, as I don't have the book, I can't for the life of me remember his conclusions. Mine are that the tragedy of the first part and the comedy of a large part of the second make for a strange but intriguing play, and I suppose the two are meant to come together in the happy ending. But nothing brings back the dead boy or undoes the wasted years...Didn't King in that 'Sovereign Flower' book say of it that Shakespeare didn't avoid depicting that sort of tragedy as a part of life even in his comedies?

It was rather a disappointment overall.

Oh dear, guess what my chief complaint was with the two leading men? As in Troilus and Cressida - I thought they were too mature, and I'm no spring chicken myself...

Surely, in the play -though they are well into middle age by the end - they are only in their thirties in the beginning?

At all events, Leontes didn't come across as being energetic enough to be passionate, he ranted in too sedentary (sp? too lazy to look it up) a manner, if you can see my meaning. Not enough dashing about wild eyed with rage, as I had imagined.

Hermione wasn't at all flirtatious - I had imagined her being just a bit too seemingly inviting, so as to arouse Leontes' suspictions.

Perdita I thought excellently chosen and Florizel was more or less as I imagined. The clowns played
their parts well enough, and likewise, the other parts.

'Exit, persued by a bear' was a bit of a disappointment, too. I imagined a bit of macabre comedy here, with the courtier running away, abandoning all dignity...

Using a real baby made Leontes' horrible
plans the more distressing as she waved her fists.

An odd play for sure, but I feel it could have been done so that it seems at more advantage.

I would appear to be hard to please...

Jessica

I love the play, but not this BBC version of it. I had hoped after the first part that the second would give it a lift, but found mere insipidity in what I'm sure is intended to be a bucolic wildness -- "rough satyrs danced, and fauns with cloven heels" and that sort of thing.

There is a recent film of the stage version with Anthony Sher, which I think is very good.