Thursday, November 03, 2011
Anonymous, again
The Ghost Light Collective: Observing of Halloween, last week, that the process of cultural production is a problematic and only partially self-conscious process of erasure as much as of creation brings me, rather circuitously I admit, to a post I make somewhat reluctantly. This year, part of the seasonal festivities includes the release of the new film Anonymous, which according to its promotional text is a “movie that explores the theory that Shakespeare never wrote a single word.” My response to this was “oh no, not again.”
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3 comments:
Forgive my ignorance, as I've never really had anything to with analyzing a Shakespearian play for the stage, but does the true author really matter to the interpretation of a play? I think it should be more up to the director to decide where they want the play to go. Once the playwrite has turned in or sold a finished copy, the interpretation of the play is out of the playwrite's control. Each new person who reads the play may put their own interpretation on it. Thus, it is unneccessary to know the true author of a work, even Shakespeare's works.
I agree with the author here, this whole movie is strangely hyped and surprisingly dark given its trailer. This debate is as old as, well Shakespeare, and it's unlikely that we shall ever know the true answer. I strongly disagree with caschwartz, however, and the author of a play has tremendous implications on the meaning of a play. Especially with Renaissance drama, the author often informs the meaning of the play since who payed them to write it frequently drove the meaning and message of the work. While it's interesting to ponder who might have penned every play, I agree with Doc that theatre is and has always been a collaborative effort, and it's unlikely that plays of that period weren't influenced by the actors and producers of the time.
We have all wondered this same question for decades, "Was Shakespear the true author of our favorite classic plays we all know and love, such as Romeo and Juliet?" I agree with Brian completely. I mean it matters to some extent who was the author, but not as much as the plays that were written. We must not waist our time fretting over who deserves credit, when we should be enjoying the marvelous works of art that were created. Like said below, theatre is a collaborative effort, and if we let ourselves lose the framework of that we are going to be losing a part of theatre that's incapable to live without.
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