Friday, October 14, 2016
hakespare Theatre Association 38 Reasons to Love Shakespeare
Shakespeareances.com news: The Shakespeare Theatre Association (STA) is releasing videos made exclusively for an international campaign titled 38 Reasons to Love Shakespeare. The videos are part of a yearlong celebration marking the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death and the start of a legacy that reaches across cultures and creeds throughout civilization.
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9 comments:
I am a big fan of Shakespeare and his works. I have always enjoyed the work that has to be put in to really make it work in this time and what each of his words mean. I think it is great that they are making a video to celebrate Shakespeare and what he has done. Especially when it involves not only the united states but outside countries. To see why they appreciate Shakespeare and how it differs from our thoughts is interesting and intrigues me. It is weird to think that it has been 400 years since his death but yet he seems talked about all the time in all settings. I will be waiting patiently for this video to come out. I always tell myself to keep reading his works and keeping searching about him and what he meant for each line but I never do it. Maybe this video will help motivate me to keep it up. I want to be knowledgeable in his works and know what I am talking about when I work on his shows.
I don’t always enjoy watching Shakespeare and as much as I like reading Shakespeare is normally something I avoid putting on my bookshelf. But I love working on his shows, they all (or the ones I’ve worked on at least) have an amazing amount of adaptability to them. You can go the straight traditional route (normally kind of boring in my opinion), modernize them, or do something else entirely. The possibilities are endless and yet the world of each show still makes sense despite what’s been done to it. Sure there are some purists who insist that this kind of thing is ruining the story and not honoring the source material and so on. But I think its this adaptability that has made Shakespeare’s work so well recognized and given such a long life span. If it only worked in its original form, then its ability to relate to audiences would’ve died out long ago.
This is really interesting and I think I will check it out mainly because so many countries weighed in on making it. Because I have never left the United States, I was unfamiliar that countries like Argentina and Germany also performed the works of Shakespeare in the same ways that e do. I wonder if they perform theirs differently, because I feel that in the states it is starting to slip. In fct i clicked on this article thinking that it would be a unch of community theatres saying how they loved putting on Shakespeare, to which I would say please put on something else or stop asking your community to come see your shows more often. But I’ve had a bit of a change of heart reading this, because I think that the fact that this 38 reasons why video gallary is a global thing is proof that Shakespeare still has something worth exploring. Maybe we can just broaden it past setting the taming of the shrew in the 50’s ya know?
Like a number of DPs, I initially aspired to be an actor on the grand stage, and one of my inspirations was the works of William Shakespeare. There is something universal about the words of the Bard that I think is reflected in this project; I have always thought that the Shakespeare plays speak for themselves, and that it is difficult to put on a bad production of his plays, but conversely it is very hard to produce a truly exceptional representation of one of them. I agree with some of the above commenters in that the ubiquity of these plays attracts their over-representation in community theatre and otherwise, which tires audiences and makes them seem pastiche and cliché in people's eyes. I am glad to see a unique project, international no less, which highlights that which is unique about Shakespeare to audiences personally. I think this is necessary to keep these masterworks from seeming tired and uninteresting.
I think this was amazing idea to do. Most of the time when I start talking about Shakespeare shows, the people around me groan and ask why I like them. I think the problem people have with Shakespeare is that more often than not they are not put on well enough to be enjoyed. Yes, the text is hard to listen to. Yes, sometimes it is hard to find the connection to today’s world. But these shows are so important to produce. I believe they really go to the core of the human condition. This is so important because although we are not under the same exact situations as Hamlet or Macbeth, we as people are still facing the same emotions and struggles they are. It is so important for people to realize that Shakespeare is not bad, it’s just not the easiest work to do. I have only seen one Shakespeare production that I have enjoyed, because it was done really well and you could tell the cast and crew poured their hearts into the show. You cannot go halfway with Shakespeare, and I think that is what a lot of theatre companies do. They try to approach it as a contemporary piece which isn’t good. I’m not saying setting the show in the 1960s or anything like that is bad, but the company must understand that they are doing the shows people typically do not want to see. Shakespeare shows are absolutely beautiful and I think that people should give them more credit.
This is very interesting. But, I still think that Shakespeare is overdone. Every person, no matter how much they are involved in theater or not know of Shakespeare and probably have read one of his plays. I do appreciate his works, and I think they are important to study, but we should not limit ourself to only one playwright of the time. I think this Shakespeare Theatre Association has neat ideas to bring his works to more people, but honestly, lets focus on someone else and their works. I think my favorite versions of Shakespeare I have seen are the ones that are very far from the original work, where the time period is changed, and the characters are more dynamic. I hope that this company expands the norms for Shakespeare and does not just put out normal Shakespeare work.
I have mixed emotions about Shakespeare. I, like probably everyone in the theater world have seen good renditions of Shakespeare, and also bad ones. I think Shakespeare is Important to study, and i am glad that i have had exposure to his work, but I also think that it is important to pay attention to more modern works. While it is hard to put on a truly good production of one of his plays, when achieved it is exceptionally well received. I recently was fortunate enough to attend the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and as Indicated by the name, I was able to see Shakespeare done on a whole new level. from Twelfth Night and A Winters Tale, to Richard II, even Hamlet, i was amazed by the sophistication beauty that these productions embodied. This is what Shakespeare should be, and even though many companies may not be able to reach this level, it should always be what we strive for.
I think this is really a cool idea. I’m someone who has tried numerous times to get into Shakespeare and I’ve wanted to read a lot of it, but it has never really worked; however, something like this may help me get more into Shakespeare because it would give me a real drive to read the show beyond just, “I should read this because it is important to theatre and I will probably be expected to know this,” which is entirely true but not the best motivation in the world. I think it is interesting that it is hosted by the University of Notre Dame because it — at least in my knowledge — is not known for its theater nor anything about Shakespeare. I do think the quote, “marking the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death and the start of a legacy that reaches across cultures and creeds through civilization,” is an exceptional one because it addresses the question always asked during similar celebrations of why celebrate a death? I think that this is a great explanation and articulation of why it is and I think that it should be a concept everyone's familiar with as this can be applied to similar celebrations for other notable historical figures.
I think it is very important to recognize how Shakespeare has influenced not only English culture and history, but the history of theater and language the world over. I am glad this series of videos is being made as such an international effort, as I truly believe Shakespeare is an international figure. I think the emphasis being placed on how each country and culture utilizes, approaches, and performs Shakespeare is also critical. As such a universal body of work, I think Shakespeare's adaptability and his archetypal stories provide lush ground from which cultures may build up their own versions of his work.
I am excited to see what other projects spring up this coming year in light of the 400th anniversary of his death. Shakespeare is the backbone for many well reputed organizations, and this could potentially bring a great deal of visibility to Shakespeare as an international figure, and champion of language.
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