A Midsummer Night's Dream - The Clock That Roared

It could be that I’m not being fair to Elijah Moshinsky. I didn’t like his Love’s Labours Lost, but that’s a hard play to do well. A Midsummer Night’s Dream is an entirely different play, with an entirely different cast, and Moshinsky had more television experience, so I should watch this with as little prejudice as I can.

But the problems start in the first scene. Except for Pippa Guard, none of these actors seem to have any idea that this is a comedy. There’s very little movement. The laugh lines fall flat. It’s more like a read-through than a staged performance. But that’s not the worst thing: Somewhere, there’s a clock. I don’t think it appears on screen, so if you watch with the sound off, you won’t notice it. Turn the sound back on, and it’s the loudest thing in the room! Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe there’s some sort of theme about time, and the regular, steady passage of time in the “real world” environment of Athens that contrasted with the flexible time of the “fantasy world” of the forest (Isaac Asimov made much of this in Asimov’s Guide to Shakespeare). Maybe they were planning to put some contrasting elements in the forest scenes and they got cut. Maybe they did put them in, and I’m not clever enough to have noticed them. Maybe the sound technician should have moved the microphone away from the clock. Maybe some production assistant wound the clock after the sound check but before they started filming. Regardless, the clock is quickly established as the star, and upstages all the actors (including Estelle Koehler as Hippolyta, Nigel Davenport as Theseus, Geoffrey Lumsden as Egeus, Nicky Henson and Robert Lindsay as Demetrius and Lysander, and Cherith Mellor and Pippa Guard as Helena and Hermia). There’s supposed to be some funny stuff in Act I, scene 1, but the delivery here is so flat, bland, and overpowered by the clock, that you would never know it. Pippa Guard tries her best, but it’s like she’s in a different play.

Once the characters get out of Athens, things immediately start looking up. Brian Glover is hilarious. He’s the best Bottom I’ve seen so far. In fact, this ensemble of “Rude Mechanicals,” with Geoffrey Palmer as Peter Quince, John Fowler as Flute, Don Estelle as Starveling, Nat Jackley as Snout, and Ray Mort as Snug, is the best I’ve watched for this project. This is worth watching just for them.

But there’s more. Peter McEnery is spot-on as Oberon (according to IMDB he’s the older brother of John McEnery, who was Mercutio in the Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet), and he has to be, because he’s playing opposite the perfect-in-every-way Helen Mirren as Titania. Yes, she’s even better in the role than the great Judi Dench. Let that sink in for a minute.

I also want to mention Phil Daniels who makes an excellent Puck. Creepy. Weird. Funny. Exactly right. (I couldn’t find any evidence of this anywhere, so include your own grain of salt, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s somehow related to Anthony Daniels of C-3PO fame.)

Oh, and you’ll recognize Hugh Quarshie (Philostrate). He played Captain Panaka in the Star Wars prequels, he was one of the immortals in the original Highlander, and he was in the Doctor Who episodes “Evolution of the Daleks” and “Daleks in Manhattan.”

Do the excellent performances of the Fairies and Rude Mechanicals make up for the disappointing Athenians and the sound and lighting problems? I think they do, but I really wish they didn’t have to. It must be possible to focus on the comedy, timing, character, and motivations of this play (such as in the 1968 RSC production) and also have excellent lighting, sound, and special effects (such as in the 1935 Max Reinhardt version). I haven’t found it yet. For now, I recommend this version, but I’m still hoping to find something better.

I have to rate this one as my second-favorite Midsummer Night’s Dream. Here’s my current hierarchy:

1.     Midsummer Night's Dream. Dir. Max Reinhardt and William Dieterle. Perf. James Cagney, Joe E. Brown, and Dick Powell. 1935. DVD. Warner Bros, 2007.

2.    Midsummer Night's Dream. Dir. Elijah Moshinsky. Perf. Helen Mirren, Peter McEnery, and Pippa Guard. 1981. DVD. Ambrose, 2000 or 2001.

3.     Midsummer Night's Dream. Dir. Peter Hall. Perf. Helen Mirren, Diana Rigg, and Ian Richardson. 1968. DVD. Water Bearer, 2004.

The Richard II that Got Away

While I was writing my post about The Hollow Crown: Richard II, I stumbled on a YouTube video that turned out to be the best version of Richard II I've ever seen. The sets aren't lush, the costumes might be a bit over-the-top, and the acting might not always be perfect, but everything about the production is right. 

One catch, though: I can't watch the whole thing. It's not available in the US. Or anywhere, as far as I can tell.

The production I'm talking about is a stage production by Shakespeare's Globe that was apparently broadcast on the BBC in 2003 (Richard II / Shakespeare's Globe). Their website does offer DVDs of some of their shows, but not this one, which is tragic! I have a "Don't Spend Money" policy when it comes to this project (the only exceptions being my Netflix.com and Amazon Prime subscriptions), but this production is so far above all the others that I would totally pay to see it.

Here's the first YouTube clip, it's John McEnery (who you'll remember as Mercutio in Zefirelli's 1968 Romeo and Juliet) playing John of Gaunt:

In Shakespeare's time, the actor playing Gaunt wouldn't have had to worry about being heard over passing airplanes.

Here's Act  3, scene 2. Richard has returned from Ireland, and it's been slowly revealed to him that he's lost his kingdom. It was here that I realized what was missing from the other productions: The audience. English teachers often tell their students that Shakespeare plays were written not to be read in silence, but read aloud by actors. They're almost right. They were written to be acted in front of an interested and active audience. A loud audience, that's interacting and commenting on the action. This scene is usually presented as tragic and heartbreaking (and it is), but notice how many laughs Mark Rylance gets as Richard realizes there's nothing he can do:


Here's Act 3, Scene 3, the confrontation at Flint Castle:


Act 3, Scene 5. John McEnery reappears as the Gardnener. The queen and her lady-in-waiting are played by men. This is completely appropriate for Shakespeare's day, except that it's usually said that women were played by boys. At the time it was considered indecent in England for women to appear in stage, although standards were different in some parts of Europe:


Act 5, Scene 3. This scene has baffled me for some time. Presented in front of a live audience, with the Duchess of York played by a man, this scene makes sense - and it's hilarious:


Act 5, Scene 5. Richard is in prison, musing on his situation.


And here's the grand finale. This has to be my favorite part. Bolingbroke is already dealing with the difficulties of being king, putting down rebellions and buying loyalty where he can. But how do you end a tragedy? The hero, failed person that he was, is dead. The kingdom is probably in better hands, but there will be a price for Bolingbroke's treason, which will play out in the wars of Henry IV parts 1 & 2, Henry VI parts 1, 2, and 3, and finally be resolved in Richard III. But that's for another day. For now, let's have a silly curtain call and send the audience home happy:

Take a look on YouTube for more clips from this production. And keep checking Shakespeare's Globe. Someday they have to sell it on DVD. If I ever get to go to London, I don't care what's playing - I'm going to Shakespeare's Globe.

Romeo and Juliet Part 5: Zeffirelli

If you are had a high school English class that covered Shakespeare, you have probably seen this film. It is by far the most popular version of Romeo and Juliet ever produced. You can find it on Netflix. You can stream it on Amazon (for a fee). You can borrow the DVD from Minerva (in Maine). You can go into my cellar and find it on VHS. It’s everywhere.

There’s a lot to love about this movie. The language is beautiful (I mean, it’s Shakespeare), the cast is charming and attractive, the sets and locations are amazing, and Nino Rota’s score is spot-on.

The fight scenes are excellent. You can tell that Tybalt and Mercutio are just horsing around, even if Romeo can’t, and in the Romeo–Tybalt fight, the blind rage is palpable. Extremely well-executed.

Olivia Hussey is probably the best Juliet ever. Ann Hasson is awesome in the role, but Olivia Hussey is better.

Here’s the thing about setting Romeo and Juliet in a “real” Verona: Romeo and Juliet is a completely unbelievable story. The rules of society, place, and psychology all make a kind of sense within the story, but they don’t make any sense in any other reality. For example, that Romeo and Juliet would go from complete strangers to madly in love in mere moments. That they would go from madly in love to married to dead in less than a week. That Friar Lawrence would agree to marry two underage kids who met the night before and talked for fifteen minutes or so, and that he would agree to do this without their parents’ consent. That nobody would ask “How does a 14-year-old get ahold of a bottle of poison?” The audience has to suspend a lot of disbelief to make all this happen. The closer it gets to a real place, the harder that becomes. Shakespeare was writing for a blank stage that could represent any place or time. His audience was a bunch of Londoners who may have travelled as far as the countryside. A few of them had been to sea, and might have been to Italy or other countries, but to most of them Verona was as alien as the moon or Metebelis III, so they would be disposed to believe that people in this strange place would  behave strangely. So, beautiful as the locations are, I think they actually  take away from the film.

A bigger problem is the soundtrack. The audio is obviously dubbed. Mouths aren’t always exactly in sync with the voices, and the volume and clarity of the voices doesn’t match the images on the screen. The actor’s delivery is perfect, it just feels like the audio is coming through a wormhole. I looked this up online, and according to IMDB.com, the cameras that they used were so loud that they could be heard on the soundtrack, so it all had to be dubbed. I find it very distracting. 

Also, the hair. Capulet’s hair and Friar Lawrence’s hair: They look like wigs. It’s OK to use wigs, as long as they don’t look like wigs. These look like wigs. I know, it’s not a big thing, but it bothers me. If you’re going for realistic, look realistic.

Despite these minor complaints, this is an outstanding production of Romeo and Juliet. As Zeffirelli’s Shakespeare movies go, I think it’s the best. If I were a high school teacher, I’d probably show this one to my class. For one thing, it’s got a little bit of nudity. That always keeps the kids interested. (According to imdb.com, Franco Zeffirelli had to get special permission to show Olivia Hussey topless, even for just a second, because she was only 15 at the time of filming. Leonard Whiting’s bottom, on the other hand, wasn’t a problem because he was 17 and perfectly legal under UK and Italian law. The story that Olivia Hussey couldn’t attend the opening because she was too young to see a film with (her own) nudity in it is a myth.)

For me, though, I still prefer the 1976 Thames Television production. 

This production currently ranks as my second favorite Romeo and Juliet.

Here’s the overall ranking so far:

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Joan Kemp-Welch. Perf. Christopher Neame, Ann Hasson, and Robin Nedwell. Thames Television, 1976. DVD, A&E Television Networks, 2005.

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Franco Zeffirelli. Perf. Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, and John McEnery. 1968. netflix.com, 19 SEP 2013.

Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Alvin Rakoff. Perf. Patrick Ryecart, Rebecca Saire, and Anthony Andrews. 1978. DVD, Ambrose, 2000.

Romeo and Juliet. Chor. Kenneth MacMillan. Perf. Angel Corella, Alessandra Ferri, and Michele Villanova. Teatro Alla Scala, Milan, JAN 2000. DVD, Euroarts, 2002.

Shakespeare Series: Romeo and Juliet. Dir. Larry Sullivan. Perf. Alex Hyde-White, Blanche Baker, and Dan Hamilton. Shakespeare Video Society, 1982. Amazon.com, 15 AUG 2013.