Date: Wed, 2 Jan 91 22:23:01 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0001 Happy New Year / Road Warrior Hamlet? Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 1. Wednesday, 2 Jan 1991. Date: Wed, 02 Jan 91 22:17:32 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: Happy New Year; Road Warrior Hamlet Dear Fellow SHAKSPEReans; Welcome to 1991 and the second volume of the Shakespeare Electronic Conference! I hope that everyone had a restful and enjoyable holiday, and that we will return to academia and electronic mail refreshed and energetic. Most of us are now back at our posts, so please feel free to initiate discussion. I've just finished the latest revision of the SHAKSPER GUIDE (it seems to need revision every other week!) and it has been posted on the SHAKSPER Fileserver for your retrieval. I have also produced laser-printed paper copies (at a personal cost of about $2 each) which will hopefully be available at the SAA in Vancouver. At the risk of starting a discussion which might quickly degenerate into Road-Warrior-bashing, I wonder if I could ask if anyone has yet seen the new Franco Zeffirelli version of *Hamlet*, starring Mel Gibson (Hamlet), Glenn Close (Gertrude), and Paul Scofield (Claudius?). Obviously I haven't yet dragged myself over to the theatre, where I will have to pay about $8 plus several levels of sales tax per person, to see the film -- is it worth the effort? What do people think of Zeffirelli's interpretation? How does it compare with his *Romeo & Juliet*? Perhaps in more general terms, how much of Shakespeare can *any* film capture? Although Tom Stoppard's recent film version of *Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead* was amusing and enjoyable, a great deal of the metatheatricality became pointless, or indeed impossible, on the silver screen. What did others think of it? Ken Steele University of Toronto ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 2 Jan 91 22:24:52 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0002 Spinoff Films Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 2. Wednesday, 2 Jan 1991. Date: Wed, 02 Jan 91 22:18:33 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: Spinoff Films For those still tracking Shakespearean spinoffs, especially Laurence Schimel at Yale, here are a few cinematic ones I don't believe we've mentioned, from a *Toronto Star* piece this past week: Paul Mazursky's 1982 film, *Tempest*: "John Cassavetes plays a disgruntled New York architect who decides to chuck his life of luxury and move to a deserted, sun-splashed Greek island with his teenage daughter (Molly Ringwald), girlfriend (Susan Sarandon), and low-life servant (Raul Julia)." Orson Welles' 1967 film, *Chimes at Midnight*, also known as *Falstaff* (?): Welles "...manages to stitch together elements of five Shakespearean plays.... Drawing heavily from *Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2*, Welles offers a personal and highly idiosyncratic look at Elizabethan England from its lighthearted taverns to its back alleys of decay." Ken Steele University of Toronto ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 3 Jan 91 16:36:40 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0003 Miscellaneous Videos Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 3. Thursday, 3 Jan 1991. (1) Date: 3 January 1991, 09:12:58 EST (11 lines) From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: ["To Be Hamlet"] (2) Date: Thu, 3 Jan 91 12:15:27 EST (26 lines) From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: [Zeffirelli Hamlet] (3) Date: Thu, 3 Jan 91 10:56 EST (22 lines) From: Subject: [Query:] The Changeling (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 3 January 1991, 09:12:58 EST From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: ["To Be Hamlet"] Did anyone else see "To Be Hamlet," an hour-long documentary concentrating on various actors' and directors' interpretation of the role? I am not sure who produced it, since I switched it on after it had started, and I think it was aired on Arts and Entertainment, the cable channel, in the U.S. Some memorable moments, among which was Olivier's disclaiming of Guilgud's "sing-songy" delivery (with suitable apologies to Sir John). Roy Flannagan (2) --------------------------------------------------------------41---- Date: Thu, 3 Jan 91 12:15:27 EST From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: [Zeffirelli Hamlet] In response to Ken's query concerning the films of Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, let us not forget to comment also on The Taming of the Shrew. To start things off, I would like to suggest the the presentation of Romeo and Juliet as real adolescents created a much more refreshing outlook on their parts, especially that of Juliet. As far as Kate goes, I have yet to see a presentation that make it seem highly unlikely that anyone could ever wear her down. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg INTERNET: hart@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu BITNET: hart@uiucvmd.bitnet The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of any person or institution. Neither Prof Hart nor Project Gutenberg have any official contacts with the University of Illinois. (3) --------------------------------------------------------------25---- Date: Thu, 3 Jan 91 10:56 EST From: Subject: [Query:] The Changeling This is not about Shakespeare but is related. I wonder if anyone can help me locate a film or tape of Middleton and Rowley's *The Changeling*. A number of years ago it was shown on our PBS station, WGBH, but a call to them turned up no information, nor does it appear in the Library of Congress *Catalog of Audiovisual Materials*. I hope this may stir someone's memory. Thanks. John Dorenkamp Holy Cross College DORENKAMP@HLYCROSS Bitnet ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 3 Jan 91 16:37:52 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0004 The Dark Side of the Sonnets Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 4. Thursday, 3 Jan 1991. Date: Thu, 3 Jan 91 09:24:00 EST From: "Ken Moyle.... aka Jose.... aka That CIS guy..." Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0005 The Sonnets Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 5. Friday, 4 Jan 1991. Date: Fri, 4 Jan 91 09:08:11 EST From: Steve [Urkowitz] Subject: Re: SHK 2.0004 The Dark Side of the Sonnets Dear Biochemical Ken, Your question helps to show how so much of literary education isolates modern students from earlier literature. "Those people who could write in rhyme and sound so elegant, they can't be like us!" Indeed they were. And like us, they had all these free-floating emotions and energies, all these same embarrassments and taboos, all these same ecstasies and violations. The clothing styles certainly were different, but the dynamics of style-change and the ways style indicated things like sexual preference or status or engagement in different social games (just like the ones we play on beaches and in shopping malls and at weddings) haven't changed all that much.. One of the potentialities back then as now is the intense affection of an older man for a younger man. It's one of the biochemical eruptions that the organism is capable of, and that appears in different manifestations in different societies. It looks one way in metropolitan Toronto, slightly different in downtown Ottawa, much different in Rio, and yet otherwise down the street from me in Greenwich Village. But these possibilities seem to have been left out of most educational programs where literature is taught. Instead literature has been offered as a safe haven for straight-arrow morality, and any text not supporting the official line gets bounced out of the syllabus. Shakespeare plays at a lot of the edges, leaping madly into the margins of experience to throw light on the feelings common to most. He tries out and stretches the experience of sympathy so we can see the strange as something closer. Yes. That's a handsome young guy those sonnets are written to. Yours cordially, Steve Urkowitz SURCC@CUNYVM ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 7 Jan 91 21:15:44 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0006 The Sonnets (Cont'd) Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 6. Monday, 7 Jan 1991. Date: Mon, 7 Jan 91 11:02:42 EST From: Mark Lee Subject: SHK 2.0004 The Dark Side of the Sonnets From: Mark Lee Office Applications Group, OIRM Arts & Industries Building Room 2310 In response to Ken Moyle: The question of a male addressee of some of the sonnets is not new, nor is it the exercise of bored literature scholars. The question first came to print in 1609 with the publication of the sonnets by Thomas Thorp, whose edition carried the following dedication: TO. THE. ONLIE. BEGETTER. OF. THESE. INSVING. SONNETS. Mr.W.H. ALL. HAPPINESSE. AND. THAT. ETERNITIE. PROMISED. BY. OVR. EVER-LIVING. POET. WISHETH. THE. WELL-WISHING. ADVENTVER. IN. SETTING. FORTH. T.T. NOTE: Line 1: ONLIE -> (read) only; Line 2: INSVING -> insuing; Line 3: HAPPINESSE -> happiness; Line 4: ETERNITIE -> eternity; Line 7: OVR -> our; Line 10: ADVENTVER -> adventurer. Additionally, there are a number of indications throughout the sonnets themselves which indicate that the intended subject to whom the the work was being addressed was not female. Sonnet 1, in consideration of the usage of the term 'churl' could arguably have been addressed to a man. Sonnet 2, employs the term 'youth' which could be either male or female, but Sakespeare does use the term to indicate a young male in Much Ado About Nothing. Sonnet 3, is to the point: Look in thy glass and tell the face thou viewest Now is the time that face should form another; Whose fresh repair if now thou not renewest, Thou dost beguile the world, unbless some mother. For where is she so fair whose unear'd womb Distains the tillage of thy husbandry? . . . Sonnet 9 is again blunt and to the point: Is it for fear to wet a widow's eye That thou consums't thyself in single life? . . . Sonnet 20, however, complete with anatomical pun, goes straight to the heart of the matter: A woman's face, with Nature's own hand painted, Hast thou, the master mistress of my passion; A woman's gentle heart, but not aquainted With shifting change, as is false women's fashion; An eye more bright than theirs, less false in rolling, Gilding the object whereupon it gazeth; A man in hue all hues in his controlling, Which steals men's eyes and women's souls amazeth. And for a woman wert thou first created; Till Nature, as she wrought thee, fell a-doting, And by addition me of thee defeated, By adding one thing to my purpose nothing. But since she prick'd thee out for women's pleasure, Mine be thy love, and thy love's use their treasure. I daresay that I have only highlighted the more obvious. I suggest that you might want to re-read the sonnents with a good dictionary at hand. +-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+ | Mark Lee | Phone: (202) 357-4222 | | Smithsonian Institution | E-Mail: IRMSS908 @ SIVM.BITNET | +-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+ ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 11 Jan 91 12:14:02 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0007 The Globe Theatre Site Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 7. Friday, 11 Jan 1991. (1) Date: Fri, 11 Jan 91 12:07:32 EST (14 lines) From: Ken Steele Subject: The Globe Theatre Site (2) Date: Thu, 20 Dec 90 10:51 EST (39 lines) From: Subject: Globe archeology (3) Date: Fri, 11 Jan 91 08:40:34 EST (54 lines) From: UDLE031@OAK.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: [The Globe Theatre Site] (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 11 Jan 91 12:07:32 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: The Globe Theatre Site Dear Fellow SHAKSPEReans; The issue of the Globe theatre site still seems important, and as many of you may have missed the original posting by John D. Cox (SHAKSPER 1.142, December 27 1990) because of holiday absences, I reprint it below. Further discussion or opinion is welcomed. Ken Steele University of Toronto (2) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 20 Dec 90 10:51 EST From: Subject: Globe archeology [Reprinted from SHAKSPER Vol. 1, No. 142. Thursday, 27 Dec 1990] I have just had a letter from Andrew Gurr, of the University of Reading. He is the principal academic consultant to the Rose and Globe digs. His letter appeals for mail to be sent to the Secretary of State for the Environment and the head of English Heritage on behalf of the Globe dig. His letter is too long to type here in full, but the gyst of it is that the government is planning to put the Globe dig on hold for twenty- five years. Apparently this plan is not yet policy, and time remains to influence the decision. Hence Gurr's appeal for letters. If you believe the dig is important enough to proceed with at once, and if you are in- clined to write two letters, please address them to: Michael Heseltine Secretary of State for the Environment c/o Heritage Division Department of the Environment 2 Marsham Street London SW1P 3EB Dr. Geoffrey Wainwright English Heritage Fortress House 23 Savile Row London W1X 2HE Incidentally, I wrote to inform Andrew Gurr of the existence of SHAKSPER and to suggest that he subscribe to it, so he could issue future letter requests by means of it. Season's greetings (even if they come after Ken's hiatus), John D. Cox (3) --------------------------------------------------------------88---- Date: Fri, 11 Jan 91 08:40:34 EST From: UDLE031@OAK.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: [The Globe Theatre Site] 11 January 1991 Let us hope that Andrew Gurr takes the advice John D. Cox says he gave him in his letter of 20 December 1990 to explain to SHAKSPEReans his surprising call for letters urging the British government to authorise a dig on the site of the Globe Theatre to proceed "at once". What's the rush? Whatever remains of the Rose Theatre site is still awaiting reopening and, perhaps, further archaeological investigation. Despite plans for a museum, as far as I have heard, no one knows any sure method of preserving to public view the remains in the ground of the Rose foundations, floor and drains uncovered in 1989. I would suggest that investigators first attempt to learn more from the Rose site before disturbing any remains of the Globe. In the summer of 1989 when deadlines were pressing indeed, before the birth of SHAKSPER, I urged members of Humanist and REED-L to join me in writing to try to prevent any building over the Rose site. I am very grateful to those who did. Some measures were taken to partly preserve the site, but building was permitted to proceed. As nearly as I can recall matters, after archaeologists from the Museum of London were dismissed, archaeologists from English Heritage took over the site and agreed to the removing as waste of truckloads of previously undisturbed soil from around the Rose to what I was told was an unrecorded site. (In the course of this, the bone of a bear was revealed and saved by the original archaeologists.) Future generations may find cause to forgive the people of this age for allowing such tragic destruction of archaeological material, but at the moment, I cannot see how or why they should. Until convinced otherwise, I am not persuaded that anyone should be allowed to approach the Globe site with any implement as dangerous as a dessert fork. Very sincerely, Stephen Miller, Dept of English, King's College London, JANET: UDLE031@UK.AC.KCL.CC.OAK ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 12 Jan 91 12:07:24 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0009 Zeffirelli's *Hamlet* Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 9. Saturday, 12 Jan 1991. Date: Fri, 11 Jan 91 16:42:31 EST From: lorin Subject: Mel Gibson's HAMLET I saw the movie version of HAMLET just over a week ago and I think it was worth the $7.50 I shelled out for it. It always interests me to see Shakespeare transported into different media, and what Zeffirelli was most successful in doing (this goes for ROMEO AND JULIET also) was convincing me that the text was written as a movie. All too often I find Shakespeare boring on the silver screen, specifically Olivier's HAMLET or the BBC's series, which are no more than recordings of theatrical productions. Perhaps the larger budget allows for some "movie magic." In both HAMLET and ROMEO AND JULIET the scenery and costuming is beautiful. Zeffirelli's films are, if nothing else, a pleasure to watch. Aesthetics aside, the movie has a lot going for it. Mel Gibson surprise me with his skill in the role, bringing the poetry out in the language but not obtrusively so--Shakespearean English sounded very normal. And Mr. Gibson was able to bring new perspectives to the role, which is not easy for this part. The supporting cast (and by that I mean everyone else) was very good. Alan Bates, as Claudius, was outstanding. Ophelia was wonderful, giving a convincing transition to lunacy (something too rare in productions of this play). Die hard Shakespeareans will be horrified by the amount of text cut (I would guess about 50%), but it is a movie, and perhaps not all of HAMLET but some of the more important parts, or some of the parts (No Fortinbras, no "O what a rogue and peasant slave am I," many parts shifted (They didn't cut out "To be or not to be")). And some scenes stand out in my mind as particularly exciting, specifically the Player scene. All in all a wonderful film of a wonderful play. ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 12 Jan 91 12:08:40 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0008 Globe Theatre Site Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 8. Saturday, 12 Jan 1991. Date: Fri, 11 Jan 91 14:39 EST From: Subject: Globe theatre site (again) I have not heard from Andrew Gurr since my Dec. 20 message to SHAKSPER- eans, but in view of Stephen Miller's message, I think it would be help- ful to include the text of Gurr's Dec. 4 letter in full (except for the addresses, which I included earlier). Here it is: A lot has happened since the last time I wrote to you about the progress of the rebuilding-the-Globe project. The main development has been that while the archaeological discoveries of 1989, so far as they went, have been digested, the main effort has been put into the immense fund-raising that is still required to get the building on its feet, or rather to set up the floor or piazza on which the Globe is to stand. We hoped that more archaeological work could be done fairly quickly, and that it was worth waiting for any new information that might come out of the ground to clarify or confute the shape and dimensions we've tentatively given to the rebuilt Globe's ground plan. At the Stratford conference in August I tried to mumble some warning noises that there might be problems over getting more digging done. I reported that Geoffrey Wainwright, the chief archaeologist at English Heritage, had stated in the press that in his opinion the only thing to do with the Globe's remains was to leave them buried for the next twenty-five years. That statement was made after Hanson Trust had applied to do some keyhole digging in the Anchor Terrace cellars, which cover most of the Globe remains. The application went to the Department of the Environment, which looks after scheduled monuments. Since then the Museum of London has had to sack half of the field staff in their archaeology unit, including John Dillon and Simon McCudden, who were the two senior people involved in the initial Globe dig. And Hanson Trust's application has run into trouble with English Heritage. English Heritage is the only body the Secretaryof State for the Environ- ment is obliged to consult in evaluating applications to work on histo- ric sites. On the Globe application, EH first raised the question of the stability of Anchor Terrace and the possible damage that could be caused by digging in the cellars. That concern Hanson responded to by inviting Ove Arup to report on its structure. Now EH has indicated that it will allow only a single trial dig to ascertain whether there are any Globe remains under the cellar floors of Anchor Terrace. If none are found, there is to be no more digging. If remains of the Globe's foundations are found, EH will think again about whether to allow any more digging. There is some reason to be hopeful about the trial dig. Simon McCudden's dig in October 1989 established that the remains to the east of Anchor Terrace are substantial, in good condition and that their grade level is more than three feet (call it one metre) below the floor level of Anchor Terrace's cellars. So the trial dig ought to find something. It is unlikely, however, that things will then run smoothly enough to permit an immediate expansion of keyhold digs throughout the cellerage. English Heritage is evidently unenthusiastic, to put it mildly. The Georgian Society is concerned about the long-term fate of Anchor Terrace. Whatever the outcome of the trial dig, it seems likely that we are head- ing towards another conflict of interests in which there will be some powerful resistance to digging up any more of the Globe. The EH policy of letting sleeping Globes lie (which actually meets its statuary obligation to 'preserve' historic sites, whatever the state of ignorance about them that leaves us in) is on its way to becoming govern- ment policy. I think that if possible we should provide a little heat to the pot before its contents congeal into a settled policy. The Globe is a unique site, in value fundamentally different from the two-hundred-and- twentyfifth Roman theatre. If you agree, then please write your views to the Secretary of State for the Environment and to Geoffrey Wainwright. Thus ends Gurr's letter. I would only add that in my letters to Messrs. Heselti ne and Wainwright, I pointed out the loss to a whole scholarly generation if work on the Globe site is terminated at this point. John D. Cox ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 13 Jan 91 21:57:54 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0010 [was 1.0010 ]Query: Video *Twelfth Night* Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 10. Sunday, 13 Jan 1991. Date: Sat, 12 Jan 91 18:01:47 EST From: leosborn@COLBY.EDU (Laurie E. Osborne) Subject: Video Twelfth Night I am working on a seminar paper for SAA (and a book chapter) addressing video/film editions of Twelfth Night. I'd appreciate any info SHAKSPERians can offer about what versions are available, and if possible where. I am operating more or less on the assumption that the BBC production is the only one which is usually available to students, but I am most interested in any others you have heard of. Thanks. Laurie E. Osborne leosborn@colby.edu ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 14 Jan 91 18:30:26 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0011 Response: Video *Twelfth Night* Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 11. Monday, 14 Jan 1991. Date: Mon, 14 Jan 91 08:56:30 EST From: Mark Lee Subject: SHK 2.0010 Query: Video *Twelfth Night* From: Mark Lee Office Applications Group, OIRM Arts & Industries Building Room 2310 I am reaching back a number of years and so I can not give you the crystalline information you need, but it may provide a clue which you can use. The New York City Shakespeare Festival produced a performance of Twelfth Night in Central Park which was filmed, I believe, by New York Public Television. William Hurt played Oberon. Not much I admit, but possibly helpful. +-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+ | Mark Lee | Phone: (202) 357-4222 | | Smithsonian Institution | E-Mail: IRMSS908 @ SIVM.BITNET | +-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-+ ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 13:22:39 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0012 Shakespearean Videos Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 12. Tuesday, 15 Jan 1991. (1) Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 09:06:33 EST (15 lines) From: hope greenberg Subject: Re: SHK 2.0011 Response: Video *Twelfth Night* (2) Date: Mon, 14 Jan 91 23:32:59 MST (17 lines) From: John Morris Subject: Recorded versions of *Twelfth Night* (3) Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 13:11:23 EST (35 lines) From: Ken Steele Subject: CBC Videotapes of Shakespeare (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 09:06:33 EST From: hope greenberg Subject: Re: SHK 2.0011 Response: Video *Twelfth Night* Re: New York City and Twelfth Night and William Hurt: wasn't that Midsummer Night's Dream? >*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*< Hope Greenberg HAG@UVMVM.bitnet University Computing HAG at uvmvm.uvm.edu University of Vermont Burlington, VT 05405 "Education cuts don't heal." (2) --------------------------------------------------------------34---- Date: Mon, 14 Jan 91 23:32:59 MST From: John Morris Subject: Recorded versions of *Twelfth Night* Regarding Laurie Osborn's query about recorded versions of *Twelfth Night*: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation taped a Stratford Festival version of *Twelfth Night* a couple of years ago. The CBC often makes these kinds of things available to schools. You can find out whether they did in this case by writing to their head office: Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, P.O. Box 500, Station A, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5W 1E6. (All patriotic Canadians know this address by heart, of course) (3) --------------------------------------------------------------39---- Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 13:11:23 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: CBC Videotapes of Shakespeare I thought I'd save SHAKSPEReans the trouble of writing to the CBC right here in Toronto by giving CBC Enterprises (the merchandising division) a quick telephone call. Their agent confirmed that, yes, the CBC did videotape a Stratford, Ontario production of *Twelfth Night*, in 1985. This tape was "withdrawn", however, about a year ago and is no longer available through CBC. You might be able to find copies of it in University or Public libraries, however. While I had them on the line, I asked whether CBC had any other Shakespearean offerings, or was planning to release any of the Stratford performances broadcast on CBC recently. (Last Christmas it was the Stratford *Taming of the Shrew*; this past Christmas it was *The Comedy of Errors*.) The answer was a resounding no -- so fortunately I taped those myself as they were broadcast. While we're on the subject of videocassettes and their availability: I may soon join the Columbia Video Club in order to get a copy of Zeffirelli's *Romeo & Juliet* (and six other tapes) for 45 cents (plus, naturally, heavy postage and handling fees). I'm still waiting for the release of Kenneth Branagh's *Henry V* on VHS, which I sincerely hope will occur -- has anyone any idea? A number of SHAKSPEReans have expressed an interest in compiling a list of available videotapes of Shakespeare -- does anyone know of any sources and what they might stock? Thanks in advance. Ken Steele University of Toronto ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 19:54:23 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0013 1991-2 RSC Season Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 13. Tuesday, 15 Jan 1991. Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 13:42:14 EST From: UDLE031@OAK.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: RSC details 15 January 1991 The press conference at which the Royal Shakespeare Company announces the new Stratford season to start in the spring is scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday) as I understand. This will be the first season under the new directorship of Adrian Noble. But a friend has telephoned to say that this morning's Guardian newspaper has published some details: In the Main House plans seem to be to present Romeo, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night and 1 & 2 Henry 4. The schedule for the Swan is expected to include three Theban Plays by Sophocles, Shadwell's The Virtuoso, Jonson's Alchemist, and Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of Verona. No word that I know of yet on the rebuilt Other Place. If there are corrections to this, I will try to supply them. The past season was generally considered a success but I do not know exactly what is to happen to the London side of the RSC at the Barbican which, as many readers will know, has had to go dark this winter because of government cuts for the first time since the company moved there. Sincerely, Stephen Miller Janet UDLE031@UK.AC.KCL.CC.OAK ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 19:55:42 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0014 Videotape of Branagh's *Henry V* Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 14. Tuesday, 15 Jan 1991. (1) Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 16:46:10 EST (8 lines) From: Antonia Subject: Re: SHK 2.0012 Shakespearean Videos (2) Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 18:41:11 EST (13 lines) From: Tom Horton Subject: RE: SHK 2.0012 *Henry V* available in US (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 16:46:10 EST From: Antonia Subject: Re: SHK 2.0012 Shakespearean Videos Branagh's Henry V came out on video in VHS format five weeks ago. Antonia Forster (2) --------------------------------------------------------------28---- Date: Tue, 15 Jan 91 18:41:11 EST From: Tom Horton Subject: RE: SHK 2.0012 *Henry V* available in US Regarding the availability of Branagh's *Henry V*, I have seen it for rental in a large video store chain here in South Florida. I called them just now, and the clerk says that at the moment they don't have copies for sale, but that they could order it. (Apparently in general they can be bought as soon as they become available for rental.) He said the cost would be high, about US$ 90. Tom Horton Computer Science, Florida Atlantic Univ. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 16 Jan 91 20:41:38 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0015 Shakespearean Videotapes (Cont'd) Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 15. Wednesday, 16 Jan 1991. Date: Wed, 16 Jan 91 14:17:28 EST From: leosborn@COLBY.EDU (Laurie E. Osborne) Subject: available video I believe *Henry V* is out; at least one outfit called Commedia Dell'Arte lists it among their available films for purchase. I will send their address and a list of their available Shakespeare (which is actually pretty extensive, no Twelfth Night, alas) from the office. Laurie ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 20 Jan 91 18:50:39 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0016 Shakespearean VHS Materials Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 16. Sunday, 20 Jan 1991. (1) Date: Fri, 18 Jan 91 15:53 EST (26 lines) From: Ann Miller Subject: "Discovering Shakespeare" Kit (2) Date: Fri, 18 Jan 91 15:46:59 EST (24 lines) From: evans@lvipl.csc.ti.com (Eleanor J. Evans @ 462-5330) Subject: *Henry V* on VHS (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 18 Jan 91 15:53 EST From: Ann Miller Subject: "Discovering Shakespeare" Kit As a librarian I receive any number of ads for educational materials, including many Shakesperean items. Actually, I keep my eye out for those. I thought I would mention an item from PBS Video called *Discovering Shakespeare*. It focuses on rehearsals of the Renaissance Theater Company production of *Hamlet* directed by Derek Jacobi and starring Kenneth Branagh. A one two punch I would love to see. I think it would be most fascinating to see how KB works as his Shakespeare interpretations are much in the news these days. The price for the kit is $150 with class packs of 20 programmes (viewing guides) another $90. Might be of interest to you teaching folks. Also, I saw the Branagh *Henry V* advertised at $79.97 (US), seems a bit steep on a librarian's salary. My colleague in Media assures me that videos are often issued at a very high price and that the price usually comes down. If we are patient we can get bargain basement Shakespeare. Ann Miller James Madison University Harrisonburg, VA 22807 Bitnet%"fac_amiller@jmuvax1" Internet%"fac_amiller@vax1.acs.jmu.edu" (2) --------------------------------------------------------------43---- Date: Fri, 18 Jan 91 15:46:59 EST From: evans@lvipl.csc.ti.com (Eleanor J. Evans @ 462-5330) Subject: *Henry V* on VHS Kenneth Branagh's *Henry V* is already out in VHS - I rented it over Christmas (to watch AGAIN). Since I've just signed on, I missed what must have been quite a number of reviews for it. Does anyone have them archived, and would mind sending them to me? Hamlet doesn't open in Dallas until Friday (19th). Has anyone else seen it already? I have high expectations - which were fortunately confirmed by Ken's review. I'm really looking forward to Gibson's interpretation. (Remember his Fletcher Christian?) On the subject of *Taming of the Shrew* (NOT one of my favorites), the production that made me like it was the BBC (?) production shown on PBS's Shakespeare plays around 1979-80 - with John Cleese as Petruchio. His "taming" was an inspired performance. Has anyone else seen it; and do you agree? I'd love to get a copy of it, if it's available, but I haven't a clue where to look. Eleanor Evans evans@lvipl.ti.com ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 21 Jan 91 18:23:43 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0017 Response: Cleese's *Shrew* Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 17. Monday, 21 Jan 1991. Date: 21 January 1991, 12:43:28 EST From: FLANNAGA at OUACCVMB Subject: John Cleese's (Jonathan Miller's) *Taming of the Shrew* The fine, restrained production (no slap and tickle, no violence) is part of the BBC series. Roy Flannagan ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 22 Jan 91 12:17:52 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0018 Shakespeare on Video Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 18. Tuesday, 22 Jan 1991. (1) Date: Tue, 22 Jan 91 08:58 EST (22 lines) From: Ann Miller Subject: Taming of the Shrew and other BBC productions (2) Date: Tue, 22 Jan 91 09:16:28 EST (19 lines) From: hope greenberg Subject: Re: SHK 2.0016 Shakespearean VHS Materials (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 91 08:58 EST From: Ann Miller Subject: Taming of the Shrew and other BBC productions The BBC series of Shakespeare plays are available for purchase from Ambrose Video Publishing Inc. Dept. 1090C 1290 Avenue of the Americas, Suite 2245 New York, NY 10102-1010 USA The prices, however, are steep. $5000 for the complete set and $249.95 for individual plays. I agree that the Cleese/Miller interpretation is the palatable for me. I also enjoyed the Richard II of Derek Jacobi - one of the best productions. Ann Miller fac_amiller@jmuvax1 fac_amiller@vax1.acs.jmu.edu (2) --------------------------------------------------------------33---- Date: Tue, 22 Jan 91 09:16:28 EST From: hope greenberg Subject: Re: SHK 2.0016 Shakespearean VHS Materials Re: John Cleese as Petruchio: As a John Cleese/Monty Python fan I was eager to see him in "Shrew", expecting it to be a slapstick/romp. I was wrong... it was much better. His Petruchio was funny but sensitive...one of the best interpretations I've ever seen. I, too, would be interested in getting a copy of it. >*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*<>*< Hope Greenberg HAG@UVMVM.bitnet University Computing HAG at uvmvm.uvm.edu University of Vermont Burlington, VT 05405 "Education cuts don't heal." ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 22 Jan 91 17:06:44 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0019 RSC Season Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 19. Tuesday, 22 Jan 1991. Date: Mon, 21 Jan 91 11:09:03 EST From: UDLE031@OAK.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: [RSC Season] 21 January 1991 A few more details of the Royal Shakspeare Company season emerged at their press conference last week: The Stratford plans will be as I suggested on 15 Jan with the additional word that after being entirely rebuilt, The Other Place theatre will open this summer with two productions to be directed by Trevor Nunn. These have not yet been announced except that one will be a new play, the other by Shakespeare. The RSC's Barbican theatre in London will reopen in two months on 21 March with the Terry Hands production of *Love's Labour's Lost* from last season. It will be followed by last season's *Much Ado*, *Lear* and *The Seagull*. Transfers from Stratford to the Pit in London include *The Last Days of Don Juan*, Marlowe's *Edward II* and *Troilus*. There are more details on directors and casting if somebody is curious. This past RSC season has been considered generally successful. The *Troilus* and *Lear*, which I saw early in the season, seemed particularly fine to me. The frequently-seen Simon Russell Beale was particularly fine as Thersites. He was also seen to good advantage as the King in *Edward II* and *Love's Labour's Lost*. John Wood's Lear I found very moving though people who saw it later were less affected; he apparently strained his back and was unable to carry on Cordelia. The *Comedy of Errors* production tried the distracting gimmick of having two sets of twins played by only two actors rather than the usual four. More recently at Stratford, over the holidays, I saw *Richard II* and the new play, *Two Shakespearean Actors*, by the American playwright Richard Nelson. A few notes -- *RICHARD II* Dir: Ron Daniels; Richard: Alex Jennings; Henry Bullingbrook: Anton Lesser; Isabella: Yolanda Vazquez The Richard II of Alex Jennings seemed an unsympathetic character from the start right up until his death in his gray prisoner-of-war pyjamas and short haircut (mercifully replacing a red wig). Though at first I was not displeased with the slow, careful delivery of the speeches, it became wearing. Jennings struck me as a clear but monotonous speaker whereas Lesser holds the ear. The play was set in what resembled 17th century Spain or Italy in very somber mood with the English nobles frequently resembling priests dressed in black gowns. Never had I been more aware of the financial awareness and rapacity of Richard. Not misled by caterpillars, he selects with relish the choicest leaves for himself. In deposition he seems only vain and self-pitying. The overwrought emotionalism of the acting of his final scene with his wife made me turn aside in embarrassment. Nevertheless, for me, the play worked despite my surpise that Richard stirred so little sympathy. *TWO SHAKESPEAREAN ACTORS* Dir: Roger Michell; Edwin Forrest: Anton Lesser; William Charles Macready: John Carlisle; Dion Boucicault: Ciaran Hinds Is is hard to think of a sadder page in Shakespearean theatre history than the horrific riots in New York in May 1849 supposedly occasioned by the rivalry between English Shakespearian Macready and the American actor Edwin Forrest in which more than 30 were reported killed. (Can that number be right?) If you wonder how Americans could come to take live theatre so seriously, do not expect an answer from this piece, which is stylishly acted by Lesser, Carlisle and company but seems unambitious. As an American, it has set me wondering what happened. Near the end, Richard Nelson brings on Forrest and Macready reminiscing in a deserted theatre. They debate the reading of lines in *Othello* while outside "fans" are expressing their critical insights by slaying one another. Earlier, we have seen slices of American *Macbeth* served between slices of the English variety. As well, and this fascinates me, we are treated to a few minutes of Forrest in his famous role of Metamora revealing that 19th century American audiences trooped in eagerly to weep at noble American Indians defending themselves from the Europeans. Would somebody please revive that piece? Finally, a puzzle for Lawrence Schimel compiling his list of spinoffs. Nelson shows Dion Boucicault, the Irish playwright of the last century (enjoying something of a comeback with a long run of *The Shaugraun* last year at the National Theatre in London), describing a play of his in which Shakespeare is visited by Romeo, Hamlet and other former characters. Does such a piece survive? In Robert Hogard's book - Dion Boucicault - I find listed: Shakespeare in London, an unpublished piece "acted somewhere in London in 1846." Are Boucicault's comments in Nelson's play simply imaginative creation, or does more information about such a piece survive? Sincerely yours, Stephen Miller JANET: ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 22 Jan 91 17:08:26 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0020 Globe Theatre Site Excavation Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 20. Tuesday, 22 Jan 1991. Date: Mon, 21 Jan 91 11:09:03 EST From: UDLE031@OAK.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: [Globe Theatre Site] 21 January 1991 Incidentally, I hope that my comments on the Globe site after the appeal from John D. Cox for letters, did not sound too cantankerous. I claim no authority on developments in this area. Like most students of Shakespeare's period, I would be whole-heartedly glad to hear of a sound plan for excavation. In an ideal world, by now planning for an internationally- supported investigation of the site to be followed by a museum would be well along. But after the mess made initially of the discovery of the Rose site, I am afraid that this call for letters to urge an immediate dig on the Globe site suggested to me a call to encourage some of those responsible for events in 1989 to quickly decide the fate of the site. That touched a tender spot for me. (Is such paranoia justified?) In his letter, which I am pleased now to read, Andrew Gurr seems to hold out little hope for a proper dig, but more suggests launching a plea that the site not be put on ice for 25 years. The year 2015 sounds a long way off, perhaps encouraging letters might do some good. Could Gurr, I wonder, provide us with more details of the plan of Hanson Trust which he mentions, which might be the basis for a campaign? For Gurr's plight any scholar has to feel deepest sympathy. To be responsible for advice on rebuilding the Globe only yards from the presumed buried remains, and then to find access barred, must be very frustrating - as a colleague has pointed out to me. (Though I suspect we have to be cautious in hoping that archaeology could help with that crucially speculative aspect of any rebuilding attempt - deciding the appearance of the stage and tiring house wall.) Personally, I suspect that, both financially and politically speaking, conditions here are wrong at the moment for a major dig seeking the remains of the Globe theatres; but nobody could be more delighted than I to hear of a determined, well-funded, plan to excavate and properly preserve the Globe site, which I understand is now a listed site entitled to Government protection. I might even write letters if it were clear what was being planned. Sincerely yours, Stephen Miller JANET: ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 23 Jan 91 00:53:17 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0021 1991 SAA Conference in Vancouver Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 21. Wednesday, 23 Jan 1991. Date: Wed, 23 Jan 91 00:32:45 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: 1991 SAA Conference in Vancouver Dear Fellow SHAKSPEReans; I just received the January 1991 Bulletin of the Shakespeare Association of America, which includes details of the 1991 Annual Meeting, scheduled for Vancouver, British Columbia, in March. Although those of you who belong to the SAA will probably have received this information via the usual channels, I append relevant information for SHAKSPEReans who have not. This is on the assumption that potential SAA members, and SHAKSPEReans who are simply curious about current trends in scholarship, will be interested in the Conference Programme. After the conference, I hope that SHAKSPER will serve as a forum in which to continue discussion about issues raised in Vancouver. Until then, however, I should remind members of Seminar 1 that many of us are on SHAKSPER, and ready and willing to discuss our abstracts and papers electronically. This file has also been placed on the SHAKSPER Fileserver, as VANCOUVR PROGRAM SHAKSPER. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Fileserver Procedures: SHAKSPEReans can retrieve files or logbooks from the SHAKSPER Fileserver by issuing the interactive command, "TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET fname ftype SHAKSPER". If your network link does not support the interactive "TELL" command, or if Listserv rejects your request, then send a one-line mail message (without a subject line) to LISTSERV@utoronto, reading "GET fname ftype SHAKSPER". For a complete list of files available, send the command "GET SHAKSPER FILES SHAKSPER" to obtain an annotated index. (Note that the "INDEX SHAKSPER" and "GET FILELIST SHAKSPER" commands will result in an *un*annotated list generated automatically by Listserv. These lists include size information, but are less legible to human eyes.) For further information, consult the appropriate section of your SHAKSPER GUIDE, or contact the editor, or . ___________________________________________________________________ Shakespeare Association of America Outline Programme Nineteenth Annual Meeting March 21-23, 1991 Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada OUTLINE PROGRAMME: Wednesday, March 20: 7:30-9:30pm Session/Workshop: "Sequels, Prequels, and Reruns: *Romeo and Juliet* in the 1990s." Sharon Beehler Thursday, March 21: Noon-5:45pm Registration Book Exhibits 12:30-1:30pm Trustee's Coffee 1:30-2:30pm Opening Forum: "The Canadian Shakespeare Globe Project." Mavor Moore (Chair, CSGP) John Astington 3:00-5:00pm Workshop (closed to auditors): "Working with Actors on Shakespeare's Language" Ellen J. O'Brien Seminar 1: "Shakespeare's Quartos: Text, Performance, Memory." Linda Anderson Janis Lull Seminar 2: "The London Stage, 1586-95." Herbert Berry Seminar 3: "Teaching Editions of Shakespeare." Jay Halio Seminar 4: "Screening Shakespeare." Barbara Hodgdon Seminar 5: "Dialogue in Shakespeare's Plays." Lynne Magnusson Seminar 6: "1599." James Shapiro Seminar 7: "Shakespearean Romance and Its Sources." Mihoko Suzuki 6:00-7:30pm Reception at the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology. Friday, March 22: 8:30am-5:30pm Registration Book Exhibits 9:00-10:30am Plenary Session: "Shakespeare's Intertextuality." Moderator: Maureen Quilligan Speakers: Joel Altman, Stephen Greenblatt, Barbara Mowat 10:30-11:00am Coffee Break 11:00am-12:00noon Session 1: "Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down." Barbara Correll, "Easy Come, Easy Go: Capitalism and Castration in *Timon of Athens* and *Old Fortunatus*." Paul Yachnin, "Power, Knowing, and the Body in Shakespeare." Session 2: "Onlookers and Actors: Sexual Politics / Theatrical Politics." Gregory W. Bredbeck, "Constructing Patroclus: The High and Low Discourses of Renaissance Sodomy." Matthew H. Wikander, "'I love the people, but...': Royal Performance in *Measure for Measure*." 12:45pm-2:15pm Annual Luncheon Michael Warren, SAA President, presiding. 3:00-5:00pm Seminar 8: "Shakespeare's Prose." Jonas Barish Seminar 9: "The Problem Plays in their Context." Lee Bliss Seminar 10: "Reconstructing Shakespearean Character." Christy Desmet Richard Finkelstein Seminar 11: "Feminist Readings of the Cross-Dressed Female." Evelyn Gajowski Kay Stanton Seminar 12: "Shakespeare and the English Church." Donna Hamilton Seminar 13: "Shakespearean Power and Punishment." Gillian Murray Kendall Seminar 14: "Shakespeare's Bastards." Mary Ann McGrail Seminar 15: "Entertainers on the Road in Early Modern England." Suzanne R. Westfall Paul Whitfield White 5:00-7:00pm Cash Bar 10:00pm-1:00am SAA/Malone Society Dance and Cash Bar Saturday, March 23: 8:30am-12:00noon Registration Book Exhibits 9:00-10:30am Session 3: "Shakespeare and Medicine." Janet Adelman, Eric Mallin, Gail Paster Session 4: "Shifting Landmarks." Ejner Jensen, Alexander Leggatt, Jeanne Roberts 10:30-11:00am Coffee Break 11:00am-12:00noon Session 5: "Shakespeare and Technology." John Astington, Margreta de Grazia Session 6: "Biography in the Age of the Subject Position." Constance Kuriyama, David Riggs 1:30-3:00pm Session 7: "Shakespeare and the Book Trade." Peter Blayney, Roger Helgerson, Wendy Wall Session 8: "The Uses of the Texts." Leah Marcus, Stephen Orgel, Steven Urkowitz 3:30-5:30pm Workshop 2 (Closed to Auditors): "Reading Performance." Miriam Gilbert Seminar 16: "Shakespeare's Political Languages." Rebecca Bushnell Seminar 17: "(Re)-Discovering Shakespeare's Texts." David George Seminar 18: "Shakespearean Power and Punishment." Gillian Murray Kendall Seminar 19: "Elizabethan Historiography and the History Play." F.J. Levy Seminar 20: "Shakespeare and the New World." Katherine Eisaman Maus Seminar 21: "Distinction." James Siemon 5:30-7:00pm Cash Bar TRAVEL & HOTEL ARRANGEMENTS: The Four Seasons Vancouver will serve as headquarters of the 1991 SAA meeting. The special rate offered SAA members is $100 single / $115 double in Canadian dollars (approximately $86 / $99 US). Reservations must be received by February 20, 1991. Those wishing to inquire about American Airlines convention rates should call 1-800-433-1790 and ask for Star File S-02314D. Those who wish to inquire about Air Canada flights should dial 1-800-426-7007 (from the US) or 1-800-268-4704 (from Canada), and ask for Convention #0539. Although the fares cannot be guaranteed to be the lowest available on any carrier, they represent a substantial reduction from standard coach prices. PACIFIC NORTHWEST RENAISSANCE SOCIETY MEETING: From March 19-21, 1991, the Pacific Northwest Renaissance Conference will be convening at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Delegates to the SAA conference can attend the bulk of the Renaissance Society meeting by arriving one day early. Plenary speakers will be Alexander Leggatt and Stephen Greenblatt. For further particulars of the PNRS conference, write: Paul Budra Department of English Simon Fraser University Burnaby, British Columbia Canada V5A 1S6 1992 SHAKESPEARE ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE: The SAA Annual Meeting for 1992 will be held in Kansas City on April 16-18, 1992, at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. ________________________________________________________________ This file contains material condensed from the *Bulletin of the Shakespeare Association of America*, Volume 14, Number 1 January 1991. For further information, and hotel and conference registration forms, contact: The Shakespeare Association of America Department of English Southern Methodist University Dallas, TX 75275 KS. ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 23 Jan 91 13:18:16 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0022 Textual Scholarship Conference Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 22. Wednesday, 23 Jan 1991. Date: Wed, 23 Jan 91 13:16:05 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: Textual Scholarship Conference The Society for Textual Scholarship This is a brief announcement of the 6th biennial International Interdisciplinary Conference of the Society for Textual Scholarship, to be held April 11-13, 1991, at the Graduate School and University Centre of the City University of New York, and at the Pierpont Morgan Library (13th April sessions). The following speakers and topics might be of particular interest to SHAKSPEReans (my apologies in advance for any interesting topics I have lazily omitted): T.H. Howard-Hill, Chair, "The Politics of Editing." Peter Shillingsburg, Chair, "Computers and Editing" Session Fredson Bowers, "Why Apparatus?" Gary Taylor, "What is an Editor?" Paul Werstine, "Constructing the Author: the Example of Shakespeare, Hand D, and Sir Thomas More." Grace Ioppolo, "Is There Still a Rationale for Copy-Text?" Randall McLeod, "The Toilet Papers: The Archaeology of an Act of Reading in London, 1596." Karen T. Bjelland, "The Cultural Value of Analytical Bibliography and Textual Criticism: The Case of *Troilus and Cressida.*" William Barker, "Marginal Voices: Glosses in Certain English Renaissance Books." Jo Ann Boydston, "Changing Standards for Scholarly Editing." Jeffrey Kallberg, "The Chopin 'Problem': Simultaneous Variants, Alternate Versions, and the Status of the Musical Work in the Nineteenth Century." James Willis, "The Science of Blunders: Confessions of a Textual Critic." In addition, the conference features special sessions devoted to the editing of Ezra Pound and John Donne, as well as Medieval, 18th and 19th Century, Old French, American, Romantic, Renaissance, and Modern literature. Registration fees are $12 US for 1991 STS members. (Annual membership dues for the STS are $15 US.) The conference hotel is the Milford Plaza, 270 West 45 Street / 8 Avenue, in the heart of the theater district. STS has reserved a block of rooms at discount rates of $80 single / $95 double -- contact Jody Greenberg, Director of Convention Sales, at the above address, or call (212) 869-3600. For further information on the Society for Textual Scholarship and its publication, *TEXT*, write: Judith Granger, Secretary-Treasurer Society for Textual Scholarship PhD. Program in English / Box 510 CUNY Graduate Center 33 West 42 Street New York, NY 10036-8099 ____________________________________________________________________ The contents of this file are not copyright, and you are encouraged to copy and distribute it freely, so long as its contents are not modified in any way. For further information contact the Shakespeare Electronic Conference or its editor, Ken Steele or . ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 23 Jan 91 20:06:44 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0023 The Loss of Northrop Frye Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 23. Wednesday, 23 Jan 1991. (1) Date: Wed, 23 Jan 91 19:55:15 EST (18 lines) From: Ken Steele Subject: The Loss of Northrop Frye (2) Date: Wed, 23 Jan 91 12:38:25 EST (31 lines) From: Germaine Warkentin Subject: A Death in the Family (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 23 Jan 91 19:55:15 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: The Loss of Northrop Frye Dear Fellow SHAKSPEReans; The world of Shakespearean scholarship, like the world of literary and cultural scholarship in general, has suffered a major loss today. Northrop Frye was the reason I came to the University of Toronto some five years ago, and his energy and enthusiasm has long stood as a personal model for emulation. I reproduce the following message from HUMANIST on the assumption that its author, Germaine Warkentin (also a SHAKSPERean), will approve. My apologies to those of you who receive this message twice. Ken Steele University of Toronto (2) --------------------------------------------------------------48---- Date: Wed, 23 Jan 91 12:38:25 EST From: Germaine Warkentin Subject: A Death in the Family At a time of such madness in the world it may be an intrusion to speak of personal sorrow, but perhaps, given the name of our seminar, we should not fail to take note of the death early this morning in Toronto of Northrop Frye. For those of us who teach at Victoria College it is indeed a personal loss; his remarkable gift grew and flourished in this place, and it is among our greatest sources of pride that he never wanted to leave our students, our classrooms, or our faculty common room, to all of which he gave distinction both by his eminence and his unsurpassed modesty. Norrie was a shy man, but he had a wonderful fund of anecdote and great wit. To my mind he was without doubt the greatest writer Canada has so far produced, and we have much to learn about ourselves from the fact that his chosen genre was not the novel, poem, or play but the critical essay. Recent developments in critical theory, it is said, had left his views on the side-lines. Though no acolyte, I cannot agree with that. What I can testify to is his immense personal influence on a whole generation of critics who had no hesitation in searching out ways to knowledge very different from his. His renown will lead to many worthy obituaries, so perhaps this note should close simply by saying how much all of us here at Victoria College loved him. Germaine. [Reproduced from Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 4, No. 0926. Wednesday, 23 Jan 1991.] ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 23 Jan 91 20:12:15 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0024 Andrew Gurr Responds: The Globe Theatre Site Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 24. Wednesday, 23 Jan 1991. Date: Wed, 23 Jan 91 09:58:18 EST From: Andrew Gurr Subject: The Globe Theatre Site Stephen Miller asks from London 'what's the rush?' about more digging at the Globe site. He works close by, so he ought to know that in England 'What's the rush?' really means 'Not in my lifetime'. The head of archaeology at English Heritage, which is currently in charge of the Globe site, has said in the press that he'd like to leave the remains covered for the next twenty-five years. Some of us have been aged too much already by all the public agitation needed to save the Rose and the Globe, and don't want either to wait another lifetime to learn from the two sites or to watch them vanish under short-lived office blocks. The basis for the English Heritage view, and perhaps Stephen Miller's, is that digging ancient sites damages them. The statute which set EH up in 1983 calls on them to secure the 'preservation' of ancient sites, and they read that as meaning leave them buried. Which is fine, if, as with Roman remains, you have a fair idea of what they are and what new information they might disclose. You can then sit back and hope for some superior technology to turn up one day which might make it possible to learn from the undug sites without damaging them. But both the Rose and the Globe are novelties, and probably unique, since no Elizabethan amphitheatre has been dug up before, so they discredit that easy answer. Not digging means you don't learn what you don't know. Both sites need digging, even if the pressures from developers didn't threaten them directly. The Rose is already half-dug, and there is no reason not to continue the analysis when the developers release it. The owners of the Globe site want to build a megablock over the Globe's stones too, though in their case the excavation is complicated by the Georgian terrace standing over part of it. If concern for the Globe and its secrets is not given voice, it will be lost in a morass of planning disputes. We need to move fast. The developers are unlikely to touch the Globe site with anything so delicate as Miller's dessert fork. Thanks to the half of the Rose and the segment of the Globe uncovered in 1989, we now know far more about two of the long-lost Shakespearean amphitheatres than we could possibly have deduced from the few pieces of paper evidence that survive. It's painfully tantalising to be stuck for more information now. But I'm not just playing Tantalus. If noises are not made to express Shakespeareans', and even SHAKSPEReans' sense that these remains are important, and need work done on them, we'll lose them. Andrew Gurr Dept of English, Reading University. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 24 Jan 91 21:29:12 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0025 Response to Branagh *Henry V* Video Query Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 25. Thursday, 24 Jan 1991. Date: Thu, 24 Jan 91 10:50 EST From: Subject: Branagh's *Henry V* I just received a catalog from Filmic Archives, whose address is The Cinema Center, Botsford, Connecticut 06404-0386. They are advertising a VHS videotape of Branagh's *Henry V* for US$89.95. The catalog number is 4470E. John D. Cox ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 29 Jan 91 22:37:09 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0026 Query: Revision in Rehearsal? Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 26. Tuesday, 29 Jan 1991. Date: Tue, 29 Jan 91 22:04:26 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: Revision in Rehearsal In reviewing the SHAKSPER member biographies, I am again struck by the number of actors, playwrights, and directors in our midst. My question is directed, I suppose, primarily to those who have participated in rehearsals onstage, but anecdotes need not be first-hand to be helpful. I have been looking at the variant texts of early Shakespearean plays (e.g. 2H6, RJ, and 2H4) with an eye to possible evidence of revision. Comments on the creative process written by twentieth-century playwrights are not exactly analogous, but I have found them helpful. (For example, I believe it is Tom Stoppard who draws attention to the considerable effort it takes to get jokes just right on stage. Last-minute revision often centres, for him, on improving the impact of such jokes. I think some of the variants in the "bad quartos" look suspiciously like someone tinkering with humour in that way... but never mind that right now.) I'd like to hear from anyone (and everyone!) who has been involved in performances, whether of Shakespearean plays or modern works, and has seen revision at the rehearsal stage. I am curious as to the sorts of things in Shakespeare, for example, which seem innocuous on the page but patently wrong onstage. What kinds of alterations do directors or playwrights make in the script? What are the usual motivations for revision, excision, or interpolation? Does audience response contribute to the process of revision? And for the performance critics, what are the things most often overlooked by "study-bound" scholars? What fundamental misapprehensions are easiest to absorb from English Literature classes? And for those of us interested in pedagogy, how can such misapprehensions be avoided in the classroom? I hope that my questions generate some interesting discussion; please feel free to distort a question if it gives you an opportunity to make an interesting point! Ken Steele University of Toronto ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 29 Jan 91 23:13:36 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0027 Machine-Readable Shakespeare Texts Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 27. Tuesday, 29 Jan 1991. (1) Date: Tue, 29 Jan 91 21:55:22 EST (15 lines) From: Steve Urkowitz Subject: [Query: Machine-Readable Shakespeares?] (2) Date: Tue, 29 Jan 91 22:38:27 EST (46 lines) From: Ken Steele Subject: Machine-Readable Shakespeares (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 29 Jan 91 21:55:22 EST From: Steve Urkowitz Subject: [Query: Machine-Readable Shakespeares?] Help! A colleague at CCNY asked for the source of an inexpensive "standard" (i.e. edited) Works of Shakespeare or Plays in machine- readable format...IBM/DOS, I guess. I remember seeing the advertisements for several, but I can't find them now, when I've been asked. Ah, filing! Suggestions? Sources? He doesn't particularly want to manipulate these things, just call them up and use them as clips so he doesn't have to type in the text himself. Oh, so simple? Steve Urkowitz City University of New York (2) --------------------------------------------------------------51---- Date: Tue, 29 Jan 91 22:38:27 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: Machine-Readable Shakespeares I can think of a number of answers to Steve Urkowitz's question, but perhaps others can supply information about less expensive alternatives. Electronic Text Corporation (ETC) offers a machine-readable version of the Houghton-Mifflin Riverside Shakespeare for use with their WordCruncher text retrieval software. (Requires IBM compatible with hard disk and at least 512 K RAM.) A full-page advertisement appeared in *Shakespeare Quarterly* 39:1 (Spring 1988) on page 97. The pricing listed there was $99 (US) for each of four genres (Comedies, Histories, Tragedies, and Romances/Poems), $299 for the WordCruncher software (although I understand that a limited run-time version is now included at no extra charge) and $10 for a demo diskette. Credit card orders can be placed toll free at 1-800-222-9409. For further information, contact Electronic Text Corporation at 5600 North University Ave., Provo, Utah, 84604 (801) 226-0616. Naturally, the text is not perfect (see the file, RIVERSID ERRORS, on the SHAKSPER Fileserver, for a partial list of some uncorrected typos), but it is based on a standard edition. I make regular use of this package, and find it powerful and extremely user-friendly. (I also understand that a Windows 3.0 version of WordCruncher is now in the works...). Anyone who *thinks* they simply want to be able to cut and paste will find the analysis and concording features of WordCruncher irresistible, and well worth the investment. For those interested in a somewhat less orthodox edition of Shakespeare, there is the Electronic Complete Works (Modern Spelling) available from Oxford Electronic Publishing. I do not have current pricing information, but I believe it is comparable in cost to the WordCruncher texts. Oxford has designed their texts for use with Micro-OCP, a concording package available separately, but they are straight ASCII text with COCOA codes inserted in angle brackets, and can be used with any word processor, if you so desire. In North America, contact Oxford Electronic Publishing at 200 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 (212) 889-0206 or fax (212) 725-2972. I have no personal experience with Oxford's package, but perhaps others do. There are a number of other electronic Shakespeares out there, offering "bargain" prices like $35 per play (which is about $1365 if you want the whole canon!) or offering performance texts, like those published by the Stratford (Ontario) Festival. Perhaps others have information on these. Ken Steele University of Toronto ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 21:58:55 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0028 Miscellaneous Queries Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 28. Wednesday, 30 Jan 1991. (1) Date: 23 Jan 91 11:33 -0600 (17 lines) From: Phyllis Wright Subject: Query: "Sow'd" in Cymbeline (2) Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 16:19:06 EST (15 lines) From: leosborn@COLBY.EDU (Laurie E. Osborne) Subject: Query: The porches of his ears (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 23 Jan 91 11:33 -0600 From: Phyllis Wright Subject: Query: "Sow'd" in Cymbeline I am looking for an edition of the above in which the word sow'd is used as sown in Act IV, Scene 2, line 181. Can anyone help??? Many thanks, Phyllis Wright Reference Librarian Brock University Library St. Catharines, Ontario Canada L2S 3A1 BITNET: LBSWRIGHT@BROCKU.CA 416-688-5550, ext. 3235 [Excerpted from HUMANIST 4.0931, Wednesday January 23, 1991] (2) --------------------------------------------------------------32---- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 16:19:06 EST From: leosborn@COLBY.EDU (Laurie E. Osborne) Subject: Query: The porches of his ears Does anyone know of any articles dealing with the specific poison used to knock off Hamlet's father, or is Bullough's account of the poisoning of the Duke of Urbino the only discussion??? Thanks, Laurie E. Osborne leosborn@colby.edu Colby College Waterville, ME 04901 ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 22:27:56 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0029 Shakespeare E-Texts Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 29. Wednesday, 30 Jan 1991. (1) Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 11:10:15 EST (28 lines) From: Nicholas Ranson Subject: Re: SHK 2.0027 Machine-Readable Shakespeare Texts (2) Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 22:08:17 EST (44 lines) From: Ken Steele Subject: Shakespeare E-Texts (3) Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 14:12:51 EST (32 lines) From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: SHK 2.0027 Machine-Readable Shakespeare Texts (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 11:10:15 EST From: Nicholas Ranson Subject: Re: SHK 2.0027 Machine-Readable Shakespeare Texts For Steve, 5 avenues: 1) The Riverside Shakespeare is on disk, done by ETC corp under the name WordCruncher. It is a concordance, but text can be "clipped" and put on another disk as a DOS file, then printed out. Alternatively, you can PRINT screen; it will give lines, scenes, even acts and the whole play. 2) The Oxford Shakespeare is also on disk and I suspect it can be used the same way. 3) Ken Steele is working himself on some cleaned up versions of this text? [See my note below. KS] 4) Individual texts of the plays are available through Oxford U Archives 5) There is one popular commercial enterprise which offers about 20 of the most popular plays, but the edition it uses I don't know. Prices are about $195-295 for the complete plays, I think. I can send when I get to my office addresses of Riverside and Oxford if no one gets to you faster than that. Cheers. NR (2) --------------------------------------------------------------43---- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 22:08:17 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: Shakespeare E-Texts I must make the distinction between several varieties of Oxford texts of Shakespeare. (And you thought the distinction between the Collected Works Old Spelling, Collected Works Modern Spelling, Textual Companion, Compact Edition, and the individual edited volumes was confusing!) Oxford University Press offers an electronic version of OUP's Complete Works - Modern Spelling through OUP's Electronic Publishing division (the same department which handles the Oxford English Dictionary on CD-ROM). So far there are no plans to release the Complete Works - Old Spelling or the Textual Companion electronically. Completely different are the texts offered by the Oxford University Computing Services Text Archive. These are texts of the original quartos and folios, as entered by T.H. Howard-Hill in the early 1960s for the generation of his Oxford Old-Spelling Concordances to Shakespeare. These texts are available only under stringent contract with the OUCS Archive, at the cost of mainframe tapes on which they are stored. These Quarto and Folio texts are the ones which I was editing here at the Centre for Computing in the Humanities, and which are ultimately behind the SHAKSPER Quarto/Folio Textbase (see your SHAKSPER GUIDE for further details). I am no longer working on these (I do have a thesis to write, after all...) and they are available only through the OUCS Archive (see the information file on the SHAKSPER Fileserver for details on ordering, and other text files available in this way). Just to add a new level of complexity to it all, Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor apparently began the process of editing the Complete Works by working from Howard-Hill's files -- they stripped codes, and saved themselves the typing. So in some sense, the texts are related -- but there the connection ends between the OUP version and the OUCS version. Incidentally, I also believe that there are more than one set of play texts marketed under the moniker of "Shakespeare On Disk" -- one is here in Ontario, based on the Stratford, Ontario, Festival's published texts (which are seriously cut and reflect performance, not an edition). Ken Steele University of Toronto (3) --------------------------------------------------------------49---- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 14:12:51 EST From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: SHK 2.0027 Machine-Readable Shakespeare Texts There is an academic discount from $300 to $160 for the complete works on CD, probably the same price on floppies for the WordCruncher/Riverside. Also for $300 is the Shakespeare on Disk, which is not only pure pure ascii text files, but also includes a license for all STUDENTS at any academic institution which purchases ONE copy. Faculty and staff have to buy their own copies. Project Gutenberg will be releasing Shareware copies of the complete works at a future date, and would appreciate proofreading, editing, etc. from SHAKSPEReans. Thank you for your interest, Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg INTERNET: hart@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu BITNET: hart@uiucvmd.bitnet The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of any person or institution. Neither Prof Hart nor Project Gutenberg have any official contacts with the University of Illinois, SIMTEL20 or TRW. "NOTICE: Due to the shortage of ROBOTS and COMPUTERS some of our workers are HUMAN and therefore will act unpredictably when abused." ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 22:38:44 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0030 Responses: Revision in Rehearsal Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 30. Wednesday, 30 Jan 1991. (1) Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 01:15:00 EST (51 lines) From: "J. JEFFERSON CARTER" Subject: Re: SHK 2.0026 Query: Revision in Rehearsal? (2) Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 09:11:56 PST (17 lines) From: lisch@dad.MENTOR.COM (Ray Lischner) Subject: SHK 2.0026 Query: Revision in Rehearsal? (3) Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 18:55 EST (34 lines) From: "Joe Pellegrino" Subject: Rehearsal Redos (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 01:15:00 EST From: "J. JEFFERSON CARTER" Subject: Re: SHK 2.0026 Query: Revision in Rehearsal? Actually, I've found that some of the beauty of Shakespeare onstage lies in how well it works *without* revision. I'm in my second year of undergrad work, and have only acted in four of Shakespeare's works (Othello, Cymbeline, R&J, M-Venice), so I certainly don't have an extensive working relationship with the material, but I have always been impressed, during the "rehearsal process" as you put it, at the flexibility that the text provides. One of the first things I thought when working on my first Shakespeare play was that I didn't see how I could gain direction from stage directions that were so ambiguous (or frequently just non-existent). But it soon became very clear that that was to be an *advantage* for the actor and the director, not a failing. To clarify, I'd like to point out a main difference between Shakespeare's texts and most of the modern plays I've worked with. Modern plays tend to exist in a single setting, with very little room for modification (at least not without getting yourself in hot water with both the playwright and the Theatre Guild!). A good example would be some of Mamet's work. Mamet gives you almost *everything*-- mood, lighting, the set, even physical descriptions of the main characters. While that may not seem outlandish, it takes away a lot of the imagination and creativity of a director and/or his actors. Shakespeare, however, is almost absolutely unbounded. He gives little else besides the dialogue and who's onstage at a given point in time. Whereas Stoppard or Mamet, for instance, leave very little ambiguity in their characters' speech, I've found that I can almost always find at least two radically different interpretations for a line (and often do, to my director's chagrin) simply by altering to whom I say it. I don't have any directing experience at all, but I'm sure that the openness of Shakespeare is even more of a playground for the director than it is for the actor. That is the whole reason so many different productions exist for Will's work-- it is entirely possible to retain all of the emotion and motivation that comes out of his texts, and still move the play to wherever/whenever you want, and all the freshness a strange context gives the play. While I've been in a Silicon Valley R&J, and a Cymbeline from the 1920's, it would be very difficult to do Ayckborne's (sp) HenceForward in Elizabethan England! (Sorry I talked so long.) -- J. Jefferson Carter CarterJJ@Whitman.BitNet (2) --------------------------------------------------------------54---- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 09:11:56 PST From: lisch@dad.MENTOR.COM (Ray Lischner) Subject: SHK 2.0026 Query: Revision in Rehearsal? Most revisions, in my experience acting and directing in college, were to clarify passages. The one that sticks in my memory is from Two Gentlemen of Verona: Launce is talking with his shoes, and the line reads as "would woman", with much discussion by editors as to meaning: whether it should be "wood woman" or "old woman"; our director changed it to "woman would", with much success. In general, I try to avoid revising the text, going on the assumption that Shakespeare was a better playwright than I. Certainly, based on performances I have seen, he was a better playwright than some well known film directors. Ray Lischner UUCP: {uunet,apollo,decwrl}!mntgfx!lisch (3) --------------------------------------------------------------46---- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 18:55 EST From: "Joe Pellegrino" Subject: Rehearsal Redos A few years back I played Duke Orsino in a production of 12N. We did the show with the audience on two sides, back and front. This caused innumerable problems for stage design and blocking, but the director wanted to try this "football stadium" style. We had a very difficult time projecting the situational humor, let alone the wit of the lines. All subtlety was lost. Our Malvolio, in particular, was praised by the other members of the troupe for his fine performance, but was panned by the critics because they missed half of his very nuanced performance. The rest of us, being just average hacks, got the sentiments over the footlights without losing too much intensity. It has always seemed to me that the production of a Shakespeare play needs a kind of intimacy, a closeness between actors and audience, in order to escape a quick descent into bombastic proclamation of the lines. I've been witness to one production of 1H4 where Hotspur was portrayed as a stutterer. Whenever he would get angry, the words just wouldn't come. All I can recall is acute embarassment for the actor, for he did nothing but stand there and screw up his face when he was to declaim a line in a fit of passion. The pauses were unbearable, for you could feel the audience wondering what was going on and being embarassed for the man, whom they thought had gone up on his lines. It wasn't until the next day, when I discussed the matter with a member of the company, that I found out that Hotspur was supposed to stutter. Although it made for a great last line, either the directorial decision was incorrect or the actor should have done more with his body to show his infirmity. Joe Pellegrino UNC-Chapel Hill ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 22:45:42 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0031 Shakespearean Spinoffs Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 31. Wednesday, 30 Jan 1991. (1) Date: Sat, 26 Jan 91 13:10:50 EST (21 lines) From: Lawrence Schimel Subject: Re: Spinoffs Biblio (2) Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 13:18:22 EST (16 lines) From: Lawrence Schimel Subject: Shakespeare Performances in other works (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 26 Jan 91 13:10:50 EST From: Lawrence Schimel Subject: Re: Spinoffs Biblio There was an anthology project I heard of, called Inspired by Shakespeare, being put together by Judi-isms (a very small press). They are looking for poems, stories, playlets, whatever, that are derivative of o inspired by Shakespeare and/or his works. They probably do not pay and may be too small a press to be of interest to most of the academics, but perhaps they have some work that's just lying around, or which they consider less canonical than the rest of their stuff, which they might want to send. Their address is: Judi-isms 27 W. Penn St Long Beach, NY 11561 Lawrence Schimel Yale University (2) --------------------------------------------------------------28---- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 13:18:22 EST From: Lawrence Schimel Subject: Shakespeare Performances in other works Our discussion over lunch just now has lead me to ask the question of whther we wish to include works in which performances of Shakespeare occur in the bibliographies I am compiling, or if a third bibliography category should be established. The work in question which raised the issue was The Hamlet scene from Huckleberry Finn. What is the opinion of SHAKSPER on this matter? And please send me the names, and other relevant data, of similar works. Thank you. Lawrence Schimel SCHLAWD@YALEVM Yale University ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 31 Jan 91 23:09:23 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0032 Shakespearean E-Texts Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 32. Thursday, 31 Jan 1991. Date: Thu, 31 Jan 91 12:08:53 EST From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Re: SHK 2.0029 Shakespeare E-Texts The Shakespeare on Disk to which I referred [yesterday] is at 1-800-446-2089. They have the complete works, as far as I know, in ASCII, each act is a separate file. Ask for Sam or Niloufer Reifler. Please tell them they were recommended by Michael Hart of Project Gutenberg. Michael P.S. WordCruncher can be reached at 1-800-234-0546. If you order, any orders placed with Project Gutenberg will result in support for Project Gutenberg by WordCrucher. All prices and discounts to you are constant, no matter how you order. Of course, once you call them, they might try to get you to order right on the spot, which would not benefit Gutenberg as we would not have placed the order for you. Thanks to you and to WordCruncher for your support. ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 31 Jan 91 23:10:22 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0033 Shakespeare's Library / "Sow'd" in Cymbeline Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 33. Thursday, 31 Jan 1991. (1) Date: Thu, 31 Jan 91 11:28:22 EST (19 lines) From: Fritz Levy Subject: [Query: Shakespeare's Library?] (2) Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 23:10:53 EST (12 lines) From: Ken Steele Subject: "Sow'd" - CYM 4.2.181 (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 31 Jan 91 11:28:22 EST From: Fritz Levy Subject: [Query: Shakespeare's Library?] I have a question about the use of "raw material" by Shakespeare (and other Elizabethan dramatists). This is generated by a vague sentence in Greenblatt's "Circulation of Social Energy," in _Shakespearean Negotiations_, p. 9: "The companies did not pay for 'rights' to stories, so far as I know--at least not in the modern sense--but the playwright or company did pay for the books used as sources (for example, Holinshed or Marguerite of Navarre or Giraldi Cinthio), and the playwright himself was paid." I'm simply curious to know whether this means the King's Men (or Lord Chamberlain's) had a "library," or whether it means no more than that the playwrights went out and bought the stuff and shared it around. I like the image of "good old boys" hanging around the theater reading Holinshed in the Green Room, but somehow I don't believe it. Any evidence? Fritz Levy (2) --------------------------------------------------------------16---- Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 23:10:53 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: "Sow'd" - CYM 4.2.181 I have to admit I'm a little stymied by Phyllis Wright's query. Every edition I have consulted follows the First Folio in printing "sow'd", although some modernize it to "sowed." Riverside, Oxford, and Cambridge all concur with F1. Have I missed the point of the query? [This and any other responses will be forwarded to Ms Wright, who has not as yet joined us here on SHAKSPER.] Ken Steele University of Toronto ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 31 Jan 91 23:11:40 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0034 Shakespearean Spinoffs & Brecht Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 34. Thursday, 31 Jan 1991. Date: Thu, 31 Jan 91 15:41 EST From: Subject: Shakespearean Spinoffs For the bibliography of Shakespearean spinoffs, let me nominate "The Plebians Rehearse the Uprising" by Gunter Grass (1966). Actually, it is more like a spinoff of a spinoff. The protagonist is Bertolt Brecht, who is rehearsing his version of Shakespeare's "Coriolanus" in East Berlin when the workers rise against their oppressive leaders on June 17, 1953. Instead of lending his support to the workers, Brecht insists that they show him what is happening in the streets so that he can revise his conception of "Coriolanus" accordingly. In this regard, the play might also be of interest to participants in the recent discussion of how Shakespearean plays get changed during rehearsals. --Steve Wright ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 1 Feb 91 17:36:02 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0035 Shakespeare Database on Internet Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 35. Friday, 1 Feb 1991. Date: Fri, 1 Feb 91 14:33 EST From: Ann Miller Subject: Electronic texts There is a way of accessing an edition of Shakespeare's plays and sonnets without purchasing discs, though one doesn't receive the word crunching niceties. One can access library online catalogs via Internet and some of these mainframes have databases other than the catalog loaded onto them. Dartmouth has two files SHAKESPEARE PLAYS and SHAKESPEARE SONNETS on its mainframe. These are taken from Arthur Bullen's Stratford Town Edition. I'm not familiar with that edition and know nothing of its quality. However, the files are searchable using a variety of commands and from a variety of access points. I have used it to search for location and frequency of words for students and have found it helpful. Best of all it is "free", all you need is Internet access. The Internet address for the Dartmouth library computer is lib.dartmouth.edu One would type TELNET LIB.DARTMOUTH.EDU. This pops you into the catalog. You SELECT FILES and the SHAKESPEARE PLAYS to get into the specific file. There is a long help menu you can request to get started. With the proper software one could download a fair amount of needed text and then manipulate it on your own PC. Oh, to get out of the catalog type BYE. You are then returned to your own mainframe (or host). Good luck! Ann Miller James Madison University Fac_Amill@jmuvax1.bitnet Fac_amill@vax1.acs.jmu.edu ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 1 Feb 91 17:41:25 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0036 "Sow'd" / Apologies to Michael Hart Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 36. Friday, 1 Feb 1991. (1) Date: Fri, 1 Feb 91 10:38:00 EST (20 lines) From: Phyllis Wright Subject: "Sow'd" - Cym 4.2.181 (2) Date: Fri, 01 Feb 91 17:27:20 EST (22 lines) From: Ken Steele Subject: Correction & Apology (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 1 Feb 91 10:38:00 EST From: Phyllis Wright Subject: "Sow'd" - Cym 4.2.181 Many thanks for your note. Our former president claims that "sown" was used in an edition he used as a schoolboy in England many years ago. I also have checked many editions and am perplexed. This gentleman's memory may be slightly faulty on this point. Thanks again for taking the trouble - I'll mention to him that you, and another person who kindly responded, were unable to verify the word "sown" in cym. I'll also refer him to the many editions of Cym. that we have in our own Library. Cheers, Phyllis Wright Reference Librarian Brock University St. Catharines, Ontario (2) --------------------------------------------------------------27---- Date: Fri, 01 Feb 91 17:27:20 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: Correction & Apology Dear fellow SHAKSPEReans; It would seem that I inadvertently cut the final disclaimer from Michael Hart's posting yesterday (it was included in a lengthy quote of previous SHAKSPER mail which I did not wish to burden you all with). As the University of Illinois insists on the inclusion of the disclaimer, however, it appears herewith: Michael S. Hart, Director, Project Gutenberg INTERNET: hart@vmd.cso.uiuc.edu BITNET: hart@uiucvmd.bitnet The views expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the views of any person or institution. Neither Prof Hart nor Project Gutenberg have any official contacts with the University of Illinois, SIMTEL20 or TRW. ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 22:28:23 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0037 Shakespearean Spinoffs: Novels, Music, Film Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 37. Monday, 4 Feb 1991. (1) Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 09:11:24 EST (15 lines) From: Antonia Forster Subject: Re: SHK 2.0031 Shakespearean Spinoffs (2) Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 13:13:57 EST (16 lines) From: Lawrence Schimel Subject: Shakespeare in Music (3) Date: Mon, 04 Feb 91 22:17:21 EST (24 lines) From: Ken Steele Subject: Mob *Macbeth* (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 09:11:24 EST From: Antonia Forster Subject: Re: SHK 2.0031 Shakespearean Spinoffs If collection is being made of works including Shakespearean performance, Frances Burney's third novel *Camilla* must be included. In book IV chapter VIII there is what is described accurately as a "truly ludicrous" performance of *Othello*. The characters are all wearing costumes from other parts (e.g. Brabantio is wearing Hamlet's father's armour, Amelia is wearing the clothes of the first witch in *Macbeth*), all have strong and conflicting provincial accents, Othello sets his wig on fire during the supposed murder scene, and so on. Antonia Forster (2) --------------------------------------------------------------28---- Date: Mon, 4 Feb 91 13:13:57 EST From: Lawrence Schimel Subject: Shakespeare in Music Last night brought a mini-epiphany for me, when I realized that Sting's album, "...Nothing like the sun" comes from Shakespeare Sonnet 130 which opens, "My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun." He uses that full line in the song (10 on the cd version) Sister Moon. What is most interesting about it is that it is intended as a complete compliment, rather than the mocking one of the reverse blazon. Are there any other instances of incorporating Shakespeare into music which people know of? And where do I put these in the bibliographies???? Lawrence Schimel SCHLAWD@YALEVM (3) --------------------------------------------------------------28---- Date: Mon, 04 Feb 91 22:17:21 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: Mob *Macbeth* Perhaps others know more about this than I, but apparently another Shakespeare film has just hit the silver screen. *Men of Respect*, written and directed by William Reilly, starring John Turturro and Katherine Borowitz, seems to be a gangster version of "the Scottish play." The protagonist, Mike Battaglia (M.B.), is a gangland soldier who proudly boasts that "Not a man of woman born can do sh-- to me." MacDuff becomes Duffy, Malcolm Mal, and Banquo is "Bankie Como". Apparently the film follows the events of Shakespeare's plot with mechanical and unthinking accuracy, and is ultimately unsatisfactory and humorous for all the wrong reasons. (Although I should point out that I haven't seen it myself -- this is from a newspaper review). Has anyone seen it, and do they corroborate or contest the reviewer's verdict? I'm sure I'll be seeing Gibson in *Hamlet* long before I go see this one, but I *am* curious. Ken Steele University of Toronto ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 5 Feb 91 22:07:03 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0038 Spinoffs: Tom Jones, Hamletmachine, *WT* Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 38. Tuesday, 5 Feb 1991. (1) Date: Tue, 5 Feb 91 10:44:00 EST (13 lines) From: Subject: Re: SHK 2.0037 Shakespearean Spinoffs: Novels, Music, Film (2) Date: Tue, 5 Feb 91 18:59:35 EST (13 lines) From: Lorin Wertheimer Subject: Re: SHK 2.0037 Shakespearean Spinoffs: Novels, Music, Film (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 5 Feb 91 10:44:00 EST From: Subject: Re: SHK 2.0037 Shakespearean Spinoffs: Novels, Music, Film More Shakespeare tangents: in Henry Fielding's _Tom Jones_, the foolish schoolmaster Partridge is taken to a production of _Hamlet_, with some fine comic results: he sees the play as literal reality, wants to warn characters of the danger they're in, &c. As for the "Scottish play," see several of the theatrical mysteries of Dame Ngaio Marsh. Indeed, mysteries are a rich field for such things. Edmund Crispin has at least one based on a lost play, and a glove (but the title escapes me now), and the lost play/manuscript topos is not unusual in the genre... -- Kevin Berland (2) --------------------------------------------------------------29---- Date: Tue, 5 Feb 91 18:59:35 EST From: Lorin Wertheimer Subject: Re: SHK 2.0037 Shakespearean Spinoffs: Novels, Music, Film Along the spinoff line, Hamletmachine by Heinrich Muller should be added to the list. A most memorable moment occurs when Hamlet says to Ophelia, "I want to be a woman," and puts on her dress. In other news, auditions are being held at Brown University for the musically-adapted *Winter's Tale*, which looks to be an interesting, if not a great show. I don't know that it should be added to the list, but I will keep everyone updated on it. ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 5 Feb 91 22:14:51 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0039 Chaucer on Bitnet Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 39. Tuesday, 5 Feb 1991. (1) Date: Tue, 05 Feb 91 22:08:00 EST (15 lines) From: Ken Steele Subject: New Chaucer Discussion Group forming on Bitnet (2) Date: Tue, 5 Feb 91 18:18:00 EST (28 lines) From: Tom Bestul Subject: Chaucer Net (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 05 Feb 91 22:08:00 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: New Chaucer Discussion Group forming on Bitnet Dear Fellow SHAKSPEReans; Just in case some of you might share my interest in English literature before 1563, I thought I'd distribute the following announcement of the Chaucer Net. (There are as yet no official announcements, but this text comes from the first Chaucer Net mailing, sent out today.) If I am stretching the bounds of SHAKSPEReans' interests, please do let me know. Ken Steele University of Toronto (2) --------------------------------------------------------------59---- Date: Tue, 5 Feb 91 18:18:00 EST From: Tom Bestul Subject: Chaucer Net Chaucer Network [ . . . ] This is a trial run, so to speak, for a full-fledged Chaucer network. If it works well, and fulfills a need, I will propose that it become an official activity of the New Chaucer Society at the 1992 meeting in Seattle. In the meantime, I hope that our informal group will operate much as the well- established discussion groups in our field, for example Humanist and AnsaxNet. In short, I hope that this list will fulfill many of the traditional functions of a printed newsletter, as well as be a medium for informal exchange among ourselves. [ . . . ] A brief technical note: this list is not yet automatically run via listserv software, as is the norm. So messages for the entire list should be sent to me (tbestul@crcvms.unl.edu or tbestul@unlvax1.bitnet) and I will distribute them. If the message is a private one for me, please be sure to indicate that. I expect that, if things go well, a fully automated list, complete with fileserver, will be operational by the summer. I look forward to hearing from you, and to receiving your contributions for our discussion group. Tom Bestul University of Nebraska, Lincoln ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 19:32:16 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0040 *'Tis Pity She's A Whore* at RSC Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 40. Wednesday, 6 Feb 1991. Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 09:49:01 EST From: UDLE031@OAK.CC.KCL.AC.UK Subject: [*'Tis Pity She's A Whore* at RSC] One point that might be of interest to the network: Since the announcement of the RSC season they have added a production of *'Tis Pity She's a Whore*. I have never forgotten the terrified shock the first RSC production of I saw of that play gave me, sitting on the front row! SHAKSPER readers not expecting to see the new season of plays (or who balk at the steep prices) can at least expect to hear of discussion and reviews in papers and journals in months to come. Stephen Miller ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 19:33:33 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0041 Brazilian Spinoff Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 41. Wednesday, 6 Feb 1991. Date: Wed, 6 Feb 91 16:25:00 EST From: Subject: Shakespeare spinoffs yet again I forgot one very wonderful spinoff -- the Brazilian novelist Joachim Machado de Assis' _Dom Casmurro_, which is built on a framework of jealousy drawn from Othello. -- Kevin Berland ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 Feb 91 13:20:43 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0042 Brazilian Spinoff (Cont'd) Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 42. Saturday, 9 Feb 1991. Date: Fri, 8 Feb 91 13:15 C From: "ERIC MITCHELL SABINSON (INSTITUTO DE ESTUDOS DA LINGUAGEM/UNICAMP)" Subject: Re:Brazilian Spinoff Dom Casmurro by Machado de Assis is a wonderful novel, subtle and difficult, and perhaps great. As I live in Sao Paulo, I am pleased by any reference to Brazilian literature. It is difficult, however, to see Dom Casmurro as a spin-off of Othello, although the theme of the book is jealousy, and there are references to the play. (Do all texts on the subject of jealousy ultimately find their origin in Othello? There can be an intertextual relationship without the latter work being a spin-off.) To capture the feel of the novel Don Casmurro one would have to imagine an ironic Winter's Tale ending at the close of Act I, Hermione forever seperated from Leontes, Polixenes dead, and Leontes living on to tell the story as an old man, victim of his own loneliness and incapacity to see through his jealousy, still convinced that his wife and best friend had betrayed him, quite satisfied when his grown-up and affectionate son, whom he believes to resemble his friend, dies of typhoid fever on an archaeological field trip in Palestine. There is nothing heroic about Casmurro in Dom Casmurro. (He is writing "A History of the Suburbs".) There is no Iago figure, unless one counts Jose Dias, Casmurro's pathetic and parasitic preceptor, who first plants the idea in Casmurro's adolescent brain that his girlfriend Capitu has the slanting and dissembling eyes of a Gypsy. Rather, Jose Dias ressembles Antigonus, or better, Polonius in character, and Casmurro's jealously is that of a man who cannot permit joy. He needs no Iago. The novel is unusually interesting for its narrative position, in which the reader has no "objective" evidence as to whether or not Capitu and Escobar, his wife and friend, have truly been unfaithful. Jealousy is sterility whether or not there is cause, and, in the view of Machado, an inescapable part of the human condition. (Then again, would Othello's treatment of Desdemona be acceptable even if she had betrayed him with Cassio? Mrs Hushabye in Shaw's Heartbreak House puts it this way: "Desdemona would have found [Othello] out if she had lived, you know. I wonder was that why he strangled her!") The novel Dom Casmurro is a brittle and mean comedy, full of literary references, including one to the Merry Wives of Windsor, another of Shakespeare's plays that takes up the theme of jealousy. Casmurro, towards the end of the novel, attends a production of "Otelo", a play he does not know. His reaction to the play does not suggest tragedy, but rather the irony of enervation and the closing off of feeling, an overdressed and self-centered mediocrity in the heat of Belle Epoque Rio de Janeiro: "But Desdemona was innocent, I repeated to myself as I came down the street. What would the audience have done if she had been guilty, as guilty as Capitu? And what death would the Moor have given her? A pillow would not suffice; blood and fire were required, a vast and intense fire that would consume her totally, and reduce her to dust, and the dust would be hurled to the wind like everlasting extinction . . . [my translation from the Aguilar edition, p.933]". I should say that Machado de Assis is considered here the greatest of all Brazilian novelists, but in my opinion, it is the greatness of the hangover, of the dreamer who cannot realize his dreams of grandeur, and having none, is incapable of giving them up. If you like Dom Casmurro (an acquired taste), you'll love Quincas Borba (translated to English as Philosopher or Dog?) and Bras Cubas (translated to English as Epitaph of a Small Winner). Eric Mitchell There is nothing heroic about Casmurro in Dom Casmurro. (He is writing "A History of the Suburbs".) There is no Iago figure, unless one counts Jose Dias, Casmurro's pathetic and parasitic preceptor, who first plants the idea in Casmurro's adolescent brain that his girlfriend Capitu has the slanting and dissembling eyes of a Gypsy. Rather, Jose Dias ressembles Antigonus, or better, Polonius in character, and Casmurro's jealously is that of a man who cannot permit joy. He needs no Iago. The novel is unusually interesting for its narrative position, in which the reader has no "objective" evidence as to whether or not Capitu and Escobar, his wife and friend, have truly been unfaithful. Jealousy is sterility whether or not there is cause, and, in the view of Machado, an inescapable part of the human condition. Received: from vm.epas.utoronto.ca by VM.UTCS.UTORONTO.CA (Mailer R2.07) with BSMTP id 0183; Sat, 09 Feb 91 13:22:11 EST Received: by UTOREPAS (Mailer R2.03A) id 5161; Sat, 09 Feb 91 13:21:13 EST Date: Sat, 09 Feb 91 13:20:43 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0042 Brazilian Spinoff (Cont'd) To: Shakespeare Electronic Conference Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 42. Saturday, 9 Feb 1991. Date: Fri, 8 Feb 91 13:15 C From: "ERIC MITCHELL SABINSON (INSTITUTO DE ESTUDOS DA LINGUAGEM/UNICAMP)" Subject: Re:Brazilian Spinoff Dom Casmurro by Machado de Assis is a wonderful novel, subtle and difficult, and perhaps great. As I live in Sao Paulo, I am pleased by any reference to Brazilian literature. It is difficult, however, to see Dom Casmurro as a spin-off of Othello, although the theme of the book is jealousy, and there are references to the play. (Do all texts on the subject of jealousy ultimately find their origin in Othello? There can be an intertextual relationship without the latter work being a spin-off.) To capture the feel of the novel Don Casmurro one would have to imagine an ironic Winter's Tale ending at the close of Act I, Hermione forever seperated from Leontes, Polixenes dead, and Leontes living on to tell the story as an old man, victim of his own loneliness and incapacity to see through his jealousy, still convinced that his wife and best friend had betrayed him, quite satisfied when his grown-up and affectionate son, whom he believes to resemble his friend, dies of typhoid fever on an archaeological field trip in Palestine. There is nothing heroic about Casmurro in Dom Casmurro. (He is writing "A History of the Suburbs".) There is no Iago figure, unless one counts Jose Dias, Casmurro's pathetic and parasitic preceptor, who first plants the idea in Casmurro's adolescent brain that his girlfriend Capitu has the slanting and dissembling eyes of a Gypsy. Rather, Jose Dias ressembles Antigonus, or better, Polonius in character, and Casmurro's jealously is that of a man who cannot permit joy. He needs no Iago. The novel is unusually interesting for its narrative position, in which the reader has no "objective" evidence as to whether or not Capitu and Escobar, his wife and friend, have truly been unfaithful. Jealousy is sterility whether or not there is cause, and, in the view of Machado, an inescapable part of the human condition. (Then again, would Othello's treatment of Desdemona be acceptable even if she had betrayed him with Cassio? Mrs Hushabye in Shaw's Heartbreak House puts it this way: "Desdemona would have found [Othello] out if she had lived, you know. I wonder was that why he strangled her!") The novel Dom Casmurro is a brittle and mean comedy, full of literary references, including one to the Merry Wives of Windsor, another of Shakespeare's plays that takes up the theme of jealousy. Casmurro, towards the end of the novel, attends a production of "Otelo", a play he does not know. His reaction to the play does not suggest tragedy, but rather the irony of enervation and the closing off of feeling, an overdressed and self-centered mediocrity in the heat of Belle Epoque Rio de Janeiro: "But Desdemona was innocent, I repeated to myself as I came down the street. What would the audience have done if she had been guilty, as guilty as Capitu? And what death would the Moor have given her? A pillow would not suffice; blood and fire were required, a vast and intense fire that would consume her totally, and reduce her to dust, and the dust would be hurled to the wind like everlasting extinction . . . [my translation from the Aguilar edition, p.933]". I should say that Machado de Assis is considered here the greatest of all Brazilian novelists, but in my opinion, it is the greatness of the hangover, of the dreamer who cannot realize his dreams of grandeur, and having none, is incapable of giving them up. If you like Dom Casmurro (an acquired taste), you'll love Quincas Borba (translated to English as Philosopher or Dog?) and Bras Cubas (translated to English as Epitaph of a Small Winner). Eric Mitchell ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 9 Feb 91 14:25:55 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0043 Apologies for Error in SHK 2.0042 Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 43. Saturday, 9 Feb 1991. Date: Sat, 09 Feb 91 14:12:21 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: Apologies for Error in SHK 2.0042 (Brazilian Spinoff Cont'd) Dear Fellow SHAKSPEReans; I must apologize to Eric Mitchell Sabinson for the computer glitch which SHAKSPER has successfully evaded for several months now. Periodically, ListServ takes a perfectly normal SHAKSPER digest and turns it into a pretzel, usually creating a text file which looks like the reduplicated passages in Love's Labour's Lost, two or more consecutive versions of the same text. Today it has occurred again, with Sabinson's mailing. I think it important that you all recognize the problem when it occurs, and not ascribe it to a tired editor or intoxicated writer. The same problem seems to afflict HUMANIST, and may well attack other unsuspecting moderated lists as well. Things will probably improve when the UofT EPAS site shifts from VM/CMS to UNIX this summer -- but I make no promises. One of the primary reasons I monitor SHAKSPER mailings at each stage of the distribution process is to attempt to detect these computer errors -- but as yet there is no way to prevent them. It seems to me that it would be self-defeating to send a new copy of the mailing which you have all just received in duplicate, simply so that you have an unduplicated version. (That would make three, or perhaps four, versions preserved for posterity in the SHAKSPER Logbook, too!) So again, my apologies, both to those contributors struck at random by the problem, and to all of you who must weed through slightly tangled digests from time to time. In future, should the confusion become sufficiently serious, I will send a replacement copy of the victimized digest. Yours, Ken Steele University of Toronto or ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 10 Feb 91 17:43:26 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0044 SHAKSPER Membership & Biography Files Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 44. Sunday, 10 Feb 1991. Date: Sun, 10 Feb 91 14:13:46 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: SHAKSPER Membership, Biographies With the addition of two new SHAKSPEReans this morning, we now number 125. The third Member Biography File (SHAKS-01 BIOGRAFY) has also reached one thousand lines in length, so it has been closed, and the fourth (SHAKS-02 BIOGRAFY) has now been begun. Current members interested in reading biographies which have been submitted since they received the NEWMEMBR PACKAGE SHAKSPER can request individual volumes from the Fileserver (be sure to request the last volume you received, too, as it was probably incomplete at the time). BIOGRAFY PACKAGE SHAKSPER includes all the biography volumes, as well as the retrieval program for VM/CMS systems: * Filename Filetype Filelist * -------- -------- -------- SHAKSPER BIOGRAFY SHAKSPER The first volume of SHAKSPER biographies SHAKS-00 BIOGRAFY SHAKSPER The second volume of SHAKSPER biographies SHAKS-01 BIOGRAFY SHAKSPER The third volume of SHAKSPER biographies SHAKS-02 BIOGRAFY SHAKSPER The fourth volume (not yet complete) BIOGRAFY EXEC SHAKSPER The CMS executable program file BIOGRAFY HELPCMS SHAKSPER The Information File Fileserver Procedures: SHAKSPEReans can retrieve files or logbooks from the SHAKSPER Fileserver by issuing the interactive command, "TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET fname ftype SHAKSPER". If your network link does not support the interactive "TELL" command, or if Listserv rejects your request, then send a one-line mail message (without a subject line) to LISTSERV@utoronto, reading "GET fname ftype SHAKSPER". For a complete list of files available, send the command "GET SHAKSPER FILES SHAKSPER" to obtain an annotated index. (Note that the "INDEX SHAKSPER" and "GET FILELIST SHAKSPER" commands will result in an *un*annotated list generated automatically by Listserv. These lists include size information, but are less legible to human eyes.) For further information, consult the appropriate section of your SHAKSPER GUIDE, or contact the editor, or . ========================================================================= Date: Sun, 10 Feb 91 17:45:22 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0045 Shakespeare in Music Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 45. Sunday, 10 Feb 1991. (1) Date: Sat, 09 Feb 91 19:38 EST (21 lines) From: "Joe Pellegrino" Subject: Shakespeare in Music (2) Date: Sun, 10 Feb 91 14:02:54 EST (34 lines) From: Ken Steele Subject: Folger Consort CD (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 09 Feb 91 19:38 EST From: "Joe Pellegrino" Subject: Shakespeare in Music Lawrence Schimel recently asked about instances of Shakespeare in music. While I can't provide an adequate list in pop music, I may be able to suggest some directions in classical. I remember a setting by Roger Quilter of "O Mistress Mine," a rhythmically difficult piece. I believe that it was part of a larger set of Shakespeare songs. Britten may also have done a set of these. I know of his "Serenade to Music" which culls lines from Shakespeare in homage to music. It was originally written for 16 soloists, but now, when it is performed at all, is reserved for a larger chorus. Francis Guentner, of St. Louis University, has recently edited two or three madrigal settings of songs from Shakespeare. Again, I can't recall the composers, but the pieces were "Sigh No More, Ladies," and "Hark, Hark, the Lark at Heav'n's Gate Sings." The New Grove is the place to check this all out. Joe Pellegrino UNC-Chapel Hill (2) --------------------------------------------------------------39---- Date: Sun, 10 Feb 91 14:02:54 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: Folger Consort CD Although it may not be the best collection of Shakespearean and Renaissance music and lyrics available, I recently ordered the compact disk of *The Folger Consort: A Distant Mirror: Music of the Fourteenth Century and Shakespeare's Music* from the Folger Memorial Shakespeare Library Gift Shop. (If anyone is interested, they do have a catalogue and I may be able to find the mailing address.) The "Shakespearean" tracks include the following: "It was a Lover and his Lass" - Thomas Morley (2:31) Witches Dance I - Anon./Masque (1:41) The Willow Song - Anon. (2:09) Witches Dance II - Anon./Masque (1:36) Suite from the Fairy Queen (I) - Henry Purcell (5:59) Full Fathom Five - Henry Purcell (2:21) The Willow Song - Pelham Humphrey (1:43) Come Unto These Yellow Sands - Henry Purcell (1:22) The Owl - Thomas Arne (2:38) Blow, Blow Thou Winter's Wind - Thomas Arne (1:48) Where the Bee Sucks - Thomas Arne (2:17) Suite from the Fairy Queen (II) - Henry Purcell (7:34) As the title suggests, the CD also contains 17 medieval Latin and French hymns and lyrics. If any SHAKSPEReans know of any other collections of Shakespearean music readily available on CD or cassette, please let me know. Ken Steele University of Toronto ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 13 Feb 91 22:47:53 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0046 Shakespearean Spinoffs / Music Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 46. Wednesday, 13 Feb 1991. (1) Date: Wed, 13 Feb 91 09:43:58 EST (11 lines) From: evans@lvipl.csc.ti.com (Eleanor J. Evans @ 462-5330) Subject: Shakespeare in Other Works (2) Date: Wed, 13 Feb 91 14:30 EST (13 lines) From: "Joe Pellegrino" Subject: More Music Ideas (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Feb 91 09:43:58 EST From: evans@lvipl.csc.ti.com (Eleanor J. Evans @ 462-5330) Subject: Shakespeare in Other Works Steve Martin's new movie, "L.A. Story" includes a Hamlet scene. I thought more people might recognize it, since Gibson's Hamlet just came out, but I was the only one in the theater rolling on the floor. Eleanor Evans evans@lvipl.ti.com (2) --------------------------------------------------------------26---- Date: Wed, 13 Feb 91 14:30 EST From: "Joe Pellegrino" Subject: More Music Ideas When Lawrence Schimel asked for some help with Shakespeare in music, he also asked about what to call these findings in a bibliography. I have just seen an analogous situation in Jochum's _W.B. Yeats: A: Classified Bibliography_. Carbondale, IL: U of Illinois P, 1977. His section on texts of Yeats set to music is called "Musical Renderings." Joe Pellegrino UNC-Chapel Hill ========================================================================= Date: Wed, 13 Feb 91 23:08:32 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0047 Shakespeare Association Conferences Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 47. Wednesday, 13 Feb 1991. Date: Wed, 13 Feb 91 22:50:06 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: Shakespeare Association Conference I would like to take this opportunity to repeat my invitation to any SHAKSPEReans planning to attend the Vancouver Shakespeare Association of America annual meeting next month, or the Tokyo International Shakespeare Association conference (or indeed any other conferences) to send copies of papers, abstracts, or even notes on work in progress to me for distribution or posting on the SHAKSPER Fileserver. Many thanks to Skip Shand, who has taken considerable time to get an electronic copy of his conference paper to me (it will soon be posted on the Fileserver). As soon as I can get an ASCII version of my own paper formatted, it will join his -- but I can assure you that we would very much appreciate other papers to keep ours company! It might be valuable simply to determine which of our fellow SHAKSPEReans plan to attend these conferences; personally, I plan to be in Vancouver from Wednesday March 20th to Sunday March 24th. (Tokyo is well beyond my travel budget, however). Perhaps we could plan a casual get-together in whatever might pass for the local pub, where we could see each other face-to-face for a change. Any additional suggestions would also be most welcome. Ken Steele University of Toronto ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 16:23:10 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0048 Shakespearean Spinoffs - Film Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 48. Thursday, 14 Feb 1991. Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 11:13:02 EST From: "Me (Beth Christopher)" Subject: Re: SHK 2.0046 Shakespearean Spinoffs Speaking of movies with scenes from Shakespeare, I went to see "Jesus of Montreal". It is a wonderful movie, done in French with subtitles, and there is this wonderful adaptation of Hamlet's "To Be" speech that works quiet well where they placed it. Beth Christopher ========================================================================= Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 16:34:18 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0049 SAA Vancouver Attendees Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 49. Thursday, 14 Feb 1991. (1) Date: Wed, 13 Feb 91 23:27:33 EST (18 lines) From: Nicholas Ranson Subject: Re: SHK 2.0047 Shakespeare Association Conferences (2) Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 01:00:46 EST (13 lines) From: Fritz Levy Subject: Re: SHK 2.0047 Shakespeare Association Conferences (3) Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 16:27:29 EST (22 lines) From: Ken Steele Subject: SAA Attendees (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 13 Feb 91 23:27:33 EST From: Nicholas Ranson Subject: Re: SHK 2.0047 Shakespeare Association Conferences I will be going to Vancouver with two colleagues from Akron, travelling March 20, returning March 24. I shall be in the Teaching Editions of Shakespeare seminar, and I will send [SHAKSPER] a copy of the "position paper" which is being distributed to our group now; if you wish, you can excerpt bits or send it all out, with the reminder, I think, that it is incomplete, thinking aloud and vulgarly over- stated; however, it mentions SHAKSPER, which is some sort of publicity. Let us post a notice about rooms, hotels, etc, when we get there. It also occurs to me that people could share rooms to reduce cost; I am doing that with a colleague, and that's a saving of over $200. Cheers! (2) --------------------------------------------------------------39---- Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 01:00:46 EST From: Fritz Levy Subject: Re: SHK 2.0047 Shakespeare Association Conferences I plan to be in Vancouver (staying at the Sylvia) for the SAA meeting--I'm chairing a seminar on history plays and historiography. I'll also be at the Tokyo meeting (as commentator in a session being chaired by Richard McCoy); plans for that are still indefinite. [ . . . ] Fritz Levy (3) --------------------------------------------------------------25---- Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 16:27:29 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: SAA Attendees My apologies to Professors Ranson and Levy if I have misinterpreted personal mail as public, but I believe that they raise some interesting ideas and offer valuable information which will be of interest to the entire conference. If it is not too late, perhaps we should think about arranging room- sharing (although I had to reserve some time ago). Is anyone else out there participating in a session or giving a paper? We won't make you submit it in electronic form, simply because you advise us of your role, but I think we'll all get more out of the conference (and meet more of each other) if we know where who will be when. (Of course, you'rre still more than welcome to submit the papers if you can...) Yours, Ken Steele University of Toronto ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 15 Feb 91 19:50:38 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0050 SAA Vancouver Attendees Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 50. Friday, 15 Feb 1991. (1) Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 22:08:00 EST (17 lines) From: leosborn@COLBY.EDU (Laurie E. Osborne) Subject: SAA (2) Date: Fri, 15 Feb 91 11:16:00 EST (18 lines) From: Subject: SAA meeting in Vancouver (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 Feb 91 22:08:00 EST From: leosborn@COLBY.EDU (Laurie E. Osborne) Subject: SAA I am planning on attending SAA this year. I've just finished a paper for the "Screening Shakespeare" seminar on the video edition of Twelfth Night. This will, of course, come as no surprise to SHAKSPEReans. I'd be happy to get together in Vancouver for some sort of informal do. I'll try to send my paper, rough though it is. My delinquency in producing papers for the network has more to do with the unwieldy manoueuvers necessary to get my wordprocessed texts into a form that can go out over the network at school. See you in Vancouver. Laurie E. Osborne leosborn@colby.edu (2) --------------------------------------------------------------31---- Date: Fri, 15 Feb 91 11:16:00 EST From: Subject: SAA meeting in Vancouver My "reply" function isn't working for some reason, but I am in fact reply- ing to recent messages about the SAA meeting in Vancouver, and specifically about sharing a room. I had arranged to share a room with someone who has just decided not to go, but I would still like to save the considerable extra cost of a single room. Anyone interested? I've called people who are involved in the same seminar I am (Shakespeare and the English Church) but without success. I don't smoke, and I don't stay up late watching television or listening to loud music. I have a reservation form at the Four Seasons, but I'm not committed to that hotel if someone has a preferred alternative. Please call at 616-394-7612 (office) or 616-392-2986 (home). John Cox Hope College ========================================================================= Date: Fri, 15 Feb 91 19:52:16 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0051 Brazilian Spinoff (Cont'd) Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 51. Friday, 15 Feb 1991. Date: Fri, 15 Feb 91 14:35:00 EST From: Subject: Re: SHK 2.0042 Brazilian Spinoff (Cont'd) Alas, I cannot find my copy of Dom Casmurro, so I can't really explain the Othello connection. Let me just say that the translator of the book into English (is it Helen Gardner?) mentions that Machado de Assis uses Othello as a kind of sub-text, and, indeed, she wrote a scholarly book on the topic, which I've read... Tell you what, when I'm back in my office next week I'll look it up and report back. As for other spinoffs, why hasn't anybody mentioned Shakespeare in opera? And (still farther removed) Anna Russell's spook of Italian operas based on Shakespeare plays, "Hamletto." Her delivery of the line, "Ecco! Il Spook!" is dazzling, and her commentary on Ophelia is a masterpiece of bathetic timing. -- Kevin Berland ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 16 Feb 91 10:24:58 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0052 1992 SAA in Kansas City Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 52. Saturday, 16 Feb 1991. Date: Sat, 16 Feb 91 10:13:55 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: 1992 SAA Conference [In response to a number of queries from SHAKSPEReans, I reproduce here an announcement from the January 1991 Bulletin of the Shakespeare Association of America (14:1). KS] 1992 SAA Meeting Plans: The annual meeting for 1992 will be held in Kansas City on 16-18 April 1992 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. It is the custom of the Association to vary the locations of the annual meetings. To reflect the distribution of the membership, the Trustees try to arrange that we meet (generally speaking) twice in the east for every once in each of the midwest and west; attention is given to ensuring that Canada is not neglected. However, the selection of sites is not easy. The Executive Director has to negotiate contracts with hotels at least eighteen months in advance, and so she must have the Trustees' approval of the prospective city (or cities) two years ahead. Moreover, the initial selection of the city is dependent on the identification of some member who is ready to commit him/herself to coordinating the local arrangements -- in effect to inviting the Association to visit. ...The SAA tries as far as possible to avoid holding meetings on religious holidays. However, in some cities it is only on the Easter weekend that hotel rates are reasonable. Unfortunately the meeting in Kansas City coincides with both Easter and Passover. The Executive Director was unable to negotiate an affordable contract on any other weekend, at any other hotel, and no alternative site was available. The Trustees regret any inconvenience to members. I have been asked by a number of members to note that we would welcome invitations to warmer climates. -- copy submitted by Michael Warren ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 16 Feb 91 17:42:00 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0053 Hamlet Spinoff on TV Tonight Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 53. Saturday, 16 Feb 1991. Date: Sat, 16 Feb 91 17:17 EST From: SHAND@Venus.YorkU.CA Subject: Spinoffs I see from today's TV listing that tonight Torontonians will be treated to a three-star Finnish comedy called *Hamlet Goes Business*(1988), starring Pirkka-Pekka Petelius and Esko Salminen. *Broadcast Week* sets it up: "Playboy Hamlet acts weird after seeing the ghost of his father, a paper baron in today's Finland." On your marks! Set VCRs! ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 16 Feb 91 18:07:48 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0054 Comedy of Errors in Performance Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 54. Saturday, 16 Feb 1991. Date: Sat, 16 Feb 91 17:28:49 EST From: D_RICHMAN@UNHH.UNH.EDU Subject: No Fear of Farce I am new to SHAKSPER, and I have been reading with pleasure the materials that are sent to new members. I thus take up an old thread, which I hope is not yet frayed out. I was delighted and enlightened by Stephen Miller's comments on the theatrical season in London, and by his preview of things to come. On one small point that Stephen Miller makes, I venture to offer an alternative opinion. In noting a production of *The Comedy of Errors*, he mentions the "distracting gimmick" of having two sets of twins played by two actors instead of the usual four. Of course it's a gimmick, but I don't think it has to be distracting. I have attended a number of productions of this play, and I found that they were none of them as funny as they could be because too little was made of the identity of the identical twins. Now the play touches lightly on somber themes and occasionally elicits serious emotions, but I would argue that its primary purpose is to entertain the spectators by making them laugh. The play is a farce, after all, so the more laughter the better. Farce is a puerile form, Eric Bentley tells us. It appeals to the anarchic child in all of us, and producers of farce resort unashamedly to puerile gimmicks. When I directed the play last spring, in a production that played both at my university and at middle and high schools all over New Hampshire, I used two actors to play the two sets of twins. Each twin from Syracuse had a large red S on his chest. (S for Syracuse and--happy accident--for Superman). Each twin from Ephesus had a large blue E. The red S's were permanent parts of the costumes. Whenever a twin from Ephesus entered, he would be tossed a disc containing the blue E which, through the magic of velcro, he would slap on to his chest. A boy from Syracuse would change instantaneously into a boy from Ephesus. When a twin from Syracuse entered, he would rip the blue E off his chest, revealing the red S underneath. Hey presto! a boy from Ephesus became a boy from Syracuse. This became a running gag, and it worked with every audience. My conclusion is that one actor for each set of twins can result in a funnier production, as long as you create a means for the spectators instantly to tell the twins apart. One of the great truths of Shakespeare's comedies, and of most good comedy for that matter, is that the audience must always be at least a jump ahead of the characters. David Richman University of New Hampshire ========================================================================= Date: Sat, 16 Feb 91 18:11:58 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0055 New on the SHAKSPER Fileserver Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 55. Saturday, 16 Feb 1991. Date: Sat, 16 Feb 91 17:53:12 EST From: Ken Steele Subject: New on the SHAKSPER Fileserver Following is the revised abstract of a seminar paper for the 1991 Vancouver SAA Conference, now available on the SHAKSPER Fileserver as LLL-Q1 REVISION SHAKSPER. (Reminder of Fileserver Procedures appears below). "Leaden Contemplation": Ambiguous Evidence of Revision in Q1 Love's Labour's Lost Abstract Shakespeare Association of America 1991 Annual Meeting (Vancouver) Seminar 1: "Shakespeare's Quartos: Text, Performance, Memory." Kenneth B. Steele University of Toronto Less controversial than intertextual evidence for Shakespearean revision in the major tragedies is intratextual evidence in his early plays, particularly the quartos apparently based on authorial holograph. In particular, four "foul paper" plays (Titus Andronicus, Love's Labour's Lost, Romeo & Juliet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream) contain the majority of "fossilized" revision: inconsistencies, repetitions, and redundancies. This intratextual revision is more poetic and less theatrical than the later, intertextual variety, although equally hypothetical and ambiguous: consecutive "drafts" may represent deliberate repetition, compositorial or editorial error, or alternative options which Shakespeare left to be decided in rehearsal. Furthermore, much of the evidence in the "good" quartos looks dangerously like that in the "bad" ones: an examination of variant speech prefixes, or "polynomials," in Q1 Love's Labour's Lost suggests that Shakespeare, like a supposed "reporter," could often appear unaware of character names unless they were prominent in dialogue. Foul-paper "drafts" and confusions also resemble some confusions in early "bad" quartos like Q1 2 Henry VI. The "polynomials" in Q1 Love's Labour's Lost also seem to suggest some discontinuities in the underlying copy, and may help identify passages which were written out of their published sequence, or at some chronological remove from their contexts, particularly when they occur simultaneously with consistent changes in the content of the dialogue. Close readings of the two best-known textual fossils, "O we haue made a Vow to studie Lordes" (LLL Q1 F2v-3v; 4.3.293-340) and "And what to me my Loue?" (LLL Q1 K1r-v; 5.2.805-53), reveal deliberate and consistent revisions in rhetoric, content, and poetic effects. Shakespeare, it would seem, has deliberately heightened the poetic artifice and self-consciousness of his lines, increasing Berowne's centrality to the play and further developing his character. Yet this solid evidence for authorial revision appears in a text in which inconsistency, repetition and redundancy are part of Shakespeare's comic strategy, and hence in which apparent "revisions" are rendered unusually ambiguous. My paper is exploratory rather than conclusive, offering suggestions, pointing out theoretical difficulties, and raising questions for which I genuinely hope others can supply answers. Because the paper arises from my dissertation research, comments and suggestions are particularly welcome. Non-participants in the seminar may contact me at: 222 The Esplanade, Suite 720, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5A 4M8 (416) 369-1474, or via electronic mail (Bitnet/Internet/EARN) at . ------------------------------------------------------------------- Fileserver Procedures: SHAKSPEReans can retrieve files or logbooks from the SHAKSPER Fileserver by issuing the interactive command, "TELL LISTSERV AT UTORONTO GET fname ftype SHAKSPER". If your network link does not support the interactive "TELL" command, or if Listserv rejects your request, then send a one-line mail message (without a subject line) to LISTSERV@utoronto, reading "GET fname ftype SHAKSPER". For a complete list of files available, send the command "GET SHAKSPER FILES SHAKSPER" to obtain an annotated index. (Note that the "INDEX SHAKSPER" and "GET FILELIST SHAKSPER" commands will result in an *un*annotated list generated automatically by Listserv. These lists include size information, but are less legible to human eyes.) For further information, consult the appropriate section of your SHAKSPER GUIDE, or contact the editor, or . ========================================================================= Date: Mon, 18 Feb 91 11:46:14 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0056 Music for Staging Othello? Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 56. Monday, 18 Feb 1991. Date: Sun, 17 Feb 91 16:40:32 EST From: Steve Subj.: [Music for Staging *Othello*] HELP! For a production of OTHELLO I'm directing at CCNY I could use references to appropriate music: the drinking songs, Desdemona's Willow song, appropriate heraldic trumpetings for Venice and for Cyprus. We are setting the play at about the year 1500 -- costumes, set-furniture, and properties, and now we have to work out musical possibilities for showing the shift from Venice to Cyprus. Any guidance would be much appreciated. Steve Urkowitz ========================================================================= Date: Tue, 19 Feb 91 16:16:50 EST Reply-To: Ken Steele Sender: Shakespeare Electronic Conference From: Ken Steele Subject: SHK 2.0057 Etext of Cornmarket *Comedy of Errors* Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 57. Tuesday, 19 Feb 1991. (1) Date: Mon, 18 Feb 91 11:44:02 EST (423 lines) From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Comedy of Errors (Excerpt) (2) Date: Wed, 30 Jan 91 19:33:49 EST (32 lines) From: Tom Horton Subject: [Information about the Cornmarket *Comedy of Errors*] (1) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 18 Feb 91 11:44:02 EST From: "Michael S. Hart" Subject: Comedy of Errors (Excerpt) Here is a short excerpt from the Comedy of Errors etext I am hoping to post for FTP in the near future. Since this excerpt is no longer than many of the postings I have seen on SHAKSPER and other listservers, it would be my hope that you would post it to you membership for comments as they see fit. Part of what I would like to find out is if this etext has previously, under any auspices, been released. Thank you, Michael ***********