By Megan
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=megvDyy3Wsk
Available until: Monday 9th November 2020
Shakespeare has told lots of stories (exactly how many
depends on who you talk to but he wrote somewhere between 36 and 44 plays) but
one story I didn’t know much about is the story of Shakespeare. I knew who he
married and what his twins were called. I knew he was born in
Stratford-upon-Avon. I knew he’d worked as an actor. I knew Queen Elizabeth I
liked him and he liked her. And of course I knew he was a very very good
writer. But I didn’t know very much else.
This is Shakespeare’s story. It was written by Jonathan Bate as a play for one actor and he is lucky to have one of the best actors in the world to perform it, Simon Callow.
It starts with his birth and goes all the way to his death
(I don’t think that is a spoiler. I think everyone knows Shakespeare died a
long time ago). That would have made an interesting play all on its own but Mr
Bate has found lots of quotes from Shakespeare’s plays to echo all the things
that happened in Shakespeare’s life and what he might have been thinking and
feeling.
Jaques’ quote from As You Like It ‘All the world’s a
stage…’ is important because the stage was a big part of Shakespeare’s world
and because it describes a man going through his life which is what this play
is about. When Mr Callow describes what Shakespeare’s childhood would have been
like, based on how boys were always brought up at that time, there are lots of
quotes from The Winter’s Tale. Lance from Two Gentlemen of Verona
describes the scene when Shakespeare left his family to go to London. The
Mechanicals from A Midsummer Night’s Dream take the roles of a theatre
company Shakespeare works with. There’s even a bit about Sir Thomas More
which is one of the ones I don’t know. It’s not just the plays - Venus and
Adonis and some of the sonnets are mentioned too.
The stage is mostly bare but it has a second level (up a
couple of steps) with props like books, a globe and a paper crown. Several
chairs are arranged in different ways by Mr Callow to set a scene. Luckily Mr
Callow is very dexterous. Tom Cairns the director has lots of interesting ideas
but they are there to make the words even more exciting. It’s not distracting at
all.
Simon Callow is absolutely amazing. We get to see him
playing so many roles. Mark Antony, Romeo, Bottom, Macbeth, Falstaff, Prospero,
King Lear. And also Juliet, Rosalind, Miranda, and Constance in King John.
He plays every role so well and it is really exciting to watch him. I would
love to see him playing all these roles! But it never seems like Mr Callow is
showing off how clever he is (even though he is very clever), it’s like he’s
sharing Shakespeare with us and showing us how wonderful his plays are.
There is a lot to watch online at the moment and there isn’t
time to watch everything but if you do like Shakespeare, this play is only an
hour and a half.
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