Benedict Cumberbatch in "Hamlet"

[Van Buren Supernova]

I've forgotten (if I ever knew) where you are, but you might want to check here to see where it will be shown.

Nope..      

But, if there is a will, there is a way!..

Mycroft, John is not the only one who needs kidnapping and fancy transport you know?

 

Yes, indeed -- if you want to make an off-topic reply to someone's post, just post your reply on the "Hijacked" thread and quote the other person's post in it. (All you have to do is pretend you're going to quote it in the original thread, then copy and paste into your post.)

Thanks, I thought it was magic trick.

The problem is, how would the person being quoted knows about it?

Like for me, my quote and email notifications has not been working, so it's always pure coincidence that I stumbled upon a quoted post.

But I guess the solution is as easy as finding it.

 

:xmas2:

Love the shaky Santa :lol:

[Carol the Dabbler]

Yes, indeed -- if you want to make an off-topic reply to someone's post, just post your reply on the "Hijacked" thread and quote the other person's post in it. (All you have to do is pretend you're going to quote it in the original thread, then copy and paste into your post.)

Thanks, I thought it was magic trick.

The problem is, how would the person being quoted knows about it?

Like for me, my quote and email notifications has not been working, so it's always pure coincidence that I stumbled upon a quoted post.

But I guess the solution is as easy as finding it.

Well, moving other people's posts is kind of a magic trick -- only staff members can do it. But anyone can quote one thread on another thread.

 

Nobody's quote notifications are working right now, so you're right, the person you quote won't know they've been quoted unless they read the "Hijacked" thread (or wherever you copied the quote to). So if you want to be sure they see your comment, you could either send them a Private Message or else post a link to your post-with-the-quote, back on the original thread.

 

To link to any specific post, click on the number in the upper right-hand corner of that post, and you'll get a little pop-up that contains the link. Highlight the link, copy it, and create a link with it, anywhere on the forum.

[Arcadia]

 

I've forgotten (if I ever knew) where you are, but you might want to check here to see where it will be shown.

Nope..      

But, if there is a will, there is a way!..

Mycroft, John is not the only one who needs kidnapping and fancy transport you know?

 

 

Oh noes! :(  Sorry to hear that! Here, have a fuzzy kitten. Or two.....

[T.o.b.y]

When Harry Potter came out: "It may not be great literature, but you shouldn't complain about the quality because it's getting kids to read and introducing kids who didn't read before to the wonderful world of books."

 

When Benedict Cumberbatch plays Hamlet: "Oh no! He will attract uneducated plebs who have never seen a play before and introduce them to the works of Shakespeare! The horror!"

 

I am so tired of this. This notion that you have to somehow qualify for enjoying things. Besides, do those who complain about first-time theater goers and worry that they will spoil the atmosphere have any idea what historians think plays were like in Shakespeare's day? From all I've read, the theater was a loud, messy place where the audience walked in and out at all times, ate, drank, got drunk, threw food and other matters at the actors and each other, occasionally walked across the stage and sometimes fornicated or fought (or both) if the performance was too boring for them.

 

His plays were not written for a privileged few who had studied his life and works for years and knew every rule of etiquette, they were written for anybody from the queen / king downward to whoever could afford to pay. We make a big fuss about them now, but it's pretty likely that when they came out, it was more like when the next Hollywood blockbuster is released today and we all flock to the cinema with our popcorn and coke.

[Inge l-w]

Dear TOBY, your assessment is perfectly correct, especially when the play was not a royal command performance but put on in, for example, The Globe theatre, the one which burnt down and has been reconstructed.

But as to theatre and opera goers, you have clearly never watched the BBC series Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister (The Patron of the Arts episode. ) There, you can see the disdain of the upper class (sorry, but the UK is still very much class-compartmentalised) towards the rest of the population.

[J.P.]

Ben did backstage!

 

In the meantime Phonegate made it into German media, but they hardly care about the original message.

"Why fans spoiled the performance to BC" Made fans into idiots and Ben into over-sensitive snob. Plus f**** up the facts.

 

I think I stop follow this. You only get angry.

On the other hand it's such a great example of how media work and how information gets perverted.

[besleybean]

On a personal level, that explains a lot to me.

[T.o.b.y]

Dear TOBY, your assessment is perfectly correct, especially when the play was not a royal command performance but put on in, for example, The Globe theatre, the one which burnt down and has been reconstructed.

But as to theatre and opera goers, you have clearly never watched the BBC series Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister (The Patron of the Arts episode. ) There, you can see the disdain of the upper class (sorry, but the UK is still very much class-compartmentalised) towards the rest of the population.

 

Beware of assumptions, Inge... Yes Minister is in fact one of my favorite comedy series, and you know, I was reminded of it, especially the episode "The Middle Class Ripoff" by all this so much that I rewatched it this very day. 

 

The attitude I was complaining about isn't limited to upper class people and culture, though. Fandoms can be just as bad. Example: There's a movie I really like based on one of my favorite books, "The Perks of Being a Wallflower". A lot of great music plays during the film, and a song by The Smiths plays an important part in the story. I liked the sound of it, so I wanted to hear it in full and went on youtube. Unfortunately, I didn't just listen to the song but also read the comments underneath the video. And they were at least one quarter to the effect that anyone who had only discovered The Smiths because of "That dumb movie" had no right to listen to their music and should piss off.

 

This kind of behavior triggers my inner teenager though, so in a fit of petulant contrariness, I downloaded the song from Amazon, have it on my favorites playlist and listen to it almost daily thinking "ha - tell me again what to do". :P

 

Everyone who wants to: go see Hamlet! It doesn't matter whether you love the works of Shakespeare in general (I don't, for the record, I'm just fond of this one play), let alone if you are knowledgeable about them. If you're just going because you like the sound of Benedict Cumberbatch's voice or are curious how an actor you admire will handle the role, that's totally fine! As for how to behave in a theater (where this little fangirl has in fact been quite often within her limited life span, contrary to what some journalists seem to believe), the same rules apply as anywhere else, i.e. don't ruin the evening for anyone else and don't be a jerk. Also don't break the law. Where I live, it's not allowed to film a movie off the screen, so of course the same applies to filming live performances - duh!

 

(Side note: as long as theaters think it permissible to show Faust as a kind of Matrix parody and write god out of Goethe's text, I think they have other issues they should worry about than enthusiastic fans...)

 

[Arcadia]

When Harry Potter came out: "It may not be great literature, but you shouldn't complain about the quality because it's getting kids to read and introducing kids who didn't read before to the wonderful world of books."

 

When Benedict Cumberbatch plays Hamlet: "Oh no! He will attract uneducated plebs who have never seen a play before and introduce them to the works of Shakespeare! The horror!"

Maybe it's because I'm in the arts community, but I hear all the time how arts organizations are desperate to attract newer, younger, more diverse audiences before the old audiences die out. Maybe they should consider treating those younger, more diverse audiences with a little respect, and providing them with things they actually want to see? Might be a plan, eh? :P

 

Actually, I think it's seldom the people producing art who complain about "new" audiences, at least, not anymore ... it's usually the "old" audience complaining, because they don't want anything to change. Shrug it off, folks, they are NOT the death-watch beetles that are the doom of our society and, in time – one feels certain – our entire species. They're just jealous that they're not us!  :D

 

Ben did backstage!

Good boy. I knew he still had it in him. And hark, do I see some smiles? Yay!

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

The theater released a piece today announcing that they are going to try to be more on top of silencing the mobile phones and have watchers around keeping an eye out for people and their electronics. There was even a suggestion that they create a "phone park", before people enter they hand over their electronics to be kept until afterwards. One girl who attended the performance said that she had notices one small sign that asked please no pictures or filming but maybe not every one saw it. The theater was going to make sure announcements would be made before curtain rise.

 

The article also included some snippets when other actors who had stopped in the middle of performances to shout down someone who was being disruptive.

[Inge l-w]

Dear TOBY, so glad to learn about that! That particular episode about the art gallery and the local football team is scintillating! And I'm doubly glad that my wrong assumption made you enjoy some good old-fashioned fun! I had the privilege of meeting Nigel Hawthorne when the Royal National Theatre was touring with the Madness of King George, and he was absolutely lovely. Not only did I get an autographed programme, but because, unlike BC, he accepted gifts backstage, I also got a handwritten letter of thanks! He was a real gentleman, and a great performer, in the Derek Jacobi and Alec Guiness mould, however, not like our favourite, who is also a gentleman born and bred, but is simply snowed under his fandom!

[J.P.]

 

Good boy. I knew he still had it in him. And hark, do I see some smiles? Yay!

 

Maybe they noticed that the rabid fans might be not so rabid after all, and you don't need a police squad with water cannons and tear gas to keep them at bay.

 

It might change though, when the word spreads and more fans go to the backstage door after the play... :P

[besleybean]

Point of order: backstage is behind the scenes/dressing room etc.

Signing and photographs outside afterwards is: STAGE DOOR.

[Van Buren Supernova]

Oh noes! :(  Sorry to hear that! Here, have a fuzzy kitten. Or two.....

Thanks but no noo not condolences yet. I'm still trying to contact Mycroft to arrange for transport. He is having root canal at the moment.

If all else fail, I will just look at pictures and create my own Hamlet in my mind.. brain tiki hut.

It's all good.

  

Good boy. I knew he still had it in him. And hark, do I see some smiles? Yay!

Yes.

I hope he is not discouraged by all those, and I believe he is not.

[Inge l-w]

Dear besleybean, apparently BC can break his own rules at will, because this is not stage door outside, it is backstage!

Unless the young man is family, but as far as I know he has only a niece.

[sfmpco]

From what I've read, two actors visited him backstage and that was one of them.  The names of the actors were not given.

[Inge l-w]

From what it looks like, it could be Freddie Fox, Edward Fox's son, the one his elder cousin Laurence got to browbeat in Lewis. If that's the case, the boy has grown even handsomer over the last few years, and he comes of a family of artists much longer and more established than Benedict's. For starters, he's the shortie in the family, and he has all the family traits too. Thanks for the pointer, sfmpco!

[Boton]

Ben did backstage!

 

In the meantime Phonegate made it into German media, but they hardly care about the original message.

"Why fans spoiled the performance to BC" Made fans into idiots and Ben into over-sensitive snob. Plus f**** up the facts.

 

I think I stop follow this. You only get angry.

On the other hand it's such a great example of how media work and how information gets perverted.

 

It's a ridiculous thing to get into a kerfluffle over.  I watched the clip of BC telling people not to film.  I thought it was firm but kind, and it made a good case for why not to film a live show without really calling anyone out about it.  

 

It made sense for BC to be the one to talk to the fans about it.  In the first place, he's the one with the name recognition, so he may be indirectly responsible for some of the people who are theater novices making (let's call them) "mistakes."  And, he's the lead in the show, and it is appropriate for him to take one for the team and go out to deliver a message on behalf of the cast.

 

Any media outlet who spins this to be BC having a temper tantrum is apparently having a slow news day and coming perilously close to writing fiction instead of celebrity news.

[J.P.]

Well today we have a positive feedback example.

 

Benedict Cumberbatch filming plea is essential in a Periscope and Meerkat era

 

Phonegate could be used to make the issue public. Let's see where it goes in the end.

[J.P.]

Stage door from yesterday

 

What is quite extraordinary, there seem to be no bodyguards - at the Sherlocked Con he had two.

 

Maybe they have snipers at the windows, with Tasers and tranquillizer guns... :P

[Boton]

Stage door from yesterday

 

What is quite extraordinary, there seem to be no bodyguards - at the Sherlocked Con he had two.

 

Maybe they have snipers at the windows, with Tasers and tranquillizer guns... :P

 

What makes me shake my head is I read one report that suggested that there were so many people at the stage door yesterday that it was likely that many were not Hamlet attendees but had instead queued up early so they could try for an autograph.  To me, that seems perilously close to the line of bad theater etiquette, but then again, I'm not one that would try for an autograph in any circumstances.

[J.P.]

Well, the report might be right, at least about the people

http://www.donotlink.com/framed?761532

[Boton]

This beginning of a caption made me chuckle:

 

"Benedict had swapped his Shakespearian costume for a more casual outfit."

 

So, um, he took off his hoodie and put on a different hoodie?   ;)

[Inge l-w]

Dear Boton, if you take a careful look at the photos up to now, it's never a hoodie outside or backstage, once it was a striped t-shirt ( during his plea of not filming) for backstage it is obviously a shirt, and from the articles J.P. has been posting, it's again a shirt and a light windcheater.

[J.P.]

A bit OT, but I wonder if this is a comment to Phonegate, because it was posted today.

Another Ben and a Blackberry