Benedict Cumberbatch in "Hamlet"

[Inge l-w]

Strange! Ours was live with subtitles, and the intermission was in the Barbican, so perforce in the venue. A 1500-seat auditorium, packed to the proverbial rafters, an audience of all ages from teens upwards, too.

[Boton]

 

Because of the differences in accent and my increasing reliance on closed-captioning when I watch BBC programs (programmes?), I had a lot of trouble understanding what was being said, and I could only reliably understand Hamlet, Ophelia, and Claudius.  Most specifically, BC was the only one, for me, who actually sounded like he was speaking English rather than reciting iambic pentameter or whatever this one is written in, so I was a bit lost a few times.

I hate it when people "recite" a poem -- let alone an entire play!  So perhaps it's just as well that I skipped the theater experience.  I would buy a DVD if the price is fairly reasonable and if I'm still interested if/when they finally get around to releasing it.  But I sure hope it has subtitles!

 

 

If they put out a DVD, I'll probably get it and watch it with subtitles (and over a couple of viewings, because 4 hours is a loooooong time).  First, though, I'm definitely going to read "No Fear Shakespeare" that has the play in modern English, just so I have a better idea of what's going on.

 

Or, like Sherlock and the solar system, I might just "delete" Shakespeare.  :-)  [ducks to avoid rotten veggies thrown my way]

[sittything]

I need "No Fear Shakespeare" in my life.  Thanks, Boton!  That being said I'll probably still be angry when literally almost everyone dies.  lol

[sittything]

I'm going to have to drive 2+ hours to see Hiddles b/c I can't make the showing that's an hour away tomorrow.  Undecided what I'm doing about that, if anything.

[T.o.b.y]

 

Or, like Sherlock and the solar system, I might just "delete" Shakespeare.  :-)  [ducks to avoid rotten veggies thrown my way]

 

Oh, I would definitely not be one of the throwers. I have never been a Shakespeare enthusiast. For a long time, I thought his work was just beyond me and I'd never want to have anything to do with it beyond what was necessary for school. My beloved grandmother, though, really liked Shakespeare plays and every summer, she would try to explain to me why they are classics. She took several Shakespeare-related classes and had plenty of books about his life (the little we know of it), his work, his times and of course a big stack of the plays and poetry, from the pure text editions to big annotated versions and workbooks. Finally, I decided to give the subject one last try and I read the annotated King Lear, The Tempest, Midsummer Night's Dream, Macbeth and Hamlet all in a row. I still want to hug the person who wrote the annotations. After that, I think I "got" it. Not that I became a Shakespeare fan myself, but I really fell in love with Hamlet and I learned to appreciate the rest.

 

My grandmother is dead now, and I think I have grown a bit more partial towards all things Shakespeare over the years because they remind me of her, of how wise she was, how clever and educated and patient with her stubborn teenage granddaughter who thought she was cool for turning her nose up at The Bard. I wish she had lived long enough to see this production, I think she would have liked it.

 

Without this personal connection, I don't think I would be very interested in Shakespeare today either.

 

 

[Inge l-w]

Shakespeare for school really sucked! The teacher thought that as adolescents we would be more attracted to teenage romance, so Romeo and Juliet it was! But there were the complete works at home: Historical plays and me was a matter of love at first sight, or rather read-through! When Goethe the Big Bore was on, I discovered Marlowe through Dr Faustus! However, both Elizabethan and Jacobean romances and revenge plays are pretty much an acquired taste, not everyone's cup of tea.

[sittything]

I could hug you for that, Inge.  I generally feel, and this might be my academic experiences talking, that the general consensus is if one doesn't like Shakespeare then one is either lacking in taste, brains, or both.  That attitude has always seemed so odd and snobbish to me, because people vary in their tastes.  Why is it assumed that we should all love Shakespeare?

[Arcadia]

Strange! Ours was live with subtitles, and the intermission was in the Barbican, so perforce in the venue. ....

Ah. Of course! I should have thought of that.

[sittything]

 

Strange! Ours was live with subtitles, and the intermission was in the Barbican, so perforce in the venue. ....

Ah. Of course! I should have thought of that.

 

 

Mine had an intermission too.  It was built into the program/video they played even though it wasn't live.  All of the NTL performances I've see have had an intermission (Streetcar, Frankenstein, Hamlet).

[Inge l-w]

Dear Sitty, you're most welcome! If I started my rant on Goethe in the rant thread, I'm very much afraid I would take up all available space in bits and bytes allocated to it! Schiller and Von Kleist much more to my liking in terms of period theatre, and Max Frisch above Brecht any day of the week, Ibsen above everyone in the American tradition, like Tenesee Williams, O'Neal and Miller, etc.

[Arcadia]

I must've slept through the intermissions, then, I have no memory of them.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I must've slept through the intermissions, then, I have no memory of them.

 

Maybe your theater fast-forwarded through them, in order to clear the auditorium for the next movie.

[Arcadia]

There was no next movie ... I think I just zoned ....

[sfmpco]

Hamlet NTLive box office success!

 

https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2015/benedict-cumberbatch-hamlet-takes-3m-at-nt-live-box-office/?utm_content=buffer1730d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

[J.P.]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9WhHzv4LXc

[SherlockedCAMPer]

Will need to look at video when I get home.

[Arcadia]

I've been watching a bit of it with the snow falling through it ... awesome!

[Carol the Dabbler]

I've been watching a bit of it with the snow falling through it ... awesome!

 

But if you ever get to a point where you find that the snow is distracting you from paying proper attention to the video, you can always just click on the YouTube button at the bottom of the video, and watch it over there.

[J.P.]

 

How effortless does it look! Does he have wings? Hermes' flying sandals?

 

 

I don't know how about you, but breaking the fourth wall on a big screen always freaks me out.

Maybe because one suddenly finds oneself as the one who's watched.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

How effortless does it look! Does he have wings? Hermes' flying sandals?

 

Maybe he had Khan "borrow" some anti-gravs from Scotty!

 

I don't know how about you, but breaking the fourth wall on a big screen always freaks me out.

Maybe because one suddenly finds oneself as the one who's watched.

Me too, at least sometimes -- and I suspect you have a good point.

 

[Arcadia]

 

How effortless does it look! Does he have wings? Hermes' flying sandals?

I think what he has is called "long legs." And springs in his shoes. :P

[sfmpco]

Just discovered this scene....

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvzHBxvCb4U

[J.P.]

WhatsOnStage is twittering life. Hamlet got one award so far.

https://twitter.com/WhatsOnStage

[J.P.]

And two others...

Hoping for Mark to win the Best Supporting Actor

[J.P.]

WhatsOnStage ‏@WhatsOnStage 5m5 minutes ago

The award for Best Actor in a Play goes to Benedict Cumberbatch for Hamlet #WOSAwards