“…..’Richmond! When last I was at Exeter,The mayor in courtesy show’d me the castle,And call’d it Rougemont: at which name I started,Because a bard of Ireland told me onceI should not live long after I saw Richmond.’…” from Richard III by Shakespeare (Act 4, Scene 2, Lines 103-7) So wrote Shakespeare of Richard III’s arrival at… Continue reading Richard III, Hotspur and premonitions….
Tag: William Shakespeare
What did Chaucer think of the Somerset countryside….?
Life wasn’t always a bed of roses for Geoffrey Chaucer. We may laud him today, but in his own time he sometimes got into debt. His works are brilliant, there’s no doubt about that (I rate him above Shakespeare) and he made a fortunate marriage to one Philippa de Roët. Who she? Well, she was… Continue reading What did Chaucer think of the Somerset countryside….?
Chaucer or Shakespeare?….Chaucer wins every time….!
I’m afraid that I’m not a lover of Shakespeare’s works. I think the blame for this can be laid squarely at the feet of ‘O’ English Literature. I was bored rigid. But when it came to the much earlier Geoffrey Chaucer, which I didn’t read until after leaving school, I loved every word. Maybe if… Continue reading Chaucer or Shakespeare?….Chaucer wins every time….!
Thomas of Woodstock was an unpleasant, supposedly pious bully….
This article Thomas of Woodstock and Shakespeare’s Twisted History | Ancient Origins (ancient-origins.net) begins as follows:- “….William Shakespeare wrote ten history plays. Of these, one of the most famous is Richard II . The play Richard II , written around 1595, is based on the rule of King Richard II (reign 1377-1399), but one of the main characters in… Continue reading Thomas of Woodstock was an unpleasant, supposedly pious bully….
Shakespeare goes North….?
Using software that detects plagiarism in phrases etc, Dennis McCarthy has concluded that Shakespeare adapted earlier plays by “the scholar knight” Sir Thomas North. He sets his reasoning out in a new book entitled simply Thomas North, with the subtitle The Original Author of Shakespeare’s Plays. Is this true? Well, according to this review… Continue reading Shakespeare goes North….?
Finding Richard (from across the Atlantic Ocean)
I had never been much interested in medieval history. I thought of them as backwards and a little too obsessed w the afterlife. However, the “what ifs” of history always intrigued me. What if the Nazis won WWII? What if the north had been defeated in the American Civil War? And so forth. I’d always… Continue reading Finding Richard (from across the Atlantic Ocean)
How to cast a “Richard III”
Here is a Guardian article about Arthur Hughes, who qualifies for the role in that he is male, disabled (in a subtle way) and was only thirty when chosen by the Royal Shakespeare Company, as was Richard III in June 1483 when chosen by the Three Estates. He isn’t an octogenarian, a woman or pretending… Continue reading How to cast a “Richard III”
Wait ’til you see the Duke of Buckingham….!
Here’s an old theatre anecdote:- “….There’s a luvvies’ tale known to every old thesp, about the Shakespearean giant and inveterate boozer Robert Newton, who rolled on stage one night, inebriated as a stoat. As the pickled ham spluttered, drooled and slurred through Richard III, a woman in the front row accused him: ‘You’re drunk!’… Continue reading Wait ’til you see the Duke of Buckingham….!
Further facial reconstructions
Dundee University has shown itself to be the gold standard for facial reconstruction in recent years, working from their subjects’ remains, as with Richard III, Robert I and Henry Lord Darnley. As Kathryn Warner shows here, Panagiotis Constantinou has generated several from effigies, sculptures and other images. They range, chronologically, from Henry III and Eleanor… Continue reading Further facial reconstructions
Now we have a hip-hop rapping Richard III….!
The Bard’s Richard is always getting “the treatment” – of the theatrical kind, that is. I’m not talking about a conventional, straightforward production of the play, but of performances that vie with one another to be most noticed. To me that should read most outlandish. Sorry, but I’m an aging old traditionalist…. Originally, of… Continue reading Now we have a hip-hop rapping Richard III….!
murreyandblue 