Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

yoyo52 · Mar 5, 2001, 11:46 PM

I never figured out the schtick either, maxelson--it was probably the best piece of theater that I've ever seen.

About blood and guts, though, I think that 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (I wonder if that's going to be censored--poor John Ford!) takes the cake. The scene in which Giovanni removes his beloved sister's heart and then brandishes it before his father is just priceless. There's also Duchess of Malfi, with all the body parts intended to make the Duchess mad. That can be a pretty bloody scene.

Did you ever see the BBC production of Duchess, which used to be shown on PBS from time to time? It was pretty good. My favorite scene in the movie (and the first time I saw frontal nudity on an American TV broadcast) is the scene in which the Bishop is in bed with his mistress. I've tried to get a copy of the video, but it seems to have disappeared completely

maxelson · Mar 7, 2001, 10:04 AM

Originally posted by yoyo52:
I never figured out the schtick either, maxelson--it was probably the best piece of theater that I've ever seen.

About blood and guts, though, I think that 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (I wonder if that's going to be censored--poor John Ford!) takes the cake. The scene in which Giovanni removes his beloved sister's heart and then brandishes it before his father is just priceless. There's also Duchess of Malfi, with all the body parts intended to make the Duchess mad. That can be a pretty bloody scene.

Did you ever see the BBC production of Duchess, which used to be shown on PBS from time to time? It was pretty good. My favorite scene in the movie (and the first time I saw frontal nudity on an American TV broadcast) is the scene in which the Bishop is in bed with his mistress. I've tried to get a copy of the video, but it seems to have disappeared completely

Two years before the Titus production in the Pit, I saw a "Duchess" that was fairly kick arse. One character carried (whassisname... whatever- something Florentine and 16th century- Bosola? Yep... that's it.) carried around a rotting corpse throughout the play... the thing did, infact degrade over the course of the action, making for some pretty key comedy when bits fell of.
Very darkly comic production.
Once played Alsemero (sort of.... Also played Francisco) in a Production of the Changeling (only time I've ever been allowed to be a revenger onstage... some of the most fun you can have with your... well, whatever). Familiar with the play? It is called the "flawed" tragedy because it seems that Middleton and Rowley got a bit off topic... spending way too much time on the secondary plotline and kind of neglecting the primary action. The gentleman who produced and directed this extravaganza of gore (a very dictatorial little man from Cambridge- England, not Boston) rearranged the story very nicely. There was no cutting per se, no real liberties with the story lines; he just spliced sections slightly out of order. What he came up with was a very intricate but intriguing plotline. If you know the show or want to hear aboout it, I'l describe the arrangement.
As for the Titus in the Pit, I agree... one of the best I've seen. Came very close to the now famous production of Richard III with Antony Sher as the "bottled spider" hisself. If you have not seen it, or if you have, I recommend a book called "The Year of the King" written by Sher about the production. Excellent as a character analysis/ acting study/ production post mortem. I am pretty sure there is a film of that production. Anyone know of it?

Richard Pinneau · Mar 7, 2001, 10:23 AM

Harold Bloom (in Shak: the Invention of the Human) agrees with your Titus-is-a-parody line of thought.

I assume you've read that book. Not a Bible - but inspired!

maxelson · Mar 7, 2001, 10:28 AM

Originally posted by Richard Pinneau:
Harold Bloom (in Shak: the Invention of the Human) agrees with your Titus-is-a-parody line of thought.

I assume you've read that book. Not a Bible - but inspired!

Got it, have not yet gotten to it. So... the bastid stole my thesis, huh? Why you little...

maxelson · Mar 8, 2001, 01:22 PM

hello? hello-hello-ello-llo-lo-o? Empty room. Hm.

[This message has been edited by maxelson (edited 03-08-2001).]

maxelson · Mar 8, 2001, 01:24 PM

... hey... umm... have we dropped this, then? Aw...<feet shuffling>. No fun.

------------------
"never kiss a gun street girl..."

andi*pandi · Mar 8, 2001, 01:47 PM

http://tech-two.mit.edu/Shakespeare/ http://www.ipl.org/reading/shakespeare/shakespeare.html

some good sites for looking up quotes.

Titania's Oberon · Mar 8, 2001, 10:07 PM

*** SONNET I ***
From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauties Rose might never die,
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heire might beare his memory:
But thou contracted to thine owne bright eyes,
Feed�st thy lights flame with selfe substantiall fewell,
Making a famine where aboundance lies,
Thy selfe thy foe, to thy sweet selfe too cruell:
Thou that art now the worlds fresh ornament,
And only herauld to the gaudy spring,
Within thine owne bud buriest thy content,
And tender chorle makst wast in niggarding:
Pitty the world, or else this glutton be,
To eate the worlds due, by the grave and thee.

[ 1609 Quarto ]

maxelson · Mar 9, 2001, 11:07 AM

Originally posted by Titania's Oberon:
*** SONNET I ***
From fairest creatures we desire increase,
That thereby beauties Rose might never die,
But as the riper should by time decease,
His tender heire might beare his memory:
But thou contracted to thine owne bright eyes,
Feed�st thy lights flame with selfe substantiall fewell,
Making a famine where aboundance lies,
Thy selfe thy foe, to thy sweet selfe too cruell:
Thou that art now the worlds fresh ornament,
And only herauld to the gaudy spring,
Within thine owne bud buriest thy content,
And tender chorle makst wast in niggarding:
Pitty the world, or else this glutton be,
To eate the worlds due, by the grave and thee.

[ 1609 Quarto ]

QUARTOS!!! NO QUARTOS!!! FOLIOS!!!

andi*pandi · May 15, 2001, 03:41 PM

ok, I was killing time over at bartleby.com, and thought I'd check out shakespeare's sonnets, looking for some romantic poetry to use in a wedding ceremony.

1) The sonnets, so far, are really depressing. Shakespeare is either trying to convince someone to have his kid, thereby fending off mortality, or moaning about love lost. He's really worried about that whole mortality thing. All in all, if he was using these as pickup lines, as a woman, I think the whole "sleep with me, have my kids, or you'll die old and lonely" gimmick would fail pretty badly...

2) I just read XLIII, and that pretty much states that He and another guy are competing for love, and he lost, but the other guy is actually him, so he wins...

Conclusion: Shakespeare is schizophrenic!

fisherKing · May 15, 2001, 03:47 PM

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..............

------------------

"another meaningful post" �

maxelson · May 15, 2001, 03:52 PM

Originally posted by andi*pandi:
ok, I was killing time over at bartleby.com, and thought I'd check out shakespeare's sonnets, looking for some romantic poetry to use in a wedding ceremony.

1) The sonnets, so far, are really depressing. Shakespeare is either trying to convince someone to have his kid, thereby fending off mortality, or moaning about love lost. He's really worried about that whole mortality thing. All in all, if he was using these as pickup lines, as a woman, I think the whole "sleep with me, have my kids, or you'll die old and lonely" gimmick would fail pretty badly...

2) I just read XLIII, and that pretty much states that He and another guy are competing for love, and he lost, but the other guy is actually him, so he wins...

Conclusion: Shakespeare is schizophrenic!

Yes, that's RIGHT, and that's the POINT. Keep reading. It grows on you... and don't pay any attention to that "fisherking" character. If he thinks the topic is boring, he is more than welcome to rejoin the "Jobs vs. Dell" debate. Encouraged, in fact.

fisherKing · May 15, 2001, 04:07 PM

Originally posted by maxelson:

Yes, that's RIGHT, and that's the POINT. Keep reading. It grows on you... and don't pay any attention to that "fisherking" character. If he thinks the topic is boring, he is more than welcome to rejoin the "Jobs vs. Dell" debate. Encouraged, in fact.[/B]

sorry! just woke, saw my name mentioned!
topic isn't boring at all, i just made the mistake of reading the POSTS...

just kidding...

(someone who stayed awake for "prospero's books"

maxelson · May 15, 2001, 04:15 PM

Originally posted by fisherKing:
sorry! just woke, saw my name mentioned!
topic isn't boring at all, i just made the mistake of reading the POSTS...

just kidding...

(someone who stayed awake for "prospero's books"

Oh. Well. Then. Apologies. Anything to add to this thread that I had heretofor believed to be long dead?