Conversational Shakespeare was one of the things that I really liked about the Hollow Crown series (Richard II, Henry IV, Henry V). It was fairly clear while watching the interview with the director that she was trying to say "Not Kenneth Brannagh" while not actually SAYING that, and I think she succeeded admirably. As a result, it's really quite delightfully refreshing.
Lear is not my favorite play, even though Lear is why a friend of ours will forever be "her Grace, the Duke of Albany". The director of theatre at Cornell decided to cast all the roles with opposite genders except the Fool, to make...some point. I am not entirely sure whether her point was that Shakespeare does not have to be gendered, or what--it was 20 years ago, so my memory might be a trifle faulty. Kate was a pretty good Albany. The men playing Goneril and Regan were...less good. If nothing else it was a demonstration of how little those men knew about how to play women, and how little the director knew about how to direct them to play women, although I suppose it might have been a lot of work to get them to the point they were at.
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Date: 2015-09-18 08:19 pm (UTC)Lear is not my favorite play, even though Lear is why a friend of ours will forever be "her Grace, the Duke of Albany". The director of theatre at Cornell decided to cast all the roles with opposite genders except the Fool, to make...some point. I am not entirely sure whether her point was that Shakespeare does not have to be gendered, or what--it was 20 years ago, so my memory might be a trifle faulty. Kate was a pretty good Albany. The men playing Goneril and Regan were...less good. If nothing else it was a demonstration of how little those men knew about how to play women, and how little the director knew about how to direct them to play women, although I suppose it might have been a lot of work to get them to the point they were at.