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Shakespeare for the 21st century (or The Bard is Really Cool)Dateline: 24th November, 2002I was very interested to read Peter's views with regard to Shakespeare's place, if any in the future. His particular concern is whether a man of the 16th century can still survive as an exciting, performed playwright 400 years later. My immediate reaction was to wonder whether I really was part of the last generation that will ever see a Shakespeare play. After any little consideration, I think that the great man (Shakespeare not Peter-although this could apply to either) (Flatterer - I like it! Peter) is still as strong as ever and may well become even more ubiquitous, over the next few years, if that is possible. In London in the last year or so, there have been a vast variety of performances of Shakespeare's plays. These productions vary from the traditional but always accessible at the Globe and sometimes the Royal Shakespeare Company to ultra-modern productions which may offend purists but are often very successful. These include efforts from the likes of Phil Willmott's Steam Industry Company who have recently produced Henry VIII and Measure for Measure Malaya. In addition, Edward Hall whose current Macbeth starring Sean Bean is not to everybody's taste, produced what was probably the best play in the recent Shakespeare's history season, Henry V complete with music by Billy Bragg. He followed this up with his excellent Watermill production of the Henry VI plays, Rose Rage. All of these productions showed much industry and invention and were greatly entertaining. It is highly likely that any child who was lucky enough to attend any of these or the recent, excellent Twelfth Night directed by Sam Mendes at the Donmar and starring the man many regard as our greatest actor at the moment, Simon Russell Beale will be a fan for life. Shakespeare's language may not always be immediately accessible but his words are often familiar. So much of his writing is so quotable that it sometimes seems that almost every famous novel and even many advertisements rely on him as an initial supplier of a good line. There are speeches that are now almost entirely made up of the titles of twentieth-century novels. What better complement can there be to pay to a long-dead playwright? In addition to the theatrical productions, Shakespeare is also present in every other facet of life it seems. I recently reviewed in the excellent Method to Madness, a film about Hamlet that very clearly demonstrated that characters place in contemporary life. Fiona Shaw has recently presented Shakespeare's life on television, in a bid to have him voted the greatest Briton. Who knows, he might even beat the late Princess of Wales and David Beckham. It is also possible to synthesise his language with pop culture. There have been exciting film versions of Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Richard III in the last few years as well as an assortment of outpourings from Kenneth Branagh. All of these have used the Bard's own language and have been been hits with a public that is not generally expected to enjoy Shakespeare. As if all this was not enough to prove the Shakespeare has a great future as well as a tremendous past, we now see the arrival in London of Romeo and Juliet - the Musical. This may not turn out to be great art but it is another piece of evidence to support the thesis. Finally, perhaps the greatest compliment that has been paid to William Shakespeare by the standards of the 21st century is his autobiographical appearance in Shakespeare In Love playing opposite no less a beauty than Gwyneth Paltrow, an Evening Standard nominee for Best Actress in London this year but also one of the hottest tickets in Hollywood. I can't think of anything much cooler than to be played by Joseph Fiennes and to get to share a bed with such a wonderful leading lady. Articles Indices:
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