Shakespeare strikes again, as timely as ever

William Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday. It was April 23, 1616. On April 23 of this year, 400 years since his death, his life and work were once again celebrated in his hometown of Stratford-Upon-Avon.

You may wonder — and it's worth wondering — how it could be possible to find new ways to honour Shakespeare after 400 years of continuous production of his work and of the recognition of his place at the top of the list of acclaimed writers.

They managed. Today we went to see the big-screen presentation of the show they put together for April 23. It was filmed by the BBC — shown live in the UK — and is now playing around the world.

It's a two hour and 40 minutes show and when it was over, I said, "There wasn't one minute in that production that I didn't like." This is unusual; I'm no pushover.

The show was done at the Royal Shakespeare Company Theatre in Stratford.

The stage was in the centre, the orchestra was elevated behind the stage, there were several pathways leading offstage and there were balconies which were used by the actors for certain scenes. The audience was on three sides, on several levels, all tucked in quite close to the stage.

The show included everything. Some of the critics said when they heard there would be "something for everyone," they cringed and expected a "low-brow" evening of dumbed-down Shakespeare. That's a pretty snobby attitude but anyway, that's not what happened.

What they wanted to show us was Shakespeare and the wide and often direct influence he had on culture throughout the ages. The show included amazing scenes from the plays and beautiful and often touching renditions of the songs. But it also included broad comedy, high drama, Broadway music and dancing, ballet, opera, jazz, hip hop and Rufus Wainwright.

Each piece was either direct Shakespeare or a story inspired by his genius: West Side Story from Broadway, for example; Brush Up Your Shakespeare from Kiss Me, Kate (The Taming of the Shrew); a Duke Ellington composition inspired after he saw a play at Stratford in Ontario (Canadian content!); the pas de deux from the ballet Romeo and Juliet which followed the balcony scene from the play. When the dance ended, we could see Romeo and Juliet from the play, up on the balcony, watching with us.

A funny scene that got a lot of publicity at the time involved the well-known soliloquy from Hamlet. The current Hamlet from the Royal Shakespeare Company had begun to recite it when a director came out and made a suggestion about which word to emphasize — to be or not to be. The joke, which soon becomes obvious, is that more and more Hamlets begin to appear, all to offer their two-cents worth about which word to emphasize.

By the time they've all appeared, Paapa Essiedu has accepted advice from Tim Minchin, Harriet Walter, David Tennant, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rory Kinnear, Ian McKellen and Judi Dench — Hamlet the Dame, she declares.

But the final advice is yet to come. It may be considered that the Prince of Denmark could be well-played by the Prince of Wales and indeed, he was there and he joined the advice party.

You'll be glad to know that after the fun, all the Hamlets except Paapa Essiedu left the stage and he delivered the soliloquy with heart-touching feeling.

The show was efficiently run and well-paced. The hosts were David Tennant and Catherine Tate. They did a lovely job. (She looked very familiar to me and I couldn't place her until I got home and looked her up. She played Nellie in the American version of The Office.)

Helen Mirren made a short appearance near the end as Prospero from The Tempest:

Our revels now are ended./ These our actors,/ As I foretold you,/ were all spirits and/ Are melted into air,/ into thin air. . .

And David Suchet (best known as Hercule Poirot) and Judi Dench appeared as Oberon and Titania from A Midsummer Night's Dream as the celebration ended.

There was so much more. I could sit here for hours, telling you every detail of the show. I won't though but if you can get to see it, I recommend it. I can't imagine that you wouldn't enjoy it.

Musicals that go over the line and need a re-write

When I wrote recently about Camelot, I made a blanket statement. "I love musicals," I wrote.

But musical theatre covers a wide range of tastes and it's not really possible to love it all. In fact, the only show I ever walked out of was a musical comedy.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum was playing at Neptune Theatre here in Halifax — probably in the '80s. It had played on Broadway and in London to great acclaim, had won Tonys and other awards, had made stars of some of its actors. I knew little about it except that music and lyrics were both written by Stephen Sondheim and the production we were going to see had some excellent local actors.

I was looking forward to it, as I always look forward to the theatre.

I knew early on that I wouldn't be there for the curtain call.

I was simply appalled. It was openly and blatantly sexist and for those who don't mind if their plays are sexist, it was also stupid and embarrassingly unfunny. It wasn't something I could just shrug off with a cringe and a grimace. It's a damn wonder I didn't get up and throw something at the actors on stage.

The male characters in this play are buffoons and/or slaves. The female characters are shrews or subjects of ridicule and humiliation. The young beautiful women are being trafficked for sex. The virgins are the ones with highest value.

I can't even believe I'm typing this — and this musical is being performed to this day!

We left at intermission. I think — I hope — I was gracious enough to tell Dan he should stay and I'd make my own way home but Dan left with me. Solidarity, I trust.

The hardest part was that our beloved friend, the late Sudsy Clark, had a fairly large role in Forum and I didn't know how we would handle talking about it the next time we saw him. And to be honest, I can't remember how we handled it or if it even came up. I was a militant, angry feminist then — even more than I am now — so it may be that Suds would know that this was not a play I could easily tolerate.

Having said that, I have some very mixed feelings about Stephen Sondheim. I hated A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and I've never understood the appeal of Sweeney Todd. He wrote the lyrics for West Side Story and Gypsy both of which I like. He's been called the "greatest lyricist of all time" which I wouldn't concede but he's been widely acclaimed by people who should know. Maybe I just can't get the taste of Forum out of my mouth. (Eww. What an ugly image!)

The other well-known musical that I have a problem with is Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel.

I don't remember having a problem with it when it first came out as a movie — 1956 — because it wouldn't have been seen as anything unusual at that time. But Carousel is built around a plot of domestic violence which it romanticizes and eroticizes.

I saw it recently and I was shocked — again — by some of the lines: “Is it possible, mama, that you can be hit and it doesn’t hurt? He hit me — and it didn’t hurt! It felt like a kiss.” And Mother assured her it was indeed possible. It’s love. That is so much the age-old mantra — of beaters and beaten.

Carousel is still performed regularly. It was one of the headliners at Stratford last summer. The Globe and Mail gave it a scathingly bad review.

If ever a Golden Age musical called for sensitive reinvestigation, it’s this one – especially at a time when sexual harassment has become front-page news and public tolerance for the trivialization or romanticization of violence against women is at a new low.

Near the end of Carousel comes the infamous line from Julie to her daughter: “It’s possible for someone to hit you, hit you hard, and not hurt at all.”

How do you create a convincing journey to that line in 2015?

Rodgers and Hammerstein wrote some of the most wonderful songs of the era for Carousel: The Carousel Waltz; You're a Queer One, Julie Jordan; (When I Marry) Mister Snow; If I Loved You; June Is Bustin' Out All Over; When the Children Are Asleep; Blow High, Blow Low; Soliloquy

This Was a Real Nice Clambake; Geraniums in the Winder; There's Nothin' So Bad for a Woman; What's the Use of Wond'rin'?; You'll Never Walk Alone; The Highest Judge of All; Ballet: "Billy Makes a Journey; If I Loved You (reprise);

Finale: You'll Never Walk Alone

It's hard to harbour completely negative thoughts when those songs are involved but there's only so much one can take. Carousel steps over the line and if it's going to be performed, it needs to be changed.

A lovely little village whose name is. . . shh, it's a secret

When we were in England last Fall, we took two wonderful day-trips with The English Bus. One tour took us to Oxford, Stratford and the Cotswolds, the other to Bath, Stonehenge and a Secret Place.

I have written and shared photos of all our stops on the day trips (except for Stonehenge, for some reason) and if you missed them, just click on my highlighted links and have a look. Lovely photos, I promise.

When we set out on the Bath/Stonehenge trip, our guide told us we'd be going to "A Secret Place." He asked us all — there were 16 of us in the small bus — if we would keep his secret and we all agreed that we would.

So I'm not going to tell you the name of this secret place but I'm going to show you a few photos.

I will tell you that this place is mostly owned by The National Trust. You can come here to live (if you can afford a house) but you must agree to be an active part of a living community. This is not a medieval theme park. Young families are particularly welcomed — the school has around 75 students.

The latest structure that was built here was built around 1499.

The secret place has often made an appearance on television and in movies. It's so very picturesque, isn't it? You may recognize one of the old houses from the Harry Potter films.

Without further ado then (and don't forget to click on the photos):

(That's William. I'd know the back of his head anywhere.)

(William again, walking toward the Harry Potter house.)

(I wouldn't mind living in one of these little houses.)

This was certainly a highlight of our trip although I've said that a few times now. Maybe I'll reach the point of saying this was a "highlight of highlights."

4.9 million is just a number

It’s pretty darn hard to criticize the business of tourism and the presence of millions of tourists when you’re one of them. That’s my dilemma as I think back to several travel destinations and locations over the past few years.

We recently visited – for obvious reasons – Stratford-upon-Avon. It’s the birthplace of one William Shakespeare and because of that, 4.9 million people visit the town every year.

Many of them were there the same day we were.

(As always, a reminder to click on the photos to get the enlarged version.)

I don’t really mind the crowds. I feel safer when there are lots of people around – pickpockets aside – and in some of these famous places, I don’t mind lining up or being jostled around.

I’m a bit of a hypocrite though because I recognize the climate change threat of millions of people flying all around the world and I can understand the damage control that officialdom is forced to take in order to preserve ancient works of art from millions of hands and feet all of which are out to despoil valuable antiquities.

I suppose my point is that I think it should be okay for me to travel to wonderful places but other people should stay home.

Imagine what it would have been like at the Spanish Steps in Rome if only I – and maybe a few other deserving people – were there on this day a few years ago.

Having said all that, Stratford is a lovely town and tourism has given the people there a better life than they would have if they had to depend on call centres and the other small businesses that are non-tourism related. Many towns in England are not doing well and by comparison – in fact, even without making any comparisons – Stratford is doing very well indeed.

The house where Shakespeare was born and grew up is still there and some of it is the way it was when he was there. There is something thrilling – it’s almost child-like – about walking on a floor and knowing that William Shakespeare himself walked there. Don’t ask me why.

Shakespeare was baptized, married and buried in Stratford.

I don’t want to come off sounding disillusioned about Stratford. It’s a beautiful town and I very much enjoyed visiting it – crowds or no crowds.

It was raining but we did the walking tour anyway. Look how pretty this is.

All the world's a stage (2)

This is the garden behind the house where William Shakespeare grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon. I was walking here, admiring the lushness and the flowers when I turned and saw a man in a wheelchair a few steps away from me.

I smiled at him. He looked at me intently and said, “Is there something I can do for you?”

He watched me patiently while I considered his question.

“The ‘tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow’ soliloquy from Macbeth,” I said.

He lowered his head and looked at his hands for several seconds. When he looked up again, he was a different person. He began to speak in a low anguished voice.

There would have been a time for such a word.

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

To the last syllable of recorded time,

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage

And then is heard no more: it is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

When he finished – several other people had gathered as he spoke – we gave him a warm round of applause. He bowed modestly and turned and wheeled himself away. It was only later I wondered if I should have given him a couple of quid. Everything does seem to have a dollar/pound value these days although he didn’t look as if he expected payment.

I confess, I wasn’t completely surprised by his question. We had come to Stratford with a charming small touring business called The English Bus. Our guide had told us before we arrived that there are often actors in the grounds or in the houses, always willing to play a part.

More about Stratford and Shakespeare and The English Bus tomorrow.