And now for something completely different

I could talk about how the Bay Area is officially going under a “shelter in place” order for the next three weeks, and the surreal sight of my local grocery store completely denuded of flour, rice, chicken, and other staples . . . but you know what? My brain is desperate for other material right now.

So! Please recommend to me what you consider to be the best recorded performances of each of Shakespeare’s plays. I do mean each: not just the ones that have been done a bunch of times, like Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet, but anything for which Shakespeare’s authorship is moderately certain. Cymbeline? The Winter’s Tale? Movies, TV miniseries, filmed stage performances, any of those are fine, but not adaptations that use the plot without the script (e.g. 10 Things I Hate About You).

This question brought to you by me thinking, hmmmm, I’ve written some Shakespeare fanfic for Yuletide — I wonder if I could sell some short stories in that vein? I need grist for the mill, basically.

(And feel free to pass the link to this post along to anybody who might have recommendations.)

3 Responses to “And now for something completely different”

  1. Nick Maclaren

    I doubt that you will find it anywhere but, when I was at school, I saw a production of Midsummer Night’s Dream with (a youngish) Judi Dench as Titania, by the Royal Shakespeare Company, played straight with a few minor special effects (mainly for Puck). It was very well-done (as you would expect), and showed that mangling a good (and suitable) play’s script is NOT necessary to produce a good film.

    • swantower

      There are so many awesome productions I wish I could time-travel to see!

  2. Nick Maclaren

    Yes. How many of those old films still exist is unclear, but they are the very devil to get hold of even if they do!

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