LET US BE EVIL HISTORIES OVERLORDS.
Feb. 14th, 2010 08:56 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
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So I was talking to
faithhopetricks and
speak_me_fair about things that should be done in productions of the histories but never (or rarely) are. (The specific thing that triggered it is that none of us had ever seen a production of the improv scene in 1H4 that took advantage of being in a tetralogy to play up the echoes of Richard II's deposition.)
And from this came the question of things we would totally put in the histories if we were in charge of the Shakespeare world.
I was going to write up my own list to start, but it would take me about three hours to write, so I will put them in in the comments. What sorts of things do you think should turn up in productions of the histories (but don't or probably don't)? ALTERNATELY what sorts of things do directors always seem to do that they shouldn't?
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And from this came the question of things we would totally put in the histories if we were in charge of the Shakespeare world.
I was going to write up my own list to start, but it would take me about three hours to write, so I will put them in in the comments. What sorts of things do you think should turn up in productions of the histories (but don't or probably don't)? ALTERNATELY what sorts of things do directors always seem to do that they shouldn't?
no subject
Date: 2010-02-15 03:25 am (UTC)- Richard and Queenie should hold hands a lot
Also, when York says "But when he frowned it was against the French" Richard should move protectively towards her.
And Queenie should not be required to have a French accent unless the actress is actually French (or a native French-speaker). Fake French accents are nearly always painful (SIAN THOMAS, I AM LOOKING IN YOUR DIRECTION), and since it is medieval England we can pretend they are "really" speaking French anyway. (Which is problematic in re: Mowbray's exit speech, but who's going to notice?)
no subject
Date: 2010-02-15 03:34 am (UTC)Also I think if the gardener does patronize Queenie she should grab the nearest pair of hedge clippers and threaten him with them. BECAUSE. AWESOME.
Slashy bloody productions of RII are the best. I feel that the language, in production, should offset the potential for brutality, not (pace Meredith Skura) sublimate it.
no subject
Date: 2010-02-15 03:43 am (UTC)(and neither was Anne, you're right, although her manner of resistance I totally picture as smiling, nodding, and doing her thing anyway.)
And the dep scene should hurt. The one I think does it best in many ways is Fiona Shaw's, although it's founded on a conception of Richard and Henry's relationship that doesn't quite work for me.
(OMG HOW MUCH DO I WANT TO SEE MCKELLEN'S. A LOT.)
no subject
Date: 2010-02-15 02:17 pm (UTC)(ALSO OMG THIS IS AWESOME TO READ EVEN IF I HAVE NO TIME TO CONTRIBUTE UNTIL TOMORROW.)