Othello
Quote her a line of Othella
And she'll think you're a hell of a fella!
Brush up your Shakespeare
And they'll all kowtow!
Yes, they'll all kowtow (Prithee)
Yes, they'll all kowtow (Quotha)
Yes, they'll all kowtow!
So we went to see Othello last night at the NT, with Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear. It was alright. First time I've ever seen Othello and what struck me was how odd it was that it counts as one of the four big tragedies, when actually the subject matter and plotting is more the matter of comedy or farce, with all Iago's machinations and the business with the handkerchief and Roderigo etc etc. With the other 3 tragedies, there is matter of great moment, the fate of kingdoms, themes of kingship, loyalty, patricide etc, with Othello, it all revolves around some bloke being fooled into thinking he's being cuckolded.
For that reason, it's really important that whoever plays Othello has such great charisma, or the production wangles it so that you really understand what a great man the general is, that the inherently comical aspects of the plot are overwhelmed by the sorrow of his fall - and I don't think Adrian Lester pulls it off. He's just not impressive enough, so you end up by thinking he's just a big idiot. Kinnear is again brilliant at making you feel that these aren't just lines for him, but that Iago is a real person and that this is really happening, making the Shakespeare as clear and comprehensible as something contemporary and realist, but overall it wasn't a life-changing production. Desdemona's death was very affecting though - it goes on so long! and she so wants to live! and the girl who played Emilia, Lyndsey Marshal, was really good - small, punchy, feisty, really gave it her all. I'd want her on my side in a firefight!
Then came home (I love seeing stuff on the South Bank, we can be home in 30 minutes) and found the girls watching Leonardo di Caprio slipping off the life raft in Titanic, the big nougat-head. Why didn't he find another piece of floating jetsam for crying out loud, the whole sea was littered with it? Stupid movie. I didn't cry once when I first watched it, which just demonstrates culpable incompetence on James Cameron's part, as absolutely anything makes me cry in the movies. I was watching League of Their Own with Laura the other day, got to the bit where some minor character gets a telegram telling her that her husband's been killed in the war, and I immediately started tearing up.
Watched last episode of Series 1 of Game of Thrones and went to bed OBSESSED with Daenerys Targaryon and her dragon hatching abilities, and with huge hots for Jorah Marmont. What a great show. So glad I'm only getting to it now, so I don't have to wait months for Series 2, the DVD of which is lying downstairs on the DVD player even now... waiting for me...
And she'll think you're a hell of a fella!
Brush up your Shakespeare
And they'll all kowtow!
Yes, they'll all kowtow (Prithee)
Yes, they'll all kowtow (Quotha)
Yes, they'll all kowtow!
So we went to see Othello last night at the NT, with Adrian Lester and Rory Kinnear. It was alright. First time I've ever seen Othello and what struck me was how odd it was that it counts as one of the four big tragedies, when actually the subject matter and plotting is more the matter of comedy or farce, with all Iago's machinations and the business with the handkerchief and Roderigo etc etc. With the other 3 tragedies, there is matter of great moment, the fate of kingdoms, themes of kingship, loyalty, patricide etc, with Othello, it all revolves around some bloke being fooled into thinking he's being cuckolded.
For that reason, it's really important that whoever plays Othello has such great charisma, or the production wangles it so that you really understand what a great man the general is, that the inherently comical aspects of the plot are overwhelmed by the sorrow of his fall - and I don't think Adrian Lester pulls it off. He's just not impressive enough, so you end up by thinking he's just a big idiot. Kinnear is again brilliant at making you feel that these aren't just lines for him, but that Iago is a real person and that this is really happening, making the Shakespeare as clear and comprehensible as something contemporary and realist, but overall it wasn't a life-changing production. Desdemona's death was very affecting though - it goes on so long! and she so wants to live! and the girl who played Emilia, Lyndsey Marshal, was really good - small, punchy, feisty, really gave it her all. I'd want her on my side in a firefight!
Then came home (I love seeing stuff on the South Bank, we can be home in 30 minutes) and found the girls watching Leonardo di Caprio slipping off the life raft in Titanic, the big nougat-head. Why didn't he find another piece of floating jetsam for crying out loud, the whole sea was littered with it? Stupid movie. I didn't cry once when I first watched it, which just demonstrates culpable incompetence on James Cameron's part, as absolutely anything makes me cry in the movies. I was watching League of Their Own with Laura the other day, got to the bit where some minor character gets a telegram telling her that her husband's been killed in the war, and I immediately started tearing up.
Watched last episode of Series 1 of Game of Thrones and went to bed OBSESSED with Daenerys Targaryon and her dragon hatching abilities, and with huge hots for Jorah Marmont. What a great show. So glad I'm only getting to it now, so I don't have to wait months for Series 2, the DVD of which is lying downstairs on the DVD player even now... waiting for me...
posted by FBT at 8:47 am
1 Comments:
Have you read the books? The worst is having read the series and waiting for the next one but the damn author is too busy with the tv show to write it!
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