Shakespeare Retold

Shakespeare Retold

The item was as promised in perfect condition. Arrived on time. Wonderful show with an amazing twist on the classic Shakespeare. July 21, 2008

Good fun

This stories are fun new takes on familiar Shakespeare tales. There did seem to be some over-the-top acting that took me out of the stories at some points, but overall a welcome addition to the shelf of any Shakespeare enthusiast. June 13, 2008

"Shakespeare RETOLD - Exactly That"

This BBC Video of 4 plays stands head and shoulders above numerous of the so-called authentic Shakespearean productions I've had to endure in many years of theatergoing. First of all, it has an integrity forecast in its very title, "Shakespeare Retold." Thus we expect to be and happily are spared those half-baked, clueless productions that set an Elizabethan play with its original language intact, say, in 19th-century Tierra del Fuego, believing that the universal can be achieved through the set and costume designer's contempt for historical particulars.

The plays in this DVD set, on the contrary, have all been reconceived and rewritten as contemporary works, sharing to some extent Shakespeare's stories, but not his plots and only glimmers now and again of his grand language. In their own right, they are undeniably entertaining, if ultimately small scale, melodrama or farce. "Macbeth," hewing most closely to its incomparable predecessor, is in my view the finest of the lot. James McAvoy and Keeley Hawes, as an ambitious, future celebrity chef and his enabling wife, turn in ferocious performances which call to mind the best of film noir. Theirs is great acting in melodrama.

Teachers may find it useful, by the way, to set this version next to Shakespeare's and have students discern the differences between expert melodrama and sublime high tragedy. Many will quickly see that all the blood and gore that grabs their interest in the melodrama is part and parcel of the Shakespearean work, which probes the characters more deeply and extends their actions beyond private life or minor celebrity, thus transcending its melodramatic origins. Many of them will further conclude - and quite rightly - that great tragic art, far from being genteel, is the melodrama they love, plus. Also to its credit, this modern "Macbeth" eschews ethical pioneering of the sort that blemishes the modern "Much Ado," which has a Hero who's in fact slept with some jerky guy "out of sympathy" before her true love Claudio, here called Claude, comes on the scene. This modern Hero in her ethics reminded me of a student I once taught who declared after reading "Othello" that Desdemona HAD slept with Cassio, but that she'd done so before her engagement to Othello, so the Moor had no reason to be upset. Fortunately, the modern "Macbeth" is free of any ethical pandering. The only absurdity it might lead students to is the question of how many children Lady Macbeth had since Shakespeare's heroine admits she has "given suck" and in the modern version the pathetic/villainous wife and her husband are supplied with a kid who died in infancy. But this sort of literal minded question applied to poetic drama is, of course, much more easily disposed of than the ethically confused decisions of the Othello student or her soulmate, the contemporary Hero. May 12, 2008

This DVD is GREAT!

I love amazon and this is just one more reason why! The DVD came quickly and it is fantastic! April 17, 2008

Much Ado About Shakespeare!!!!!

I came upon this gem while looking for modern version of Much Ado About Nothing. It's my favorite Shakespeare play and it was perfected again by the charming Damian Lewis and the equally witty Sarah Parish. As Benedick and Beatrice they exchanged witty jabs and insults with one another, then fall "horribly" in love with each other. The other characters were good but, I really didn't like how the plot with Hero and Claud(io) ended, though my friend thought it was brilliant.
The Taming of the Shrew was exceptional! Rufus Sewell as Pertuchio and Shirley Henderson as Katherine were perfect!! I was a little wary that it would be too over the top, but Sewell's performance was top notch and very funny. A wonderful retelling!
I'm not a great fan of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was good in certain parts, but I felt like the writter had a difficult time trying to wrap the ending up.
I can honestly say that this is a good version of Macbeth. I mostly like the romantics and Macbeth is a little too dark for my taste. James McAvoy and Keeley Hawes are Joe and Ella Macbeth. It's a very modern retelling centered around a restaurant that has just recieved three Michelin stars. I like the setting of the retelling, though I also thought a setting involving politics would have been a little better. In my opinion, this was a decent retelling.
Any way you put it there is something for everyone in this set, great actors, wonderful stories and a new way to see Shakespeare. Enjoy!
April 14, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...