Now that’s more like it.<\/p>\n
The Tempest is much more of what I think of as Shakespeare, with sympathetic characters, some comedy and great words. It was his last solo play and it’s a bit past his prime. The ending, in particular, I’ve always founds somewhat unsatisfying after a great first three acts.<\/p>\n
One of things I’ve always noticed about Shakespeare’s plays is that the comedies are a thin layer from being tragedies and vice versa. That is, the difference between the happy conclusion of Much Ado About Nothing<\/i> and the tragic conclusion of Romeo and Juliet<\/i> is a tiny diversion in narrative. A few more seconds here, a few words there and Romeo<\/i> becomes a comedy while Much Ado<\/i> becomes a tragedy. Reading the Tempest<\/i>, I wonder if it would have played better as a tragedy. It’s interesting to note that some works inspired by The Tempest<\/i> — the movie The Forbidden Planet<\/i>, for example — have gone in that direction.<\/p>\n
One of the problems with this project is that Shakespeare’s plays do not read as well as they play. Shakespeare was an actor and wrote plays, I think, that would feed on great acting. One can read them by visualizing the play in one’s head, but it is never quite the same. This is particularly true of the comedies where much of the humor depends on delivery.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Now that’s more like it. The Tempest is much more of what I think of as Shakespeare, with sympathetic characters, some comedy and great words. It was his last solo play and it’s a bit past his prime. The ending, in particular, I’ve always founds somewhat unsatisfying after a great first three acts. One of … Continue reading The Shakespeare Project: The Tempest<\/span>