The Hollow Crown

[prendrelemick]

Is the BBC's latest Shakespeare offering. Is anybody watching?

[RicMisc]

I am not familiar with BBC programming, when will this be broadcast?

[prendrelemick]

I saw a bit of Richard II last Saturday and I think Henry IV part one is on next Saturday. I think they are doing "The Kings" or some of them. It has passed me by as I have been watching the football.

I found this link.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00s90hz

[RicMisc]

Thanks, I will definitely be watching. Too bad I've missed Richard II last saturday.

[prendrelemick]

Henry IV part one is absolutely stunning, The Tavern scene was outstanding, I was laughing in all the right places - at Shakespeare - I've never done that before. It is a play I have read but never seen and now it all makes sense. It is hard to single out one performance, the whole cast did their job perfectly. Falstaff, Prince Hal and Hotspur are the prime parts and the actors rose to the challenge brilliantly.

Recently the vogue of playing Shakespeare is to make it "accessible", this is a good ambition but leads to producers setting the plays in odd times and just plain daft places. This does not make them accessible, just adds another layer to get through.

This production shows what can be done by great acting and intellegent direction, everything was clear and easy to follow, the language was not a problem - after all language is only a small part of communication- and so the story came through unobscured. This is how Shakespeare should be done, so good and entertaining and deep that you forget it's Shakespeare.

Try and see it if you can.

[Charles Darnay]

I really want to see it but must wait for some online platform.

[Fen]

I am watching the Hollow Crown ( I recorded it so running a few weeks behind) and it is amazing. Richard II was incredible, Ben Whishaw who played the King was more then I could have hoped for he brought one of Shakespeare's best characters to life. The production quality cannot be faulted and nearly everyone (wasn't keen on Bolingbroke) was of the highest standard.

Watched Henry IV part one yesterday though it wasn't great like Richard II it was very good. I felt it did suffer from some of the cuts they made with text. Mainly because I would like to have more time with Hotspur who was very good. It took me awhile to get in to it I felt it had a wobbly start but also I had seen another adaptation recently that was quite different.

Prendrelemick I understand how you feel about never laughing at Shakespeare before. I too had read the play but never seen it and I didn't get why Falstaff was supposed to be a comic character. It was only when I saw a production on Sky Arts that I understood. He was hilarious, I loved him and I finally got why he had been so popular in his day. The BBC Hollow Crown's Falstaff can be funny but I feel he is more a pathetic character clinging on to what he can, this is true of Falstaff in general but the other production revelled in his zest for life and sac leaving the rest to come out in a few poignant moments.

More people should be watching this series it is amazing.