{"id":9856,"date":"2019-04-23T12:32:13","date_gmt":"2019-04-23T12:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/?p=9856"},"modified":"2020-09-02T14:11:32","modified_gmt":"2020-09-02T14:11:32","slug":"cheers-to-our-will-not-sorry-old-george","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/?p=9856","title":{"rendered":"Cheers to our Will, not sorry old George"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Ray Bennett<\/p>\n

Today is St. George\u2019s Day named for the patron saint of several places\u00a0 <\/span>such as Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal and Russia. Oh, and England. We English, of course, don\u2019t mark April 23 in the boozy way the Irish do on St. Paddy\u2019s Day. That would never do. It happens also to be Shakespeare\u2019s birthday and we\u2019d much rather honour our Will.<\/p>\n

St. George is many things to many people including orthodox churchgoers, freemasons, Arthurians and boy scouts. In fact, he was some Turkish bloke employed as a soldier by the Roman Empire who was said to have slayed a long-tailed beast. He came in useful as a martyr for medieval spin-doctors who needed to put a bit of gloss on the Crusades and placed at the heart of all things chivalrous and knightly. When Edward III established the Order of the Garter in 1350, he decided old George would make a fine patron saint.<\/p>\n

The Bard made a brave attempt to encourage us to love St. George in his play \u2018Henry V\u2019 by having the young king tout the saint in a rousing speech aimed at getting every Englishman\u2019s dander up in order to smite the French. It didn\u2019t really take. We\u2019d much rather celebrate Shakespeare, who was born 455 years ago today.<\/p>\n

As London theatre critic for The Hollywood Reporter in the first decade of this century, I was privileged to see a great many splendid stage productions of the works of Shakespeare. Here are some great memories.<\/p>\n

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\u2018Hamlet\u2019\u00a0 <\/span>National Theatre April 2004<\/p>\n

\u2018For his first staging of the play since 1970, Trevor Nunn has chosen a 23-year-old unknown named Ben Whishaw, who catapults instantly to fame with his unforgettable performance. As the young rebel with a cause, Whishaw (pictured with Imogen Stubbs as Gertrude) actually looks more like the early Anthony Perkins, knife thin and gangly, his fear striking out from jangling neuroses and hormones, but who also possesses great calm with beseeching eyes and a killer smile.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018Henry IV Part 1 and Part 2\u2019 National Theatre May 2005<\/p>\n

\u2018Nicholas Hytner\u2019s immaculate production of William Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cHenry IV, Part 1\u201d is so vibrant and enthralling that it cries out to finally be made as a movie. Michael Gambon as Falstaff and Matthew Macfadyen as Prince Hal (top picture) lead a splendid cast. Staged it in conjunction with the more sombrely dramatic \u201cHenry IV, Part 2\u201d, the two plays make up six hours of the most persuasive argument that Shakespeare is as relevant today as ever.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\u2018Macbeth\u2019 A Chichester Festival Theatre production at the Gielgud Theatre September 2007<\/p>\n

\u2018Seldom can Shakespeare\u2019s murky Scottish tragedy \u201cMacbeth\u201d been have staged with so much clarity and emotional punch as in Rupert Goold\u2019s exhilarating production at London\u2019s Gielgud Theatre. Framed in the manner of a gangster film, it stars Patrick Stewart in probably the finest performance of his career in the title role and he is matched in intensity by Kate Fleetwood as Lady Macbeth (above with Stewart) and Michael Feast as Macduff.\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u2018Othello\u2019 Donmar Warehouse December 2007<\/p>\n

\u2018Audiences who flock to see Michael Grandage’s exceptional production of \u201cOthello\u201d at the Donmar Warehouse because of stars Ewan McGregor (as Iago) and Chiwetel Ejiofor (in the title role) will not be disappointed but it\u2019s Shakespeare\u2019s women who steal the show. Kelly Reilly and Michelle Fairley are mesmerizing as the wives whose faith in their men is betrayed wickedly. Reilly is heartbreaking as the faithful but doomed Desdemona and Fairley brings flint to Emilia, who finally sees how she has been duped. Ejiofor captures the nobility and trusting nature of the warrior Othello while McGregor portrays the duplicitous Iago as a cur eager for his master\u2019s approval while doing everything he can to destroy him. Tom Hiddleston co-stars as Cassio (pictured with Reilly)\u2019<\/p>\n

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\u2018Much Ado About Nothing\u2019 National Theatre December 2007<\/p>\n

\u2018Simon Russell Beale and Zoe Wanamaker (pictured) breathe new life into the roles of belated lovers Benedick and Beatrice in Nicholas Hytner\u2019s warmly enjoyable production of \u201cMuch Ado About Nothing\u201d at London\u2019s National Theatre. Beale and Wanamaker find the irony and humor in a couple that once shared something like love but lost it along the way. Encouraged by mischievous friends and family to believe that each is smitten with the other, they convey their characters\u2019 loneliness and misgivings about contemplating happiness.\u2019<\/p>\n

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\u2018Twelfth Night\u2019 National Theatre January 2011<\/p>\n

British stage legend Peter Hall celebrates his 80th birthday by directing his movie star daughter Rebecca Hall (pictured with Simon Callow as Sir Toby Belch) in a lyrical and musical production of Shakespeare\u2019s gender-bending comedy Twelfth Night that shows his touch is as deft as ever. Clad in brilliantly colored period costumes and accompanied by Mick Sands\u2019 sprightly music for cello, mandola and flutes, the players engage one other like sure-footed dancers and the play\u2019s insightful wit is given full measure.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Ray Bennett Today is St. George\u2019s Day named for the patron saint of several places\u00a0 such as Aragon, Catalonia, Ethiopia, Georgia, Greece, Lithuania, Palestine, Portugal and Russia. Oh, and England. We English, of course, don\u2019t mark April 23 in … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,16],"tags":[377,5007,520,3607,2737,757,5006,2847,862,898,912,953,3005,1004,1050,1093,5005,1522,1198,1243,2449],"class_list":["post-9856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","category-theatre","tag-ben-whishaw","tag-chichester-festival","tag-donmar-warehouse","tag-imogen-stubbs","tag-kate-fleetwood","tag-kelly-reilly","tag-matthew-mcfadyen","tag-michael-gambon","tag-michael-grandage","tag-national-theatre","tag-nicholas-hytner","tag-patrick-stewart","tag-peter-hall","tag-rebecca-hall","tag-rupert-goold","tag-simon-russell-beale","tag-st-george","tag-tom-hiddleston","tag-trevor-nunn","tag-william-shakespeare","tag-zoe-wanamaker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9856","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9856"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9856\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10080,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9856\/revisions\/10080"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9856"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9856"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecliffedge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9856"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}