At last!

A magazine with all the Will in the world

SHAKESPEARE
Issue 9

FREE

TOM
HIDDLESTON

Annus
Horribilis

From Henry V to Coriolanus:

Say Hello to Shakespeares
Secret Weapon!

James Shapiro on
1606: William
Shakespeare and
the Year of Lear

e
u
s
s
i
l
SpeciEa
A
M
E
N
I
C
E
H
T
T
ARE A

P
S
E
K
A
H
S

Coriolannus
Hiddlesto
finds his
killer instinct

Macbethith

A movie epic w
er
Michael Fassbend
ard
and Marion Cotill

Bill

Shakespearean
comedy from the
crew
Horrible Histories

Hamlet

Benedict
Cumberbatch
!
on the big screen

Duchess of Brittany.
Wife of Henry IV.
Queen of England.
She is Joanna of Navarre. This is her unforgettable tale.

The Queens Choice by Anne OBrien is published by

MIRA on 14 January 2016, priced 12.99 (Hardcover),
7.99 (eBook)

Welcome

Welcome
to Issue 9 of Shakespeare Magazine

Photo: David Hammonds

A few months ago I strolled into Bristols Odeon cinema, paid

the princely sum of five pounds, took my seat in the front row,
and settled down to watch Michael Fassbender and Marion
Cotillard in the epic new film of Shakespeares Macbeth.

One evening soon after, I drove to the Bristol Cineworld, where

I sat enthralled by the NT Live screening of Benedict Cumberbatch
in Hamlet. Around the same time, we could have seen brilliant
Shakespeare spoof Bill in UK cinemas, while encore screenings of
Tom Hiddlestons Coriolanus were on the way. And screenings of Alex
Hassell in Henry V and Kenneth Branagh and Judi Dench in The
Winters Tale were not too far behind.
Apart from enjoying these films and screenings myself, Ive also
enjoyed seeing the often delighted reactions of Shakespeare fans all
over the world. And Ive learned some interesting facts along the way.
Did you know that Cumberbatchs Hamlet was screened in 85% of
UK cinemas? And that its biggest single audience was in Bristol? Not
the screening I was at, but the Vue cinema over at Cribbs Causeway,
where a staggering eight screens were packed out.
To celebrate the rise and rise of Shakespeare on screen, this issues
cover star is the superb Tom Hiddleston as Coriolanus.
Let me also take the opportunity to wish you all a happy and
rewarding 2016. Of course, its set to be another huge year for
Shakespeare, so wed better brace ourselves!
Enjoy your magazine.
Pat Reid, Founder & Editor

SHAKESPEARE magazine

SHAKESPEARE Contents
At last! A magazine with all the Will in the world

Issue 9

FREE

TOM
HIDDLESTON

Annus
Horribilis

From Henry V to Coriolanus:

Say Hello to Shakespeares
Secret Weapon!

James Shapiro on
1606: William
Shakespeare and
the Year of Lear

l issue MA
Specia
ARE AT THE CINE

SHAKESPE

Coriolannus
Hiddlesto
finds his
killer instinct

Macbeth

A movie epic with

er
Michael Fassbend
and Marion Cotillard

Bill

Shakespearean
comedy from the
crew
Horrible Histories

Hamlet

Benedict
Cumberbatch
on the big screen!

Shakespeare Magazine
Issue Nine
December 2015

Founder & Editor

Pat Reid
Art Editor
Paul McIntyre
Staff Writers
Brooke Thomas (UK)
Mary Finch (US)
Contributing Writers
Helen Mears
Kayleigh Tyr
Chief Photographer
Piper Williams
Thank You
Mrs Mary Reid
Mr Peter Robinson
Ms Laura Pachkowski
Web Design
David Hammonds
Contact Us
shakespearemag@outlook.com
Facebook
facebook.com/ShakespeareMagazine
Twitter
@UKShakespeare
Website
www.shakespearemagazine.com
Newsletter
http://tinyletter.com/shakespearemag

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Lord
of war

The landmark that was

Tom Hiddlestons Donmar
Warehouse Coriolanus.

13

I play the
man I am...

16

Sweet
prince

How Shakespeare helped

TVSZMHIXLIWSYPERHVIJSV
Hiddlestons stellar career.

%JXIVXLSWIWIRWEXMSREP
screenings, we look again at
Cumberbatchs Hamlet.

20

Mud, blood
and fears

26

All the
kings men

A muscular Macbeth movie

starring Michael Fassbender
and Marion Cotillard.

World-renowned Shakespeare
scholar James Shapiro on his
new book, 1606.

30

A series
of funny
misunderstandings

-XWXLIJYRRMIWX7LEOIWTIEVI
PQJSVEZIV]PSRKXMQI1IIX
the people behind Bill.

38

Man and
myth

42

The glory of
our art...

Paul Edmondson re-examines

7LEOIWTIEVIWPMJIERH[SVO

Gorgeous poster art book

Presenting Shakespeare.

! Coriolanus
Due to massive popular demand,
Tom Hiddlestons Donmar Warehouse
Coriolanus recently made a triumphant
return to cinemas around the world.
Our US correspondent caught it on the
FMKWGVIIRVWXXMQIVSYRH

Lord

Words: Mary Finch

Images: Johan Persson

of

War
SHAKESPEARE magazine

Coriolanus

Hiddleston
embodied the
extremes, contrasting
his gentle appearance
and voice with the
harsh and bloody
events of the play

SHAKESPEARE magazine

! Coriolanus

ast year in London, Donmar Warehouses staging of

Shakespeares Coriolanus made headlines not only for
a powerful production, but because British movie star
Tom Hiddleston played the title role, continuing the
trend of big film actors tackling the Bard.
Set in a nondescript modern war zone, the
design of the production heightened the
violence of the language and the action.
But being tall, athletic and charming,
Hiddleston hardly seems like a brutal warhardened soldier. His portrayal of Hal and

Virgilia (Birgitte
Hjort Srensen) and
Coriolanus (Tom
Hiddleston).

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Coriolanus

Cominius (Peter
De Jersey, left),
Sicinia (Helen
Schlesinger, above),
Titus Lartius
(Alfred Enoch,
below).

SHAKESPEARE magazine

! Coriolanus

Clockwise from
left: Menenius (Mark
Gatiss), Alfred Enoch
in rehearsal, Brutus
(Elliot Levey),Valeria
(Jacqueline Boatswain).

10

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Coriolanus

Actors remained
on stage even when
their characters
were not in the
scenes. The sparse
set and costume
design maintained
a brutal simplicity

Henry V in The
Hollow Crown TV
series easily fitted
his intense youthful
demeanor, but Coriolanus
seemed a bit of a stretch.
Indeed, most of his film experience has
been playing the soft-voiced villain (such as
Loki in Marvel blockbusters Thor and The
Avengers) or the smooth-faced gentleman
(for example, Sir Thomas Sharpe in the
recent Crimson Peak).
But director Josie Rourke knew what
she was doing. As is the case for so many
Shakespeare characters, Coriolanus is a
constant contradiction and Hiddleston
embodied the extremes in his performance,
contrasting his gentle appearance and voice
with the harsh and bloody events of the play.
Coriolanus downfall is both his
hardheaded pride and his compassion for
his mother, Volumnia (Deborah Findlay).
Because Hiddleston captured both aspects,
the play truly felt tragic.
His moments of intimacy with Virgilia
(Birgitte Hjort Srensen) and Volumnia read
as sincere as his roaring against the tribunes

Coriolanus and
%YHMYW,EHPI]
Fraser).

and plebeians. Hiddlestons Coriolanus was

adorably amusing as he solicited for voices
from the fickle citizens, while also being
viciously terrifying in his delivery of I
banish you!
The intimacy of the Donmar space
translated smoothly to the cinema screen for
those of us watching around the world. But
it was unapologetically a piece of theatre.
The actors remained on stage even when
their characters were not in the scenes, and

SHAKESPEARE magazine

11

! Coriolanus

the sparse set and costume design

maintained a brutal simplicity.
While Hiddlestons performance
made the character a success, the
supporting cast made the production
a success. Perhaps best known as
Mycroft in Sherlock, Mark Gatiss
played Menenius as the politician you
could love, while the tribunes Brutus and
Sicinia (Elliot Levey and Helen Schlesinger)
lent an Iago-like conspiratorial feel to their
conniving conversations. As much as the
audience hated them, we couldnt help being
drawn into their plans.
Almost a year since seeing the
production, many moments remain
seared in my mind. Coriolanus dripping
blood after the battle, physically and
emotionally exhausted. Menenius losing his
unquenchable optimism and determination

12

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Hiddlestons
Coriolanus at his
blood-drenched
zenith.

after his failed intervention with Coriolanus.

Aufidius (Hadley Fraser) shrewdly eyeing
his enemy and choosing to forge a vengeful
alliance. Volumnia facing down her son
when all the men have given up hope.
Ultimately, this production proves
that Coriolanus deserves a place among
Shakespeares other great tragedies. And that
Tom Hiddleston has the power to dominate
the stage as well as the screen.

4VSPITom Hiddleston

I play the

man I am

With his 2013 portrayal of Coriolanus at Londons

Donmar Warehouse, Tom Hiddleston was acclaimed as
one of the worlds most exciting Shakespearean actors.
However, the British stars relationship with the Bard
began much earlier in his career

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SHAKESPEARE magazine

13

! 4VSPITom Hiddleston
British Shakespeare legend Kenneth Branagh
cast Hiddleston as the villainous Loki in his
Marvel adventure Thor

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14

SHAKESPEARE magazine

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each of the real page fragment pendants is unique, made from salvaged old
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Please contact us if you would like to discuss a custom order.
Email: info@scribbelicious.com

! Hamlet
Benedict
Cumberbatchs
Hamlet captured
the popular
imagination and
ignited a global
media frenzy.

Starring Benedict Cumberbatch,

director Lyndsey Turners Hamlet
at Londons Barbican was the
Shakespeare event of 2015. And
then it was screened live to cinemas
worldwide, which meant we all got
to see what the fuss was about

Sweet
Prince
Words: Kayleigh Tyr

16

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Hamlet

Hamlet is always going to be a tricky play

to stage. Everyone, from theatre buffs to
armchair Shakespeare scholars, has an idea of
how Hamlet ought to be. Add an actor like
Benedict Cumberbatch and naysayers start
baying for blood claiming his star quality
detracts from the role, or that people are
seeing the play for the wrong reasons.
Unquestionably droves of people flocked
to Londons Barbican and to local cinemas
to see Hamlet, but whether initial interest
was because of Cumberbatch or not seems
irrelevant the production delivers a fresh
and modern Hamlet. And, thanks to
National Theatre Live broadcasting the play

Hamlet (Benedict
Cumberbatch) and
Laertes (Kobna
Holdbrook-Smith)
in the eye of the
rehearsal storm.

in cinemas, big productions like this are now

becoming accessible to a much wider range
of audiences. And the screenings of Hamlet
were a stunning success, with box office
takings running into the millions.
Presented by Sonia Friedman Productions
and directed by Lyndsey Turner, the play is
immediately distinguished by Es Devlins
beautiful set design. The stage is elegant and
suitably cinematic in its detail, and the 360
degree filming means that NT Live audiences
can fully appreciate the subtleties of staging.
The ornate banquet table, the piano
played by Ophelia (Sin Brooke), and the
richly decorated walls evoke early twentiethSHAKESPEARE magazine

17

! Hamlet
Designed by Es Devlin, the
stage is elegant and suitably
cinematic in its detail

century European decadence. We first meet

the royal couple Gertrude (Anastasia Hille)
and Claudius (Ciarn Hinds) hosting a
lavish dinner party in their palace, with the
commandeering Claudius goading Hamlet
in front of preening courtiers. This socially
privileged world becomes increasingly fragile
as revolution threatens to blow it all to pieces.
Huge piles of rubble fill its floors, while
soldiers brandishing guns run up and down
the palace stairs.
Against this backdrop, Cumberbatch
plays a Hamlet who never loses his

18

SHAKESPEARE magazine

San Brookes
portrayal of
Ophelia resonated
powerfully with
audiences.

dignity nor his intellectual poise. Indeed,

Cumberbatch is charming as Hamlet, even
when manipulating the earnest Horatio
(Leo Bill). Only in the scene where Hamlet
is playing with toy soldiers do we see
him slightly unravelling, but he quickly
composes himself. Though by no means
light-hearted, the production provides ample
opportunity for laughter in the humour of
the foolish Polonius (Jim Norton) and the
witty gravedigger (Karl Johnson). Anastasia
Hille plays Gertrude superbly, capturing her
divided loyalties, whereas Ciarn Hindss
Claudius is dictatorial yet strangely attractive.
Sin Brookes Ophelia is heartbreakingly
delicate and creative, clutching a camera
and snapping photos. Her affection for
Hamlet seems immature and her descent into
madness is pitiful she slowly disappears
from sight as she clambers over rubble.
The onset of war and madness is not
only mapped by the palaces decay, but also
by increasingly dishevelled appearances
as imagined by costume designer Katrina
Lindsay. Gertrude in particular loses her
stately poise, ending up distraught in a silk
nightie. Credit is also due to the trio of Jane
Cox (lighting), Christopher Shutt (sound)
and Jon Hopkins (music), who maintain the
tempo throughout, deftly transporting us
through the plays charged scenes.
The production offers a refreshing take on
a famously complex play, giving us a Hamlet
which reverberates with our recent 20thcentury history of dictators, war and madness.
And just as refreshing is the way in which
NT Live is bringing this all within reach of so
many more would-be theatre-goers.

Hour-Long Shakespeare
expertly abridged for performance and as an introduction to Shakespeares greatest plays

Henry IV, Part 1, Henry V AND Richard III

VOL TWO Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth AND Julius Caesar
VOL ONE

Matthew Jenkinsons careful alterations of some of Shakespeares

most important plays may give us less than 50% of each plays
lines, but they convey far more than that percentage of each plays
theatrical power. Moreover, they belong 100% to the highest
traditions of both teaching and performing Shakespeares plays.
Professor Michael Dobson, Director of the
Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-uponAvon, and Professor of Shakespeare
Studies, University of Birmingham

Order now from

www.johncattbookshop.com
Coming soon: Vol 3: A Midsummer Nights Dream,
Twelfth Night and
The Tempest

! Macbeth

20

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Macbeth

Macbeth (Michael
Fassbender)
broods over the
bleak Scottish
landscape,

Starring Michael Fassbender and Marion

Cotillard, director Justin Kurzels Macbeth is
a cinematic feast of majestic Scottish scenery
and brutal Shakespearean violence.
Words: Kayleigh Tyr

SHAKESPEARE magazine

21

! Macbeth

eeing Macbeth on the big screen is

rather a revelation. The potential
of cinematically depicting the
plays rugged Scottish setting and
pitched battles sets it on a different
path from the more domestic
explorations that have become
current in theatres.
This on-screen Macbeth is less about the
twisted psychology of guilt, and more about
the brutal Highland culture and the physical
trappings of kingship. The initial battle
scenes and the misty isolated village where
Lady Macbeth (Marion Cotillard) prays and
waits for her husband, are in stark contrast

Fassbender and
Cotillard as the
regal Macbeths.

22

SHAKESPEARE magazine

with the later vast cavernous palace and royal

bedchamber. Despite its refined setting,
Macbeths kingship offers him no respite his
crimes become more insidious, his mind more
tortured.
The films re-iteration of violence and
blood makes for uncomfortable viewing. Yet
the violence constantly intermingles with long
lingering shots of the scenery, and beautiful
music. Even battle scenes are filled with stylised
shots, in a way that aestheticises the violence.
In a similar way, the three screenwriters, Jacob
Koskoff, Michael Leslie and Todd Louiso,
maintain the aesthetics of Shakespeares words
and the beautiful cadences of his verse. The
brutality is poetic, never gratuitous.
Michael Fassbender makes a stately, serious

MacbethI
Fassbenders
Macbeth is every
inch a battlehardened warrior.

Duncans death
is visceral and
messy the perfect
embodiment
of the horror
of murderous
ambition
SHAKESPEARE magazine

23

! Macbeth
Lady Macbeths
languidness is
mesmerising. She
makes us feel the
terror of Macbeth
spinning out of
control

Macbeth who transforms from bloodstained

warrior into evil tyrant. His Macbeth is
attractively brooding and mysterious, though
his apparent pleasure in burning Macduffs
family at the stake alienates him from the
audience rather definitively. Marion Cotillard
is beautiful as Lady Macbeth, though a few of
her speeches lack energy and vigour.
The interesting choice of starting the film
with the Macbeths childs funeral means that
Lady Macbeths background is that of grief,
not of blind ambition. Her languidness is
mesmerising and, in her poised interactions
with him, she makes us feel the terror of
Macbeth spinning out of control. Eventually,
the shock of Macbeths actions leaves Lady
Macbeth speechless and she increasingly
disappears from sight, dying quietly. The sexual
chemistry between the two is convincing in its
easy, familiar manner, and Macbeth holds her
dead body like he once embraced her.
Macduff is brilliantly played by Sean
Harris, whose clipped heroism conveys his
integrity as a staunch family man. In his final
slaying of Macbeth in an epic sword battle,
his pain of losing his family is transformed

24

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Marion Cotillards
nuanced portrayal of
Lady Macbeth was
widely praised.

into murderous rage. Similarly David Thewlis

gives us the perfect King Duncan, noble yet
diffident, whose death is visceral and messy
the perfect embodiment of the horror of
murderous ambition.
The witches (Seylan Baxter, Lynn Kennedy,
Kayla Fallon and Amber Rissmann) are one
of the films true triumphs. They appear
and disappear in the fog like a dream and
are a flawless blend of the supernatural and
the earthly. The sense of female wisdom
and regeneration, demonstrated by their
growing brood, provides a thought-provoking
counterbalance to the masculine powerbrokering of the Scottish kingdom. By giving
young Fleance (Lochlann Harris) such a
prominent role in the storys ending, the film
celebrates the witches powerful understanding.
Just like the witches, it seems, the film hails
the coming of the next generation, underlining
the cyclical nature of a history fuelled by
ambition and violence.

Planning to perform
a short selection
from Shakespeare?
The 30-Minute Shakespeare
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The 30-Minute Shakespeare Anthology

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THE 30-MINUTE SHAKESPEARE is an acclaimed series of abridgments that tell the story of each play while keeping the beauty of

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The 30-Minute Shakespeare series is available in print and ebook format at retailers
and as downloadable PDFs from 30MinuteShakespeare.com.

! Interview: James Shapiro

James Shapiros 1606

depicts Shakespeare at
a creative crossroads
during a troubled time
for England.

26

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Interview: James Shapiro

All the

Kings Men

James Shapiro discovered so much about Shakespeare when

exploring a single year, 1599, that he resolved to repeat the
process. The result is a new book, 1606: William Shakespeare
and the Year of Lear, that opens a window into Shakespeares
stellar career as a Kings Man during the reign of James I.

Interview by Pat Reid

Author photo by Mary Creggan

Youve said that your

Shakespeare journey began
when you were visiting
London in the late 70s
and you got hooked on
watching Shakespeare plays
seeing literally hundreds
of productions in the space
of a few years. Is this what
propelled your approach
as an academic taking
Shakespeare studies out of
the ivory tower and returning
it to the sweaty cockpit of
Londons theatreland?

Ive never really thought of those

two sides of my identity cultural
historian and theatergoer as quite

so separate as your question implies.

They are really complementary. Its
true that I didnt enjoy Shakespeare
in high school and never took a
Shakespeare course at university,
and only became interested in
Shakespeare after seeing scores of
productions in the late 70s and early
80s in London and Stratford-uponAvon. But seeing those performances
made me all the more eager to
investigate the circumstances of their
creation. Ive spent the past three
decades in archives on both sides of
the Atlantic delving deeply into how
those plays were a product of their
times. Over the past few years Ive
summed the circle, and now spend

a good deal of my time advising

theater companies about the cultural
pressures that helped shape the
plays.
When your book 1599 came
out a decade ago, it felt like
a periscope into the past.
Readers like myself were
excited and inspired by how
it allowed us to imagine
Shakespeares life and work
in the context of a historical
moment.

I stumbled on the idea about

writing about a single year quite
by accident. I felt that I needed
to learn everything I could about
SHAKESPEARE magazine

27

! Interview: James Shapiro

James I didnt really understand his
English subjects, and couldnt control
Parliament as Elizabeth had
Shakespeare and his world what he
read, what was going on politically
and economically at the time,
how Shakespeare got to and from
Stratford, even what the weather
was like. I had to set a limit, of
course, and the one I chose was
chronological stick to one year.
I chose 1599 because that was the
year in which the Globe Theatre was
built. It took me 15 years to research
and write that book, and by the end
of that time I had a much clearer
understanding of Shakespeares
working conditions and a finished
manuscript that I could share
with others equally curious about
experiencing his world in this way.

attempt to topple the king and

destroy the royal family and the
nations political and religious elite
the Gunpowder Plot would leave
deep scars. The great hopes for the
Jacobean regime were all but over by
the end of this year.

In 1599 there was a strong

sense of anxiety and paranoia
about current events the
Spanish threat, unrest
in Ireland, the Queens
declining years that fed
into Shakespeares output
during that time. In 1606,
if anything, the situation in
England is even worse?

I began as one of those scholars

who always spoke of Shakespeare
as an Elizabethan, never fully
acknowledging that he spent the
last decade of his writing life as a
Kings Man, in a playing company
patronized by James himself.
And in my book on 1599 I only
reinforced the image of Shakespeare
as an Elizabethan. So Ive spent
much of the last decade trying to
make amends, first researching
and presenting a three-hour BBC
documentary on the Jacobean
Shakespeare, then writing a book
about a remarkable Jacobean year.

In retrospect, the crises of 1599

quickly passed. Within five years the
Irish rebels were crushed, a peace
treaty was signed with Spain, and
the aging and childless Queen was
succeeded by James VI of Scotland,
who had a male heir and a spare
Prince Henry and Prince Charles.
The problems of 1606 would not be
resolved quite so easily. The Union
of Scotland and England, which
James so avidly promoted, would
not occur for another century. The
aftermath of that failed terrorist

28

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Youve been a prime mover

in encouraging readers to
think about the Jacobean
Shakespeare who succeeded
the Elizabethan one. For
many of us its still a
revelation that Shakespeare
was not only alive during the
Gunpowder Plot, but that
in Macbeth he apparently
penned a response to it

Its also staggering to think

that Macbeth, Antony and
Cleopatra and King Lear
could all have been written
in the same year. Would this
have been mind-blowing for
Shakespeares colleagues and

audiences? Or just business as

usual in the rapid-turnover
world of the Jacobean
playhouse?

If I recall correctly, Thomas Dekker

wrote or collaborated on ten or more
plays in 1599. Writing three plays a
year was not unusual for Elizabethan
and Jacobean dramatists, nor had it
been for Shakespeare from, say, 1595
to 1599 But the years between
Hamlet and Lear were fallow ones
for Shakespeare, in which he wrote
one or at most two plays a year. He
tended to write plays in inspired
bunches (and would again in 161112 when he wrote three romances
Cymbeline, The Winters Tale, and
The Tempest). Were just fortunate
that he found his footing in 1606
and wrote three remarkable and
quite different tragedies.
As an addendum to the
Shakespeare Authorship
Question you addressed in the
excellent Contested Will, Ive
noticed a growing number
of people whove chosen
to believe Shakespeare
was a Catholic or Catholic
sympathiser. What do you
think about this? While
researching 1606, did you find
anything that might support
or disprove this notion?

Most of the evidentiary claims

for the Catholic Shakespeare have
been demolished of late. My own
position is that we dont and cant
know with any confidence what
he professed. His religious beliefs
remain hidden from us, and anyone

Interview: James Shapiro

who claims otherwise is reading the
life through the work, or projecting
onto Shakespeare things they want
to believe about him.

meaning at this time individual is

one but those alterations typically
take decades. Its fascinating tracking
these changes in the Oxford English
Dictionary as well as in new scholarly
tools like the database Early English
Books Online.

someone who shied away from

company (at least according to reports
by neighbors in Stratford-uponAvon). But a researcher in Edinburgh
has recently unearthed a document
How did your view of King
from the 1640s that describes how
James evolve while you
Shakespeare (along with Ben Jonson
were exploring 1606? Did he
Youve recently been involved and fellow actors Richard Burbage
deserve the wisest fool in
in taking a production of
and Laurence Fletcher and the rest
Christendom tag that history Macbeth into prisons in New
of their roistering associates in King
has given him?
York. This made me think two Jamess time) had cut his name on
Thats a great question. I remain
things: how admirable to bring the paneling of the famous Tabard
of two minds about James. I have
Shakespeare to some of the
Inn in Southwark. The discovery
enormous respect for his intellect
most disenfranchised people
allows us to imagine a different sort
and he was surely the best writer
in the US and werent you
of Shakespeare a popular actor
ever to sit on the English throne. He afraid a riot would break out? who enjoyed drinking with friends,
also handled the aftermath of the
Having spent a few afternoons in
one who was happy to join them in
Gunpowder Plot quite well, refusing prisons and jails of late, Im struck
carving autographs on the wall of a
to listen to those who wanted to
time and again by the graciousness
favourite pub.
crack down on his Catholic subjects. that those who are incarcerated have
But as smart as he was, James was
extended to the actors. Ive never felt
also profligate, didnt much enjoy
threatened or scared. Jails, especially
the day-to-day business of ruling
ones like Rikers Island in New York,
(preferring to let others handle that
can be awful places to be imprisoned.
Get James Shapiros new book
while he spent his days hunting), and But the Public Theaters Mobile
wasnt much of a husband or father. I Shakespeare Initiative, which visits
could excuse all that if he had learned these facilities, has never had anything
UK: published by Faber as
how to become a better king, but by but the warmest reception. Like
1606: William Shakespeare and
the end of 1606 it was clear that he
all playgoers at good productions,
the Year of Lear.
didnt really understand his English
inmates are quickly engrossed. And
subjects, didnt know how to control unlike performances in the West End
Parliament as Elizabeth had, and had or Broadway, in prisons the magic of
USA: published by Simon
failed to fulfill the high hopes the
Shakespeare is never disrupted by the
& Schuster as The Year of Lear:
English had in him.
ringing of cell phones.
Shakespeare in 1606.

Youve spoken eloquently

about how the word
equivocation changed its
meaning for Shakespeare
between Hamlet and Macbeth.
Did you encounter any other
words that underwent similar
transformations in or around
1606?

Its really unusual for the primary

meaning of a word to undergo such
a sea-change in so short a timespan
as equivocation did in the aftermath
of the Gunpowder Plot. There are
other words that underwent shifts in

Macbeth is the only one

of Shakespeares works to
contain either the word
rhinoceros or the word
rhubarb. Whats the most
absurdly interesting thing
about Shakespeare or his
works youve learned from
immersing yourself in 1606?

Another great question. It would

have to be a fresh discovery that
changes our view of Shakespeares
sociability. Until this past year,
surviving anecdotes about
Shakespeare often portray him as

SHAKESPEARE magazine

29

! Bill
People will
remember the name
Shakespeare
twenty years from
now! Mathew
Baynton as the
overly-optimistic
Bill Shakespeare.

30

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Bill

A Series
of Funny

Misunderstandings
From the Horrible Histories crew, the
brilliantly funny BillPQUYMGOP]FIGEQI
IZIV]7LEOIWTIEVIJERWJEZSYVMXI&EVHWTSSJ
;IXEPOIHXSXLIXEPIRXIHXIEQEFSYXXLIMV
)PM^EFIXLERMRWTMVEXMSRW
Words: Brooke Thomas

SHAKESPEARE magazine

31

! Bill

L
Testing times for
Bill Shakespeare
and Christopher
Marlowe (Jim
Howick, right).

aurence Rickard and Ben

Willbonds vision of Shakespeare
couldnt be further from
Shakespeare in Loves swaggering
sex god artiste. Hes also very
different from the mature
playwright we know from the
ubiquitous Chandos portrait.
Bill is more of a naive and
bumbling dreamer type an
Elizabethan Del Boy, if you will.
Hes confident that this time next
year his talent will have made the
family rich. Even if hes not quite
sure what his talent is yet.

32

SHAKESPEARE magazine

The Horrible Histories team channel true

comedy greats in their first feature-length film.
There are moments that echo Monty Python,
others that are pure Mel Brooks on History
of the World: Part I form, and plenty of stuff
thats unique to this delightful company. Its a
testament to the teams comedic bravery that
the title character, the great and wonderful
Bard with a capital B, spends half of the film
dressed as a tomato.
Bill (Mathew Baynton) is a failed lute
player. The band that throw him out, Mortal
Coil, are more Mumford and Sons than
Greensleeves, but even they cant handle Bills
idiosyncratic style. Much to the dismay of his
wife Anne (Martha Howe-Douglas), Bill takes
off for that London hoping to sell a play. The
only problem is he cant write for toffee and
plague has closed the playhouses. Anne just
wishes hed grow up and get a real job.

Bill

Bill screenwriters and

co-stars Ben Willbond
and Laurence Rickard
8LI7LEOIWTIEVIUYSXIW
GSQIXLMGOERHJEWXMRXLI
JMPQWJMREPIFYXEVIXLIVI
ER]VIJIVIRGIW]SYPSZIXLEX
HMHRXUYMXIQEOIMX#
Laurence: There was one that
got cut from a really early scene.
Bills talking to Anne on the hillside
and it was just a really geeky thing,
it was a detail I really remembered
from school.When he said he was
going to get another job, she said
Oh, youre going to go work for your
father, because people always need
gloves. I love those rich little nuggets
of history. I think theres plenty in the
film.
Ben: Theres too much in the end.
We couldnt cram enough in, really.

Bad guys
Walsingham
(Laurence
Rickard, above)
and King Philip
II of Spain (Ben
Willbond, below).

-J]SY[IVITYXXMRKSRE
JYPPPIRKXL7LEOIWTIEVITPE]
XSKIXLIV[LMGLSRI[SYPH
]SYGLSSWI#
Ben: I do like Much Ado. Its perfect.
Its farcical, it has misunderstandings,
highs and lows, assorted love
stories
Laurence: I think thatd be good.
Id like to do a Merry Wives as well,
because Falstaff is just
Ben: I was hoping that one day
youd give us your Hamlet.
Laurence: I think you might have
to keep hoping on that one. For the
love of Shakespeare I will not do
Hamlet.

SHAKESPEARE magazine

33

! Bill
Multi-talented cast members
Simon Farnaby, Jim Howick
and Martha Howe-Douglas
%WEGXSVWHMHMXJIIPEPMXXPIFMX
[VSRKXSQEOIJYRSJXLIMGSRXLEX
MW7LEOIWTIEVI#
Simon: No, not at all, because I think he
would have approved. Shakespeare himself
wrote historical plays and Im sure not
everything he said about, for example, King
Richard III was true. He took dramatic licence
and never let facts get in the way of a good
story.Weve kind of done the same with
Shakespeares story We fill in the gaps in a
very creative and interesting way.
;LEXHS]SYXLMRO]SYVWXEXMSRMR
PMJI[SYPHFIMJ]SY[IVIEVSYRHMR
)PM^EFIXLERXMQIW#
Martha: Collecting bodies.
Jim: Probably a minstrel of some kind or a
jester. Id be some sort of servant man, maybe
a messenger.
Simon: Id be a probably a prostitute.
I mean, its an easy way to make some money,
youd get to hang around the court a bit
Martha: I think you could be an
innkeeper.
Simon: Yeah!
-J]SYGSYPHTPE]ER]7LEOIWTIEVI
GLEVEGXIVMREWMQMPEVGSQMGWX]PI
to BillSVWXVEMKLX[LS[SYPH]SY
GLSSWI#
Jim: Hamlet the Dane, I think.To give a sort
of Horrible Histories interpretation of Hamlet
would be quite fun.
Martha: I like The Taming of the Shrew, so I
wouldnt mind giving that a bash.
Simon: Id like to do a comedic Richard III.
Jim: Hasnt that already been done?
Simon: Has it? Whos done it?
Jim: I did it.
Simon: You!
Jim: But not a Shakespearean one.
Simon: Yeah Id actually do it, Now is the
winter of our discontent
Martha: Well, now everybodys heard that
you never know, do you?
Simon: Yeah, it might be snapped up.

34

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Anne Shakespeare
(Martha Howe(SYKPEW RHW
herself on a certain
iconic London stage.

BillI
Queen Elizabeth I
(Helen McCrory) faces
a dastardly Spanish plot.

Meanwhile, tension is growing between

Elizabeth I (Helen McCrory) and King Philip
II of Spain (Ben Willbond). The latter hatches
a plot to kill the Queen and sails to England
with a gang of villainous neer do wells. Before
long, poor hapless Bill, his mentor Marlowe
(Jim Howick), and long-suffering Anne are
embroiled in the evil scheme. The plays the
thing to kill a queen, and Bills work is hijacked
by the Spanish and their new accomplice the
Earl of Croydon (Simon Farnaby).
Even though the film is, of course, full of
inaccuracies and anachronisms (the scheme to

kill Queen Elizabeth resembles the gunpowder

plot that was aimed at her successor, for
example) its also rife with nerdy easter eggs.
Many of Shakespeares great works are quoted
directly, and one of the funniest lines comes
from Kit Marlowe arranging a meet-up at The
Bulls Head in Deptford. Its quite safe, he
says confidently.
Its silly, very silly, and theres no time
to catch your breath between jokes. At one
point, on a beach strewn with bodies and with
fear of a murderous regicidal plot seizing the
country, Walsingham declares The game is
SHAKESPEARE magazine

35

! Bill
Its a delightful comedy that has
echoes of everything from Monty
Python to Mel Brooks

afoot! while holding a disembodied leg. The

death scene with the most heartstring-tugging
potential is deflated by the best-timed your
mum joke in history. Youll groan as often as
you laugh, but thats expected. The writers play
up to it with knowing nods, and, alongside the
more innovative humour, the groan-worthy
puns manage to feel fresh.
This ensemble is as used to playing
multiple roles in a single piece as Shakespeares
own actors would have been. Its a true
joy to watch them playing such a range of
characters with such a dizzying array of silly
accents. Although each and every character
has stand-out moments, Walsingham, one of
Larry Rickards parts, steals every scene hes
in, especially when hes hiding. Songs are a
staple for the Horrible Histories and A Series of

36

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Croydon (Simon
Farnaby) seems to
be doing an early
version of Macbeth
in Bills play.

Funny Misunderstandings brilliantly sends up

Shakespeares comedic tropes.
This is the rare kind of film that pretty
much everyone can enjoy. Adults as well as
kids, Shakespeare fans and people who dont
give a plague rats arse about Early Modern
theatre. Its a witty, irreverent send-up of all
the period dramas weve seen before, as well as
a unique comic story in its own right. A great
family comedy and a unique addition to the
every growing Shakespeare lost years mythos.
We hope that Bill isnt the last Shakespeareinspired project this talented team take on.

Ever wished you could walk in

Shakespeares footsteps?
Now you can!

The Shakespeare Trail is published by Amberley Publishing, priced 20 hardback.

It is available from bookshops, or you can order your copy online.
ORDER NOW

! Interview: Paul Edmondson

Shakespeare scholar
ERHTVSPMGEYXLSV
4EYP)HQSRHWSR

38

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Interview: Paul Edmondson

Man

and

Myth

Paul Edmondson of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is the

author of 7LEOIWTIEVI-HIEWMR4VSPI, an eminently readable
introduction to the Bard. We met Paul in Stratford-upon%ZSRXSLIEVEFSYXLS[LIWRHMRKRI[TIVWTIGXMZIWSRXLI
centuries-old facts of Shakespeares life.

Interview by Pat Reid

4LSXSWF]'LVMWXSTL1YIPPIV
At one point, Paul, you had
no less than five Shakespeare
books in the pipeline. Lets talk
about just one

Shakespeare: Ideas in Profile is

published by Profile Books, who
published Eats, Shoots & Leaves. Its
a book about Shakespeare for the
general reader, its about 40,000
words long, and its divided into six
chapters. The first is biographical, its

called What was his life like? The

second chapter is How did he write?
The third chapter is What did he
write? The fourth chapter is called
The Power of Shakespeare, and puts
over some of the great themes to be
found in the works. The fifth chapter
is called Encountering Shakespeare,
which considers things like theatre
reviewing and how we might do it,
reading Shakespeare aloud, thinking
SHAKESPEARE magazine

39

! Interview: Paul Edmondson

about Shakespeare in performance
and the various changes that a director
may take a text through. And the final
chapter is called Why Shakespeare?,
which is about the after-effect of
Shakespeare on international culture
over the last 400 years.

out from Manchester University Press

in 2016. So perhaps thats another
conversation. But that is the big
project for the Shakespeare Birthplace
Trust in 2016, to re-present the site
of New Place. And its very much a
world-focused Shakespeare project,
because were the only people who can
Did you have a personal
do that the site where he died, the
SFNIGXMZIMR[VMXMRKXLIFSSO#
site of his family home.
It was an opportunity for me to really
And in recent years, when you
share my enthusiasm for Shakespeare, look at Shakespearean biography, there
and to write the book I perhaps wish
is a renaissance in how New Place
Id most been able to read when I
has come to be considered as part of
was setting out on the Shakespearean
his life. And one of the things I have
journey. It was very interesting to
sought to challenge, and which our
visit, as directly as I do, the whole
re-presentation of New Place seeks
world of Shakespeare biography. This to challenge, is this old crustacean of
is something I have published on
biography that is Oh, he left his wife
before, and obviously its something
and family and went and did all of his
the Birthplace Trust is very interested
work in London, and then retired back
in because of the way we present
to Stratford.
Shakespeare in part through the
You hear that phrase retired
five Shakespeare houses and the many back to Stratford every day from the
documents we care for here from the
mouths of tour guides as you walk
time. But I revisited all of this afresh,
around Stratford, and every time I
and I hope for chapter one Ive really
hear it I wince. Because if you owned
brought some fresh sidelights and
a house the size of New Place from as
some fresh illumination on what
early in your career hes 33 when he
might be considered old facts.
acquires New Place theres no way
youd spend most of your time away
'ER]SYKMZIYWWSQI
from it it just wouldnt be how you
examples of how youve been
would wish to live.
EFPIXSWLIHRI[PMKLXSRTEVXW
SJ7LEOIWTIEVIWPMJI#
What do you think New Place
I can. One of the other books Ive
QIERXXS7LEOIWTIEVI#

been working on is about New Place,

which is the house that Shakespeare
purchased in the centre of Stratford
in 1597. Weve been doing an
archaeological dig there, so that book
is about the dig, and thats coming

It was a status symbol, his wife and

family were there. Other members
of his family his brothers never
married, so what did they do after
1601, after Shakespeare leased his
fathers family home, the Birthplace,

I wanted to write the book I wish

Id been able to read when I was
starting the Shakespeare journey
40

SHAKESPEARE magazine

which hed inherited, to become a

pub? They had to live somewhere,
so my guess is that the extended
Shakespeare family were living in the
large New Place.
It took three to four days to
travel from Stratford to London, and
one of the things I wanted to do in
my opening chapter is to build up a
picture and Im not the first to do
this to emphasise Shakespeare as a
literary commuter, somebody who
got back to Stratford when he could.
Here, one can start to imagine what
his library looked like, a place for
his books, a centre of stillness, to get
away from it all, from the hectic life
of professional theatre. And a place of
retreat, to write and to think.
7S]SYVMQEKISJ7LEOIWTIEVI
is quite different to how hes
SJXIRTSVXVE]IH#

Its all too tempting to imagine

Shakespeare as an inky-fingered Joseph
Fiennes, dashing off a sonnet, writing
the next speech at the drop of a hat,
and actually nothing can be further
from the truth. When you look at
the works carefully, he had books
around him when he was writing
some of those plays. Some of the plays
directly lift from the source material
reshaping it, of course. I write about
this in How did he write? the
transforming power of his imagination
on the sources he was using, and the
sources he needed.
So New Place for me is a place
of books, a place of writing, and
therefore a place that Shakespeare used
as a literary base as well as a family
home. Over the time he was working
in London, isnt it interesting that he
doesnt have a permanent home in
London for the whole of those 20 or
30 years? Hes moving around different
parishes He does buy the Blackfriars
Gatehouse towards the end of his life
of course, he didnt know it was going

Interview: Paul Edmondson

As for the actual content of

Shakespeares plays, how do
]SYETTVSEGLXLEX#

What did he write? looks at things

such as how the canon divides up
generically and why that should be
the case, and is that helpful? and the
plays he worked on in collaboration
with other people.
And I look in that chapter
especially at The Two Gentlemen
of Verona. The play is often talked
about as a slight work, but we can
see the origins of what Shakespeare
then goes on to produce. The theme
that Proteus is the emergence of the
malcontent figure Iago, Richard
III, Iachimo and so on. And so I look
at The Two Gentlemen of Verona as
to be the end of his life. But he doesnt The other two things from Rowe,
carrying essential DNA for the rest of
seem to have lived there, it seems to
though, are the deer poaching at
Shakespeares output. That was a really
have been a financial investment. So
Charlecote I have no immediate
lovely thing to be able to write about
thats definitely something I wanted to objection that that shouldnt be true in Ive always loved that play, I once
point on.
some way. And [the third is] William
played Valentine in it. And its nice to
Davenant, who liked to say he was
write about the dog, Crab, as well
You mentioned that youve
Shakespeares illegitimate son. So I
FIGSQIQSVI[MPPMRKXSFIPMIZI look a little bit afresh at those.
some of the stories about
7LEOIWTIEVIGMVGYPEXMRKMRXLI
18th century

When we look at Rowe, three really

interesting things still resonate with
me from Nicholas Rowes account.
One is that around about 1594 the
Earl of Southampton gives him a
thousand pounds. Which is amazing
and fascinating. It would explain
how he could afford the shares in the
Lord Chamberlains Men around that
time. It would also explain how he
could afford to buy New Place a few
years later. And then, of course, when
his father dies, he makes even more
financial investments, which suggests
his father was not impoverished, as
people often say. Maybe he had money
from the wool dealings. This has been
suggested by the scholar David Fallow
from the University of Exeter, and I
mention him in my book.

And you look into some of the

more nuts and bolts aspects
SJ7LEOIWTIEVIW[SVOMRKPMJI

The first chapter is also about his life

in the professional theatre, and I think
thats fascinating, to look at how his
output was shaped by the demands
of the company. And then How
did he write? is about the books he
needed in order to produce the work,
the actors he was working with, the
stage conditions that affected what
he was able to produce, as well as the
shaping power of his imagination
using the sources Even down to
him using home-made ink from oak
apples, mixed with water or wine or
vinegar you know, and having to
sharpen his quill every so often. Its the
kind of hardware that we find almost
impossible to imagine now, but thats
what Shakespeare had to use.

Shakespeare: Ideas in Profile by

Paul Edmondson is published by
Profile Books, priced 8.99

SHAKESPEARE magazine

41

! Presenting Shakespeare

The Glory

of our Art

Macbeth (III, 5)

Containing 1,100 posters from productions past and present, new book
Presenting Shakespeares global sweep encompasses the strange, the
disturbing and the intoxicatingly beautiful range of Shakespeare-inspired
art, illustration and design. Here are just a few examples

42

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Presenting Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet,

Theater Alnwick, US,
1820. d: n/a.
Much Ado About
Nothing, Libanon
on Stage, Charity
Theatre of the Order
of Malta, DE, 2010.
ad/d/p: Alexander von
Lengerke.

Much Ado About

Nothing, Portland
Community College,
US, 2014.
ad: Cece Cutsforth,
d/p: Anthony Catalan

SHAKESPEARE magazine

43

! Presenting Shakespeare

Julius Caesar,
Habima National
Theatre, IL, 1961.
d: Dan Resinger.

44

SHAKESPEARE magazine

Presenting Shakespeare

Richard III,Theatre de la
Renaissance, FR, 2010.
ad/d/p: Cedric Gatillon.

Hamlet,Teatr Ochoty,
PL 1985. ad/d: Andrzej
Pagowski (Dydo Poster
Collection).
A Midsummer
Nights Dream,Teatr
Dramatyczny, PL,
1981. d: Eugeniusz Get
Stankiewicz (Dydo
Poster Collection).

Presenting Shakespeare is available

now from Princeton Architectural
Press. Order your copy here:

SHAKESPEARE magazine

45

Contributors

Brooke Thomas is a freelance writer

and small business owner based

in London. She found her love of
Shakespeare at university and now
runs Past & Prologue, a Shakespeareinspired clothing company. She spent
most of her MA in Shakespeare Studies
scouring various pop-culture mediums
for references to the bard a habit that
has endured beyond graduation.
Find her on Twitter @LiterallyGeeked

Mary Finch Our US Staff Writer

studied English at Messiah College

in Pennsylvania, and is furthering her
obsession at Mary Baldwin College
in Virginia, earning her Masters in
Shakespeare and Performance. Her
interest in the Bard ranges from
the theatrical to the educational to
the literary. Besides William, Mary
has a strong affinity for succulents,
typography, and limericks. Find her
on Twitter: @DaFinchinator

Meet thy makers...

Just some of the contributors to this issue of Shakespeare Magazine

Kayleigh Toyra is a commercial

copywriter by day, poet and Shakespeare

lover by night. Having grown up in
Finland, Shakespeare holds a special
place in her heart as she connected with
British culture through Shakespeare. She
also loves how different cultures always
find their own meanings in Shakespeares
words. She specialised in Shakespeare
during her MA at Bristol University, and
became fascinated by local Shakespearean
performance history.
Find her on Twitter @KayleighToyra

Helen Mears fell into bardolatry

during her teenage years and has

never recovered. She is a volunteer
steward at Shakespeares Globe,
which ensures a regular diet of the
Bard. She teaches English, Film and
Media at Suffolk New College and is
a specialist in teaching Shakespeare
using active methods. Her favourite
Shakespearean actor is Jamie Parker
and her favourite plays are the Second
History Tetralogy. She hopes to
finish her Masters in the Advanced
Teaching of Shakespeare very soon.
Find her on Twitter @hipster_hels
SHAKESPEARE magazine

47

Next issue

We hope youve enjoyed Issue Nine of Shakespeare Magazine.

Heres a taste of what we have coming up next time

Shakespeares First Folio

Emma Smith takes us between the pages of the book

that started it all.

!
!
!
!

Kenneth Branagh

Actor. Director. Icon. King Ken talks about Judi Dench

and The Winters Tale.

Parlez-vous Le Bard?

Yes, its the Shakespeare Guide to Paris

What just happened?

Behind the scenes of web series How Shakespeare

Changed My Life.