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What It’s All About The emphasis of the seminar, as the title suggests, is Shakespeare in performance—but lest the title mislead, we shall not be asking members of the seminar to stage the plays themselves! We will engage in a few readings together and practice reading sonnets, but mostly we shall be looking at and listening to professional performances, trying our best to understand how literary and theatrical analysis can work together to give a fuller grasp of Shakespeare's plays as plays. Here it will be necessary, first, to "find" the text, because most modern editions give us versions that were never staged in Shakespeare's time—or at any time. Since they modernize in many ways, adding stage directions and scene descriptions, and—often—conflating two rather different early versions of the play, as in the case of Hamlet or King Lear, we will begin by looking hard at what could have been actually staged at Shakespeare's Globe or Blackfriars Theatre, or what might make an authentic modern production today. This will involve us in all sorts of questions, from choosing among variant readings of particular words ("sallied," "sullied," or "solid" flesh in Hamlet, 1.2) to pondering the significance of the mock trial in Lear, 3.6, which was cut in the revision of the play printed in the Folio of 1623. Other considerations, such as the setting and costumes, stage business, incidental music, use of intervals, etc., will also concern us. Ultimately, we shall try to formulate a set of useful criteria for a responsible criticism of Shakespearean plays in production. This will take a lot of energy; first, in rereading, thinking about, and discussing the plays, focusing on their essential elements; then, in searching for the best way the texts can or should be staged for contemporary audiences. For that is really what the seminar will be about: not the historical background for its own sake, but as it informs our understanding of what constitutes "authentic" Shakespeare in our time. We shall begin by looking carefully and critically at a variety of productions on videotapes to help us grasp the different ways Shakespeare's plays can be staged. Fortunately, the University of Delaware, where the first three weeks of the seminar will be held, has a good library that includes all of the BBC-TV Shakespeare plays and a good number of others on videotape or film. |
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Possibly the only portrait for which Will actually posed. It hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London. |
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Dear Colleague: Hi, and thanks for your interest in the NEH summer seminar, "Shakespeare: Enacting the Text," directed by Jay L. Halio, Professor Emeritus of English, and Professor Leslie Reidel, Professor of Theatre, University of Delaware. The seminar begins June 28 at the University of Delaware and ends in Stratford-upon-Avon, England, on August 1, 2009. This letter will describe present plans and, we hope, encourage you to think seriously about applying.
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