tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post412417992629163091..comments2024-02-18T19:36:43.844+11:00Comments on theatre notes: Brook's LearAlison Croggonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-55026600668257930672007-08-24T09:52:00.000+10:002007-08-24T09:52:00.000+10:00'Tis a pleasure to be sure to quote the Bard...Tha...'Tis a pleasure to be sure to quote the Bard...<BR/><BR/>Thanks for those insights, Carl: Beckett's work, of course, comes from the same place. You force me to confess that I have NEVER seen a Kurosawa film. I am quite aware that this is a shameful admission. I have been meaning to remedy this for years - the shame is getting to a critical point - down to JB HiFi for me, I guess...Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-61060099944117281432007-08-24T09:03:00.000+10:002007-08-24T09:03:00.000+10:00Hi Alison,Thanks for that quote. It sends a shiver...Hi Alison,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for that quote. It sends a shiver up the spine to think how often we don't and yet how imperative it is. Certainly a motto for your site.Duncan Grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14902035523136117656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-6343617878154671942007-08-23T09:52:00.000+10:002007-08-23T09:52:00.000+10:00Alison, your thoughts on Brook's Lear reminded me ...Alison, your thoughts on Brook's <I>Lear</I> reminded me also of Kurosawa's radical adaptation, <I>Ran</I>. I wrote something on the two a few years ago<BR/><BR/><I>...In contrast to this, even though their films are polar opposites in some respects, both Kurosawa and Brook revel in emphasising a bleak pessimism in their versions of Lear . It is an understanding of the text that is informed by Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-28952634688218505722007-08-22T10:49:00.000+10:002007-08-22T10:49:00.000+10:00Hi Duncan - thanks for that lovely meditation. Yes...Hi Duncan - thanks for that lovely meditation. Yes, Edgar is a wonderful counterpoint in the play and Brook's film. When the camera travels lovingly over his shuddering body in the storm scene, it's almost unbearable (you <I>know</I> he's not acting). And of course he's the one who says those telling lines at the end (a kind of motto for this blog, if you like!)<BR/><BR/>The weight of this sad Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-72662654216716639532007-08-22T09:32:00.000+10:002007-08-22T09:32:00.000+10:00Speaking of films of Lear the recent(ish) film of ...Speaking of films of Lear the recent(ish) film of Adrian Noble's National Theatre production of Lear confirms that the heavens are only just there. Kent and the end leaves to the call of his master with a cart carrying the bodies of Lear and his family; a most potent end. It was a production set in the Cottesloe theatre I believe and was a very intimate production. The film reflects this. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-53069256998079320792007-08-21T19:07:00.000+10:002007-08-21T19:07:00.000+10:00Hi Alison,Thanks for an insightful reminder of how...Hi Alison,<BR/><BR/>Thanks for an insightful reminder of how great the play is, more specifically Peter Brook's treatment of it and the relevance to our times. <BR/><BR/>I have just come off assistant directing on Hamlet which was not so great as a production but it was a real treat to get to know the play a little better. And as a playwright it always delights and surprises me when I am Duncan Grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14902035523136117656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-18058408495359914462007-08-21T19:04:00.000+10:002007-08-21T19:04:00.000+10:00The Russian films of Hamlet, Lear and 12th Night a...The Russian films of Hamlet, Lear and 12th Night are good but really hard to find.<BR/><BR/>The Welles' Macbeth, and Othello have been released on luvly DVD all restored with talking heads and extra features and biogs and all sortst of things.<BR/><BR/>The (Peter) Brook Lear is pretty special though. Did you get one of those Euro DVD copies? Mine has French and Spanish subtitlesOn Stage And Wallshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10123174160610622544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-3696086213249609332007-08-21T18:22:00.000+10:002007-08-21T18:22:00.000+10:00I like 'em both.I like 'em both.TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-70073011193319031602007-08-21T17:32:00.000+10:002007-08-21T17:32:00.000+10:00And how might one get one's hands on a copy, Ms. C...And how might one get one's hands on a copy, Ms. C?<BR/><BR/>Out of interest, have you ever seen any of Welles' Shakespeares? Or, for that matter, his own masterpiece, <EM>Chimes at Midnight</EM>?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-68238111195148336992007-08-21T16:49:00.000+10:002007-08-21T16:49:00.000+10:00Bardassa, I'll look out for that. It sounds like a...Bardassa, I'll look out for that. It sounds like a must-have. And thanks Tim...but I could only watch a minute or so. It's such a travesty compared to Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder!Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-36665543733330126292007-08-21T16:38:00.000+10:002007-08-21T16:38:00.000+10:00Mel Brooks' King Leer is interesting as well... Ke...Mel Brooks' King Leer is interesting as well... <A HREF="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBZS8CzH9Gg" REL="nofollow">Keep a close eye on the poster in this trailer.</A>TimThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10333303180015967125noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-29123330310612481862007-08-21T16:11:00.000+10:002007-08-21T16:11:00.000+10:00You need to get hold of an article called "Lear Lo...You need to get hold of an article called "Lear Log" by Charles Marowitz, who was an assistant director on Brook's 1962 staging (also with Schofield, Webb, Worth, Cusack and others who went on to appear in the film).<BR/>The article goes into details about Brook's process, influences and how he suggested the actors grow thier characters. It's one of those 'Rosetta Stones" documents from that On Stage And Wallshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10123174160610622544noreply@blogger.com