AT THE CINEMA - ALL HAIL, MACBETH !

 "... a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.”  

At the cinema with my students

It came out on the 5th this month and,  at last, I came to see it this morning. It's the latest film version of Shakespeare's Macbeth. I saw it at the cinema with one of my classes. 

It is a great movie: dark, gloomy, violent, impressive. It was not my first Macbeth, of course, but it was certainly an outstanding one. Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard are giant actors and I expected them to be remarkable  as the two protagonists.  But they were beyond perfection. As Macbeth was doomed to be king and Lady Macbeth his Queen, Fassbender and Cotillard were born to embody these two icon figures.  They were not simply remarkable but incredibly intense, impeccable in their renditions. 

"The film is a grimly visceral version of the classic play and offers a fresh take on the tortured rise and fall of the Bard's darkest anti-hero". (Mail Online)

WAS SHAKESPEARE A CATHOLIC? AUTHOR ELIZABETH ASHWORTH ON SHAKESPEARE'S LOST YEARS

In April 1757, men working on the house in Henley Street, Stratford, where William Shakespeare was born, discovered a six page, hand-written document hidden between the eaves and the joists. It was a copy of the Borromeo Testament, an affirmation of the Catholic faith written by Cardinal Borromeo of Milan. Each one of the six pages was signed by John Shakespeare, William’s father. It would seem to suggest that the Shakespeare family continued to practice the forbidden Catholic faith. In addition, two Stratford recusancy returns have survived from the year 1592 and on both John Shakespeare is listed. His excuse for not attending church was that he was in debt and feared his creditors – a myth which has persisted although evidence suggests that John Shakespeare was not in debt and that it was a common excuse made by Catholics to avoid the Protestant churches. The final clue that the Shakespeare family were Catholics is a list compiled in 1606, after the Gunpowder Plot, of people missing from the Easter communion in Stratford. On this list is the name of Susanna Shakespeere – William’s daughter.

FROM BOOKS TO MOVIES - CORIOLANUS (2011), TWO MOTHERS (2013): HATE, REVENGE, LOVE.

Among the latest films I managed to watch on satellite TV, two adaptations of literary works: a play by William Shakespeare, Coriolanus, directed and interpreted by Ralph Fiennes, and Two Mothers, based on a novella by Doris Lessing.

Fiennes's Coriolanus is not set in ancient Rome since it it a modernization of the Elizabethan play. Warfare characterizes the dark, bloody story of Caius Marcus Coriolanus in this movie, too. A great cast, including Vanessa Redgrave, Gerald Butler, Brian Cox, Jessica Chastain and James Nesbitt, give  life to the protagonists of this political historical play, who are really difficult to find appealing,  but who are, anyway,  complex and interesting, flawed and out of time. 

Coriolanus is a war hero, a strong leader, a patrician who despises the plebeians, a powerful man who is arrogant, impulsive, stubborn, incapable of diplomacy or mediation, except when he accepts  to be allied with his worst enemy, Aufidius,  when it comes to take revenge against his own citizens who had  exiled him. He is ready to march on Rome and destroy it at Aufidius's side since he is blinded by his own rage, his furious, violent desire for revenge. Coriolanus is not a great Roman leader embodying great virtues, but a boastful politician who too easily becomes the victim of other plotting, scheming, and  not even smart -  politicians.  Is he capable of love? He is incapable of denying anything to his own mother, if that can count as filial love. To me, it sounds more like a never totally overcome aedipus complex. Strongwilled mother bends weakwilled son and, in the end, even succeeds in undermining  his convictions, making  him the victim of those other politicians, the ones he had entrusted of his own plan to destroy Rome: the leaders of the Volsci. When they see his undecisiveness in the attack to Rome, though they got their profits from the final peace treaty, they decide to kill him. 

CELEBRATING SHAKESPEARE IN A VERY BUSY FORTNIGHT

Another busy fortnight has passed at work. The end of the school year rapidly  approaches with its haunting burden of deadlines, decisions to be made, reports to be written. A nightmarish fortnight ahead and then some relax, I hope. 

What have you been dreaming of or  actually doing these latest couple of weeks? Unfortunately,  I could grant  myself very  little rest, hence I didn't have enough time for proper blogging, reading or reviewing but I could watch new TV series, go on with the ones I had started seeing and even go to an event in Rome to celebrate old Will's anniversary. I must do something different from the housework and schoolwork,  if I want to remain sane.  Women on the brink of a nervous breakdown has never been one of my favourite titles but it is simply perfect to describe my life.

AT THE THEATRE (AND NOT ONLY): THE GREATEST LOVE STORY OF ALL TIME OR THE MOST ANNOYING TEENAGERS IN LITERATURE? - MY ROMEO & JULIET WEEKEND

I've been recently involved in a discussion on Facebook about Romeo and Juliet, the young protagonists of Shakespeare's tragedy (1595),  who were included in a top ten list of literary annoying teenagers. I really couldn't agree with that dismissive judgement nor with the low consideration given to such finely written characters. Please, don't touch my Shakespeare!

I have myself kindly underestimated Romeo as a dreamer and an incostant lover at times (dying for love for Rosaline and suddenly desperately in love with Juliet?) but he is such a realistic embodiment of teenage fast crushes and violent passions, and that cannot be denied. I couldn't agree with whom  defined the two young lovers as annoying characters.

The audience at the Gran Teatro - Rome

Virtual discussion apart, my real life has been full of emotions connected to the story of the two star-crossed lovers from Verona of late.

Last Saturday afternoon I was at Gran Teatro in Rome with niece and sister and friends to see a musical: Romeo e Giulietta, Ama e cambia il mondo (adaptation of the original French work “Roméo et Juliette” by G. Presgurvic).

I had decided to join  them out of curiosity,  knowing nothing about the show and its cast. As you can

MUCH ADO ABOUT ... MY WEEKEND

It's been long since I last did so many different things in only one weekend!  But this weekend has truly been pretty busy and special.

On Saturday morning I was at school. What's so special for a teacher? Nothing but it is unusual for me, since Saturday is my day off. I had to be there since I was involved in a project and had to take part in two different meetings with two groups of our students to whom I  presented our "Project Anita B."  for the celebration of the International Holocaust Memorial Day (27th January). I'll tell you more about this possibly tomorrow.

Best Places To Travel Based On Classic British Literature

(by guest blogger Marcela De Vivo) England is full of literary history and culture, much of which is not only available via the printed word, but can also be visited as popular travel destinations.

For those who are interested in classic British literature, who might be planning on visiting England in the near future, it’s worthwhile to do some research on what locations are inspired by classical writings, and then plan to visit them accordingly. 

Whether you’re a fan of Shakespeare, Charles Dickens or Agatha Christie, there’s probably a touristy destination for you based on your favorite British classic novel.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WILL SHAKESPEARE! GREAT BOOK GIVEAWAY

William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

The actual date of Shakespeare's birth is not known, but, traditionally, April 23, St George's Day, has been Shakespeare's accepted birthday, and a house on Henley Street in Stratford, owned by William's father, John, is accepted as Shakespeare's birth place. However, the reality is that no one really knows when the great dramatist was born. According to The Book of Common Prayer, it was required that a child be baptized on the nearest Sunday or holy day following the birth, unless the parents had a legitimate excuse. As Dennis Kay proposes in his book Shakespeare:

UPCOMING COSTUME MOVIES AND INTRIGUING NEW PROJECTS: ROMEO AND JULIET, SUMMER IN FEBRUARY AND THE INFERNAL DEVICES

I won't miss these upcoming movies  and  I really hope they will be good. They are all set in the past and this is something I've always been charmed by. Good stories set in the past... period movies! What's in this post? A new Romeo and Juliet whose set was near my home but  I unfortunately missed, Summer in February starring Dan Stevens and Dominic Cooper,  as well as a fantasy YA saga set in the Victorian Age - Cassandra Clare's The Infernal Devices - soon to be adapted for the silver screen . 

THIS YEAR'S WRAP - UP WITH SHAKESPEARE: DRAMATIC EFFECTS ON MY STUDENTS AND ... HUMAN BRAIN

Joseph Fiennes - Shakespeare in love

To wrap up this year's lessons on Shakespeare's work, which I had started in October introducing Elizabethan Drama, I decided to involve my students in the controversial question of the authorship.

It's been a long series of lessons about Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Macbeth, some of the sonnets finally ended with reflections on  the theories opposing Stratfordians to Anti-Stratfordians. My goal was not to instill doubts in their minds but to reflect on the fact that such extraordinarily huge quantity of extraordinary poetry has risen so many doubts in scholars,  also as a consequence to the fact that there are very few traces and evidence  supporting the theory  crediting William Shakespeare from Stratford -  son of a glove-maker later  actor in Elizabethan London -  for its authorship. 

Anonymous 2011

It's been a fascinating theme, which brought about interesting debates,  especially after watching Roland Emmerich's 2011 movie Anonymous with my students. That movie supports an anti-Stratfordian theory: the Oxfordian hypothesis believing that Edward De Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford, wrote what we appreciate as Shakesperean masterpieces. 

Whoever wrote them, these works are still unbelievably modern. Proof is how interested even contemporary teenagers are if introduced to those plays without being scared with the complexity of the language. They must be helped and they'll enjoy and appreciate. 

NICHOLAS COOKE: ACTOR, SOLDIER, PHYSICIAN, PRIEST BY STEPHANIE COWELL - GIVEAWAY WINNER

First of all let me thank Stephanie Cowell for being again my guest at FLY HIGH with a great post dedicated to Elizabethan England. Her first time here was in January 2011 to present her CLAUDE AND CAMILLE, A NOVEL OF MONET. 

NICHOLAS COOKE: ACTOR, SOLDIER, PHYSICIAN, PRIEST, the story of a brilliant but hot-tempered boy who grows up as an apprentice in Shakespeare’s theater troupe 1593 and to whom Shakespeare is a life-long mentor, has been published in the kindle version. To celebrate the event Stephanie granted one kindle copy to the readers of this blog who left their comments. 

The lucky winner is Amanda. 

Congratulations!!!

AUTHOR GUEST POST : STEPHANIE COWELL, WHY I ALWAYS LOVED ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND + GIVEAWAY OF NICHOLAS COOKE (KINDLE EDITION)

Nicholas Cooke: Actor, Soldier, Physician, Priest is a book Stephanie Cowell published in 1993 to great reviews. It is now available in the Kindle version, and Stephanie kindly accepted to talk about it here at  FLY HIGH! If you love historical fiction set in Elizabethan England, you'll be definitely interested in this book. What about getting a chance to win a free kindle copy? Leave your comment or a question for Stephanie Cowell, add your e-mail address and good luck! It's as simple as that. This giveaway is open internationally and ends on October 18th.

I first fell in love with 16^th century England when I was very young and read everything I could about it.  I especially fell in love with Shakespeare and the theater of his day.  So it was likely that the first novel I ever published was about a brilliant boy who grows up as an actor in Shakespeare’s theater group and follows his extraordinary adventures from one difficulty to another, from one love to another, until he eventually becomes a physician and Anglican priest. The novel is Nicholas Cooke: actor, soldier, physician, priest. It was first published to wonderful reviews in 1993 and has just been re-published as a Kindle e-book.

I first traveled to England at the age of 23 quite alone with almost no money, stayed in student lodgings and cheap hotels and ate a lot of greasy sausage rolls with tea. I visited Westminster Abbey and stood before Queen Elizabeth’s tomb. At the Tower of London, the guide pointed out the spot where Anne Boleyn was beheaded. In Canterbury I had an unbelievable adventure with another girl on the

SHAKESPEARE'S LADY BY ALEXA SCHEEN - GIVEAWAY WINNERS

About the book (from Amazon.com)

For centuries, readers have debated the identity of the mysterious Dark Lady in William Shakespeare's sonnets. Emilia Bassano -- lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth and one of the first women poets in England -- could be the answer.

In Shakespeare's Lady, Emilia Bassano is one of the most dazzling ladies at court when she meets the little-known playwright William Shakespeare. Shakespeare sees the world like no one ever has before, and despite everything -- his wife in Stratford-Avon, Emilia's husband and young son, and the will of the fiery and unpredictable queen -- they fall in love. But the course of true love never did run smooth, and the Virgin Queen does not take lightly to her ladies straying. These star-crossed lovers must fight for their love -- and, eventually, their lives. Meanwhile, William, courting the queen's favor for his new theater, pens some of the most memorable stories ever written, and encourages Emilia to write; he helps her compose, and eventually steals, a little bedtime story she calls A Midsummer Night's Dream.

In the tradition of Jane Austen Ruined My Life and The Other Boleyn Girl, this is a breathtaking, emotionally rich story spun out of historical fact. From the plague-ridden streets of London to the throne room of Greenwich Court to the stage of The Globe Theater, this is a meticulously researched and gorgeously written story about grace, forgiveness, and the forbidden love between the greatest poet the world has ever known and the woman who inspired him.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thanks for the interest shown in this book, dear readers, and many grateful thanks to Alexa Scheen for granting me the interview  + two e-book copies to giveaway.

Here are the names of the winners

Nancy & MaryKate 

Congratulations!!!

Visit Alexa Schnee's website  www.alexinksit.com

Her Blog www.alexinksit.wordpress.com 

Follow her on Twitter

AUTHOR INTERVIEW - ALEXA SCHNEE, SHAKESPEARE'S LADY + DOUBLE GIVEAWAY

When I read about Alexa Schnee and her just published Shakespeare’s Lady, I was amazed both by the author's young age (she’s as old as my son and not much older than my students!) and the fascinating story kept behind that gorgeous cover.  I’m longing to read the book, meanwhile I’ve tried to know something more about the writer.

Join me, meet Alexa Schnee and congratulate her on her great achievement.

First of all Alexa welcome at Fly High! It’s a great pleasure to have you as my guest here. First question is … could you please tell us how old you are?

I am twenty years old, but I turn twenty-one in July!

So young!  You are just my son's age. And how does it come such a young girl has an interest in Shakespeare and his world?

I’ve really had an interest in Shakespeare since I was a kid. I used to read Romeo and Juliet when I was about ten years old and act out the different parts. When I decided I wanted to write the book at sixteen, I had also been reading a lot of literature based in the Tudor time period—so I guess it’s always been a time period I have been interested in.

Do you mind introducing  your novel briefly to our readers?

Sure. Shakespeare’s Lady is a novel based on the idea of the “dark lady” of Shakespeare’s

READING ABOUT RICHARD III ON BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE ( MAY ISSUE)

Look at this bizarre cover (left). Actually, I was not  attracted by it but by the central title: Richard III. Why Shakespeare made him a devil. Yes, this is the question we've wondered about more than once in our Ricardian quest: Why did Shakespeare make him a devil? Why did he choose to depict the last Plantagenet king, dead at Bosworth defending his crown against Richmond (future king Henry VII) in 1485, as the archetype of the tyrannical usurper and the most wicked  of his  villains? 

His Tragedy of Richard III,  was first performed on an Elizabethan stage in 1592-93 among religious tensions, fears of civil war and foreign invasion provoked by the unresolved succession to Queen Elizabeth I. The queen was then 60 years old, single, childless and king  James VI of Scotland would succeed her on the throne after her death in 1603. 

Shakespeare's Tragedy of Richard III was so influential that it characterized and shaped how history would look at those events for the centuries to come. But it's time we know why that happened , if there is a why.

BOOK REVIEW - JAMES SHAPIRO, 1599 A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

I know one is not expected to tell the story of where her copy of the book comes from in a professional review but this is something I especially like in the books from my shelves. When I open one of them, on the first page available there’s always a pencil note (or an ex-libris sticker) reminding me where and when I got the copy, when I read it.  

As for this book, which is one of the latest ones I read, I bought it in London in December 2010, just outside the Old Vic, while I was trying to spend the few minutes left before entering the theatre and reaching my seat. It was too embarassing to stand there inside alone among the chattering crowd in the lounge, so I decided to go out again and got to the bookshop just across the road where I couldn't resist the charms books always have on me. I bought 3 ones. 

After that,  I went back to the theatre carrying a  little plastic bag  (not very elegant I know) containing my new treasures and felt less lonely among the crowd.

Time to write about the book, now! First of all, when I bought it, I thought it was a novel, I don't know why, but that was what I expected. The first sentence in the blurb misled me:

WHEN IN APRIL THE SWEET SHOWERS FALL ....OR WHAT I'VE BEEN WATCHING

SPRING
"... and pierce the drought of March to the root..." In Chaucer's Canterbury Tales ( yes, I'm teaching Chaucer among others these days ) spring is the time of rebirth, of the flourishing of life.
On the contrary, I feel rather exhausted and worn out and while watching the beautiful blossoming spring days out of my window I feel very little enthusiasm, it gives me  no new energy, it doesn't cheer me up at all.  After being mad busy for weeks, I feel now emptied.

I've been overwhelmed by deadlines and paperwork. The result is that I'm so stressed that I haven't been blogging, nor reading, nor doing anything special. And this has made me even sadder.

FANSTRAVAGANZA 3: RICHARD III IN MOVIES OR ... WHY WE WANT A NEW KING RICHARD

Visit the site King Richard Armitage

I became an eager fan of this project as soon as I heard about it while watching an  interview with Richard Armitage at GMTV (3rd October 2007). Now, not only I signed the petition but I also started researching about Richard III and reading history books as well as historical fiction dedicated to him. I've also invited Ricardians and historical fiction writers to write for FLY HIGH to support the cause and I go on, fingers and toes crossed, hoping the project comes true sooner more than later. Of course, I'm talking about Richard Armitage's dream of producing and interpreting a new Richard III.
"And why do we need Richard Armitage's King Richard III project come true?", you might ask. Well, not only because it would be incredibly good to see our favourite actor achieve one of his dreams and ambitious goals -  one for which he has been working, reading and planning for years now - but also because the other Richard, King Richard III,   deserves the acknowledgement of how wronged he has been after his defeat at Bosworth (1485) by Shakespeare's portrayal and, especially, by the Tudor propaganda.
It's rather time people substitute the popular image of the deformed, hunchbacked, wickedly scheming murderer with a more balanced portrait, closer to the historical reality.
This is what Richard Armitage has been dreaming about in the latest years: a fictional,  biographical TV series proposing a new Richard III based on the belief that he was  probably one of the best king England has ever had. A prequel to The Tudors.

SHAKESPEARE & MEDIEVAL HISTORY ON BBC . GREAT DRAMA ONLINE.

Ben Winshaw as Richard II

Stellar cast for four Shakespearean  Histories 

BBC's  2012 schedule sounds quite interesting, even intriguing  for someone who loves costume drama and ancient history. BBC2  commissioned 4 films for their Shakespeare season  as part of the BBC’s contribution to the London 2012 Festival and the Cultural Olympiad. The four Shakespeare films will encompass  Richard II, Henry IV (part I and II), Henry V.

RICHARD III BACK ON STAGE - ROBERT FRIPP, DARK SOVEREIGN: A CHALLENGE TO WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

For the first time in four centuries a modern writer challenges William Shakespeare head-on, writing in English as it was available to the Bard. Shakespeare wrote 'The Tragedy of Richard the Third' as Tudor propaganda for the Court of Queen Elizabeth I, portraying King Richard as a misshapen sociopath and killer.

Robert Fripp, the former Series Producer at CBC-TV's investigative 'The Fifth Estate' program, wrote Dark Sovereign over a period of four years. 'Dark Sovereign' counter-attacks Shakespeare's polemic, offering a researched, balanced tale of Richard's troubled reign.

British author Robert Fripp has also written several internationally published books. His fictive 'Power of a Woman' finds Eleanor of Aquitaine writing her memoirs.