Shakespeare Re-told

Okay. So I'm on a BBC kick right now.
I've been watching all the BBC movies/specials the library has. I don't think the can do wrong. They're production values are stunning. Some of my favourite TV shows are BBC productions, Doctor Who, Merlin, Torchwood, Robin Hood.
They also do some of the most complete versions of classic novels. Down to the last detail. See 1995's Pride and Prejudice for an excelent example.

I got this one out yesterday. It's called Shakespeare Retold. It is a series comprised of 4 well known Shakespearian plays (Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth) each play is adapted by a different writer, and relocated to the present day.
Unlike most modern adaptations of Shakespeare, these are the orignal plots and characters, just set in modern times and in modern language.

For example Macbeth is set in a three-star restaurant owned by celebrity chef Duncan Docherty, with Joe Macbeth as the sous chef and his wife, Ella, as the Maître d'. Joe and his fellow chef Billy Banquo are annoyed that Duncan takes credit for Joe's work, and that Duncan's son Malcolm has, in their opinion, no real flair for the business. Then they encounter three supernatural binmen who predict that Macbeth will get ownership of the restaurant, as will Billy's children. Joe and Ella are inspired to hire Eastern European hitmen to kill Duncan, but the binmen subsequently warn that Macbeth should be wary of Peter Macduff, the head waiter.

Each adaptation follows the same formula.
Much Ado About Nothing is set in a local news studio, with Beatrice and Benedick as bickering anchors.
The Taming of The Shrew has Katherine Minola as a career politician, who is told her abrasive personality is bad PR and that it might be good for her image to get married. When penniless nobleman Petruchio shows up, interested at first in Katherine's money, sparks fly in more senses than one.
A Midsummer Night's Dream (the hardest to adapt in my opinion) is muc the same. Theo and Polly visit Dream Park inclusive leisure facility to celebrate the engagement of their daughter Hermia to James. The engagement party is, much to the irritable Theo's horror, disrupted by Hermia's true love Xander. Despite their own disagreements, the fairy rulers of the woods around Dream Park, Titania and Oberon, have a duty to ensure a happy ending.

Each adaptation has an all star cast featuring, James Macavoy (Macbeth), Richard Armitage (Macduff), Keeley Hawes (Ella aka Lady Macbeth), Damian Lewis (Benedick), Billie Piper (Hero), Shirley Henderson (Katherine), Rufus Sewell (Petruchio), Imelda Staunton (Polly aka Hippolyta), and Rupert Evans (Xander aka Lysander).

If your not to much of a purest, you should check these out. It's a great way to get introduced to the stories of Shakespeare without the language to worry about. Unlike other adaptations like these *cough*She'stheman*cough* you are able to pick out the Shakespearian part of the story in it. It still feels like Shakespeare.

Trailer for the series




My two favourites..okay the only two I've watched so far are Macbeth and the Taming of the Shrew. Here are two of my faovurite scenes.

The banquet scene from Macbeth where Macbeth sees the Ghost of Banquo. Brilliant acting from James Mcavoy. I would really like to see him in an actual production of Macbeth. Kenneth Branagh are you listening!




Taming of the Shrew. Petruchio meets Katherine for the first time, calls her Kate and tells her that He will marry her.



That's all for now. I've got to go finish cleaning my room. *sigh* It's a lot to clean.