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Gertrude, Cleopatra, and Margaret--perspectives on women and power Read the full description.
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Piece Description
Much has been written about William Shakespeare's female characters. One group of women in his plays, the queens, are at the top of their social hierarchies, and their stories involve murder, intrigue, sexual allure, infidelity, and violence. They also give us fascinating perspectives on questions of women and power. We'll hear about Hamlet's mother, Queen Gertrude; Cleopatra, the legendary queen of Egypt in _Antony and Cleopatra_; and Margaret, the French-born queen of England who appears in four of Shakespeare's history plays. Fifteen- and thirty-second promos available. If you are interested in this, see another related piece at: http://prx.org/pieces/18125 What's the Word? Al Pacino's Shakespeare
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Joseph Dougherty
Posted on May 02, 2007 at 07:40 PM | Permalink
Review of What's the Word? Shakespearean Queens
There's a conspiracy out there that has spent the better part of a century trying to convince us that Shakespeare is really, really hard to understand; that there is no way into the plays without the sophisticated guidance of people who are smarter than we are. This is the work of bacon-fed knaves and milksops. "What?s the Word" comes dangerously close to being excessively authoritative, but manages to remember that the plays of Shakespeare are vibrantly alive and profoundly accessible with modest effort. The takes on three of Shakespeare?s queens presented here are open, informed and careful to avoid freezing the characters in official interpretations. The only thing that's missing, and it's a surprising exclusion, are samples of the plays themselves. The characters are discussed, but we never get to hear their words. Shakespeare wrote to be performed, and one wishes we could hear the speeches intercut with the commentary.