The Shakespeare Show

I'm a big fan of Shakespeare, especially when it's performed by amazing Shakespearean talent - actors like Ian McKellen, David Tennant, Catherine Tate or Judi Dench to name a few.  The words just come alive.  Reading Shakespeare is sometimes very difficult to understand, but seeing it performed gives the text new meaning and makes the whole performance just thrilling to say the least.  

So when the BBC announced they'd be partnering with the RSC to present a celebration of the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death, I was all in.  They then announced that it would be hosted by David Tennant and Catherine Tate and would be shown in the US, so by that time it was just a foregone conclusion that I'd be attending.  In England, this celebration took place one month ago on the actual anniversary of the man's death, but we Americans had to wait until this evening to see it.  

And I'd like to say it was fabulous from start to finish, but I just can't.

Don't get me wrong, it had some lovely parts.  There was a whole sketch on the famous To be or Not to be speech performed by quite famous Hamlets from the last few years. There were 4 "films" hosted by Joseph Fiennes that walked the audience through Shakespeare's Stratford and introduced music that was written for his plays.  There were scenes performed by Rory Kinnear, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, David Tennant, and more that just showed how beautiful the words can be when spoken in front of a live audience.  But there was also tons of extra stuff that made the show seem to drag on - performances from Operas that were written with "Shakespeare in mind", performances from Kiss Me Kate and West Side Story because they were based on the works of Shakespeare, and ballets inspired by Shakespeare.

The problem was that Shakespeare was all about the words.  His words were more beautiful and more engaging than any in history.  So when you're forced to watch a ballet or hear an opera that aren't using his words, it's not really celebrating the playwright so much.  The other issue is that they had very senior actors - actors that are known for their work in Shakespeare's plays - and yet they let some stand on the sidelines and only participate for a few minutes here and there.  (I wasn't the biggest fan of Benedict Cumberbatch's Hamlet, but even I know it was dumb to only give him a minute's worth of work in the middle of a Hamlet sketch with 7 other actors.)  So while I still love Shakespeare (and David and Catherine and the RSC), I'll stick to productions from now on and maybe stay away from any and all celebrations that may drone on for just a little longer than they should.