Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I picked up this DVD of Macbeth at a local thrift store for a pittance. Unfortunately, I didn’t do any “due diligence” in checking the reviews before I bought it. When I watched this mess, even Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard, two talented actors, couldn’t save this disaster. Yes, the on-site views of Scotland are great eye-candy. But Justin Kurzel, the director, makes some bizarre choices. And, sadly, many of the actors just mumble their lines.
In High School, the three plays by Shakespeare that we studied were Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, and Macbeth. Of the three, I liked Macbeth the best. I’ve seen the play performed live twice. I’ve seen the Orson Wells’ movie, the Polanski movie, and the Patrick Stewart/Masterpiece Theater version. All are much better than this dismal failure!!! Do you like Macbeth? GRADE: F
Macbeth is my favorite Shakespeare play. In high school we only studied Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. I liked Hamlet but Romeo and Juliet not so much. In college I again had Romeo and Juliet plus Julius Caesar and King Lear. I have never seen a Shakespeare play performed live. I have seen numerous filmed versions, my favorite being Polanski’s Macbeth.
Steve, I took two Shakespeare courses in College and wrote a term paper on HAMLET that the professor said was “publishable.” I agree with you on Polanski’s MACBETH.
I’d love to read your paper on HAMLET.
Dan, I’ll dig around and see if I can find it. I wrote in 1969 so it’s an Oldie but a Goodie.
Not my favorite, but yes, I like it. The last adaptation we saw was when Patti Abbott came to New York in November of 2019 – SCOTLAND, PA. It was a musical adaptation of the 2001 movie which starred James LeGros, Maura Tierney, and Christopher Walken. It is set in 1975 in “Duncan’s Cafe,” a fast food restaurant in the eponymous town. THe book was by Michael Mitnick, the music and lyrics by Adam Gwon. I thought it was fairly entertaining, if not fabulous.
Jeff, I’m aways wary of “adaptations” of Shakespeare.
Unlike Steve, I have seen many Shakespeare plays (and adaptations) performed live. As a matter of fact, the first live play I saw was the first ever production of Joe Papp’s at the newly opened Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home of the yearly Shakespeare in the Park. It was THE MERCHANT OF VENICE in 1962, with George C. Scott as Shylock, and with James Earl Jones. We’ve seen:
1968 Your Own Thing – a rock style musical comedy based on Twelfth Night
1971 Two Gentlemen of Verona – musical version with Raul Julia and Clifton Davis, moved to Broadway from Shakespeare in the Park
1972 Much Ado About Nothing – Shakespeare in the Park version moved to Broadway, with Sam Waterston and Kathleen Widdoes. Loved this.
1973 As You Like It – Shakespeare in the Park. Raul Julia, Kathleen Widdoes, Meat LOaf(!).
1975 Hamlet – Shakespeare in the Park. John Lithgow, Sam Waterston, ANdrea Marcovicci, Ruby Dee,
Will give you more later.
Jeff, the Coronavirus Pandemic cancelled the Buffalo SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK performances last year. Usually, that group prefers Shakespeare’s comedies.
Going to Stratford every year for the last 40 years I have seen most of his plays and MacBeth several times. My favorite is 12th Night with Hamlet coming in second. We took our kids to see The Taming of the Shrew when they were 8 and 9. Not sure they got much out of it. Phil loved Shakespeare more than me and had an extensive library of books about him. I read the Charles Lamb synopses before we went each time.
Patti, I’m a big fan of TWELTH NIGHT, too. The SHAW FESTIVAL keeps sending me emails, but I think that their 2021 season is in trouble because the International Bridges remain closed. A big part of their subscriber base are Americans.
In high school, the reading order was Romeo & Juliet in 10th grade, Macbeth in 11th, and Hamlet in 12th. I like Macbeth, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it live. I’ve seen Polanski’s film version—which was quite notoriously bloody at the time (including scenes that seemed to echo the Manson murders—Sharon Tate had been killed the year before the movie was made); I’m not sure how it would hold up if I saw it today. I’ve read interpretations that claim Lady Macbeth had post-partum psychosis (she mentions having children, but the Macbeths are apparently childless) and possibly murdered her own child (she talks about smashing a child’s head on the ground when she’s trying to rev Macbeth up to murder Duncan); it’s an interesting theory—not sure I buy it.
I have seen an uncut version of Hamlet live—it was almost five hours long! As one of my fellow attendees said as we left the theater that evening, “I think they must have talked faster in Shakespeare’s time.”
Deb, I have the Kenneth Branagan version of HAMLET which is long (2 DVDs) and I assume uncut.
Out, damned piss-poor version of Macbeth! Out I say!
Not my favorite Shakespeare (that would be KING LEAR), but there’s plenty in MACBETH to revel in.
Jerry, KING LEAR was Bill Crider’s favorite Shakespeare play.
Actually, I misspoke. The MERCHANT was the first professional show I saw – believe it or not, this was a school trip – but the year before they took us from school to the new Sheepshead Bay High Schhol (where Jackie later went) to see a traveling production of ROMEO AND JULIET.
Back to the list, starting with an association item:
1975 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead – London. Tom Stoppard’s play is, of course, taken from the Hamlet characters. My English professor (who I had for three theater courses) taught this and she was very fond of it. I remember Jackie disliked it. (The next night we saw Stoppard’s TRAVESTIES.)
1976 Henry V – we saw this twice, once at the BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) Opera House, again in Central Park. Alan Howard was great as Henry.
1976 Measure for Measure – Central Park. Meryl Streep, John (Fredo) Cazale.
1977 Much Ado About Nothing – London. Set in the Indian Raj, with Donald Sinden and Judi Dench as Benedick and Beatrice. Fun.
1978 Julius Caesar – BAM. They had a short-lived theater company and did this and WAITING FOR GODOT, the latter with Sam Waterston, Austin Pendleton, and Milo O’Shea. JULIUS CAESAR was oddly cast – Austin Pendleton as Marc Antony, Richard Dreyfuss as Cassius, Rene Auberjonois as Brutus, George Rose as Caesar.
1978 All’s Well That End’s Well – Central Park. Mark-Linn Baker, Pamela Reed, Dennis Boutsikaris.
1978 Measure for Measure – Royal SHakespeare Theatre, Stratford on Avon. Jonathan Pryce.
I guess we’ve seen a lot more of these than I’d remembered,. We used to go to Central Park every year, sit on the lawn for hours until they gave out the free tickets, get something for dinner, then return. Now you need to know someone to get a ticket. Plus, we’re too old.
Jeff, I’m always impressed by all the plays you and Jackie have seen!
I won’t bother you with the rest of the list. We did see the Royal Shakespeare Co. version of ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL on Broadway in 1983. And The Flying Karamazov Brothers’ version of THE COMEDY OF ERRORS at Lincoln Center in 1987. And Kevin Kline and Blythe Danner in MUCH ADO in Central Park in 1988.
Jeff, I heard Good Things about the Kevin Kline/Blythe Danner performance of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING in 1988.
Just saw an excellent BBC production from the early 60s (I think) with Sean Connery excellent as a virile, warlike, and slightly stupid Macbeth.
Dan, I can just imagine Connery saying, “Macbeth, James Macbeth.”
A few other things:
1994 The Merry Wives of Windsor – Central Park. Brian Murray, David Alan Grier, Andrea Martin.
1995 The Compleat Wrks of Wilm Shkspr (Abridged) – somewhat amusing. The first act parodied Romeo & Juliet, did a little of Titus Andronicus and Othello, then summarized most of the other plays The entire second act was HAMLET.
1997 Kiss Me Kate – London. The musical adaptation of Taming of the Shrew. We saw this at an outdoor theater in Regent’s Park.
Jeff, I’m also impressed at your ability to keep track of all the plays you and Jackie have seen!
I went through all my annual At–Glance Weekly Planners and made a master list of all the shows we’ve seen since we started dating in 1967! Every once in a while I remember to update it, but since we haven’t seen a show since 2019 there is nothing new to add this time. Plus., the internet being what it is, you can find most things if you know where to look. There is a Broadway and an off-Broadway database, there is a list of all productions of Shakespeare in the Park, etc. My memory is still pretty good, but not infallible (for instance, the cast of the JULIUS CAESAR), so I try and double check.
Jeff, Diane keeps a calendar of events but it isn’t as detailed as yours. I can tell you when we saw the first AVENGERS movie in a theater…but that’s about it.
Jeff says “you can find most things if you know where to look”. Sounds like my house.
Jeff, is right. But when you know where to look–somewhere in the 30,000 books in the basement–it’s still a daunting task.
Read Julius Caesar, The Tempest and Macbeth in high school, in college took a semester of tragedies, one of comedies, one of histories. I like Lear and Midsummer Night as well as any, I guess, but that high school and college was enough for me, haven’t read or watched any since, have no desire to.
Rick, I go through phases where I read/watch Shakepeare’s work and phases when I’m engrossed in something else.
Too highbrow for my simple tastes! The closest I’ve come to Shakespeare was doing a scene in a college acting class! It was awful!
Bob, you’re more of a dancer than an actor.
That is a real bummer because I like both of these actors in so many other roles. Macbeth was the play we studied in English when I was a junior in high school and it was my first exposure to Shakespeare and it was the experience that encouraged me to read more of his plays, plays by other playwrights, and to really be more open to reading classic literature. I have many fond memories of that time in school and the teacher who taught us.
Carl, like you I’m a fan of Michael Fassbender and Marion Cotillard but Justin Kurzel’s mess of MACBETH is nearly unwatchable.
I will definitely take your word for it an not watch it. An “F” gives me no incentive to give it a go.