The Hollow Crown includes Henry IV: Part I, Henry IV: Part II, and Richard III. Starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugh Bonneville, Judi Dench, Michael Gambon, Sally Hawkins, Sophie Okonedo, and Tom Sturridge, these adaptations of three of Shakespeare’s best plays are a delight to watch. Special features include: deleted scenes and “The Making of The Hollow Crown. This package holds 6 hours and 19 minutes of pure drama. If you love Shakespeare, you’ll love these performances! Do you have a favorite Shakespeare play? GRADE: A
That sounds like a great show, with some fabulous actors.
I’m not really a Shakespeare fan, though I’ve gone to the festival at the Old Globe here in the past. I remember seeing William Marshall as Othello and being blown away by his performance and voice. I checked IBDB.com and they didn’t reference it, though there was a link to something about his Othello that was sadly not available. I think it was that same year a friend of mine’s dad played Juliet’s father to Tovah Feldshuh’s Juliet. I’d probably say Romeo and Juliet was my favorite, though I also enjoyed the movie version of Midsomer’s Night Dream with Mickey Rooney (among others).
Maggie, I’ve seen OTHELLO and MIDSUMMER’S NIGHT DREAM several times.
I saw an uncut version of Hamlet once–five hours, with a brief intermission. The time flew by and, even though I’d read the play and seen other adaptations, for the first time when Hamlet died (SPOILER!), I had tears in my eyes. However, my favorite play is MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING which includes my favorite Shakesperian couple, Beatrice and Benedick.
O/T somewhat, but when I was in my teens I read a slew of historical fiction. WITHIN THE HOLLOW CROWN is also the name of a novel about Richard II by Margaret Campbell Barnes.
I must add that it seems odd that the producers would choose a phrase from Richard II for plays about Henry VI and Richard III. Of course, Shakespeare makes clear that Richard II’s inability to address the turmoil in the country during his reign eventually led to the Wars of the Roses, so perhaps it’s apt after all.
Deb, the term “The Hollow Crown” is very evocative. I suspect it’s all about the marketing. Sorry about the Saints loss.
Deb, I’m sure you would enjoy this trio of plays. Dan Stumpf is a huge fan of HAMLET, too!
The the Saints: this morning local wags are taking money on when (not if) Sean Peyton will be joining Les Miles in the unemployment line. Last night’s game was just sad.
Deb, coaching in the NFL and the top colleges is a risky business. I like both Les Miles and Sean Peyton. But it’s win or get fired.
We’ve seen them all many times and yet each production manages to bring something new. Our favorite was seeing them done in York, the year we lived in Manchester. We saw a fabulous production on Macbeth this year in Stratford. And the movie version with Fassbender was brilliant too. Will look for these.
Patti, I want to see the Fassbender MACBETH. It’s on my list.
Favorite play, hands down. has to be KING LEAR. It has an operatic scope that is hard to equal.
Jerry, KING LEAR is almost in a category of its own. For sheer scope and dramatic effects it’s hard to beat.
I’m with Dan Stumpf. HAMLET is my favorite.
Bill, I love when Hamlet says: There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Nice cast! We’ve seen HENRY V at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and at the Delacorte in Central Park with the great Alan Howard, as well as the Olivier and Branagh movies, so I guess I should see this one.
I’m a big fan of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, partly because of all the great versions we’ve seen – Sam Waterston & Kathleen Widdoes on Broadway (1972), Donald Sinden & Judi Dench in London (1977), Kevin Kline & Blythe Danner in Central Park (1988), plus the movie adaptation with Kenneth Branagh & Emma Thompson.
Jeff, I love the Kenneth Branagh & Emma Thompson version, too!
The first Shakespeare play I saw live was the first Shakespeare in the Park play put on by Joe Papp – The Merchant of Venice with George C Scott as Shylock in 1962. I don’t remember the rest of it, but Wikipedia says James Earl Jones was in it too. They brought us on a bus from high school. Just after that we saw a production of Romeo & Juliet staged at the newly opened Sheepshead Bay High School (where Jackie went).
There is something about seeing Shakespeare outdoors. Besides the ones mentioned above, we’ve seen As You Like It (Raul Julia & Kathleen Widdoes). Measure for Measure (a mid-20’s Meryl Streep, who had also been in the Alan Howard Henry V, and John (Fredo) Cazale), All’s Well that Ends Well (Pamela Reed & Mark Linn-Baker), and Merry Wives of Windsor (David Alan Grier).
Jeff, Buffalo has SHAKESPEARE IN THE PARK each year but the crowd noises are so distracting!
I’ve been off LEAR ever since seeing Peter Brook’s messy 1971 film. I’m with Pauline Kael on that one:
Pauline Kael said “I didn’t just dislike this production, I hated it!
Jeff, Peter Brooks liked to experiment with plays. Sometimes they blew up!
Great Minds Think Alike, Deb!
Sounds very good, but I don’t think I could handle the 6 hours.
Rick, you can break it up into three 2-hour segments.
The first thing that came to my mind reading this was Polanski’s film Macbeth from 1971 which I found really intriguing at the time:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macbeth_(1971_film)
Since I grew up in the French Occupied Zone of Germany I learned French and Latin at school, English came much later, so I didn’t read or hear much about Shakespeare’s plays …
Any way I like the comedies better that all those stories of intrigue, killing etc that went on in the English kingdom.
And I remember the German play by Schiller about Maria Stuart and Elizabeth – didn’t like Kings and Queens at all – I think we were lucky to get rd of ours at least after WW1 – they brought so much unhappiness to their people, monarchy should have been abolished much earlier!
PS:
And it’s a kind of crazy joke that the English now have a dynasty of German origin …
A joke from Blackadder Goes Forth (set during WWI)–Bkackadder is pretending to think that Darling (a person he hates) is a German spy:
Darling: I’m not a Gernan spy! I’m as English as…as Queen Victoria!”
Blackadder: “So, you’re a half-German daughter and granddaughter of Germans, descended from a long line of Germans and married to a German?”
/Although we have no recording of her voice, it’s said that Queen Victoria spoke with a slight German accent.
Thanks, Deb!
Hadn’t heard that before. Btw I’m a big fan of this kind of British black humour: Blackadder, Monty Python of course and all that developed out of it like The Time Bandits.
George, the presence of Hugh Bonneville, Judi Dench, and Michael Gambon is enough to make me want to watch these adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. I have not read the bard yet but I do hope to so as soon as I hit retirement.
Prahant, you have plenty to look forward to! So many great plays and movies based on them!
I have several favorites, with Richard III atop the list. Gee, I just said the same thing for a Crider Blog post. I used to hit 6 Shakespeare festivals (big and small) in the Bay Area every Summer. The 3-theater Oregon Shakespeare festival in Ashland (been thrice) is one of the finest companies and settings in the country. The huge Globe-like outdoor theater is great, and in the small intimate Black Swan theater, you can almost reach out and touch the actors from the first row. I shall look for this DVD immediately, thanks for the scoop!
Roy, the cast is great and I love these plays!