there is something so considered and intentional in the rhythm of the monologues of black sails, especially flint’s monologues and i think in part it has to do with toby stephens being a theatre actor who has done shakespeare which is why he’s so spectacular at them but the cadence and the inflection and the rhythmic structure of so many lines and speeches are buried somewhere in my hindbrain as if they are pieces of music rather than dialogue. it’s so so so impressive to me both from a writing standpoint and an acting standpoint
@theoreticalwitchcraft god you are so right the “because there is no life here there is no joy here there is no LOVE. HERE.” is so fucking incredible. louise barnes is also absolutely amazing at this its partly why their scenes together just propel the show into the stratosphere. i also think of her final speech to peter ashe where she’s like “you DESTROYED our LIVES” that entire monologue is musical. god
As a Shakespeare actor myself, I think that this is actually something just universally common with Shakespearean monologues and scenes, having that sort of rhythm and musicality to regular lines and dialogue but also particularly in the emotional monologues. Even now, years after shows I’ve done, I’ll still recite my lines from those plays from memory, following the exact same rhythm, cadence, and emotionality as when I performed it because it’s so deeply ingrained in me as though it were a song. It’s really rare that I’ve been able to find this sort of intrinsic musicality to lines in contemporary film and theater, which speaks to just how impressive it is that Steinberg and the other Black Sails writers were able to create that same effect as in Shakespeare’s plays.
Love, death, obsession, loyalty, revenge, sex, family, friendship, duty, insanity, fate, hate, honour. Playwrights are usually focused, and write plays about something. Shakespeare wrote a play about everything. Hamlet is “about” everything.
Yeah, great. What’s it really about?
Fine. It’s about a Danish prince whose suspects that his father was murdered by his uncle. He hunts for evidence and seeks revenge, not always in that order. As the play progresses, Hamlet’s behaviour alternates between paralyzing indecision and obsessive, murderous insanity which burns every decent, good thing in his radius to the ground.
That’s the one with “to be or not to be”, right?
Yes. Try to put that to one side, though. Actors in productions of Hamlet frequently complain that the murmurs of recognition at the many culturally-embedded phrases interfere with their performance, and act as an obstacle to audience comprehension.
Sometimes the popular understanding of these lines is misconstrued. For instance, a familiar speech by Polonius to his son about how to conduct himself away from home includes the line, “neither a borrower nor a lender be”. The speech is often regurgitated as Advice For The Young. However, Shakespeare clearly intended Polonius to be understood as a semi-senile, platitude-ridden git.
Forget about hunting for clips you recognise from indie album titles and just listen to the lines. There is an old joke about a lady who was asked what she thought after attending Hamlet: “I don’t see why people like that play so much. It’s nothing but a bunch of quotations strung together."
Don’t be that lady.
I don’t really understand what’s going on.
No one blames you. It’s written in a stylised version of 16th-century English, and it was not designed to be read by people scanning it for meaning. If you see it performed, it makes more sense.
Also, the plot gets a bit complicated as Hamlet’s plans to uncover his uncle’s crime get more involved. At one point, he hires actors to put on a play that recreates his father’s murder (as related to him by his father’s ghost) just to see if his uncle reacts. When his uncle does react, you’re not entirely sure if it’s because he feels guilty, or because Hamlet is acting like a hopped-up lunatic. But if you’ve read Game Of Thrones and you still think that the intra-family politicking in Hamlet is too much, you should probably present yourself to the relevant authorities at first light. Or should you?
What should I say to make people think I’ve read it?
"It’s nice to see that teenagers were always whiny emos.”
What should I avoid saying when trying to convince people I’ve read it?
“This is a bit like The Lion King.”
Should I actually read it?
Yes. If nothing else, you’ll get the Hamlet jokes and references in every TV show you like.
An English king resigns and divides his kingdom among his three daughters. Except the third daughter refused to play a stupid word game and now it’s divided between the remaining two daughters, with catastrophic results.
I didn’t know kings could resign.
That is very much the point. The idea is that kings are appointed by divine providence, so they can’t just resign. When this one does, everything goes crazy in agonizing slow motion.
That’s not very progressive language.
In this case, it’s accurate. There’s a great scene in the middle of the play where King Lear has lost his mind. He is accompanied by his court jester, whose job it is to be crazy, and another man who is on the run from the law and is pretending to be an escaped lunatic until things blow over.
But it has a happy ending, right?
No. Famously, it’s a tragedy. Although if you’ve read Game of Thrones and you can’t handle an unhappy ending, you should present yourself to the relevant authorities at first light.
What should I say to make people think I’ve read it?
“Nothing will come of nothing.”
What should I avoid saying when trying to convince people I’ve read it?
“I liked the bit where he gets the kingdom back.”
Should I actually read it?
No. Go see a production instead. If you saw the 2007 Trevor Nunn production, you’d have seen Ian McKellen’s penis.
‘The Works of Sir William Davenant’, frontispiece, printed by TN for Henry Herringman, London, 1673.
In 1656, when Cromwell who opposed theatrical performances was still in power, William Davenant succeeded in producing ‘The Siege of Rhodes’ in his home in an all-sung version. He staged it with moveable scenery arranged in perspective, which was to prove highly influential.
According to legend, Davenant was the illegitimate son of William Shakespeare. He contributed to the last of the Stuart masques and was a fervent Royalist. After Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660, Davenant and Thomas Killigrew were granted royal patents, which gave them virtual monopoly over presenting drama in London. These monopolies were not revoked until the 19th century.
Happy almost birthday, Shakespeare! Or should I say Bard-thday? Recently, in honour of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death (conveniently for celebratory purposes, he was born on April 23 1564 and died on the same day in 1616), I was given the incredible opportunity to have a private audience to go through the University of Glasgow’s copy of the First Folio, page by page. I’ve written a short article for the University Library’s blog, which you can find here, but I wanted to share some other images on my own blog that I didn’t have room for on the official post!
The University of Glasgow’s First Folio (more properly known as Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies) is able to tell so many more stories than those of the plays contained in its pages- of the history of the antiquarian book trade, of the printing practices of the Renaissance, of book ownership and value. Rest assured, you’ll probably be seeing posts from me in the future about all of these things, as well as the typographical ornaments used in the book, which I found fascinating. The University’s Folio is particularly interesting due to the notations by past owners, including one who had apparently seen at least one of the original Chamberlain’s Men “By eyewittnesse”. But my favourite bit of the later additions is the morbid little poem on the reverse of one of the flyleaves: “Pitty it is the fam’d Shakespeare/ Shall ever want his chin or haire.”
A superb introduction to the first folio in the care of the University of Glasgow Special Collections by my Wife Alexandra Newman. Within this short piece is a link to a University of Glasgow Library blog post written by the same author which goes into further depth to concisely explain what the first folio is and the interesting features of this particular book.
always thinking about the production of hamlet i saw at the pop up globe a couple of years ago where everyone was costumed in typical shakespearean dress and the set was fairly minimal BUT! they gave polonius an iphone. it was like a running gag that his ringtone kept going off when hamlet or claudius were trying to speak and they would get more and more impatient with him every time. the cast had perfect comedic timing and it was such a perfect modernisation of typical shakespeare humour
but oh my God. the nervous laughter that rippled through the audience when his phone went off behind the tapestry. the heavy silence that followed, interrupted only by the incessant chime of polonius’ ringtone and a muffled “shit, shit!” while he tried to decline the call. it keeps ringing even after hamlet has already put his sword through him. hamlet picks it up in his bloody hands and ends the call, puts it back in polonius’ grasp before turning back to face gertrude.
hands down the best set up and pay-off of any addition to a shakespeare play i have ever witnessed
ooooh shit. And that means that he had absolutely no plausible deniability for thinking it was ‘a rat’ somebody else: this Hamlet knew exactly who it was when he made that decision to run him through.
Requestedbyanon: “Hello glorious author-chan! I have a request for you. I have a fun little imagine for you. Can you make an Ikemen Vampire imagine of what their reactions would be like in modern times?”
A/N: I honestly don’t know what this is, like it ended up as the child of a drabble and a headcanon.
Warning: implied smut and nudity (come on Arthur is here)
Napoleon Bonaparte:
He’d be shocked and in awe at the same time.
Wanting to know EVERYTHING about how people live in the 21st century.
Is it a better, easier life? Is everyone treated equally and safe?
He’s astonished by the night lights as well, so bright and beautiful.
It’s absolutely unforgettable and he stays up at night a little longer to watch the busy city below, drinking the beautiful view until he falls asleep.
Also more content with the clothing fashion.
Yes it’s very unusual to him since he’s not used to it but clothes used to be so uncomfortable, especially for women.
Though he really didn’t feel comfortable with such revealing clothes.
He’s very cute about it around you though, hiding in your neck with flushed, embarrassed cheeks.
Leonardo Da Vinci:
Doesn’t show his amazement as much except through his tone of voice.
Wants to know how a phone works.
Surprisingly – or unsurprisingly – not having to explain it regularly, he picks up on it very quickly.
He’s very impressed.
Your days were divided into visiting shops, showing him technologies, public transport, probably every single thing about the city and cuddling in bed and showing him how the TV works because “the mattress is so comfortable”.
Even though you know how comfortable a surface is, never stopped him from falling asleep.
He really likes it in the modern day.
I think he would be one of the residents that would fit in rather quickly and easily.
Comte De Saint Germain:
It’s not that much of a shocker for him for obvious reasons but because you’d spent your life in modern day, he got to see your view and had a much positive outlook on it.
Not that it was negative to begin with, he just didn’t pay as much attention to it before and now that he has, it’s eye opening, in a way.
He loved the sparkle in your eyes as you rejoiced in the things you used to know before you travelled back in time.
It was a sight for sore eyes.
He enjoyed visiting with you, even though he spent more time seeing the twinkle in your eyes than being happy over the smaller things.
Comte is much more open about PDA for obvious reasons and he feels the modern day is something the both of you share as a precious memory now.
Arthur Conan Doyle:
His demeanour is one of someone who’s seen everything already but the huge smile and eyes just showed that he was a little boy excited about discovering everything.
Arthur dragged you around to tell him how things work if he couldn’t pick up on by himself.
You went to a mall and Victoria’s Secret caught his eye so fast it was S C A R Y.
“Try this sweetheart, and this and this-”
Yes, despite all your protests, you spent the whole day in the store trying on clothes for him.
He enjoyed it very much.
Arthur promised he would discover something new with you that didn’t involved being naked.
How nice of him *chokes*
It was a tiring day for you since you did all the standing, changing and displaying for him.
But the night provided to be very rewarding hehe
If you know what I mean
;)
You know what I mean, why am I saying this.
Theodorus Van Gogh:
He has a similar behaviour to Arthur at first, indifferent behaviour but very curious eyes.
You can tell he doesn’t want to ask questions but wants the answers.
So you just start talking and explaining things.
He’s a little flushed because he would have told you to stop talking by now but he doesn’t since you’re informing him on everything.
Theo would keep visiting until you got tired and wouldn’t hesitate to carry you back to your place and cuddle up on the couch.
Showing him how the TV works but he prefers sleeping in your bed because it’s so comfy and he can hug you.
Vincent Van Gogh:
“WOW!” *sparkly eyes*
Asks you about EVERYTHING
Holds your hand the whole time.
Also he apologises for always inquiring about everything.
Reassuring him that it’s alright.
Proceeds to go back to questioning everything.
Politely asks if you guys can go to an exhibition the next day to see paintings and saying yes.
Very gladly cuddling in your neck and saying how amazing everything is.
He’s too cute T-T
Vincent was smiling in his sleep because he got to discover so many new things with you and he couldn’t express how content he was.
Your heart is constantly melting as he acts like an overjoyed puppy.
He’s forever thankful to you and this will always be engraved in his memory.
Amadeus Mozart:
The pianist can’t physically hide his amazement.
“Can we go to an instrument store?”
Holds your hand tightly and keeps you close like he’s protecting you.
When in fact it should be the other way around given that you have lived your entire life in the modern day.
But you already knew that ♀️
His eyes light up more than they already did when you enter an empty store and there are three or four pianos.
Mozart let his fingers caress the smooth surface, taking in all the details of the instruments.
He’s relieved that they didn’t change as significantly as everything else in the world.
Lowkey wants to buy all the pianos because he wants to try them.
A very confused boy at attire.
And blushing at how more ‘revealing’ they are.
He could get used to this.
Jean D’Arc:
He would be in silent shock, staying close to you and looking around in amazement.
Jean would be pretty shy about asking too many questions, not wanting to bother you.
Reassuring him that it was fine, similar to Vincent.
Jean was somehow more considerate about it, not wanting to bother you with his inquiries.
Whispering questions and trying so hard to try and make sense of things himself, sometimes it works, kind of!!
Like Napoleon, he’s relieved the world is happier and fairer.
It was a huge shock for him at first, everything was different, but he was fortunate enough to be with you.
Now he reminisces of the experience as a magical moment that will forever be engraved in his memory.
Isaac Newton:
Absolutely astonished.
He has so many questions but he didn’t know where to start.
Similar to Jean, he was a little shy about asking questions and trying to solve things on his own.
Being surprised at how complex things turn out to be.
Isaac has mixed emotions about knowing that the foundation of physics are his three famous laws.
Because the world seemed overwhelmingly unknown and huge, he nearly clung onto you.
You locked your arm with his, seeing his unease but also not wanting to trouble you.
He felt better instantly and silently thanked you, blushing in embarrassment.
The first thing you taught him was what a phone was and about the kindergarden/school system.
You reminisce about how he went along into town with Napoleon to attempt to teach children.
It wasn’t a particular detail he would have inquired about but he feels strangely relieved about it.
He was touched by the small details you remember about him and he keeps it in mind.
It was an unforgettable experience for him to have with you.
But something he does not want to let go is the bed, it’s shockingly comfortable for him.
Osamu Dazai:
“Wow, are you seeing this (Not Y/N)-chan?”
“That’s not my name-”
“What is this?”
No shame about asking whatsoever.
“Miraculous!”
A lot of him grinning and praising everything and anything, including you.
“You’re delightful (Y/N)-chan, such an interesting answer!”
“D-did you just call me by my nam-”
“Are you coming (Not Y/N)-chan?”
“Nevermind,” you grumble, pouting as you follow behind him.
He chuckled, finding you so cute before cupping your cheeks and openly kissing you in public.
Dazai finds even more amusement with how flushed you are for a while as you clung onto his arm, answering questions with a breathy tone.
Despite his second degree humour throughout everything, he’s actually thoroughly enjoyed spending time doing this with you and becoming a treasured memory.
William Shakespeare:
He was actually rendered speechless for a long while.
Which was unusual for him obviously.
But it was a little disconcerting for him since he always had something to say.
You couldn’t help but eye him admiring everything.
Despite his unnerving silence, the way his eyes lit up was something that you didn’t know you needed to witness.
It looked like he found something to look forward to in life. (can’t relate lol)
That thought alone made you hopeful and sad at the same time.
He was always very polite and considerate about inquiring about things.
As in, he always read the ‘room’ before asking, wanting to stay in your good graces, even though he is already in them.
Finding the bed in your place being painfully heaven-like.
If he wasn’t as invested in learning about the modern world, he would totally examine and savour the beauty that is a bed.
Without you knowing, however, he would spend a lot of time studying you as well.
It was fascinating to him, seeing you enjoying yourself in your natural habitat.
Sebastian:
I mean he lived there before so there isn’t much to say.
He does reminisce a lot though, all previous memories rushing back.
Just as if the residents were a long dream.
One thing that surprised him a little was that he enjoyed spending time with you in the modern day so much that it’s in a smal, different compartment in his brain altogether.
Basically nostalgia but also happy new memories.
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- And when I shall die, take him and cut him up in little stars, and he will make the face of heaven so fine that all the world will fall in love with night and pay no worship to the garish sun.
- Did my heart love ‘til now? Forswear its sight. For I never saw true beauty 'til this night.
- Goodnight, goodnight! Parting is such sweet sorrow that I shall say goodnight till it be morrow.
- How art thou out of breath when thou hast breath to say to me that thou art out of breath? Is the news good or bad, answer to that.
- A glooming peace this morning with it brings. The sun for sorrow will not show his head. Go hence and have more talk of these sad things. Some shall be pardoned, and some punished. For never was a story of more woe than this of Juliet and her Romeo.
