'cultish midwits' indeed. Who even takes these people seriously? Not anyone who loves Shakespeare, that's for sure.
Meanwhile, I am off to see the brilliant Lord Chamberlain's Men performing Twelfth Night next Saturday night. Tickets have sold like hot cakes. And, looking at the weather forecast, it may even be one of those rare outdoor productions in England where we don't have to take thick jackets, blankets and umbrellas -Yay!
Silly buggers - they need to remember that since before Shakespeare's time slavery was dominantly an African led industry,
Sure, white men bought slaves off African tribes who had enslaved people of other African tribes, and did horrific things to them, but this white guilt telescope is so bloody useless at seeing the wider picture...
and always manages to miss how the Barbary coast Muslims enslaved more white Europeans over a longer, and nearer to contemporary, time period than Europeans enslaved Africans.
What this has to do with Shakespeare, god only knows.
Thank you Andrew for speaking up so brilliantly for the wonder and magic of someone who has contributed massively to the richness of our language and culture. It sends shivers down my spine when I hear a Shakespearean phrase dropped into everyday speech. I wonder what wonders the cultish midwits can claim to be contributing apart from the chanting of mantras and the following of herds. I’d finish with a resounding ‘baaa’ but that would be insulting to sheep.
Shakespeare has contributed to culture and language worldwide, he is internationally admired, translated and studied (for a reason!). The perverse desire to ascribe wrongdoing to him, often from an entirely different historical period, is entirely irrational. It reveals some destructive, envious, ugly trait in people, presumably wishing to persuade other credulous souls to join them in their destruction. Pitiful.
This cretinous crap is in UK universities too. No wonder people are fleeing liberal arts. The dumb quasi-Marxists are killing their own pipeline. The people in charge don't care that the modern world was created by DWEMs... (Dead White European Men).
I really enjoyed this. The point about patronage and the church in particular made me wonder whether it would be possible for a contemporary Shakespeare to operate under the radar in the current climate. Would someone with innate genius and the right education be able to stroke the right egos, sprinkle the right buzzwords, and thereby sneak work of truth and beauty past the ‘cultish midwits’ [great phrase] of the Arts Council? If they could, would they want to?
It would be nice to have some truly original productions of Shakespeare's plays again. I remember Mark Rylance's production of The Tempest on the building site of The Globe. It was so imaginative! Fast forward to Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge which everyone is currently raving about. Performances were good but why muck about with the text to that degree? Does Hytner think he can write better than Shakespeare?
Very DEI too but that's not what I go to the theatre for.
Just look at the funding pages of Arts Councils - BFI and the like and read the eligibiity conditions and you'll see where the problem lies.
Propagate the prevailing dogma or you're dead. Really a shame.
In the ODNB one of the subjects, Dr Plumtre of Nottingham is described negatively as a man who " set the works of Shakespeare" above the bible. Good old Plumtre, he was very likey an atheist. I loved writing that little article. Shakespeare's sheer adaptability and humanity is why almost every nation has found something compelling about his work and puts on his plays. Narrow twits cannot deal with this. Too thick to cope with people much smarter than themselves.
Identity Politics is crumbling before our eyes. The Grifter DEI and CRT folks will fight like hell to cheat. We caught them and exposed the fraud. Even BLM stole the money for Mansions.
But how should Shakespeare be taught in schools, Andrew, when standards are so low? Surely you need a degree of life experience to appreciate his art? Press-ganging kids into grunting out the lines around the class is not going to enthuse a generation.
I regard the finest songwriting as 'high' art, too. Richard Thompson's Beeswing or Jake Thackray's later live performance of The Blacksmith and the Toffee-Maker are both transcendental to my ears leaving me gasping with wonder at their astonishing craftsmanship. Likewise I see Hancock's The Poetry Society as The Germans of its day (despite having been recorded before warm-up men were in use.) Great songsmiths and comedy writers sit up there with the Immortals in my view.
Fabulous presentation, Andrew. Thanks for all the insight.
Thank you! Richard Thompson is over here next month and at 76 he is still going strong and making good music. And he has that wonderfully dry sense of humour that make his performances so special. Never having been to the U.S., I'd love to hear both Richard and Andrew's take on life in America.
'cultish midwits' indeed. Who even takes these people seriously? Not anyone who loves Shakespeare, that's for sure.
Meanwhile, I am off to see the brilliant Lord Chamberlain's Men performing Twelfth Night next Saturday night. Tickets have sold like hot cakes. And, looking at the weather forecast, it may even be one of those rare outdoor productions in England where we don't have to take thick jackets, blankets and umbrellas -Yay!
Silly buggers - they need to remember that since before Shakespeare's time slavery was dominantly an African led industry,
Sure, white men bought slaves off African tribes who had enslaved people of other African tribes, and did horrific things to them, but this white guilt telescope is so bloody useless at seeing the wider picture...
and always manages to miss how the Barbary coast Muslims enslaved more white Europeans over a longer, and nearer to contemporary, time period than Europeans enslaved Africans.
What this has to do with Shakespeare, god only knows.
Thank you Andrew for speaking up so brilliantly for the wonder and magic of someone who has contributed massively to the richness of our language and culture. It sends shivers down my spine when I hear a Shakespearean phrase dropped into everyday speech. I wonder what wonders the cultish midwits can claim to be contributing apart from the chanting of mantras and the following of herds. I’d finish with a resounding ‘baaa’ but that would be insulting to sheep.
Shakespeare has contributed to culture and language worldwide, he is internationally admired, translated and studied (for a reason!). The perverse desire to ascribe wrongdoing to him, often from an entirely different historical period, is entirely irrational. It reveals some destructive, envious, ugly trait in people, presumably wishing to persuade other credulous souls to join them in their destruction. Pitiful.
Exactly, it’s the victimhood/ woke mentality which is responsible for so many problems today.
This cretinous crap is in UK universities too. No wonder people are fleeing liberal arts. The dumb quasi-Marxists are killing their own pipeline. The people in charge don't care that the modern world was created by DWEMs... (Dead White European Men).
I really enjoyed this. The point about patronage and the church in particular made me wonder whether it would be possible for a contemporary Shakespeare to operate under the radar in the current climate. Would someone with innate genius and the right education be able to stroke the right egos, sprinkle the right buzzwords, and thereby sneak work of truth and beauty past the ‘cultish midwits’ [great phrase] of the Arts Council? If they could, would they want to?
He’d be strangled at birth.
That was just gorgeous to listen to Andrew!
Really enjoyed it - more please!
It would be nice to have some truly original productions of Shakespeare's plays again. I remember Mark Rylance's production of The Tempest on the building site of The Globe. It was so imaginative! Fast forward to Midsummer Night's Dream at the Bridge which everyone is currently raving about. Performances were good but why muck about with the text to that degree? Does Hytner think he can write better than Shakespeare?
Very DEI too but that's not what I go to the theatre for.
Just look at the funding pages of Arts Councils - BFI and the like and read the eligibiity conditions and you'll see where the problem lies.
Propagate the prevailing dogma or you're dead. Really a shame.
In the ODNB one of the subjects, Dr Plumtre of Nottingham is described negatively as a man who " set the works of Shakespeare" above the bible. Good old Plumtre, he was very likey an atheist. I loved writing that little article. Shakespeare's sheer adaptability and humanity is why almost every nation has found something compelling about his work and puts on his plays. Narrow twits cannot deal with this. Too thick to cope with people much smarter than themselves.
Identity Politics is crumbling before our eyes. The Grifter DEI and CRT folks will fight like hell to cheat. We caught them and exposed the fraud. Even BLM stole the money for Mansions.
But how should Shakespeare be taught in schools, Andrew, when standards are so low? Surely you need a degree of life experience to appreciate his art? Press-ganging kids into grunting out the lines around the class is not going to enthuse a generation.
I regard the finest songwriting as 'high' art, too. Richard Thompson's Beeswing or Jake Thackray's later live performance of The Blacksmith and the Toffee-Maker are both transcendental to my ears leaving me gasping with wonder at their astonishing craftsmanship. Likewise I see Hancock's The Poetry Society as The Germans of its day (despite having been recorded before warm-up men were in use.) Great songsmiths and comedy writers sit up there with the Immortals in my view.
Fabulous presentation, Andrew. Thanks for all the insight.
You’ve got great taste 😁 and Richard Thompson’s Beeswing is beyond wonderful.
Thank you! Richard Thompson is over here next month and at 76 he is still going strong and making good music. And he has that wonderfully dry sense of humour that make his performances so special. Never having been to the U.S., I'd love to hear both Richard and Andrew's take on life in America.
I agree. I saw him live in the UK some years ago, brilliant. Would love to see him again.
I think Andrew quite likes the feeling of being able to speak more freely, as does Graham Linehan …and I don’t blame them.