On 12/14/05, David Bircumshaw <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Interesting post, Roger. I love 'people are amnesia machines'
Not mine, unfortunately. But I'm willing to pass it off as my own as I
can't remember who wrote it in the first place.
> Of course Shakespeare is an artifact and compounded of sludge. Flat
> characterisations? You bet - he's full of stage villains and stage fools -
> anyone looking for psychological depth is looking in the wrong place. The
> proto-nationalism if applied to modern times is dodgy, although to be fair
> by the standards of his times he's rather humane, just say as Dickens was.
> But the language can be thrilling (it can also be prolix, bom
I find those national stereotypes oh so funny. You may find the
language thrilling. I don't. You can accuse me of having bad taste. I
have bad taste.
> >In my Republic Of England, S would be of as little import as the next
> writer. He would have to earn his crust along with the rest of the
> dead and live poets and playwrights. At least there would not be this
> huge inbuilt life-support mechanism that looks to me akin to keeping
> the dead alive and/or necrophilia in certain cases.<
>
> Yes and no. I see your point but can't help thinking that there is
> something, albeit unwittingly, of the savour of frre-market aesthetics in
> that.
Subsidised theatre should not come attached with strings about what is
put on. Of course there have to be parameters guiding what can be put
on. However I must admit giving people the freedom to put on whatever
they want is an interesting prospect, and certainly leaving
Shakespeare to sink or swim in the canon and the street is a delicious
prospect. Oh sod it, lets go freemarket! After all what's the
opposite? A stalinist theatre in that we should only watch approved
theatre, Shakespeare 24 hours a day in several major theatres...oh,
hang on...
And now, if we hadn't enough, we have a private theatre which, AFAIK,
only runs Ss plays. This is madness. This an england of heritage
theatre nostalgia. This is sleep-walking into the future!
Actually, I have little idea about what comes next. My Republic Of
England is currently only a romantic idea. It has yet to come to full
fruition. In the first instance, I'm interested in what might come out
if we cut away one of the legs of English culture.
And don't forget my sword reaches long into literature as well,
cutting out Ss plays from the curriculum of schools and universities
as well, cut out those research grants, give them to research into
current poets and dramatists! Shakespeare is dust!
Roger
--
http://www.badstep.net/
http://www.cb1poetry.org.uk/
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