Shakespeare Magazine 11
The shiny new-look Shakespeare Magazine 11 is adorned with a stunning cover image of Lily James and Richard Madden in Kenneth Branagh’s Romeo and Juliet. Also in Issue 11, SK Moore tells us about his compelling new graphic novel of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, while broadcaster Samira Ahmed turns her magnificently mercurial mind to the subject of Shakespeare. We have words with Pub Landlord comedian Al Murray about his recent brush with the Bard (and Judi Dench) at RSC Shakespeare Live. And our Editor raves about a 3-DVD box set of 1960s TV Shakespeare classic The Wars of the Roses. We chat with the great Don Warrington, star of Talawa Theatre’s earth-shaking King Lear at Manchester’s Royal Exchange – youthful co-star Alfred Enoch joins in too. Also this issue: we imagine what Tom Hiddleston’s Hamlet would look like, we explore the life of Elizabeth Siddal, Victorian Ophelia, and Bristol’s Insane Root scare the living daylights out of us with their Macbeth!
The shiny new-look Shakespeare Magazine 11 is adorned with a stunning cover image of Lily James and Richard Madden in Kenneth Branagh’s Romeo and Juliet. Also in Issue 11, SK Moore tells us about his compelling new graphic novel of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, while broadcaster Samira Ahmed turns her magnificently mercurial mind to the subject of Shakespeare. We have words with Pub Landlord comedian Al Murray about his recent brush with the Bard (and Judi Dench) at RSC Shakespeare Live. And our Editor raves about a 3-DVD box set of 1960s TV Shakespeare classic The Wars of the Roses. We chat with the great Don Warrington, star of Talawa Theatre’s earth-shaking King Lear at Manchester’s Royal Exchange – youthful co-star Alfred Enoch joins in too. Also this issue: we imagine what Tom Hiddleston’s Hamlet would look like, we explore the life of Elizabeth Siddal, Victorian Ophelia, and Bristol’s Insane Root scare the living daylights out of us with their Macbeth!
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Al Murray <br />
“Someone came and measured my head, and two<br />
weeks later there were amazing lifelike hairy ears”<br />
“What angel wakes me<br />
<br />
Judi Dench’s Titania<br />
with attendant fairies<br />
in <strong>Shakespeare</strong> Live.<br />
I think it was GK Chesterton who said that<br />
Bottom is a better part than Hamlet, and<br />
over the years I’ve come to appreciate the<br />
role’s comedic brilliance. What’s your take on<br />
it? Do you have a favourite line or moment?<br />
“It’s a great part for a comic. You get to occupy<br />
the place astride the fourth wall. You’re in both the<br />
magical and the real worlds in the story, taking the<br />
place of the audience member, earthing the magic<br />
to the base metal of the human animal spirit and<br />
libido. I had the advantage of playing opposite<br />
Dame Judi so I could surrender easily to the<br />
business of being perfectly upstaged.”<br />
Needless to say, I have to ask you about<br />
Bottom’s rather magnifcent ears.<br />
“Someone came to my house and she measured my<br />
head, and two weeks later there were ears, amazing<br />
lifelike hairy ears. I spent all day in makeup on the<br />
Friday for rehearsals and they fell off. On Saturday<br />
a new way to fit them was devised, which meant I<br />
had to leave them on all day. All. Day.”<br />
A few weeks after <strong>Shakespeare</strong> Live, the BBC<br />
transmitted the Russell T Davies version of<br />
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with Matt Lucas<br />
taking quite a low-key approach to Bottom.<br />
Is this a role that every comedian should<br />
tackle at some point? It seems to be like a<br />
decathlon for comedic ability...<br />
“I didn’t see it, but it’s a great role for a comic.<br />
You have to let your inner donkey out.”<br />
Have you had a life-long relationship with<br />
<strong>Shakespeare</strong>? What have been the key<br />
components?<br />
shakespeare magazine 33
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