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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Romeo and Juliet<br />
Fatal encounter:<br />
Tybalt (Ansu Kabia)<br />
and Mercutio<br />
(Derek Jacobi).<br />
Broadcast to cinemas in black and white, this version<br />
of <strong>Shakespeare</strong>’s tragedy is stylish and fast-paced.<br />
Previously paired together in Branagh’s 2015<br />
Cinderella film, Lily James and Richard Madden<br />
embody the title roles with adolescent fervour.<br />
The youthful energy of their portrayal is faultless,<br />
but perhaps it’s played just a little too young to give<br />
their love true credibility. It is the leads’ undeniable<br />
chemistry, though, that carries them through to a<br />
dramatic and well-executed end.<br />
Laced with comedy, this version of the play<br />
is a slight departure from traditionally depressive<br />
interpretations. Meera Syal’s bawdy Nurse provides<br />
the most farcical of comedic elements, whilst<br />
Michael Rouse makes for an oddly young-looking<br />
Capulet patriarch. Peppering the action with<br />
Italian phrases and Mediterranean music, Branagh<br />
and Ashford immerse us in “fair Verona”. Designer<br />
Christopher Oram’s set is imposing and beautifully<br />
lit – the large piazza makes a particular spectacle.<br />
From languid espresso-sipping to desperate<br />
sword-fighting, the action that takes place there is<br />
beautifully balanced throughout.<br />
The famous balcony scene loses some of<br />
its metaphorical value by placing the starcross’d<br />
lovers within unusually easy reach of<br />
each other. Charmingly, “O, Romeo, Romeo!<br />
Wherefore art thou Romeo?” is delivered by a<br />
tipsy Juliet swigging from a champagne bottle.<br />
Detracting from the anguish of this speech, this is,<br />
8 shakespeare magazine
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