So, last Friday I went to the phone interview that Cara set up with Fred Adams. First, I have to say that this man knows his Shakespeare! It was a really neat experience talking to someone who uses so much of his time and effort to study Shakespeare and put on productions of his plays. Secondly, the only people who showed up to this phone interview were Cara, Brian, and myself. The rest of you guys missed out! I don't mean to gloat, but it was a really neat opportunity. Below are a few main points that I got from the interview. For a complete account of the interview, visit Cara's page!
1. During Shakespeare's time there was a lot of activity taking place around Globe theater! The theater was by Bear pits. There were dog and bear fights going on, as well Moorish dancers surrounding theater and dancing, attracting attention with bells and dancing, and there were vendors singing out their wares. recreated that feeling with the green show. In the Shakespeare festival, they recreate this atmosphere. It helps prepare an audience for a language used in Shakespeare's plays. When you first hear the language, you think won't be able to understand. By having performers already using that dialect and language, those attending the festival are already in the mood and the Shakespearean language is not as strange and foreign to them when the production begins.
2. The overriding reason that Shakespeare is so widely acclaimed and loved is universality. He understood the human condition. He recreated this in his plays so perfectly that a 14 year old girl in America or Nairobi would have the same thoughts and feelings today as Juliet did in Verona. Also, we recognize elements of self in the characters; elements within all of the characters we discover in ourselves, or if not in ourselves in those we know. The other reason for success was Shakespeare's magnificent use of language. He uses poetry and rich imagery to describe for example the sunrise description by Romeo (Romeo and Juliet). Shakespeare had the ability to capture humanity in its real state and also clothe with its poetic description.
3. We don't know a lot about private life of Shakespeare. It was dangerous to keep a journal or write about oneself. If the law changed, and it was written down on paper that you'd acted in a certain way it could mean a beheading. For example, Samuel Keats diary was the first diary kept. He was so frightened that it might be read that he wrote in special code - upside down mirror image. It took 3 centuries to decipher the code.Shakespeare could've played tennis, but doubt if he did. He uses tennis in several of his plays, but there is no record of whether he actually played. One of his favorite past-times was drinking. There is quite a bit of reference to his having loved to spend time in taverns and alehouses. That's where he heard his language and got his ideas for characters. All of these men in his plays came out of actual people in the taverns of London. Shakespeare would sit in the corner with an ale and observe and record language. That gave his works an actual sense of believability. Another reason don't know a lot about Shakeapeare is that more and more literary detectives are discovering that Shakespeare was probably a closet catholic. It was against the law to be catholic, and he could be punished for practicing. To the public, he let it be known he was a protestant, but found in his home hidden in rafters was a hidden catholic prayer book. Shakespeare's father was truly a catholic, and that's how he lost his position as Lord Mayor of Stratford. He was not keeping responsibility of city father to destroy catholic stained glass and alters; he was always "sick" when they went to do so. It was not not long before village realized he was catholic.
4. In Shakespeare's plays there are many strong women characters (Portia, Rosalind, etc). Most of them dressed as men to solve problems. In his plays, often women were in control, as in Merry Wives of Windsor. They were powerful and strong. These characters were produced when he was writing plays for Queen Elizabeth. She loved the strong women characters. The minute King James came into power, Shakespeare's plays changed. King James didn't like women in power. From that point on, Shakespeare has his women characters in his work change completely. They get smothered, drowned, raped, etc. Shakespeare was a political animal. He was writing his plays to sell at the theater that night, and they HAD to sell. Overall, in England women were treated more equally than many women of the time. Because of Queen Elizabeth, women were more honored in England's history than say in the history of Spain. Even so, English women could not inherit. When shakespeare dies he can only leave his wife his second best bed.
5. Shakespeare retired from London and returned to Stratford to live out the rest of his life with his family. According to legend, he died choking on a vat of ale over a bawdy joke. We don't know whether it's true or not. We do know that he retired extremely wealthy and lionized throughout all of England. Shakespeare was a major household name. Even after retirement, his home in Stratford become somewhat of a mecca, even while he was still alive.
6. There is a "Shakespeare Consipracy" theory. People speculate "Who wrote Shakepeare's works?" Was it the Earl of Oxford? Bacon? Marlow? Elizabeth the first? All these theories have credible reasonings but no one has any proof. Remember, all we know is that the boy known as William Shakespeare, was considered during his entire lifetime by his competitors as well as contemporaries to be author of plays of Shakespeare. It was not till 200 years after in 1830 that anyone decided that he could not have written because the vocabulary in the plays is so huge, and Shakespeare was not a university graduate. That's slightly ridiculous according to Mr. Adams. It's like saying that Mozart couldn't have written music since he wasn't trained. There is such a thing as genius. Shakespeare didn't write all of the parts of the plays, there are elements of other writings incorporated in. Possibly by actors who rewrote a part to fit to self or make more powerful? The bulk are attributed to the lad William Shakespeare from Stratford.
7. There is a theory that Greenbaum and group of detectives discovered that there seems to be a lot of proof for, and which could be developing into a known fact soon. Shakespeare disappeared from Stratford after wife gave birth. They were living with parents, when all of a sudden he vanishes, and we don't hear about him until he shows up in London several years later. It was discovered that his schoolteachers in Stratford were catholic, and when catholic persecution began, they all vanished. They fled up to York, which was still a catholic city, and there took up residence as schoolteachers. It was discovered that in the library there that a young apprentice tutor that was teaching the Lord of the manor's children. He had had access to the Lord's library and in several of the books had written notes. The handwriting is the same as William Shakespeare's. According to the theory, he must've gone with his teachers up to York where he was apprenticed to tutor to a wealthy family and continue his studies. Prior to this, he had already been in school for seven years. He had learned greek, hebrew, latin, french, geography, and english history. He was a fairly credible tutor for children. This theory links perfectly with his appearance in London years later, where he appears with a traveling company. That same company that he appears with in London had performed only months earlier at the manor of the Lord of York.
Mr. Adams knew so much about not only the plays, but also the time frame and surrounding history! It was a really great experience to talk with him, and would encourage any and everyone to try to attend the Shakespeare festival when it comes to town! It Mr. Adams is any indication, I'm sure it's a really neat experience.
