Novelisations of Shakespeare?

[vinay87]

I don't really know how to read plays so I've never actually understood what little I've read of William Shakespeare's work.

 

Are there any good novelisations of his plays? Specifically his historical ones? Or atleast the comedies?

[BookJumper]

That I know of (and I'm the resident Shakespearean scholar ), most are rather appalling, and in any case all take frightful liberties with the source material. If you find the plays themselves hard to read, my recommendation would be to watch the films before you do. Not all of them are any good, so I shall recommend the following to get you started:

 

- Henry V (by and with Sir Laurence Olivier; the metatheatricality of this one is just dazzling)

- Twelfth Night (by Trevor Nunn with Helena Bonham Carter and Ben Kingsley; histerically funny)

- The Merchant of Venice (by Michael Radford with Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Joseph Fiennes; how could it not be good with a cast like that?)

- King Lear (by Trevor Nunn with Ian McKellen; very moving)

- Hamlet (by and with Sir Laurence Olivier; the classic, a bit dated in places yet still the best)

- Hamlet (by and with Kevin Kline; a surprisingly strong performance by Kevin)

- Hamlet (by and with Sir Kenneth Branagh; loooong but interesting)

- Hamlet (by Michal Almereida with Ethan Hawke and - ugh - Julia Stiles; worth a watch)

- Romeo and Juliet (by Franco Zeffirelli with a cast of brilliant unknowns; visually stunning)

- Romeo + Juliet (by Baz Luhrman with Leonardo di Caprio and Claire Danes; against all odds, this is actually really good)

[Vladd]

How about this

Tales from Shakespeare

A good introduction to some of the plays

[BookJumper]

It should be noted however that the Lambs were adapting Shakespeare for children, hence a lot of gore and 'impropriety' has been carefully excised from the originals.

[Vladd]

True I did read it as a child

[Janet]

The BBC Shakespeare DVDs are dated, but accurate and well acted. Ron Cook is fabulous as Richard III!

 

Othello with Laurence Fishburne, Kenneth Branagh and Ir

[Stephanie2008]

I really enjoyed the Trevor Nunn version of Twelfth Night. I think that got me through my Shakespeare part of my GCSE. It's accurate and really funny at times

[Laura-Jade]

- Hamlet (by Michal Almereida with Ethan Hawke and - ugh - Julia Stiles; worth a watch)

- Romeo and Juliet (by Franco Zeffirelli with a cast of brilliant unknowns; visually stunning)

 

Oh, I loathe that version of Hamlet . My friends and I fell in love with the play while studying it for A-Level and we watched as many versions and adaptations as we could to contrast and compare, but were all left cold by that one.

 

But, Zeffirelli's Romeo & Juliet is my all-time favourite interpretation, it's absolutely gorgeous, and the only adaptation of Romeo & Juliet that's ever made me cry.

 

I agree with the idea of watching movie versions of the plays. It helps when you see the scenes and hear the dialogue spoken, it makes it easier to understand. Also, if you can, try and see some on stage.

There was a theatre group a year or so ago that performed Hamlet at Lancaster Castle and it was amazing. It was set up so the audience had to move around the castle and the scenes with Old Hamlet's ghost were truly chilling to watch against the backdrop of the castle.

The climax of the play was performed outside, it was wonderful

[Fruska]

You can now get the David Tennant Hamlet on dvd. I saw it live and it was brilliant. Doesn't quite eclipse my love of the Branagh version though.

 

Also Branagh's version of Much Ado About Nothing is wonderful! Michael Keaton as Dogberry is fab! Very funny and you can forgive some wooden acting in the lesser roles.

 

A very interesting adaptation is Ian McKellan's Richard III.

 

I also love the BBC adaptation of Coriolanus with Alan Howard. True, its a bit dated, but its well spoken.