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Kings, queens, knaves and clowns... your favorite Shakespearean
characters come to life! The Bard and more than 50 of his dramatis
personae take a bow in this remarkable tribute to Shakespeare’s
entire canon—38 plays, including the obscure Two Noble Kinsmen.
With the Old Globe Theatre as backdrop, James assembles an eclectic
cast of fictional characters and actors in rehearsal mingling
with a few thespians who never tread the boards (but might have
flittered above them). You’ll find Romeo proffering a rose
to Juliet, who rebuffs the salacious overtures of Henry VIII.
Viola of Twelfth Night is in the act of binding her breasts to
fill the manly role of Cesario, while beside her other Shakespearean
heroines don male apparel to play their virile counterparts -
all the more interesting when you consider that in Shakespeare’s
day men played all the female roles. Caesar is a self-portrait
- an opportunity for the artist to make a statement about backstabbing
(he doesn’t like it!) and revel in applause (notice Titus
Andronicus giving him a warm hand). |