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Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries & Replies From Everyone Else 4.2.97: Top | Help
You wrote:
>>> Or did Kenneth Branagh stay faithful to the true time
period of Hamlet? <<<And, what exactly is the "true" time period of Hamlet?
Elizabethan garb?Many of the plays, as near as we can tell, were costumed
largely in Elizabethan dress, apparently without much concern
as to the plays' ""true" time period. In other words, most
scholars seem to agree that Shakespeare's fellow actors were
wearing "modern" dress, even when portraying a story which might
have been 100 or 400 years in their own past.Branagh updated the play to a post-Edwardian period.
This has the advantage of giving the characters a formality
which is quite stern, and yet displays the opulence and
extravagance of the royal court. It also features
luxurious (and beatiful) textures in the fabrics. However,
it avoids the problem many audience members have with a character in 1990s dress
spouting dialogue which is (at times) ancient. Most
audiences accept the slang and verse a bit easier if
it is set far enough in the past that it at least seems
"historical."In other words, those Romans in the first production
of Julius Caesar may not have worn togas. They might have
worn Elizabethan tunics.So, exactly "which period" should a director choose?
-Bruce
Posted by Bruce Spielbauer on April 12, 1997 at 19:30:16
In Reply to "Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet: Correct time period?!" posted by kathleen on April 11, 1997 at 13:19:59
Replies | Post Reply | Shakespeare Queries & Replies From Everyone Else 4.2.97: Top | Help