Henry Oliver: disagreement

Transcript context

…Now, I hold the strange view that the ideal version of a Shakespeare play is to read it to yourself, not even aloud, but silently, and that any theatrical performance is a kind of dilution or corruption. It seems unlikely that’s what Shakespeare would have thought, but what’s your take? I don’t entirely agree, but I agree a lot more than some other people might. Shakespeare did write to be read. The idea that he wrote to be performed is only part of the truth. For one thing, he knew that there were anthologies being made, and he knew that people came to the playhouse and copied down the good bits to pirate them in the anthologies. He was well aware that he was being read, and he was writing those bits in the play when you think, “Oh, this character is suddenly giving an anthology speech.” Well, yes, they are, because Shakespeare knew that he needed one. He also knew that his books would be printed and sold. He didn’t know about the folio necessarily, but he knew the quartos. I think a third or a half of the plays came out in quarto. He wants to be read, right? He has a very, very divided audience. On the one hand, they’re paying a penny in the pit. On the other hand, there’s an elite overproduction from grammar schools. There are all these clever young men who want the pun in Latin. They want these things they can pick up on and boast about. The guys at the Inns of Court will come and see this play, and they’ll debate the law elements long into the night. He knows that he’s got that audience, and that audience persists today. It is true that a lot of modern productions are just terrible and will give you a bad idea of Shakespeare. The directors, I think, are too interventionist. They come up with these crazy schemes and metaphors, and it just distracts. The one good production of this I’ve seen was done by amateurs, students at RADA in London, and it was directed by Jonathan Miller, the famous opera director. I said to one of them afterwards, “This was really good.” I didn’t mean to be rude saying like, “How were you guys this good?” “It was really good. What did Jonathan Miller do?” They said, “Oh, he came in, and he just said, “No, no, we shan’t bother with anything else. I’ll just make sure you know what the words mean, and then you can get on with it.” I actually think that can be a great performance. Hamlet is often done like that—just this dark stage, and everyone’s saying the words properly. Then it’s very dramatic. But in general, I agree with you that reading is better than watching. Is there a good movie treatment of Measure for Measure?…

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