The great Shakespeare conspiracy
Marcia Williams was brought up to believe that Shakespeare was too
difficult and belonged only to people who could afford expensive theatre
tickets. Now she knows that to be a big fat lie and here’s why – in Shakespeare Week – you should claim your right to to the Bard!
If you think Shakespeare isn’t for you, you’re wrong! When I was young, I was brought up to believe that Shakespeare was difficult and belonged to academics and those who could afford expensive theatre tickets. The first time I went to see a Shakespeare play, my teacher made it into such a big deal that I was literally sick with nerves on the theatre floor!
After that it was years before I wanted to let Shakespeare into my life again – what a waste. For the generation before me, it was even worse – many girls were not permitted to read Shakespeare at all. Only well-educated boys were allowed peeks into Shakespeare’s world; he was considered far too rich a feast for girls. This was outrageous and entirely wrong, yet some people still think that Shakespeare is too difficult for young people. Please don’t listen to them. Claim your right to Shakespeare!
When Shakespeare was young, there were no theatres at all. The plays that he saw in his hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon, would have been street performances. Travelling actors would set up a stage and perform wherever they could – village inns, on the street or in the homes of the wealthy. People left their work and gathered round to watch the players, cheering, gossiping, drinking, throwing the odd rotten apple and generally having a good time. At the end of each performance the players passed a hat around, so just like buskers today, they had to grab the crowd’s attention or they wouldn’t get paid. How did they do that? By appealing to the likes of you and me – the bog standard man, woman, teenager or kid on the street.
Around the time that Shakespeare left Stratford and went to London to look for work, the first theatres were being built. Actors and playwrights hoped they would gain more respect by having their own performance space, but they didn’t suddenly start refusing to perform for anyone except academics and royalty – their plays were still for everyone. When you heard the trumpet announcing a performance you quickly left your work and legged it to the theatre! The audiences were the same as for the street performances and they behaved in much the same unruly way. In fact, the city council and the Lord Mayor tried to close these new theatres, because they distracted young apprentices from their work and encouraged crime and drunkenness!
If the playgoers were going to watch one of Shakespeare’s plays, they knew they were in for an extra treat. His plays were popular with everyone – young, old, literate and illiterate. He wrote about love. He wrote about annoying, controlling parents. He wrote about war, magic, heartbreak, witches and history, and he also wrote knock-about comedy. The things he wrote about are timeless, and are just as relevant to us today than a television sitcom might be.
Some of you might think Shakespeare’s use of language is a problem, but it just has a rhythm you need to swing with. Just like rappers today, if Shakespeare couldn’t find the right word, he made one up. We are still using hundreds of words and expressions that Shakespeare invented: puke, puppy-dog, silliness and leap-frog, to name just a few.
Watch out though – Shakespeare will play on your heart strings. He’ll have you rolling with laughter one minute and crying your eyes out the next, and like all good friends, he can also be extremely annoying! I often wish he was about now, so I could ask him why he created certain characters, or why some of his plays are so unrelentingly sad.
You need to lay claim to Shakespeare – grab him now. Do not let those posers who think he is too difficult, too special, too bawdy, violent, funny or anything else, deny you your heritage. It’s a rotten conspiracy and it has gone on too long. If you can’t get to a theatre right now, you have a treat in store for you. In the meantime there are loads of other ways to enjoy Shakespeare. You can read his plays, act in his plays, watch them in the cinema or on TV, read comic strip versions of them, illustrate your own versions, create modern versions, gnome versions or animal versions, or even visit the brilliant Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust and find out all about Will Shaksespeare himself. Will is tough, he is indestructible and he is super cool. Best of all – Mr William Shakespeare is YOURS!
As his friend Ben Johnson said: “He was not of an age, but for all time”!
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