Portrait
Shakespeare, I’m sure we’re all familiar with him and his plays (or at least on of them any way). I’m sure you’re familiar with the famous lines from Romeo and Juliet, “Shall I compare thee to a summers day?”…. and so on. Or perhaps Hamlet, “To be or not to be, that is the question”. Please no skulls. We’ve seen many adaptations of his work including some up to date films for kids, The Lion King based on Hamlet and 10 Things I hate about You based on The Taming of the Shrew. All adaptation have been brilliant in their own right and as an adaptation and let’s face it, Shakespeare was a bloody brilliant writer.
Shakespeare’s identity has always been a mystery, shrouded in rumours and intrigue and the very idea that Shakespeare could have been a pseudo name for some one else has always fascinated me. So I put this to you all. Wouldn’t it have been wonderful if Shakespeare wasn’t alive in the 16th century, but the 1950’s instead?
Just think about it for a second. All the iconic films of the 50’s; North by Northwest, On the Waterfront, Ben Hur, Rear Window, 12 Angry Men – I could go on- would be amazing if penned by the legendary bard. We would have images of the bard with a pompadour
Johnny Depp in Cry Baby
and in jeans with a jacket and popped up collar. He would be a rock and roll god of the writer’s world, as he was then. The films could have been penned by Shakespeare right enough (okay maybe he wouldn’t have been a fan of the musicals but bear with me). Hitchcock’s thriller and suspense are Shakespeare’s tragedies and the musicals could have been his comedies. Shakespeare was responding to the political and economical issues of the day much like the films and stories of the 50’s (again maybe not the musicals). Shakespeare could arguably be a rebel of his day by posing many satires of the wealthy and aristocracy, he was a regular rock n’ roller who tool aspects of society he didn’t like and put them under the microscope. He took them apart and placed them in his plays for the audience to see.
So you see, Shakespeare is more than welcome to reinvent himself as a rockabilly cat as the problems he had and wrote about are still here today and were there in the 50’s. Or perhaps he has passed his secrets down to someone who is carrying on his rebellious work for the world? Just a thought…
