More Romeo

Our pursuit of 'Romeo and Juliet', last noticed at reference 1, has continued with a now near complete viewing of the Thames Television version from 1976. Said to be the only filmed version with anything like the full text, which meant that we did not consume it all in one go. About four bites took us to the friar's speech very near the end, Act.V, Sc.III.

With Leonard Neame as Romeo & Ann Hasson as Juliet. They did pretty well, although I had never heard of either of them before. In fact, the only face I recognised (from Morse and other detective dramas of that kind) was Clive Swift as the Friar.

Neame was very convincing as a love-struck young blood, while Hasson was mostly convincing - playing some one ten years younger than she actually was - although sometimes her real age came through, rather spoiling the illusion. Well supported by the rest of the cast. Done rather theatrically, with the director not finding it necessary to go for the full-on cinematic treatment. I suppose that this has the advantage of being a lot cheaper.

But, for perhaps the first time, we saw the point of it all, all those improbable speeches of the star crossed lovers. Of the (very necessary) counterpoint provided by the various scenes with menials. We saw that nudity was not needed to fire up the action.

I was struck by all these young bloods being the children of rich merchants. People in trade rather than proper people living off thousands of acres which had been in the family for ages. Perhaps a distinction that a Shakespearean audience would be alive to, with the established, landed aristocracy of their time having a very ambivalent attitude towards the newly emerging, monied sort.

I was also struck by the unnecessary death of Paris, whose only offense was to be involved in an arranged marriage to a girl with a sometimes violent and controlling father. Collateral damage, as it were, rather in the way of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern in Hamlet, who were caught up in action over which they had little control. Unusual deaths, in the sense that most Shakespearean deaths that I can bring to mind are necessary in one way or another. Including the person dying just being old, just running out of puff, of desire to live on. Perhaps not so unusual to a Shakespearean audience, to whom death was much closer, much more ever-present. Rather than usually being rather remote. Someone else, somewhere else.

A good outing. How long will it be before we are moved to have another go? To have another go with the Arden text?

PS: it so happens that I have just read in the NYRB, in a piece about the Augustan Roman poet known to us as Horace, that it was he who first proscribed the organisation of plays into five acts. A proscription serious Western playwrights have followed ever since. For two thousand years or so.

Reference 1: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/05/a-lesson.html.

Reference 2: http://www.ulsteractors.com/. It turns out that Juliet came from Derry and is just about our age. Described here as 'missing, presumed retired', a nice phrase that I had not come across before.