Thursday, October 13, 2011

The play's the thing....

On Oct. 28 a film called "Anonymous" opens; it's premise is that someone other than William Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare's plays. This notion has been aorund for three centuries, but scholars, such as retired La Salle professor Robert Fallon, believe it's nonsense. Yet, when he taught classes with older students, "It was the first thing they asked me." I hope to get Dr. Fallon interviewed by the media on this topic around the film's opening. He, of course, wants to see it first.

On a related matter, Actor Ralph Finnes stars in and directs a film based on Shakespeare's play, "Coriolanus." It's considered one of the Bard's lesser works, and is rarely performed. I hope to again get Dr. Fallon interviewed about why this play doesn't rank with Shakespeare's best; also, Shakespeare set his play in ancient Rome; Finnes has set his film in the present day; many productions and film versions of Shakespeare's plays have had their time and location changed; the results are usually mixed. Dr. Fallon doesn't think this is a particularly good idea, and I hope I can get him interviewed about that, too.

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