Shakespeare's Globe: Authenticity or Nostalgic Tourism?
I recently had the pleasure of seeing Much Ado About Nothing at "Shakespeare's Globe Theatre," a reconstruction of the 1599 "Globe" christened in 1997 close to the original site along the Thames in London. Although boasting "faithful reconstruction," it understandably sports such modern theatre conventions as a gift shop and box office.
However, I find it interesting that it was never "Shakespeare's" Globe in the first place, but was built under the management of Richard Burbage and operated by a company of theatre collaborators called the Lord Chamberlain's Men. "Shakespeare" seems to have become a label with which we refer to a certain aesthetic of Elizabethan-era theatre. This poses important historical and cultural questions, like "is authentic replication of the past really authentic, or a way of profiting off of historical nostalgia?" and "what do we mean by the 'work of Shakespeare'?"
Which brings me to my fetish: conspiracy theories... The Shakespeare Conspiracy Trailer
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Comments:
Jun '10
Re: Shakespeare's Globe: Authenticity or Nostalgic Tourism?
Replication is never authentic, which does not render it useless. Indeed, often the best way to measure the achievements of our forebears is to replicate parts of their world. The next time you visit your dentist consider what a trial a simple thing such as a toothache would have been one hundred years ago, never mind in Shakespeare's time. Not an experience you'd like to replicate, I'm sure.
I don't know about the movie whose trailer you reference, but there are four leading contenders for the authorship of Shakespeare's works: 1) William Shakespeare; 2) Edward de Vere, the 17th Earl of Oxford; 3) Christopher Marlowe, and 4) William Stanley, the 6th Earl of Derby.
Marlowe is considered a poor prospect, because he died too early and was not around for most of the later oeuvre. Three reasons why William Shakespeare is thought not to have been the author of his eponymous works: 1) Shakespeare lacked formal education, 2) He lacked critical "courtly" knowledge, and 3) Once he retired from the London stage, he never wrote again and anything he did write, such as his epitaph, is considered poorly written.
Re: Shakespeare's Globe: Authenticity or Nostalgic Tourism?
Good point about replication not being useless. I tend to become cynical about, for instance, audio tour guides that re-enact how a day in a palace used to run. I still, however, find it intriguing that so much effort and resources into preserving things for the sake of profiting off of tourism. In a place with such history as England this has become especially poignant (most buildings there are older than the US!). The question of how the purpose of structures have changed over time is raised, and we must ask why we find it so important that old structures have the purpose of preservation? Could there be something more useful? For instance, should a thousand year old cathedral be raising and spending the millions it takes to preserve itself, or fulfill the spiritual purpose of caring for the sick and the poor?
Re: Shakespeare's Globe: Authenticity or Nostalgic Tourism?
Shakespeare was certainly not wealthy enough in his time (if he was, in fact, William Shakespeare and not the Earl of Oxford) to own a theater himself, but he was a member of the Lord Chamberlain's Men, so in that sense it was "Shakespeare's Globe" because it was the theater a bulk of his plays were originally written for.
Edited on September 16, 2011 at 8:04pmSep '11
Re: Shakespeare's Globe: Authenticity or Nostalgic Tourism?
The movie "Anonymous" is about to be released. But we all know it was really Christopher Marlowe who wrote those beautiful works. The novel "The Shakepeare Conspiracy" was recently published (based on historical facts) The movie version of the book is presently being filmed in Winnipeg, Canada, by the Motion Picture Hall of Fame Corporation.
The web site is: www.TheShakespeareConspiracy.com
Two conspiracy theories have fascinated historians for centuries.
HOW COULD William Shakespeare become England’s greatest playwright virtually overnight when he had never written anything before and was merely a nameless actor? Historians have noted that he was better known “for holding horses for the gentry while they watched plays.”
And HOW COULD Christopher Marlowe, a known spy and the previous reigning playwright in England, be suspiciously murdered and quickly buried in an unmarked grave -- just days before he was to be tried for treason?
The novel, a wild romp through 16th Century Elizabethan England, is a rapidly unfolding detective novel filled with comedy, intrigue, murder and an illicit love story.
Get the scandalous view of the real Shakespeare, with his sexual peccadilloes, illegitimate children and mistresses…
It's THE SHAKESPEARE CONSPIRACY
www.TheShakespeareConspiracy.com
…