Second
hand bookstores are full of surprises
Like
the Arden Shakespeare's version of Titus
Andronicus,
which I found near the Printworks,
As
far as shops go, believe me, I've seen worse,
But
I've seen much better when it comes to guide books,
I
was pretty let down whilst reading Titus
I
had a flip through, and I thought, wait, what's this?
All
this description but no synopsis?!
No
character profiles to set the scene,
No
chapters investigating the play's main themes?
Even
the scenes are void of summaries
Leaving
me feeling annoyed at what's in front of me
Most
of the meaning would have been lost on me,
Were
each page not with a comprehensive glossary
To
Arden's credit, the level of detail
Gone
into explaining Shakespeare's most feared tale
May
do more than just raise an eyebrow,
To
some of the meanings I was just like, wow!
And
all of the footnotes were on the same page,
So
I didn't have to page-flip, which would take days
Shakespeare
did more than just penning the verse
It
seems he also invented the words!
Before
the play's official composure,
There
was no record of the word 'closure,'
At
least in the sense, if you can comprehend,
Of
a problem that now has come to an end.
If
you really want to understand
A
Shakespeare play, without it getting out of hand
Skip
the Arden text, believe me you'd best know
You're
better off sticking with York or Letts Notes.
To
figure the play out, I thought I'd drop in
On
the '99 film starring Anthony Hopkins
As
if the play wasn't weird enough,
It
starts with a modern-day kid in a huff,
Out
of control, smashing up his kitchen
When-
SMASH- a horde of ancient Romans blitz in,
They
travel back in time to a Roman amphitheatre,
And
there, the film begins to adhere to
The
original structure of the Shakespeare play
But
at the same time, and in a weird way
Partly
nineteen-fifties décor
With
Cadillacs and jazz and a Roman emperor
And
hectic violence that's harsh and disturbin'
The
set design makes me think of Baz Luhrmann
The
time period gives a metafiction feel
And
the whole attempt is messily surreal
What
was the point of the kid from modern day?
What
was the director trying to say?
And
who can deny that Shakespeare's shittest play
would
inspire, and I'm sorry, for this I've got to say,
The
worst film on Anthony Hopkins' CV?
I'm
surprised I didn't turn off the TV!
Despite
the murders, you no what's most distressin'?
The
kid doesn't even get back to the present!
I
don't care if it's based on Shakespeare,
'The
film is shite' is the message you can take here.
Still
on lit but with a change of direction:
Please
refresh with a little inspection,
Oldham Comic Con took place in
May,
And
I decided to show my face on the day
I
found a free comic almost straight away
Placed
near the entrance of Oldham Library.
I
thought I might make a purchase maybe,
But
I didn't have to with this 2000AD!
I
was a fan of the Judge Dredd movie
(The
'95 version, so go ahead, sue me)
But
I've never actually read the comic
So
this week in the sun I sat out and got on it
I'm
not a huge fan of the comic book form
But
what surprised me, what was different to the norm
Is
that comic stories are faster paced
And
can be told succinctly in the frames that have been placed
So
rather than a written tale taking ages,
A
whole narrative unfolds in 6 pages.
2000AD
can celebrate 40
Years
of blending fine artwork and story.
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