STRATFORD SHAKESPEARE
Sir,-Is not your correspondent "We Are Not Amused" inclining to be a little precious and pedantic? Apparently he is not amused because the Shakespeare readings he has heard do not agree with the volumes he happeris to have on his shelves. There are many different Shakespeare texts, so I presume that the actors concerned used one more suited to their purpose, and perhaps Shakespeare’s purpose, for surely he wrote his plays ‘to be acted and hot self-consciously recited. Shakespeare was an actor himself _and is regarded (except by Shaw) as our greatest dramatist. This does not spoil his greatness as a poet. Drama and poetry are not incompatible if you "suit
the action to the word, the word to the action" (which, incidentally, aids comprehension even if metre does suffer). It became evident to many of us who both heard and saw the performances of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company, even if it was not realised before, that Shakespeare is still far from relegation to the shelf. You can try to put the old Bard in a literary coffin, but he will only break out again for the delight of ignorant people like myself who enjoy really good» drama (whether in prose or blank verse) even if he has been cut, distorted and generally spoilt in the process. :
IGNORAMUS
(Palmerston North),
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19530515.2.12.6
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 28, Issue 722, 15 May 1953, Page 5
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223STRATFORD SHAKESPEARE New Zealand Listener, Volume 28, Issue 722, 15 May 1953, Page 5
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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