To Weep Play Analysis

To Weep Or Not To Weep..?

Shakespeare's Tragedies On Screen – Part II

On the 23rd of April 2016 we marked the 400th death anniversary of perhaps the greatest dramatist of all time, and certainly the most famous, William Shakespeare.

In Part I of "To Weep Or Not To Weep..?" we looked at some of the important screen adaptations of three of his best tragedies... Hamlet, King Lear and Antony & Cleopatra.

Here we look at the balance three major tragedies: Macbeth, Othello and Romeo & Juliet.

“Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No...”

Macbeth (written between 1599 and 1606)

Primarily based in Scotland, the play is about Macbeth, a general to the Scottish King, who is prophesied by the witches to become the king,

The 1965 version was directed by Stuart Burge, and received Academy nominations for all the lead actors: Laurence Olivier, Maggie Smith, Joyce Redman, and Frank Finlay.

Some interesting adaptations of the tale include:

“A Double Life” (1947) by George Cukor is a darker version of the tale where Ronald Colman plays an actor who is playing Othello, and who starts having the space between his real life and the character blur. Colman won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Actor. The movie was also nominated for Best Director and Original Screenplay.

“All Night Long” (1962) by Basil Dearden is set in the Jazz scene of London during the 1960s and has performances by several popular American and British jazz artists.

Jayaraaj's Malayalam adaptation is called “Kaliyattam” (1997) and is against the background of a Theyyam performance, which is a ritual form of worship. The lead actor Suresh Gopi received the National Film Award for Best Actor, while Jayaraaj won the award for Best

And although the concept of star-crossed lovers goes back centuries, Romeo and Juliet has become a catch-all phrase for such couples. The play itself is based on 'The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet' (1562) by Arthur Brooke as well as its prose rendition, 'Palace of Pleasure' (1567) by William Painter.

Some of the more significant screen versions include:

The first American version (short) was made in 1908 by Stuart Blackton, while the first European interpretation (short), “Romeo e Giulietta” was by Italian film-maker Mario Caserini and also in the same year.

The first feature length adaptations were exactly a century back, i.e. during the 300th anniversary commemoration of Shakespeare's death. One was by John Noble and Francis Bushman while the other was by Gordon Edwards

And in 1936, George Cukor made a lavish production of “Romeo and Juliet” and which was nominated for Best Picture, Actress, Supporting Actor and Art Direction at the Academy