Love & Mend: Much Ado About Nothing

Рет қаралды 130,083

Күн бұрын

Who wants to bet I butchered some names in this one?
CuriosityStream.com/ladyknight...
Tumblr: / ladyknightthebrave
Instagram: / ladyknightthebrave
Letterboxd: letterboxd.com/lkthebrave/
Patreon: / ladyknightthebrave
Mastodon: mastodon.lol/@Ladyknightthebrave
Special thanks to
Princess Weekes: / melinapendulum
Bellamy Rhea: / bellamyrhea
I FORGOT TO PUT HER IN THE CREDITS BUT ALSO
Ali Nahdee: / alinahdee
If you want to watch some of the productions I showed in this video heres a letterbox list of my favorites to help you track them down
letterboxd.com/lkthebrave/lis...
Music by Epidemic Sound: epidemicsound.com/
0:00 - Intro
01:43 - Chapter 1: Sigh No More
07:12 - Chapter 2: A Kingdom For a Stage
14:29 - Chapter 3: A Stuffed Man
21:07 - Chapter 4: We Are The Only Love Gods
29:09 - Chapter 5: The Shylock Tangent
49:47 - Chapter 6: What Fire Is In Mine Ears?
54:54 - Chapter 7: Quartos, Folios, Oh My!
1:00:46 - Chapter 8: Kill Claudio
1:09:30 - Chapter 9: Our Hands Against Our Hearts
1:18:30 - Ad Read
1:20:05 - Credits
Land Acknowledgment:
This video was produced on land that traditionally belonged to the Kizh, Tongva, and Chumash Nations. native-land.ca/
Sources:
The Globe's Anti-Racist Shakespeare Series
• Anti-Racist Shakespear...
Folger Shakespeare Library Updated Edition: ‘Much Ado About Nothing,’ Edited by Barbara A. Mowat and Paul Werstine (2018)
Reassessing Jewish Life in Medieval Europe. Cambridge University Press. Chazan, Robert (2010)
Shakespeare and the Jews by James Shapiro (1992)
Shakespeare In Production: ‘Much Ado About Nothing,’ Edited by John F. Cox (1997)
Shylock: A Legend and Its Legacy by John Gross (1992)
The Arden Shakespeare Revised Edition: ‘Much Ado About Nothing,’ Edited by Claire McEachern (2015)
The Arden Shakespeare Revised Edition: ‘The Merchant of Venice,’ Edited by John Drakakis, (2010)
A Historical Look at Jews in the Work of Shakespeare
www.jewishbookcouncil.org/pb-...
The Centuries-Old History of Venice’s Jewish Ghetto
www.smithsonianmag.com/travel...
The Jew(ish) actor playing Shylock at the Globe
www.thejc.com/life-and-cultur...
This Day in Jewish History | 1278: All Jews of England Arrested in 'Coin-clipping' Scandal
www.haaretz.com/jewish/2013-1...
Crucifixion and Conversion: King Henry III and the Jews in 1255
www.medievalists.net/2010/03/...
The Jews of medieval England
www.historyextra.com/period/m...
That Tumblr Post
romehoe-montague.tumblr.com/p...
Shakespeare in the Ghetto, the Ghetto in Shakespeare
• Shakespeare in the Ghe...
Noting in Much Ado About Nothing: Meaning, Examples & Quotes
study.com/academy/lesson/noti...
Shylock’s Jewish Way of Speaking
ingeveb.org/articles/shylocks...
How were the Jews regarded in 16th-century England?
www.bl.uk/shakespeare/article...
The Globe Magazine 2022
cdn.shakespearesglobe.com/upl...
Four Hundred Years Later, Scholars Still Debate Whether Shakespeare’s “Merchant of Venice” Is Anti-Semitic
www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-c...

Пікірлер: 673

@cynda6116 Жыл бұрын

my theatre company did a production of much ado where the watch were adapted to be very capable girl scouts rather than bumbling old men. instead of the arrest being funny because the watch are idiots, it was funny because a group of small children absolutely clobbered a couple of grown men. it was a hit and definitely made those scenes much less frustrating.

@LuckyLiegeLady246 Жыл бұрын

That sounds amazing! Wish I could have seen it

@elenafriese891 Жыл бұрын

I know one my cousin was in largely just had fun with the physical comedy? (Err, said cousin is a beanpole with a talent for physical comedy surrounded by normal sized people) But yeah, that does sound _much_ more fun

@grainneocruhuir6383 Жыл бұрын

This is the best thing I’ve ever heard

@mayas3422 Жыл бұрын

that sounds so cute and also like it agrees thematically with the theme of not listening to women!

@mystery1317 Жыл бұрын

Wait, I actually love this take 😂

@evenif7431 7 ай бұрын

Benedict believing Beatrice against his male friends and turning against them is the most romantic thing ever

@90charmedndangerous 6 ай бұрын

That is what really made me fall for the character (i mean the humour too but..) its partly why ben and bea are one of if not the best couples of all time.

@themisheika 5 ай бұрын

Isn't it so deliciously ironic that the most outwardly misogynistic man proves himself the most feminist and the supposedly gallant, gentlemanly bridegroom the one who internalized his misogyny?

@singingstar999 5 ай бұрын

this fact is probably why it's my favourite Shakespeare play. Benedict is a hero I can wholeheartedly root for.

@JacobTCannon Жыл бұрын

can’t get over how all the crossdressing in Shakespeare are essentially meta jokes that lost their context: all actors were men at the time, so the women dressing as men were, plainly to the audience, men dressing as women dressing as men

@C19520 Жыл бұрын

My college put on a production of Twelfth Night with a cast of only women, which made the crossdressing jokes land for a similar reason but in a sort of reversed way from how they would've originally been meant. It was absolutely fascinating to watch and I think about it frequently

@kgallchobhair 11 ай бұрын

all of which is now illegal in several states :/

@emmawalter5433 9 ай бұрын

So they were actually femboys dressed as twinks instead of studs acting like twink.

@beckycegg9767 Жыл бұрын

My favourite theory is that the Friar from Romeo and Juliet is the same one from Much Ado About Nothing: either he'd seen how well the plan worked with Hero and Claudio and decided to do it again OR if you put Romeo and Juliet first he was so determined that the plan of pretending a woman was dead would work that he did it again even though it ended in tragedy last time.

@joslyntheneutralbard1878 10 ай бұрын

What if instead, it was Shakespeare trying to make a statement on how the church profits from death and marriage alike and so capitalizes on both of them. "Hey you know what would be great?! If You pretended she died, had a funeral I could minister at, then when he's learned his lesson come back here and marry them both again. 😅

@Venusknees Жыл бұрын

THE DAVID AND CATHERINE STAGE VERSION IS SO GOOD I CAN NOT SCREAM ABOUT IT ENOUGH

@batfurs3001 Жыл бұрын

They have SUCH GOOD stage/screen chemistry it's actually insane. I'm still foaming at the mouth that Donna only got one season of Who. I hope they do more stuff together in the future!!

@devinlockhart9263 Жыл бұрын

What play is it, I'm gonna have to find it and watch it

@CortexNewsService Жыл бұрын

@@scarlett_b7083 IT'S ON KZfaq?!?!?!

@SpiderTNT. Жыл бұрын

@@scarlett_b7083 ur a saviour

@courtneym75 Жыл бұрын

Have you listened to the BBC audio production with Tennant? It's one of my favorites! Catherine Tate isn't in that one, but I honestly like it better than the version you're talking about (by like.. a TEEEENY tiny margin). I think because they cannot rely on the visuals and body language, they have to REALLY get it across to the audience verbally. There's nothing like hearing Tennant utterly *sneer* "What, my dear lady disdain? Are *you* yet living?"

@jessicamarshall1975 Жыл бұрын

Another thing about Act 4, Scene 1 (aka the wedding scene) is that Benedict is the only male character (beside the Friar) to not jump straight to believing the accusations levelled against Hero. That was the part where I actively started liking Benedict. Edit: Yeah I never got why Claudio was forgiven so easily forgiven. Or why he believed Don John when he’d just been at war with him.

@calicojacque Жыл бұрын

Beatrice's 'Were I a man?' speech was very formative for me. I think that was when I resolved to eat the hearts of anyone who treated my loved ones wrong in the marketplace. Never looked back!

@michaelawiseman7320 Жыл бұрын

I actually decided to rewatch this vid today because I honestly had that feeling today.

@EthalaRide 7 ай бұрын

27:31 I love love LOVE how they make the spit-take Benedict accidentally sprays into the PRINCE'S FACE _" huuuuh, Was that raiiiiiiin??"_ The stupider and more outrageously obvious Benedict's reactions are, the more clever the trio has to be to willfully excuse them. BRILLIANT.

@evelynstarshine8561 Жыл бұрын

There was a comment on twitter, years ago, about the harm done in indigenous students by teaching them in school that Shakespeare is the greatest author to have ever been and no writings can compare to his, english plays by an english writer. Upholding the supremacy as english as a better language. I don't even remember who said it or the context, but it's been in my head ever since.

@gota7738 Жыл бұрын

Am Welsh so not usually classed as indigenous but still with minority language, and I've felt odd about Shakespeare worship ever since I got into an argument with an English person over the Welsh language who amongst other things, pointed to Shakespeare and his fame as a sign of English's superiority and Welsh's inferiority. It was only the English language who could produce Shakespeare while no other culture came close in a writer so globally beloved. When I bought up Dafydd Ap Gwilym they dismissed it since no one knew about him, as if it's just by pure quality alone that Shakespeare's works have spread so far and everyone picked up English because it was just such a good language. He's certainly fantastic but his recognition didn't spread in a vacuum.

@malcolmohair5565 Жыл бұрын

I mean to be fair, that far from the worst action taken by indigenous schools.

@HBoyle Жыл бұрын

Damn that's good

@etherealtb6021 Жыл бұрын

But then so many cultures and languages who make Shakespeare their own!

@ButIamAStick 4 ай бұрын

@@gota7738Its so funny for that person to say that knowing that Don Quixote is literally the one of (if not the first) best selling novel in the world and Cervantes and Shakespeare were contemporary. Or the extraordinary work of native poets and writers in less expanded languages as you well said, that are as important if not more for scientists to exist, and for the local construction of an identity and culture.

@GingerPiper81 Жыл бұрын

shout-out to the editing of this, the switching between adaptations for any of the dialogue bits was absolutely chef-kiss perfect, 10/10 no notes, your effort is seen and appreciated (and obvi I love the whole video, I love this play, I appreciated seeing someone nerd out about the thing I like to nerd about, but like, that editing though

@queerslandaustralia7880 Жыл бұрын

I greatly appreciate your Shylock tangent. As an Ashkanazi Jew who is decended from converts to christianity it has been well documented in my family that we only largely escaped the worst anti semitism due to that conversion and continued faith. So much so that so few parts of my culture remained time I was born and effectively have been colonised by the nations we lived in since. To see what it was like back then hurts and what was sacrificed to survive is shocking.

@KosherCookery Жыл бұрын

You want to draw colonial parallels, they've been their the whole time. Compare the theft of native children by american social workers to the orphans decree that allowed Yemen to kidnap Jewish children away from their families.

@RetnabBanter Жыл бұрын

My favourite "if you don't get a Shakespeare line it's either a crotch or fart joke" line is "hoist with his own pitards", which apparently actually refers to farting so powerfully that it actually pushes you into the air lmao

@Helgatwb 7 ай бұрын

No, a petard was a homemade bomb, basically an IED. "Hoist with his own petard" means "unintentionally blown up by his own bomb," literally. It is linguistically very close to "backfired" as a way of saying something went wrong. Figuratively, it means "he had a plan to hurt someone else, but because of poor execution, he has hurt himself, instead."

@maddiedoesntkno 4 ай бұрын

@@Helgatwbdon’t you see how that could be….a fart joke?

@Helgatwb 4 ай бұрын

@@maddiedoesntkno yes, it could be a fart joke, but my point is that it is more than a fart joke. It did not start out as a fart joke.

@maddiedoesntkno 4 ай бұрын

@@Helgatwb this is like if, in five hundred years of the language advancing someone finds a reference to a Dutch oven re:farts and insists it’s not a fart joke because Dutch ovens are real things for cooking, look look, they used to put them in the coals of fires and in real ovens and cooked inside them to get even distribution of heat, and why ruin the purity of the joke when it was obviously something else, clearly this line _began_ as a line about a cooking tool in the 2000s and it was perverted over the years somehow. Like double meanings are _why we find these things funny_ most of the time. That’s how they became a joke in the first place.

@Helgatwb 4 ай бұрын

@@maddiedoesntkno yeah, I'm that annoying one at the party going, well, actually...

@Blaed13 Жыл бұрын

'Life is short and regret is long.' a great quote capping off another stellar video. i particularly enjoyed your reading of the shylock monologue. one of the most empathizing things the bard ever wrote. also, your seamless blending of the different versions of this play was so fun.

@rochellerodriguez6431 Жыл бұрын

"I love nothing in the world so well as you. Is not that strange?" is one of my favorite lines ever and I think of it often. Thank you for blessing us with this treat ^_^

@gabebe4900 Жыл бұрын

This video is such a visual treat with all the different imaginings of the plays highlighting how fun and versatile the show can/has been. I particularly love the editing of the different iterations of characters speaking to one another. Something something art as immortality, the characters loving one another across time and people and place something it's an old song but we're going to sing it again something something.

@Kay-kg6ny Жыл бұрын

Yes! The cutting between the different adaptations is so fun and tasty (and probably a TON of work, holy heck)

@Oli.V Жыл бұрын

Damn pulling Hadestown into this as well? Was it not incredible enough?

@gemmapaterson53 Жыл бұрын

finished this and literally straight away started watching the Tate/Tennant version ❤️

@MrPiccoloku Жыл бұрын

"If you don't understand a line in Shakespeare there's a 50% chance that it's a dick joke" I'm just keeping this one for later

@hjeand Жыл бұрын

I probably can’t count how many productions of Much Ado on film or stage I’ve seen in my life, I love it so much, but it always gets my hackles up when the audience reacts to Beatrice’s “kill Claudio” line by laughing. I want so badly for her to be taken seriously and for her pain to be recognized, that laughing seems so dismissive and belittling to her in that moment. But they way you highlight how much the scene does swing back and forth between the emotional highs and lows has helped my understanding a lot, and actually puts into context why an audience might have that reaction out of confusion. Up to that point Beatrice has mostly been glib and comic, so maybe it is natural after all that, like Benedick we go “lol, good one, Bea! …wait are you serious?”, in that moment. Fantastic essay as always! I’ll add my voice to praising the truly delightful way you edited each production to flow into each other. And the pathos you brought to Shylock’s monologue was breathtaking. Thank you!

@habersmashery Жыл бұрын

In the Tennant/Tate version Beatrice’s line ‘Kill Claudio’ is read and recorded very seriously. It’s funny up to that point, but the actors bring the tone down before she says the line, and you can FEEL the ripple of shock go through the audience.

@constantchanger Жыл бұрын

In live theater, never under-appreciate an audience's capacity for laughter as a coping strategy

@rizahawkeyepierce1380 Жыл бұрын

Yeah, I've been in a few audiences where the audience laughs, but it's more out of discomfort or confusion than anything. It's a really strange experience.

@stephysteph8558 Жыл бұрын

Now I'm wondering if the scene was supposed to be partly comic? Because her speech turns out to be a massive overreaction later. No one has to die here, and that's not even what Hero wants.

@MyUnoriginalLife Жыл бұрын

we did much ado as a western when i was in high school and it was glorious (Don Jon was a shady sheriff dressed in all black with the boots and hat and everything)

@pitchlag1502 Жыл бұрын

I have heard that Shakespere performances are a lot livelier and humorous than just the text, but these collages of scenes from different adaptations? Gold, I fully understand the appeal now and might need to go digging for some of those recordings

@batfurs3001 Жыл бұрын

Look up the Catherine Tate/David Tennant one! They have fantastic chemistry and are hilarious together. It should be on youtube somewhere

@robotbirb7321 Жыл бұрын

My high school tried so hard to do MacBeth justice. They had us read aloud some scenes, and assigned groups in the class to act out pivotal scenes with costumes and sets. I was Lady MacBeth in the "out damned spot" scene lol. That was a teacher who tried her best.

@sylviesuccubus8503 Жыл бұрын

My teacher had us all move our desks into a circle and then we’d vote on who’d get ‘cast’ to read each character for an act. Everyone got really into it. The best part is that said teacher had a well-known fear of spiders, and right before the scene with Banquo’s ghost, she SCREAMED, threw her book across the room, and apparently apparated out of the hook-around desk she was in (given that she was all of four feet and roughly circular), and burst into tears because ‘there was a spider in it!’ We all spent about fifteen minutes trying to find the damn thing before she started laughing and then said ‘So that’s how everyone except Macbeth feels in this scene, since they can’t see the ghost! Carry on!’ Woman COMMITTED

@ajmalaika1287 Жыл бұрын

In my school we did it simltaneously in English and drama class so that helped. Also got to see it at the globe cause we're in London IT WAS FIRE!!

@AnnTheAnonymous Жыл бұрын

As another ashkenazi jew who loves shakespeare and especially much ado about nothing, I loved this whole video and the discussions surrounding antisemitism. I get really tired when people say "don't read this author because they're antisemitic" because like if I genuinely didn't read anything from anyone antisemitic I would have like three books to read maybe. I think discussion is so important, to delve into why these harmful ideas exist, how they were spread and made popular in the first place, to face that history head on instead of just sweeping it under the rug because it makes us uncomfortable.

@rachelpalm7403 Жыл бұрын

Bravo to you! That is a wonderful stance to take. :)

@tangally Жыл бұрын

my first encounter with this play was a web series (not unlike the Lizzie Bennett Diaries) called Nothing Much to Do. It was pretty fun, plus it was made in New Zealand so they all have great accents

@sarahgent2674 Жыл бұрын

I was already a fan of the play when I watched it but having a friend go in blind was really fun. They were like "is hero gonna be OK?" But yeah that show inspired my most used Internet screen name (apart from on KZfaq unfortunately)

@victoriaacrage6342 Жыл бұрын

Man I love Nothing Much to Do!

@TheGirlWhoExists Жыл бұрын

While not my first encounter, as a Kiwi who was in highschool at the time, NMTD was fairly formative. The songs are still some of my favourites.

@kasperiankittredge7781 Жыл бұрын

Yes! I loved Nothing Much to Do- I especially loved the fact that Hero had some of the most lines in that version (compared to having some of the least in the Shakespeare plays), and the fact that (spoilers) Hero and Claudio don't get back together at the end; there is forgiveness, but in a much more realistic sorta way.

@thaisferreira9958 Жыл бұрын

In Brazil people who were cheated on are said to have grown horns, it's a whole thing, so maybe these jokes would land here! Great video as always!

@gonzalo4722 Жыл бұрын

In spanish people that were cheated on are el cachudo, la cachuda. Or we say le pusieron los cachos. There are several songs like that.

@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick Жыл бұрын

Not just Brazil. That’s a common trope of European archetypal theater, such as in the Comedia dellarte.

@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick Жыл бұрын

Not just Brazil. That’s a common trope of European archetypal theater, such as in the Comedia dellarte.

@Pratchettgaiman Жыл бұрын

My understanding of Shylock's speech was somewhat changed by the chapter of Dara Horn's "People Love Dead Jews" wherein she tries to explain to her 10 year old son how the speech humanizes Shylock, only for her son to respond that it's just the kind of speech that a villain in a Marvel movie gives to explain how they've had a hard life too, and you're not supposed to fall for those. I like your interpretation better (and I suspect most post-Holocaust productions of Merchant try to lean into it to make the character more morally ambiguous and less of an antisemitic stereotype), but I suspect that Horn's son's interpretation might be closer to Shakespeare's original intent. Also, while many people focus on Shylock's lack of Christian mercy and/or greediness as examples of the play's antisemitism, as a Jewish person I find myself more disturbed that his forcible conversion to Christianity is portrayed as his being redeemed. If I ever wrote a sequel play, it would have Shylock (and maybe Jessica) having skipped town to Istanbul and becoming proudly and openly Jewish again (and maybe having gotten some vengeance on the rest of the cast, particularly Antonio and Portia, just sayin')

@sylviesuccubus8503 Жыл бұрын

I don’t know about that, honestly. Marvel movies in particular that doesn’t ring true for-people try to justify the movies’ poor handling of the idea of a ‘sympathetic’ villain by saying you’re not supposed to believe the speeches, but then you watch interviews before any backlash or making of stuff and it’s very obvious that the writers fully buy in to, like, Thanos actually loving Gamora or some shit like that. The false sympathetic speech is fairly rare throughout all of fiction and given that Shylock is ‘redeemed’ via conversion at the end, I’d say odds are it was intended to be sincerely humanizing.

@elenachristian9860 Жыл бұрын

Have you seen the version with Jeremy Irons and AL Pacino? Without changing the words, they give you a very different take on the play.

@rizahawkeyepierce1380 Жыл бұрын

I don't know - Marvel movies may give the villain a sympathetic speech, but they don't usually go out of their way to show the heroes being cruel to the villain in the same way. Like Killmonger in Black Panther has some understandable beef, but the movie doesn't pit him against a racist white guy.

@SwingingonSunshine Жыл бұрын

"Macbeth does slap" YES! My class read Hamlet then Macbeth and my biggest issue with Hamlet is that he doesn't do anything so when we get to MacBeth and he kills the king in the first act I was like, Aha! See, Hamlet? This is how you make things happen!

@MadameChristie 11 ай бұрын

I always found Hamley an irritating emo kid XD

@blacktigers98 Жыл бұрын

The David tenant Catherine Tate version was my first intro to this play, but after all ur clips, I can’t wait to eventually dive into a couple of the others! It’s such a fun play and you’ve given me a lot to think on as I watch each one again

@Pazliacci Жыл бұрын

seeing "Merchant of Venice" in the spoiler section I knew which road we were going down and I am happy we went down this road cause I remember our English teacher completely overlooking that aspect of that play, which... how can you completely overlook THAT aspect of Merchant of Venice??

@alisaurus4224 Жыл бұрын

Yes, like when she says her high school English teacher didn’t touch the race issue in Othello. HOW?

@kseniav586 Жыл бұрын

lol so what did you discuss in class?? i can't imagine not talking about this unless the teacher was very intentionally avoiding it

@Pazliacci Жыл бұрын

@@kseniav586 IAMBIC PENTAMETER and PROSE and other stuff whatnot I can't remember-

@kseniav586 Жыл бұрын

@@Pazliacci amazingly boring. i'm kind of glad we didn't study shakespeare at all because i probably would have hated his guts if taught this way))

@elizabethdevido2081 Жыл бұрын

One of my favorite video essayists talking about my favorite Shakespeare comedy?? Featuring my favorite Shakespearean couple?? I’ve never clicked on a video faster.

@ctuero 10 ай бұрын

i like the reading of Claudio and Benedick as foils; Claudio so eager to love and woo and marry but completely ignorant of what that truly means to dedicate onself to a woman and uphold her honor and fight for her and always be on her side, vs. Benedick who rails against marriage and holds up bachelorhood seemly because he DOES truly understand that it will mean "dying to oneself" and actually take work to honor and protect his loved ones, and once he admits to himself he is in love, and declares to Beatrice he is in love, he is ALL IN and willing to duel for the honor and defense of her (who will be his) family. Claudio was naive to what love and marriage would be, whereas perhaps Benedick always knew and so ran from it; but once they are both all in it seems Claudio looks for any excuse from men to run from his engangement whereas Benedick will break from his "sworn brothers" for his future wife instead. anyway. I LOVE HIM

@miss_elaineous_ Жыл бұрын

This is tied with Midsummer for my favorite Shakespeare play just because of the sheer shenanigans in both, but both have their problems with one of the final couples being questionable. Claudio deserves loneliness, Demetrius ends up with a woman he was not originally in love with through fairy love nectar means. But I didn't fall in love with either completely until I saw productions in my early teens. Before that, I was an edgy monster who loved Titus Andronicus, which is genuinely the most disturbing thing William Shakespeare ever wrote and I'd like to find out what he was going through at that point. But seeing all of the examples of adaptations just brings me so much joy, because this play brings me joy. Every woman who plays Beatrice in this is so much funnier than they have any right to be. Thank you for doing this video. I'm also happy you spoke about the anti-Semitism in Shakespeare's works, because most versions of these plays erase it entirely or, in the case of Merchant, are all too happy to play it up.

@PlanetBobstar Жыл бұрын

I like to think that Willy meant to parody the revenge flicky gorefests at the time with Titus by just making the most extreme thing

@miss_elaineous_ Жыл бұрын

@@PlanetBobstar I agree, it's so over the top that it's always bordered on that kind of ridiculous level of violence you get in some movies that makes you laugh instead? But it's like "Is it parody or is it emulation? Is it both?" I haven't read it in full since high school, so I need to revisit that. I had also watched the Julie Taymor adaptation when I was 14 and smoked Fantasia cigarettes for like 6 months after, so I don't think I took enough away from that experience either.

@RLukeHaueter Жыл бұрын

I actually played Claudio in a production of Much Ado, and I completely agree that his redemption within the show makes NO SENSE. He doesn't deserve the second chance he's given. Love the video!!!

@meraoddnish2206 Жыл бұрын

I don’t know if more Scandinavian countries do this but here in Iceland we didn’t learn anything about Shakespeare and when someone asked my teacher the answer was something along the lines “we don’t need to there is nothing for us to learn from him, we have our own poets and writers that are more important to us” so even when I got further into my English studies it wasn’t until my last mandatory class in college that we learned about him.

@drawingsticks5333 7 ай бұрын

Same in Italy unless they are specifically teaching you English literature in high school. We got dozens of our own people that we can barely cover...

@C19520 Жыл бұрын

Literally on the edge of tears that I can't drop everything and watch this immediately 😭😭 Much Ado is my FAVORITE play of all time, not just of Shakespeare's work, and with the way you handled the video essays about Sense8 and M*A*S*H I just know this will be exceptional too

@TMWriting Жыл бұрын

this is a genuinely strange reaction to have.

@C19520 Жыл бұрын

@@TMWriting Ok and? I'm clinging to whatever small pleasures I can find just to survive life right now. Bite me ✌💚

@humzter452 3 ай бұрын

I starred as Benedick in our schools production and I loved playing him so much. He is such a great character to play, so sharp and yet so dull.

@greeplurch Жыл бұрын

I really do appreciate when you address antisemitism in videos. I grew up in a christian religion that often talks about having the birthright of Judaism and frequently tries to co-opt their suffering and pass it off as their own. (They even got in a world of legal trouble for trying to preform posthumous baptisms on holocaust victims but that's another story). Growing up I heard sanitized accounts of the suffering of Jews. It was flattened into "the world hated them because they were true believers" and completely ignored christianity's direct hand in atrocity. Your videos are not my only source of learning about antisemitism and trying to deconstruct how I was culturally taught to think about Jews, but I do appreciate the nuance and humanity you continually bring in educating audiences that will forever be 20 steps behind you in understanding. Great work as usual.

@asjacc4557 Жыл бұрын

Finally life doesn’t prevent me from catching a new video when it premiers

@Asummersdaydreamer14 Жыл бұрын

There is something so satisfying about seeing different productions of the same play edited together; reminds me of elementary/middle grade English when one does “popcorn” reading of the text handing it off like a race baton. Thank you for that extra effort on top of all your research. Also, though I have mostly read only his greatest hits plays, I would definitely give his more obscure or even the dreaded histories a go if they advertised their goofiness & dick jokes more. Immature humor can be timeless if done right lol

@maristiller4033 Жыл бұрын

Thank you SO MUCH for talking about how Shakespeare is meant to bee seen first and not read, as an English major and Shakespeare fan. This was something that was NEVER taught to me in high school when we studied Shakespeare, though we did watch some scenes from Romeo and Juliet. My brother is in high school now about to read Romeo and Juliet, and I'm prepared to tell him that no matter what his teachers say he should watch it first. Hopefully he'll take my advice lol

@stephanieclark8327 Жыл бұрын

I full heartedly agree on this point. I'm a die hard Shakespeare fan and everyone who says it's too hard and they couldn't understand it when forced to read it in school, I tell them it's because Shakespeare is meant to be watched not read.

@maristiller4033 Жыл бұрын

@@stephanieclark8327 Yeah I think all plays are like that. It's really weird how some teachers view as "cheating" though

@stephanieclark8327 Жыл бұрын

@@maristiller4033 I think there's a worry of that director's interpretation influencing your own interpretation. We had to do an essay on how a certain scene in Romeo and Juliet is the most pivotal scene in the play and our teachers refused to show any adaptation until after we submitted our essays in fear we'll start referring to actions we've seen in the movie or recording of play we watched.

@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick Жыл бұрын

@@stephanieclark8327 In a class about textual analysis, it’s often important to analyze the text, wouldn’t you say? Staged or not, the works of Shakespeare are poetry. And poetry can be read just as well as it is seen. Had it not been meant to be read, it would not have been written down.

@stephanieclark8327 Жыл бұрын

@@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick That's the thing though, they weren't properly written down to be read originally. They were written to be performed and then AFTER Shakespeare died the folios started to be published by Shakespeare's peers.

@rebexquest Жыл бұрын

This video is everything I could've hoped for- and I'm so, SO glad that of all the lines, of all the fantastic performances of this play, you edited in the tiny clip of Emma Thompson's "Kill Claudio." That film is the one our sophomore english teacher showed us, and her eyes in that moment have haunted me ever since. On top of everything else, every nuance you bring to essays (as always), this one might just be one of my favorites

@lastflunky Жыл бұрын

In Ireland we only study Shakespeare's tragedies (Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth, Hamlet) but only if you were doing higher level English. If you were in pass level you studied more modern plays, mostly Irish tragedies. As someone who started secondary school on a higher level and then went down to pass, my Shakespeare starts with Romeo and Juliet and ends with teen movies loosely based off of his work. This video has inspired me to check out his comedies. All the adaptions you used look great.

@courtneym75 Жыл бұрын

Oh I wish you the best and most joyous journey in your discovery of Billy Shakes' comedies! They are so delightful; I suggest perhaps watching each one twice (perhaps different productions, but ymmv) - once to take it in and process, and a second to appreciate the jokes. ^.^

@wolfpackjew Жыл бұрын

I saw Much Ado at the Globe in 2017. They set the play in Mexico, and the soldiers were returning from the Mexican-American War. All the characters were Mexican except for the watch, who were American, and instead of being a security unit were a documentary film crew. This of course made Americans the butt of the silliest jokes.

@LadyBravefalcon Жыл бұрын

*chef's kiss* Perfection. The play AND the analysis. Shout-out to my 9th grade English teacher, who let us read MAAN instead of R+J and really did approach the text as a fun, comedic experience instead of a serious analytical one. (He called Beatrice "Beet rice" and thought greased-up, leather pants Don Keanu was the funniest thing ever.) Edit: I just adore the transitions between versions. The continuity of the lines across performers and formats... *Second chef's kiss*

@pepiola Жыл бұрын

It’s very interesting: in Italian it’s still used colloquially the term “cornuto” (horned) to indicate someone who has been cheated on, not necessarily mentioning kids but the link to cheating/cuckoldry still remains and those metaphors about having horns that you do not see are still understandable nowadays

@alexc1060 10 ай бұрын

The same in spanish Poner el cuerno (to put horns) is used to describe someone cheating, ex: "esta persona le puso el cuerno a su pareja" = this person placed horns(cheated) on their partner

@spookyhood Жыл бұрын

the way you braid the dialogues and monologues together by using snippets from all those adaptations is wonderful!

@KelciaMarie1 Жыл бұрын

CIVIL AS AN ORANGE. ~SEVILLE~ AS AN ORGANGE. I have worked on this play TWICE. ONCE PROFESSIONALLY. And I only JUST GOT THAT. I'm so mad. God bless Catherine Tate.

@WindWalker666 11 ай бұрын

“No thoughts, heady empty” was just such a beautiful touch.

@thirdandhappy Жыл бұрын

The level of editing prowess just casually used to line up all the different adaptations and quotes from the same scenes across different versions of the play are just amazing.

@ctuero 10 ай бұрын

having finally watched 2011 Much Ado About Nothing because of David Tennant, ive fallen deep into a Shakespeare hyperfixation and your essay is FEEDING ME

@BellamyJay Жыл бұрын

This was fun, even with the usual suspects making an appearance. It was a joy listening to you nerd out about a play you love! I'm going to have to watch again to make sure I absorb everything but this is a very welcome video.

@BellamyJay Жыл бұрын

I've never been much into Shakespeare (beyond what we've chatted about) but this might be worth a watch in its modern renditions. It's nice to have something that just ends pleasantly.

@Ladyknightthebrave Жыл бұрын

I'm so glad you liked it!!

@sgt.sweetcheeks Жыл бұрын

i'm so incredibly excited to watch this, i've watched all your essays even if i didn't know anything about the original material but i was an absolutely insufferable 9 year old who's favourite book was a giant and eventually beat up copy of the complete works of william shakespeare, i cannot wait for this video to become a new comfort media

@ononono7016 Жыл бұрын

Did you sometimes use old English when writing assignments? I have read many old books when I was young and got terribly frustrated that many writing norms I used were seen as "incorrect" and "outdated"

@AnnisENB 11 ай бұрын

The first production of Much Ado I saw changed the ending for Hero and Claudio and it remains my absolute favourite take. The director’s intent was to comment on gender based violence and marriage equality, both Big problems in Peru where it was mounted. Obviously alterations to the text can be controversial, but they did it in such a wonderful way, it was a delight and the audience went nuts for it every time (the actors “break character” and have a funny shouting match over the merits of keeping versus changing the text after the actor for Hero refuses to marry Claudio the second time around). I only wish more Shakespeare scholars/fans spoke Spanish so the production could be shared further.

@bryonyon4452 4 ай бұрын

Istg it’s such a common experience to do the tragedies in school, be bored, and then experience one of the comedies in your own time and fall in love

@Slyvester27 Жыл бұрын

Nothing like a good break down of Much Ado and/or Pride and Prejudice to remind me that my first two proper ships (Lizzy/Darcy and Benedict/Beatrice in their respective KZfaq adaptations) really influenced how I think about romantic relationships lol

@annikakandoll7890 Жыл бұрын

I went and looked up the David Tennant and Catherine Tate version because of this movie. I'd been meaning to for a long time. It's so good! Anytime you make a video, I either go start watching the thing (how I discovered Jono Rabbit) or I do a happy dance because it's about something I already love. ❤❤❤❤❤ and also if someone is giving you grief over your family and culture's trauma and the fact that you're exploring and talking about it, screw them.

@Argo.nautica Жыл бұрын

I do think Nathan Fillions dogberry is the best one. I think you may be avoiding the Joss Whedon production, but some of the performances and shots really work well, like the one you did show.

@belaquashua Жыл бұрын

Agreed, Fillion and Lenk are the best Dogberry+Verges combo I've seen. My favourite Benedick is Tennant though, Denisoff was different but kinda dull imo.

@rukbat3 Жыл бұрын

@@belaquashua True, but I was sad not to see some Amy Acker in this video. Her pratfall down the stairs and her whole "Kill Claudio" scene are standouts for me.

@belaquashua Жыл бұрын

@@rukbat3 I probably liked Acker as Beatrice more than Tate, on her own. The chemistry between Tate and Tennant though makes up for some stuff that I didn't like in Tate's performance. Acker and Denisoff also had good chemistry imo, but nothing comparable.

@leilasimon2057 11 ай бұрын

I understand the lack of Joss Whedon, but I think it's a real shame - that production is probably my favourite interpretation of my favourite Shakespeare play!

@mydigitallog2652 Жыл бұрын

I fell in love with this play in college! There's this webseries called Nothing Much To Do produced by some college kids in New Zealand called the Candle Wasters that I loved! If you have not watched it I'd check it out. They used a few different channels so look for a playlist.

@georgiawilksch5708 9 ай бұрын

So going to spend the next couple weeks watching all these versions.

@skippythewonderchicken7511 Жыл бұрын

Because I disliked singing, playing an instrument, and art with a deadline, I ended up taking every English class I could get my hands on. I was lucky enough to get to do a Shakespeare class. I don't think I ever had more fun in public school. That was just about the highlight of my school career. Othello, Taming of the Shrew (to which we seemed to all agree that the face turn into a "good wife" makes way more sense if she's being coy and sarcastic) and a Midsummer Nights Dream were kinda the highlights. We did see the film adaptations for a few we didn't cover though. Like the Denzel and Keanu version of Much ado. But separate from the class, our teachers organized a yearly trip to Stratford, Ontario to see one of the shakespeare plays they'd put on there every year. It was Much Ado About Nothing. Absolutely the best production I've ever seen. They decided to go for Casablanca. Moroccan sets. Gorgeous costumes. Actors playing it to the hilt. One of the best days I've ever had.

@colonelweird Жыл бұрын

I'm so looking forward to watching this! I played Don John in a college production many years ago - it was my first positive encounter with Shakespeare, and made me realize that there's nothing like full immersion and memorization to make reading Shakespeare pleasurable.

@mmagalhaesg Жыл бұрын

this could not have come at a better time. i watched much ado for the first time a month-ish ago (both the 90s movie and the catherine tate/david tennant version in the same week) and became obsessed with it, so an hour long analysis of it is exactly what i need

@LizardLaw974 Жыл бұрын

“I don’t know why so many schools insist on only teaching the tragedies” someone said it, THANK YOU! The comedies are wonderful and can be so interesting. The tragedies are great too but in my experience, you often know of them already through pop culture or just general knowledge rather than the comedies, which can be dull if you’re a high school kid. I remember I worked on a production in middle school of Midsummer Night’s Dream and loving it, and seeing a production of Much Ado and 12th Night from my upperclassmen, only to be disappointed when we learned nothing but the tragedies (and one of the histories) in high school. Excellent video as always!!

@adgreenfield Жыл бұрын

Holy crap, I need to find this Catherine Tate version! Lovely essay, as always. My first serious girlfriend turned me onto Shakespeare via Branagh's HENRY V and I was immediately addicted. When MUCH ADO came out, I think we saw it eight times at this little arthouse theater and left quoting lines at each other in our terrible Received English accents. Ah, theatre kid love.

@stitchedwithcolor Жыл бұрын

My mother told me about a production of merchant of venice that ends with the lights dropping on an iconic tableau: shylock kneeling between his abusers, reaching for the cross he must touch to save his life, and as he reaches up, they keep lifting it higher...and higher... Thanks for the tangent, and also for the delightful exploration of one of shakespeare's better plays. :)

@luvsthespotlight Жыл бұрын

I was asked to collaborate on a production of Merchant and as a Shakespeare enthusiast and Jewish person, it was really important for me to find something salvageable in the story. We set it in a high school, played up how awful Antonio and Portia are, and cut Jessica’s story arc. So we end the play after the courtroom scene and Shylock defiantly tears up the conversion document. It was definitely An Adaptation, but it made the good parts (“Hath not a Jew eyes”) shine all the more

@Peter-oh3hc Жыл бұрын

This was wonderful. Thank you for the information on shylok. I had no idea. I recently noticed that the messenger in the first scene says Benedict a kids a quarrel, but is fully committed if he is in one. His scene with Beatrice to kill Claudio is exactly that

@julianjamaica9891 Жыл бұрын

ohhhh. okay idk if someone has already pointed this out, but the cuckolding - horn symbolism actually could be very much appreciated by a modern audience, just not in English. in Spanish, and specially in Latin american dialects, (or at least here in Colombia) , there is a very popular expression; "poner los cachos" that translates literally to "to put on the horns on someone" and refers to cheating behind your partner's back. we also call the person getting cheated on "cachudo" or horned (horny???). point is, that is a wiiiild case of two languages evolving differently from similar cultural context, and i am definitely going to pick up a translation to see how they take advantage of that! Amazing video as always!!!!!!!!!

@rutherford5025 Жыл бұрын

This is my favorite Shakespeare play, something my 12 grade English teacher was baffled with since as he said "nothing happens in it! It's in the name!" but the reason why I love it so much is because I was able to watch it in a setting where I could fully relate and understand the content. If you haven't checked out Nothing Much to Do by The Candle Wasters on KZfaq, I fully recommend it! It's a bit of it's time (2014 scripted vlogs) but it's so much fun. Because of that I was intrigued by Shakespeare and explored the original source material and I really got a love for it! Thank you for making this video!

@twistysunshine Жыл бұрын

Man you really are right about the performance carrying it tho. Never seen any of it, read some of it, never connected to it but you show these random clips and I'm here guffawing like I've been watching the whole thing

@AlicenRowdy Жыл бұрын

Oh, you're gonna destroy me with this one, I just know it. Much Ado has a GRIP on me. Update, post watch: YUP, loved it. Very glad you chose to cover this in your signature thoughtful and lovely style. I was a huge Shakespeare nerd as a youngin and played Beatrice in a highschool production. Highschool was ROUGH and playing that character made me feel so strong and smart and funny. I think of that experience often. (Ours was set after the Korean War, and I learned how to swing dance for the party scenes.)

@chloe1-2-3-4-5 Жыл бұрын

49:01 don't mind me, just time stamping this for a list of authors to add to my reading list. Great video as always ❤️

@gemmamoon5998 Жыл бұрын

Okay but it caught me so off guard seeing the Progressive sign-holding guy at 47:43

@friend_trilobot Жыл бұрын

I watched the Kenneth Branaugh version as a middle schooler with my sisters and actually really liked it and understood it through the visuals. But i really fell in love with shakespeare after reading the notes in the margins of a textbook and realizing that half of these confusing old timey lines are toilet humor Of course the danger of not understanding the nuances of Elizabethan English isnt the unusual lines, but the lines that seem like modern English but held a different meaning. For example, ive heard from a linguist that "be true to thyself and to thine own self be true" doesnt mean "be honest and authentic" it means "you should prioritize your own self interests above the interests of others" - i don't know whether it was considered good advice by the author or not, by that's what's tricky

@rizahawkeyepierce1380 Жыл бұрын

The thing about that line is that Polonius, the character who says it, is an old fool who speaks in platitudes but doesn't follow his own advice, but everyone quotes his lines as though they're spoken by someone who's wise.

@chechema1010 Жыл бұрын

i found this video after watching the Tennant-Tate version. The edits of the different productions is so smooth and nice :) And Today I learned that Pedro Pascual was once played the plain-dealing villain. I am not of many words but, I thank you. for this video, i thank you.

@hannahg5407 Жыл бұрын

Omg I'm so excited for this!!! I've been rewatching all your videos

@firstofficerrose1588 Жыл бұрын

Ohhhh, my goodness. Thank you for this! Wow, your videos are always so fluid and lovely, but there's so very much in all of them! Can't imagine getting all of those clips together, that must have been absolute chaos. This is wonderful. Thank you so much.

@xsillyxcorex Жыл бұрын

You’re video essays literally hit that spot for me every time. I’ve always loved Much Ado and this was a wonderful thing

@ccutehoney 6 ай бұрын

I remember senior year we learned Macbeth but our teacher was amazing so he made us watch different international adaptations of Macbeth while we read the play. We saw a BBC production, the Mel Gibson version and then Rashomon.

@Phophos Жыл бұрын

Simply said, as with all your work, thank you. I really appreciate such a wide coverage of all the stage performances and your deep dives.

@arifike 10 ай бұрын

I just saw this live at a free outdoor production and came away having enjoyed the wedding scene and a few moments throughout. But overall feeling like Shakespeare just isn’t for me. But, alas, you have swayed me into wanting to give the plays another shot. I don’t know how to describe it but your videos are just the fucking best thing, end of sentence. You’re so funny and clever and poignant and I swear you could persuade people of so many things other than just that the art you’re speaking about is beautiful and worth loving. But I love that the thing you do spend your time on is that. Books, theater, films and tv are the only thing keeping many of us sane and having people like you to remind us why they’re so amazing is one of the best things you can do in the world. We don’t really pay people, and nobody can really be a starving artist anymore, to spend their lives painting like Da Vinci and the like. But luckily we do have Patreon and such for people to make videos, at least. Time to go watch the Atlantis video again!!

@zan_m Жыл бұрын

I am forever in love with your videos. I’ve watched them all, and I must have seen your Hill House and Bly Manor videos at least a dozen times each. I’m only halfway through, but I believe this will be my new favorite. Thank you for the effort and thought you put into your work.

@lydiah12 Жыл бұрын

This was so well-crafted, informative, and enjoyable. And now I have so many more recordings to watch! Thank you so much for posting.

@stephanieclark8327 Жыл бұрын

This was wonderful. I love Much Ado About Nothing, it's such a joy to watch. I loved seeing all the different adaptation clips included here.

@Zrb123e5 Жыл бұрын

I've seen most of your videos multiple times, I seriously love all of your vids. But this is the first time I've ever clicked rewind on a video. So. Many. Different. Times. This was truly one of the most joyful and giddy I've gotten watching your content.

@user-xb5bz4fu9o Жыл бұрын

the editing of this is fantastic! whipping through the different versions of much ado really hammers home just how much room there is for interpretation, and yet how much the words mean regardless of the setting

@raspberryitalia3464 Жыл бұрын

This was delightful and fascinating as always. Thank you so much for all the wonderful work you do

@DJtheBlack-RibbonedRose Жыл бұрын

How fitting, I finished watching your Sense8 video yesterday and totally managed to fall in love with a show I'd heard of but never seen through your eyes, and then suddenly today, I manage to make it for the premiere of your new video, which *also* happens to be about a story I've been checking out lately! *In my best Shakespeare voice* "I speak once more: how fitting." 🥰✨🎭 This also takes me back to high school English, when in freshman year I played Lord Capulet during an assigned skit of him & Tybalt discovering Romeo at the ball, and then in senior year during class readings of Macbeth I voiced Lady Macbeth the whole way through. And I was happily invested in, and aimed to entertain in, every role. 👏😉

@stluanne 4 ай бұрын

Oh my gawd, I lovelovelove this video. "Much Ado About Nothing" is my favorite Shakespeare of all time, followed by "Midsummer Nights Dream". I took two 12 year old girls to see "Much Ado" when it came out and they fell completely in love. I remember my daughter saying she didn't understand them when it began. I told her to just watch and listen for a few minutes and it would become clear. Within 15 minutes both girls were entranced. Daughter and I watched it (as well as "Shakespeare In Love") many, many times. My grandgirl is now 13. Her Momma is sharing this wonderful play with her! Thanks again for this lovely treasure.

@Philomelewithmelody Жыл бұрын

I love the way you cut between productions in the performance clips. It is done so fluidly that it feels really natural, and it's great to see so many different versions of the play throughout

@jinxleah Жыл бұрын

Thank you so much for this! You've given me several versions of Much Ado I want to see. And thank you for your reading of The Merchant of Venice. I cried.

@thegirlinthefireplace Жыл бұрын

Lady knight is back again with another wonderful video! I love the earnestness you approach each of your videos with, it's so intense it comes through the screen and touches my heart! I haven't seen or engaged with most of the movies/media you have talked about, but when I watch your videos, it's like being served a hearty comfort meal.

@samuelgiraudo8748 Жыл бұрын

There are so many incredible parts of this video but, I just wanted to mention how much I love the scenes of dialogue edited together. The way you convey the script and story using multiple productions, in a way that is still tonally consistent, is captivating to watch. Thank you for making this :)

@CarefulWithThatAx Жыл бұрын

Amazing editing and as always spectacular narration. I loved hearing your thoughts on Merchant and your performance of Shylock's speech was beautiful.

@auntiea Жыл бұрын

Was thrilled to find your video essay right after finally watching Much Ado About Nothing for the first time ever. You've got a new subscriber!

@lindseywilliams4800 Жыл бұрын

This is one of my favorite KZfaq channels. I love hearing whatever it is you’re interested in or watching/reading/enjoying at present. It’s like a video-essay version of a cultural columnist for the New Yorker - if you could somehow distill these videos into a book of essays or an anthology, I would buy it in an instant. All the same, you’ve found the perfect medium for what your ideas, and I’m terribly glad you share them with us.

@crystaljiang5976 Жыл бұрын

this is ART I never knew I wanted!! A ~1.5 hour video about one of my favorite plays, closed captioning provided, delightful commentary, editing from multiple versions of MAAN that I adore aaAAAAA bless you that's all I can say

@MrHagen25 Жыл бұрын

Thank you very much! For non-native speakers, approaching Shakespeare is often quite daunting, and this kind of lovingly passionate presentation goes a long way in making it more enticing!