Lhurmann’s* Romeo + Juliet* once prompted the comment “Every generation gets the Shakespeare it deserves.”
I didn’t get Lhurmann, my psyche got slapped by Franco Zefferelli long before DiCaprio swaggered onto the stage. My generation could only adore that boy out of nostalgia.
And Polanski’s MacBeth.
Robert Lindsay’s Benedict from Much Ado, though Branagh will always, always be Henry V.
And yes, Mel Gibson will always be my *Hamlet *- shameful secret trashy lurvve.
Shirley Henderson as The Shrew . And Rufus Sewel! Now *there *was a sexy crossdresser!
Dear Freaking Og. It isn’t Shakespeare, but it’s close - Glenn Close as Eleanor of Aquitaine in Goldman’s The Lion in Winter. Patrick Stewart as well. That was (as they say on brit telly) well fit.
When I was a teenager, the BBC announced it was going to produce all 37 acknowledged plays, and they did, over seven years. That’s when I fell in love with Helen Mirren (in As You Like It) and got to see John Cleese star in Taming of the Shrew, which led to my marriage to a woman named Kate.
Anyway, they were really good productions – low budget, but top-notch actors.
To catch the truly great Shakespearian performances of any generation you still need to go to the theatre. At least that’s true in the UK, I’m not sure if it holds for the US.
I remember seeing Paul Scofield as King Lear: unforgettable, even to the 16-year old I then was.
I’m 28. Lhurman’s R&J just didn’t cut it for me (though I have yet to give it a second viewing, and it’s been a really long time; maybe I’ll try to catch it over the holiday). I also have enjoyed Mel Gibson’s Hamlet on repeat viewings. There are many directorial choices that make it less “pure” than some other productions, but still a fully realized concept, IMHO.
Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet wasn’t for my generation (that was probably Zifferelli’s), but it was a superb rethinking of the play.
Ian McKellan’s Richard III.
The best Hamlet I ever saw was at Hofstra University in the late 60s. They turned “To be or not to be” into a comic monologue (without changing a word) and it worked.
In the spring of '87 I was fortunate enough to see both Antony and Cleopatra and King Lear, with both lead roles performed by Anthony Hopkins (before he became Hannibal Lecter.)
Someday I’ll have to get back to London and visit the “new” Globe Theatre.
I’m 27. Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson are Beatrice and Benedick to me. I can even - almost - get over Keanu, who suffered, I think, from many of the same symptoms as the actors in Baz’s R+J.
Growing up in regional Australia, the live Shakespeare I was exposed to was local or Bell Shakespeare productions. Thank you, Mr. Bell!
I suppose I’m still waiting for my defining generational adaptation. I haven’t seen it yet. (I do prefer the comedies - they’re a better sort of tragedy.) But I will re-watch Much Ado and wait patiently.
Oh definitely, it’s just hard to generate an international discussion about the version of *Measure for Measure *where The Duke holidayed in Australia or the Acid influenced MacBeth or the post-apocalyptic *Hamlet *when there’s a fair chance no-one else on the boards has seen it (and with the drug raddled Lady MacBeth hearing news from the battlefront via cellphone, anything remotely like it!). I’ve also seen MacBeth turned into a comedy halfway through after an accident with a prop - brilliant, they followed the audience mood and made it work.
To reach a generation in any meaningful way, I’m afraid we’re stuck with mass media. I loved Ten Things I Hate About You, but prefer the later version from Shakespeare re-told.