Antony Johnson
Family Man, Reader and Writer, Appreciative Spectator, Shakespeare Director. More on my weekly blog: http://thereadinessisallletbe.blogspot.co.uk
Location Saltaire, Bradford, West Yorkshire
Activity
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Antony Johnson made a comment
There were 3 (sets of) books in my home growing up in the 1960s, other than the library books we (five children) borrowed and the historical fiction my mother bought and swapped at a local market stall. A set of encyclopaedias, a Butler's Lives of Saints (Roman Catholics will know what this is) and a volume published by The Waverley Book company of "The Works...
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Antony Johnson made a comment
I have completed some FutureLearn courses in its very early incarnations (e.g. Shakespeare's World with Jonathan Bate and the Hadrian's Wall unit) and was prompted to look at this course by a fellow MA student at the Shakespeare Institute. I'd like to develop more expertise (in my retirement) to the nuances of Shakespeare's language. I'd say I'm an enthusiast...
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Antony Johnson made a comment
Men can be duped (Othello and Roderigo.) Men can be jealous (Iago and Othello.) "Lads" get drunk. Men go to war. Women stay in abusive relationships (Emilia and Bianca) and so do men (Roderigo.) Men and women from different backgrounds fall in love. Shakespeare remains relevant.
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Loved use of music, angles and whole concept. Well done!
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Onlly just catching up with stuff on this course - and thought the picture frame film was truly imaginative and inspiring.
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Antony Johnson replied to Antony Johnson
Recentlly retired, Kate, and used the RSC Toolkits but am still doing some freelance drama/Shakespeare work in schools and don't know the Folger series so will check it out. Thanks for the tip.
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Antony Johnson made a comment
Spent all day today catching up with all five weeks and thoroughly enjoying the extra links to other sites and places. Hope to join in more in the final week. I had the opportunity to direct a high school student (15/16 year olds) production of Hamlet a couple of years ago so I'll try and build in some reminiscences about that. Twitter featured in the...
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Antony Johnson made a comment
The following sentence from above really chimed with me: "Some busy people are particularly “time-poor” even though they may be rich in a monetary sense." I am feeling and beginning to believe that TIME IS THE MOST PRECIOUS COMMODITY – time cannot be bought but it is spent every day and runs out alarmingly fast as you get older. So the aspects of this course...
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Antony Johnson replied to Julie Harkin
Grand holidays are permanent memories that last as long as your memory does.... New Zealand sounds tempting!
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Antony Johnson replied to Christine McDowell
Strongly identify with your post, Christine. I was lucky enough to be a "househusband" when my first child was born for two years but when I went back full-time and my wife became part-time I think I over-compensated and worked too hard for too many years, losing sight really of the preciousness of family time.
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Antony Johnson replied to BERNICE SLATER
Thanks, Roy, for this clear example of how inflation works. I think I have grasped it in the past, but this concrete example has truly "nailed it" for me.
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Antony Johnson made a comment
My goals are mainly ongoing goals, having recently taken early retirement.
1. Nurture a healthy body and mind.
2. Get to grips with my financial position so I can survive (and hopefully thrive a bit) financially.
3. Develop engaging hobbies and pastimes to fill retirement. -
Antony Johnson replied to Desmond Young
A wise post, Desmond. It sounds as if the self-employment has (so far) been a positive move but you have also outlined all the potential dangers.
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Antony Johnson made a comment
5 years ago my imaginary plan was to be looking forward to retiring in another 3 years (around 58). As a teacher since 1986 I have a good pension. The death of my father-in-law and the unexpected illness of a close family member coincided last year in a "perfect storm" of circumstances, good and bad. The upshot is that I have stopped work early, as has my...
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Antony Johnson made a comment
I'm a bit bemused about the £200 "Emergency Fund Savings" figure. Without any form of insurance it looks as if that will need to be used, especially with the first three bullet points (disability, redundancy or car breakdown.) The Holiday amount is in the same category - ie the first to be jettisoned if contingency spending is needed. There are a lot of...
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Antony Johnson made a comment
A promising and engaging beginning. I find when I try to work out the household accounts I fully understand them for about 24 hours and then until I focus on them again, I forget entirely to think about money. I grew up in a large family with very little money but, through education and a career, I now consider myself relatively comfortable so I've been...
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Antony Johnson made a comment
Recently retired and hoping to be able to enjoy life by making the most of the various pots of money that will be trickling in over the next five years. Have also become interested (and on the border of incensed) in the political/anti-patriotic effects of tax avoidance/evasion. Am a philosophical supporter of the concept of "good tax that advances society at...
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Antony Johnson made a comment
I have just started A Fortnight in September by RC Sherriff, better known for the play Journey's End. This is a third-person narrative about a family of four going on holiday to Bognor. It is written in beautifully clear prose, a mixture of dialogue and description and with an easy flow between everyone's back story and their situation in the "present." ...
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Hi Sandra - nothing to do with the Iznik dish, but I want to thank you for your encouraging review of my assignment about My Own Private Idaho. All the best - and maybe see you around on a future course. Antony
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Interesting account, Carole, thanks. Some of the UK theatre critics agreed with you about the music. But all the performers were praised for their performances.
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I agree about the wonderful Dash Arts/Indian production, Carole.
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Sounds good - will add it to my list. Have had a quick look and seen he's done a few that are available at reasonable prices on the kindle. Always up for light reads. Thanks for the info.
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Antony Johnson made a comment
The Nicholas Rowe edition. Like the First Folio I think this remarkable work is the forerunner of so much brilliant and valuable scholarship that I think it should be lauded.
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I studied King Lear at school (classroom-based, not very inspiring) so did not see its greatness until my first live production which was Michael Gambon as Lear with Antony Sher as the Fool. Several moments made me gasp (Jenny Agutter using a stiletto heel to blind Gloucester, Jonathan Hyde as mad Tom bursting out of the floorboards) but the entry of Gambon's...
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This sounds to be an awesome experience. I'm a "Throne of Blood" fan so would have leapt at this chance. When was this production and was it an amateur company or a professional one?
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I agree about the McKellen film of RIII. The rise to power of a ruthless individual has never seemed so chilling. In a way it is astonishing that it had not been done before - or maybe it had, but this production certainly works as a credible "world" for the politics and atmosphere of the play.
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Carole - I read about the Harriet Walter as Brutus production but didn't see it. It sounds amazing. Did the prison setting work all the way through?
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I'd add to those two modern films the Baz Luhrmann Romeo and Juliet which captures the play perfectly for the MTV generation and still uses the text respectfully.
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Antony Johnson made a comment
I saw a production of the Tempest in Italian in Sorrento in an open-air theatre. As far as I could tell my family and I were the only non-Italians there. The story came over clearly. The main cultural difference I could tell was that the "comic scenes" (Trinculo, Stephano and Caliban) were very clownish with a lot of extreme physical comedy and they were...
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Antony Johnson replied to Felicity Elliott
If you have ever refused to budge an inch, or suffered from green-eyed jealousy, if you have played fast and loose, been tongue-tied, been a tower of strength, hoodwinked or in a pickle. If you have knitted your brows, made a virtue of necessity, insisted on fair play or not slept a wink, had short shrift, cold comfort or too much of a good thing, if you have...
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Antony Johnson replied to Rebecca Allen
That will be a blast, Rebecca! They will so enjoy it, as will the passers-by....!
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Antony Johnson made a comment
"Reminded me of something I'd forgotten or.... shown me something new." That's been my experience. What a great journey. Thanks to all involved. This has been my first complete FutureLearn course - it's hard to believe that other courses are going to be as good. Thanks to all who have made it happen and to the positive contributors, particularly those who,...
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Antony Johnson made a comment
Difficult to accept the course is nearing its end. So many insights and cultural excursions! I'm sure the feedback will be positive and all the learners will have been enriched by the experience. I think what I have valued most is the opportunity to see various objects that I wouldn't normally get to see - and to go off at tangents, either from those...
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Antony Johnson replied to Chrisine Rinck
1964, Christine - the year of the 300th anniversary of his birth!
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Antony Johnson replied to Karl Thurgood
Karl - I'd especially recommend including Hall's Croft and the New Place Great Garden as well as the Birthplace. On quiet mornings (before any crowds arrive) those places are wonderful.
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So April 23rd - Stratford High Street - see you there!
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Embarrassed to be Petruchio when I felt sure I was going to be Hamlet.....!
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http://www.breakspear.hillingdon.sch.uk/Archives/2014/IFGalaDay14/IFGalaDay14_01.htm
Even primary schools get in on the act - complete with rainfall!
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Caroline - please may I ask which Elizabethan novel you've been reading? (Always happy to add books to my list of things to read - and recommended historical fiction is always up there with my favourites.)
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Hear hear Marianne. Not having the First Folio doesn't bear thinking about....
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Thanks for the link to the Sher interview, Rosemary. I found it very interesting. His performance as Shylock a few years ago in Stratford was very memorable. I remember a full Hebrew sung prayer in front of an elaborate set.
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Great idea for a movie... just picture Geoffrey Rush as Garrick....? Or Simon Russell Beale?
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Just spent a happy half hour reading the York link and following hyperlinks from there to pilgrim/pilgrimage information. (Potential for another FutureLearn course - historical, cultural and spiritual pilgrimages throughout England/UK/Europe/the World??)
Thank you, Caroline. -
Just done the same! Popped it on the calendar. I've seen pictures from the event in previous years but never attended. One of the grammar school pupils replaces the quill pen in the Shakespeare bust in the church, I believe.
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Steward! Like Malvolio? Perhaps Garrick exited with a "I'll be revenged on the whole pack..." with the floods and the failed fireworks. Still, it would be an event I would love to travel to in a time machine!!
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Fully agree. The "two hours traffic" comment in the Romeo and Juliet prologue tells us that even that most famous play will have been presented in an abridged form. What was cut in any one performance? ( I agree - it might have depended on actor availability; how fit the actor playing Mercutio or Tybalt was feeling i.e. how long they could keep their sword...
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I agree - adaptations are fine as long as they don't alter the fundamental structure of the key signpost events of the plot. No two versions of any play will be the same, but one where Romeo and Juliet live happily ever after becomes a very different play.
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Even in Shakespeare's time though, scholars accept that it was unlikely the full text was staged in performance. The alternative but viable versions of Hamlet and King Lear suggest this, as does the comment in the prologue for Romeo and Juliet - "two hours traffic." So even Elizabethan and jacobean productions during WS's own lifetime are likely to have been...
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Antony Johnson made a comment
It has been a privilege and joy to take part in this course. I've got ahead of myself so I can savour the final week over a longer time-span. This was my first experience of online learning and it has certainly transformed my ideas of what the internet is capable of. Jennifer and Jonathan Bate have been fantastic 'hosts' and the lectures/videos have been...
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Antony Johnson replied to Barry Cooper
On the Hamlet course?
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Antony Johnson replied to Rob Lamey
Fascinating link, Rob. I've recorded the programme and will watch it now with renewed interest.
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Antony Johnson replied to Steph N
I read "The Lodger" Stephanie and found it fascinating. I also recommend "1599" which has a similar approach though not focusing on one detail. Prof Bate's book is also a great one. I agree with you that this course has been brilliantly presented and run by the course organisers.
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Antony Johnson made a comment
The First Folio, surely the greatest artefact of all...
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Antony Johnson made a comment
Like many other significant characters in the plays, I imagine the original audiences would have had initial preconceptions that were partly reinforced but then subverted. In live productions I have seen he is invariably a popular character with the audience and takes part in some of the funniest scenes, so I imagine that humour made him a likeable character...
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Great post - made me think about the History plays and how Richard II and Henry VI are thought of (accused at any rate) as shirking their responsibilities, as is Prince Hal in the Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, before he became Henry V.
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Antony Johnson replied to Julie Acheson
I have often reflected that the way films (from the talkies onwards) use music was prefigured by Shakespeare's use of music in his plays. At moments like the Willow Song in Othello, or when it plays in King Lear when Cordelia attempts to rouse her ill father, are like the incidental tension-building scenes with music in films today.
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Antony Johnson replied to Johanus Warmenhoven
That sounds to be a very evocative experience, Johanus. One of my life ambitions is to see a production at Stratford Ontario.
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Antony Johnson replied to Jean Richardson
Interesting point, Jean. The island is certainly a topsy-turvy world of standards and assumptions. Whenever I've seen the play on stage Miranda often gets a laugh with "Brave New World."
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Antony Johnson replied to Rebecca Mahmood
The music of the spheres appears in Pericles, a play written (with George Wilkins) in a similar period of Shakespeare's career. I did a school production with 12 year olds and they decided that a marimba sound was what they imagined the music of the spheres to be!
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Antony Johnson replied to Louise Vaughan
Both interesting posts - Caliban's human/animal instincts - and Stephano's entirely human instincts. I wonder if anyone has analysed the "darkness" of Stephano and Trinculo - do they "get away" with their intended behaviour in the way that Caliban is not allowed to?
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Antony Johnson replied to Linda Landamore
My experience is the same as yours, Linda. Music adds so much to the overall impact of a theatrical production, especially when played live.
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Antony Johnson replied to Michèle Bethke
Fascinating string of posts about Ariel's gender. In school productions I've seen or been involved with, Ariel has been cast and played as both male and female - but always dressed and behaved androgynously. I've also seen a school (and a different amateur) production where Ariel was a GROUP - one all female, the other male and female. And the lines were...
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Antony Johnson replied to Rachel Teale
re male performances - Maxine Peake has recently finished a run as Hamlet in Manchester. There has been all-female productions of Julius Caesar and Henry IV in London recently. Hamlet has been done by Frances de la Tour in the past - and Sarah Bernhardt I think in the dim and distant past. The only one I've seen live was a hearbreaking version of Richard II...
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Antony Johnson replied to Karl Thurgood
I agree this is a great one to read aloud. The comedy of the Stephano/Trinculo scenes also benefit I think form being "heard" and "spoken" rather than just read.
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Antony Johnson replied to Karen Bowman
Karen - I know what you mean by characters being hard to identify with. If you get a chance to see it live, I would, particularly if it is in a production in a small theatre space. I have seen the play about 6 times live and the BIG productions always lose something, I think, particularly about Cleopatra who seems to me, in performances I've seen by Helen...
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Antony Johnson replied to Karl Thurgood
I've had to create a new folder for "Shakespeare" bookmarks on my computer, Karl. It seems to be a never-ending area of potential study with astonishing tangents and delves into other areas of learning.
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Antony Johnson replied to Barbara Holmes
Barbara - see what an outpouring you started! The experiences and feelings you have shared are truly evocative of what it means to be touched by Shakespeare and all the practitioners who recreate, reinvent and reimagine his works generation after generation. Futurelearn and the SBT will surely be pleased by the response to this course - and hopefully we'll...
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Antony Johnson replied to Susan Anne Murray
Already excited about the forthcoming Hamlet course - and will definitely sign up for the Much Ado one. I'm assuming, Jennifer, it will be via FutureLearn?
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Antony Johnson made a comment
Apart from the Helen Mirren, Roger Allam and Michael Hordern films, there is a visually arresting one from the 1970s starring Heathcote Williams and directed by Derek Jarman. One of the strangest Tempests undoubtedly, but with some astonishing visual imagery - and a very camp final act where the mariners are reunited with the main cast....
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Antony Johnson replied to Karl Thurgood
For strange visuals on the Tempest, I'd recommend Derek Jarman's film (there are some bits on youtube.) That takes Freudian theories about Caliban to a disturbing level. The text is chopped about a bit but the visuals are extraordinary and the final sequence is extravagantly jaw-dropping.
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Antony Johnson replied to Alan Devine
As well as the Helen Mirren version there is a very strange one directed by Derek Jarman which I watched a while ago. The last 20 minutes are completely bonkers! But there are some wild images in it.
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Antony Johnson replied to Charles Tyler
I agree Charles it has been a privilege each week to focus on such extraordinary works and the context surrounding them.
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Thanks for having a look at my blog, Kim. The scholarship to the Globe sounds very exciting - is that through a university programme? What are the dates? They do a lot of great work with young people and the new space (the Sam Wanamaker theatre which tries to copy the Blackfriars atmosphere) has added a whole new layer of practical research.
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Antony Johnson replied to James Collins
Wow, James, that's now a legendary production! You were fortunate to see Richard Burton on stage in such an iconic performance.
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Antony Johnson made a comment
Plutarch's Lives, simply because of its importance (a bit like Holinshed earlier in the course) at supplying so much material to our hero! And it is fascinating to see how the prose becomes dynamic poetry - something I'd already written about on my own blog last week - so it was a moment of great...
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Antony Johnson replied to Colin Ennen
A tribute and a great service by a loyal son, Colin! Keep the parental minds alive!!
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Antony Johnson replied to Michael C
Funny story re Paul Allen, Michael. The Folger sounds to be doing a good service. Should the British Museum be doing the same to the counties of England? There is one near me kept in Skipton Town Hall (the display is being refurbished over the winter and will open in April 2015.) http://www.cravenmuseum.org/exhibitions/coming-soon/the-shakespeare-first-folio/
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Antony Johnson replied to James Collins
Can't claim a half century, James, but this is a great record you have. My first sight of a live Shakespeare production was in 1976 so I'm coming up to my 40th anniversary of stalking productions round the north of England, Stratford and London. The most out-of-the-way one I saw was an outdoor Tempest in Italian in Sorrento.
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Antony Johnson replied to Tolga Bilgic
Brilliant line - what a turn of phrase!
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I love Hall's Croft - definitely my favourite Shakespearian property in Stratford.
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Antony Johnson made a comment
As a teacher I always led an assembly near to 23rd April - sometimes I tied it in with St George, sometimes with the release of a film of a Shakespeare film or a film inspired by Shakespeare, sometimes just a personal reflection. I also always promoted the PERFORMING of Shakespeare rather than the classroom reading of Shakespeare so took part as often as...
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Antony Johnson made a comment
This is going to be a great week - I love this play so much.
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Antony Johnson made a comment
Hard to choose because all the objects were unexpected and fascinating. (I don't know what I was expecting - a handkerchief, maybe? - I think Crudities probably pips things because it's the one that set my imagination going about the kinds of writing that existed - and all the ephemeral writings we've probably lost over time. The Elizabethan and Jacobean...
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Antony Johnson made a comment
Was surprised how quickly the feedback came - I suppose that is random to do with when people are able to get onto the computer. The feedback was useful, especially when more than one person critiqued the same aspect, though interestingly two people gave quite different reactions to the same detail. So the subjectivity issue has to be considered carefully. ...
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Antony Johnson replied to Beatrice Weinstein
WOW, Beatrice - I've read about the Paul Robeson/Uta Hagen version and have now watched some scenes thanks to your tip off. Robeson speaks about his feelings about the language and the significance of the role for black actors in this interview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DF7YQrC7HM -
Antony Johnson replied to Charles weager
Ditto, hear hear. My main days for studying are usually later in the week so it's good to have a reminder and, like Charles above, I usually have a revelation about something fresh.
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Antony Johnson replied to Rachel Teale
I write a personal blog which has some Shakespeare-themed entries and in a recent one I had a paragraph about how Shakespeare nicked stuff with a famous example from Antony and Cleopatra, if anyone is interested:
http://thereadinessisallletbe.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/shakespeares-genius.html -
Antony Johnson replied to Michael Ward
Interesting re Royal College, Michael, thank you.
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Antony Johnson replied to Richard Jerome
Hear hear, Richard - it would be great to have a FutureLearn course in Shakespeare's contemporaries. I also agree that Jennifer is an excellent interviewer and sympathetic at selecting what to highlight in these round-ups - not an easy task i imagine.
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Antony Johnson replied to Ed Lamb
I have a memory of seeing the Willard White version on stage and, if I'm not mistaken, the stage production ended with Iago still on stage (sitting I think) and the lights getting dimmer and dimmer until there was only a pencil spot on Ian McKellen's stony-faced staring skull-like face. It was a very chilling end. I agree about Imogen Stubbs as Desdemona -...
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Antony Johnson replied to Karl Thurgood
Reading him out loud is a brilliant tip, Karl. I agree with your assessment of him. The times I've seen him on stage I always end feeling sickened by him, especially if I have "enjoyed" some of his banter and, as you say, theatrical "gleeful scheming." He almost makes you collude with him.
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Antony Johnson replied to Ed Lamb
Only equivalent evil I know of in other plays, Ed, is Aaron the Moor in Titus Andronicus, the much earlier revenge tragedy. His only saving grace is that he loves his baby son but revels in the evil acts he has committed and even wishes he had done more. There are many other villains with complexities (like Macbeth or RIchard III) or comedy aspects (like...
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Antony Johnson replied to Richard Jerome
A pretty full list of themes, Richard. I'd add in "reputation" and "masculinity" - both tied to one of the themes you've mentioned, I think - honour. I'm jealous of you discovering the plot for the first time. My first experience was in an audience which (including me) gasped audibly when Desdemona sighed and breathed on the bed for her final lines, having...
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There is a play by Peter Whelan called "The Herbal Bed" which the RSC staged a few years ago. I thought it was very entertaining and moving. Hall and Susannah were characters and the play ended with the ailing Shakespeare about to be brought on stage to be treated.... if you ever see a staging advertised, I'd recommend it. I think there's stuff about it...
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You've captured exactly what I think about the book. It was a great surprise to learn about it.
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There's probably still room in the 21st century market for one aimed at some of the irrational actions taken or unfeasible laws produced in the name of "belief" - medicine would only be the tip of the iceberg!
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Same here, Charles. It was a revelation to me.
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Agree - I don't know how I'd developed the prejudice that superstition was a "given" in Elizabethan times. I certainly didn't know significant texts were debunking the myths. Makes the Salem witch trials in America all the more frightening - I wonder if the book had been exported to the colonies?
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I agree, Alan - it was new to me.
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Antony Johnson made a comment
Either John Hall's Casebook or Scot's Discovery of Witchcraft - both fascinating, the former making me smile, the latter a revelation as I mistakenly didn't realise anti-superstition books had been published at the time.
