Reply With QuoteShakepeare was really Greek because his plays are all Greek to me.
The flagship politics and news show on BBC Radio 4, "Today", ran a piece on Thursday saying that there were claims that Shakespeare was really French. They had an interview with the French Minister of Culture and various academics and other people.
After everyone in the audience had turned apoplectic, written to their MP or complained elsewhere, they admitted that it was all an elaborate April Fools hoax
Some people suspected that it was a hoax because of the French Minister of Culture's "Clouseau like" accent - but that was the real French Minister of Culture joining in the fun
BBC News - Today - Was Shakespeare French?
Steve
Shakepeare was really Greek because his plays are all Greek to me.
I always thought he was double Dutch.
He was a Yorkshireman. Recently discovered plays have been confirmed as being penned by t'Master.
Titles include:
Merchant of Bolsover
Merry Wives of Selby
A Midsummer Night's Eyup
Much Ado about Black Pudding
Taming of the Whippet
Conclusive I feel.
That's Much a Jew About Nothing.
The best ones are always based around them being a little likely but still absurd.
But didn't he write "The Taming of the Choux" ?
name='Rick C']But didn't he write "The Taming of the Choux" ?
Superb!
That was quite a good one compared to the naff one on our local radio station last year claiming the council were planning to paint the angel of the north pink
xx
name='faginsgirl']That was quite a good one compared to the naff one on our local radio station last year claiming the council were planning to paint the angel of the north pink
xx
But the best one ever remains the [ame=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_tree_hoax]Spaghetti tree hoax - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame] broadcast by Panorama in 1957
Steve
name='Steve Crook']The flagship politics and news show on BBC Radio 4, "Today", ran a piece on Thursday saying that there were claims that Shakespeare was really French. They had an interview with the French Minister of Culture and various academics and other people.
After everyone in the audience had turned apoplectic, written to their MP or complained elsewhere, they admitted that it was all an elaborate April Fools hoax
Some people suspected that it was a hoax because of the French Minister of Culture's "Clouseau like" accent - but that was the real French Minister of Culture joining in the fun
BBC News - Today - Was Shakespeare French?
Steve
It's not a 1rst of April joke at all, we have serious studies about Shakespeare french origins and Victor Hugo's british roots.
risin' Moon.
Yes, that was a good one, and it's amazing how many people were fooled! IMO, the best one ever was a report on an Australian TV current affairs programme in the 1970s about how the Sydney Opera House was slowly sinking into the harbour. Very plausible reasons and engineering details were given as to why this was happening, including interviews with various experts. It was SO convincing. I wish it was on YouTube, but there's not even a transcript on the web.name='Steve Crook']But the best one ever remains the Spaghetti tree hoax - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia broadcast by Panorama in 1957
Steve
This must be a recurring joke because I can remember *something* about Shakespeare being French and his name being an Anglicisation of his correct name, Jacques Pierre ...name='Steve Crook']BBC News - Today - Was Shakespeare French?
I can recall this from someplace or other as a schoolboy and at the time I thought it was serious.......
Perhaps I just fell asleep in class.........
Lenny Henry' s done Othello and split up from Dawn if that's any help? (We're on about it right now on the other thread
If Shakespeare was Alive Today...
Shakespeare made some money as a writer over the course of his career. But longtime Shakespearean actor Patrick Stewart notes that his real wealth seems to have come from owning shares in The Globe Theater, as well as a substantial amount of property.
"He was a capitalist, no doubt about that," Stewart says.
Today, Shakespeare's works are in the public domain. But as a living playwright, he would be collecting thousands of dollars in royalties -- just as Neil Simon does -- from the hundreds of productions of his plays in the United States alone.
One theater director in Denver, for example, said that his company's five-week run of Measure for Measure produced ticket sales of $470,000. Shakespeare's royalty would have been about 10 percent, or $47,000. That's just one theater in a medium-sized market.
As for publishing, Shakespeare Incorporated would stand to sell several million books a year. Last year in the United States, Shakespeare titles sold more than 775,000 copies. Shakespeare is translated into more than 100 languages; publishing royalties would rake in at least $10 million a year.
Shakespeare would have been popular in Hollywood, too. Like Stephen King, the Bard has spawned a cottage industry of film and television productions. They don't always make money but, a little like Woody Allen movies, they are seen as prestige opportunities for big stars.
Kenneth Branagh, who has immersed himself in Shakespeare's canon as an actor and director, probably wouldn't have been nominated for an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for his unabridged version of Hamlet. Then again, Shakespeare himself would now find himself vulnerable to charges of plagiarism.
Barbara Hodgdon, author of The Shakespeare Trade, notes that only three of Shakespeare's plays contained plots that weren't borrowed from somewhere else.
"So if he were writing in that way today," Hodgdon says, "he would certainly need a team of lawyers to handle lawsuits."
Another scholar, Reinventing Shakespeare author Gary Taylor, thinks the Bard would have made an ideal scribe for shows such as The Sopranos or Deadwood. Those shows, like many of Shakespeare's plays, revolve around men and power struggles.
Deadwood creator David Milch, however, says that he wouldn't even take Shakespeare's calls -- unless he had a really powerful agent.
In the end, it's possible to imagine Shakespeare both as a rich, multimedia juggernaut, or the victim of Hollywood power-plays.
As Hollywood insider Bernie Brillstein put it, "Shakespeare? He's too talented to be successful in today's market.
(It appears I didn't copy the source of this and I wasn't paying any attention, but this is the first time I did this)
name='will.15']If Shakespeare was Alive Today...
Shakespeare himself would now find himself vulnerable to charges of plagiarism.
Hmm, he used Holinshed's Chronicles as research for his historical plays - but that is a non-fiction source. Kinda.
Most of Shakespeare's other sources were hundreds of years old, who was going to sue? I think the Decameron was well out of copyright! Ovid anybody?
name='Steve Crook']
After everyone in the audience had turned apoplectic, written to their MP or complained elsewhere ...
I liked David Mitchell's comment on the last "Unbelievable Truth" that Radio 4 listening figures have to be taken at the beginning of a programme, before all the strokes happen.
Hi.
I believe he had a bad reputation for drinking and was kicked out of numerous pubs. That is why he was called The Great Bard. (think about it.)
I think after that, I shall sign off.
Alan French.
Posting Permissions
