Monday, August 5, 2024

August 2024

 

August 2024

 

Summer’s lease hath all too short a date…It’s already August...

 

And sadly, our thoughts still go to Gaza. One day, I hope to be able to quote something about peace, but again, sadly, I repeat what I have repeated for far too long:

‘O war! thou son of hell’ O Netanyahu! Thou son of hell! Our thoughts and support are still needed to the people of Gaza, and the people of Israel who hate the war. Protest in any way you can! And don’t give up hope. ‘True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings.

In this time of turmoil and hope I give you this familiar promo for the book Shakespeare calling – the book. Indie authors like me always need support, even now when book signings and lectures can again be scheduled. Only on the Internet can I reach people like you, who are interested in Shakespeare would like to support the Shakespeare Calling project. I do so hope you will help me by ordering the book online. Any sales I make of this book will go directly to Doctors without Borders for their work in  Gaza as long as the war lasts. Just let me know and I’ll send the money forthwith. You can also order directly from me. Just write me an email. Thank you.

 I am also sending contributions to Doctors without Borders and other organisations who are helping Gaza.

The book is available for those of you in Great Britain and parts of Europe on this site:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/9163782626/ref=tmm_hrd_new_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&condition=new&qid=1514378301&sr=8-1

 

Also available on http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Calling-book-Ruby-Jand/dp/9163782626/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1436073737&sr=1-1&keywords=Ruby+Jand+shakespeare+calling

Or in Sweden

http://www.bokus.com/bok/9789163782626/shakespeare-calling-the-book/

or Adlibris. Or contact the publisher info@vulkan.se

 

I would be thrilled to get an email from you if you bought the book. rubyjandshakespearecalling@gmail.com

 

Shakespeare sightings:

  • In the Danish police series Unit One (Rejseholdet), the villain of one of the episodes lives in Stratford upon Avon, which prompts several comments about Shakespeare, and in another episode, the brother of one of the murder victims is a scenographer currently doing a student production of Romeo and Juliet. And in another, they’re in Elsinore and they pass a statue of Hamlet.

 

Films with a Shakespeare connection seen this month - see reviews on https://rubyjandsfilmblog.blogspot.com/

 

  • Filth – John Sessions is in The Merchant of Venice, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, In the Bleak Midwinter, Henry V. Jim Broadbent is in Richard III. Shirley Henderson is in The Taming of the Shrew Retold.
  • Escape from Sobibor - Jack Gold directed The Merchant of Venice.
  • Dark Water - Tim Roth is in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Pete Postlethwaite is in Romeo and Juliet.
  • A Handfull of Dust - Kristin Scott Thomas is in Richard III. Judi Dench is in Shakespeare in Love, Henry V, Hamlet, Macbeth.
  • Nowhere Boy - Kristin Scott- Thomas is in Richard III. David Threlfall is in King Lear. Paul Ritter is in The Hollow Crown.
  • Dear Wendy - Bill Pullman is in Cymbeline
  • Thor Ragnarök - Hiddleston, Hopkins and Cumberbatch play Shakespeare.
  • Assault on Precinct 13: Ethan Hawke is in Hamlet, Laurence Fishburne is in Othello, John Leguizamo is in Cymbeline
  •  

 

Shakespeare Calling – the book is promoted by http://shakespearesallskapet.se/

 

Read more about my alter ego’s books, in one of which Shakespeare appears live and in person, on:

 

Shakespeare Calling: July 2024 (rubyjandshakespearecalling.blogspot.com)

 

Further since last time:

  • Read: Shakespeare and Race edited by Ayanna Thompson
  • Continued reading : Henry IV Part One

 

Posted this month:

  • This report
  • Review of The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race

 

Shakespeare Calling – the book is promoted by http://shakespearesallskapet.se/

 

Read more about my alter ego’s books, in one of which Shakespeare appears live and in person, on:

 

The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race

 

The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Race

Edited by Ayanna Thompson

 

Even without the cover with Adrian Lester, one of the best Shakespearean actors today, I would have bought this book, which I did at the Globe shop in London in October 2023. It’s a subject that interests me very much and I was looking forward to some deep analyses of the plays.

Unfortunately, there is little of that. Most of the essays are about the presence of black Africans in Shakespeare’s England, the first black actors to do this and that, and modern interpretations. Interesting, of course, but not as enlightening as I had hoped.

The two best essays in the book are: 1) Noémie Ndiyae’s text ‘Shakespeare, Race, And Globalization’ in which she uses Timon of Athens to analyse the growth of capitalism and its role in increasing racism from the 16th century to the present, and 2) Adrian’s Lester’s thoughts on playing Othello as a black general in a modern army. I would so loved to have seen that.

Despite its lackings, it’s an important book. I recommend it.