SHAKSPER 2006: "Waste of Shame" on BBC-America

From: Hardy M. Cook (editor@shaksper.net)
Date: 05/04/06 

The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 17.0392  Thursday, 4 May 2006

[1] 	From: 	Al Magary <al@magary.com>
	Date: 	Wednesday, 03 May 2006 12:18:42 -0700
	Subj: 	A Waste of Shame

[2] 	From: 	Martin Steward <martinsteward@ntlworld.com>
	Date: 	Thursday, 4 May 2006 08:20:59 +0100
	Subj: 	SHK 17.0383 "Waste of Shame" on BBC-America

[3] 	From: 	Olwen Terris <olwen@bufvc.ac.uk>
	Date: 	Thursday, 4 May 2006 08:48:45 +0100
	Subj: 	RE: SHK 17.0383 "Waste of Shame" on BBC-America

[4] 	From: 	Kevin De Ornellas <k.deornellas@ulster.ac.uk>
	Date: 	Thursday, 04 May 2006 12:27:16 +0100
	Subj: 	Re: SHK 17.0383


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: 		Al Magary <al@magary.com>
Date: 		Wednesday, 03 May 2006 12:18:42 -0700
Subject: 	A Waste of Shame

A BBC America drama about Shakespeare is scheduled this Saturday; this 
seems to have been broadcast in UK in Fall 2005. The blurb 
(http://bbcamerica.com/genre/movies_specials/a_waste_of_shame/a_waste_of_shame.jsp):

A Waste of Shame, starring Rupert Graves (The Forsyte Saga) is an 
intense drama about the passionate and destructive love triangle that 
consumed Shakespeare - fueling some of the most celebrated, sexual, raw, 
bitter, and vitriolic love poems ever written. Written by William Boyd 
(Chaplin), the film focuses on two key figures in Shakespeare's life 
that featured heavily in his sonnets, "dark lady" and "fair youth."

In 1609 William Shakespeare published a collection of 154 sonnets, 
creating the greatest lyric sequence of poems in world literature. 126 
of these sonnets are addressed to a fair youth, and 26 are addressed to 
a dark lady. The mystery the sonnets contain has endured for almost 400 
years - who was the fair youth that inspired such passion? Who was 
Shakespeare's dark lady?

Based on academic sources, A Waste of Shame begins in 1596, when 
Shakespeare is working as a playwright in London, away from his wife and 
children. He's in rehearsal for Henry IV when he's told his 
eleven-year-old son, Hamnet, is deathly ill. He races back to Stratford, 
but his son dies shortly after. Upon his return, his life is radically 
changed when he's asked to become a mentor to the seventeen-year-old 
Earl of Pembroke. Shakespeare is immediately struck by his physical 
beauty and is soon drawn deeper and deeper into his world.

A Waste of Shame also stars Zoe Wanamaker (My Family) as the Countess of 
Pembroke, Tom Sturridge (Being Julia) as the fair youth, and Indira 
Varma (Rome) as the dark lady.

A Waste of Shame premieres Saturday, May 6th, 8:00 p.m. ET/9:00 p.m. PT. 
[BBC's press release on this production is at 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2005/09_september/06/4autumn_highlights.shtml

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From: 		Martin Steward <martinsteward@ntlworld.com>
Date: 		Thursday, 4 May 2006 08:20:59 +0100
Subject: "Waste of Shame" on BBC-America
Comment: 	SHK 17.0383 "Waste of Shame" on BBC-America

"BBC-America is going to be telecasting a television film about 
Shakespeare this Saturday, entitled 'Waste of Shame.'  Apparently it was 
shown on television in England last year.  Can anyone who saw this in 
England advise as to whether or not it is worth watching?"

It looks good, there are some nice performances and it's lots of fun as 
long as you don't take it too seriously.

m

[3]-------------------------------------------------------------
From: 		Olwen Terris <olwen@bufvc.ac.uk>
Date: 		Thursday, 4 May 2006 08:48:45 +0100
Subject: 17.0383 "Waste of Shame" on BBC-America
Comment: 	RE: SHK 17.0383 "Waste of Shame" on BBC-America

I am afraid I thought it quite dreadful. The writer William Boyd wrote 
of the drama - "the lustful, misogynistic tone of the Dark Lady sonnets 
seems to me to lead naturally to the conclusion that she might have been 
a prostitute". This is the premise. I have a strong aversion to dramatic 
reconstructions, and this was one of the worst; dialogue which it was 
difficult to believe that anyone would ever speak and very few academic 
insights into Shakespeare's work. It seemed to want to be a 'Shakespeare 
in Love' and failed (for me).

William Boyd's comments on how he approached the drama can be read by 
visiting http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1644965,00.html

Olwen Terris
Senior researcher
Shakespeare Project
British Universities Film and Video Council.

[4]-------------------------------------------------------------
From: 		Kevin De Ornellas <k.deornellas@ulster.ac.uk>
Date: 		Thursday, 04 May 2006 12:27:16 +0100
Subject: 17.0383
Comment: 	Re: SHK 17.0383

 >"Waste of Shame."  ... Can anyone who saw this in England
 >advise as to whether or not it is worth watching?

I think that you need to make that decision yourself. Have a look at the 
BBC/OU web page on the program:

http://www.open2.net/shakespeareretold/wasteofshame_progsummary.html

Incidentally, the BBC broadcasts its analogue and digital signals 
throughout the British/Irish Isles, not just in England.

See also a 'Waste of Shame'-related article from last year's 'Guardian': 
http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/classics/story/0,,1645660,00.html

Kevin De Ornellas
University of Ulster

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