I have two videos here. The first is an English play, the second an early seventies Russian film adaptation.
First of all, the Fool is my favorite character in this part of the play because he is the voice of reason to the King. The Russian rendition got it right because it was presented as a sitcom, with the laugh track and whatnot. It's ironic and funny that Lear is a believer in the Fool. I should note, I had 'read,' more or less, this back in high school but the details are foggy. Our teacher Mr. McMan had a hell of a sense of humor though. I remember him explaining to the class how he thought Shakespeare's writing was hilarious. I chuckle when I recall how much tragedy the play has. It is a tragedy, right? I suppose not at this point in the play in Act 1 Scene 4.
Secondly, this past weekend I took a trip out to see some friends in Spokane. Since I had to get some homework done on the way back, and I thought that listening to King Lear's book-on-tape would fill the six hour drive nicely. A friend and I discussed how the experience is different when you're listening to a performance as opposed to reading the text. Technically it's the same material, but there's an interpretation variation. You're going to focus on different things in a movie as opposed to a book. Or say a stage play versus a stand-up comic. You're going to learn and absorb things, but you need the right traction. Shakespeare's books/performances on tape is a different experience than reading.
Lastly, in each of these clips my favorite part of the book on tape was cut out of the clips' scripts.
Fool - Mark it, nuncle; Have more than thou showest, Speak less than thou knowest, Lend less than thou owest, Ride more than thou goest, Learn more than thou trowest, Set less than thou throwest, Leave thy drink and thy whore, And keep in-a-door, And thou shalt have more, Than two tens to a score.
I think that when I was in the car, through snowstorms and stars, driving along them mountain passes, through passing lanes of traffic; I think I just liked his flow. Cruising and flowing, no snoozin' and no slowin'. The book on tape production was fantastic, but the hardest part was keeping up with who was talking. I found out later that the Fool said the line above, but in the car it didn't matter much.
Spoken word is arguably more powerful than writing. Effective? Affective? That's what my friend and I debated. Should we prefer one over the other? He was always the book guy and I was a movie guy growing up. Which experience is more rich? In conclusion, there was no conclusion to the conversation.
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