Didn't expect to love this one as much as I did, but for pure entertainment Michael Dobson was terrific. It was also a joy to just sit back and laugh, and not feel that I must learn something! - even though I did, anyhow. I may be getting a bit obsessed with improving the old brain, as the small reminders of time running out get larger!
Anyhow Michael Dobson is a director of the Stratford Theatre and a world expert on Shakespeare. Among others, his latest book is "Shakespeare and Amateur Dramatics, a Cultural History". It might sound heavy but in his telling us of it, he was hilarious.
Seemingly, we are all very keen to dress up and playact - or at least the British are. There are more amateur dramatic societies in Britain now than ever. People are willing to give up their time to rehearse, and get up on a stage and act, purely for the love of it. And, going right back, it was ever so.
He started with the first recorded amateur dramatic performance which was on an English galleon called "The Red Dragon" which anchored off Sierra Leone in 1607. The local chief came on board to visit and before his plan to take his visitors elephant shooting, the crew put on a performance of "Hamlet" for him!
"Am.dram." as Dobson calls it, was very popular on board ship as the captains saw it as a way of keeping the crew happy and busy and so avoide them planning a mutiny. Female parts were alway willingly taken on as, in early days, women didn't go on stage in any event, their parts being played by men in costume. Later, when we moved on to prisoner of war camp performances in Germany, Denholm Elliot (the well known British actor) who was in Lansdorf Silesia camp (not sure if that right?) was such a hit in his female parts, that lots of prisoners were in love with him and he was almost mobbed after performances!
Dobson showed us photos of the war-time prisoners, on make-shift stages, in hilarious costumes, provided for them by their German captors. The group Denholm played with were so loved by the Germans, that they were taken 'on tour' to other camps around the Polish border. They did everything from Shakespeare to the Mikado. And lots of prisoners were so involved with their am.dram. group that they had absolutely no interest in planning escapes.
In Kilkenny in 1802 we had our first private theatre for amateur dramatics. It was run by Richard Power a rich estate owner, and this theatre was only for himself and his wealthy friends. They did allow a small audience but the tickets were very expensive and any proceeds went to 'charity' A motto over the stage read "While We Smile We Sooth Affliction". There's a whole story there in itself and of course I was doubly interested, it being Ireland.
Dobson talked for an hour, bringing us up to date on Britain today, through how amateur dramatic groups expanded from village halls to big companies like Shredded Wheat where stars like Flora Robinson cut their teeth.
The blurb said that this talk would "enrich our understanding of why Shakespeare matters, to 'rude mechanicals and aristocratic dilettantes alike' (sic!) and though I'm not sure which category I fit into, it certainly did for me.
Anyhow Michael Dobson is a director of the Stratford Theatre and a world expert on Shakespeare. Among others, his latest book is "Shakespeare and Amateur Dramatics, a Cultural History". It might sound heavy but in his telling us of it, he was hilarious.
Seemingly, we are all very keen to dress up and playact - or at least the British are. There are more amateur dramatic societies in Britain now than ever. People are willing to give up their time to rehearse, and get up on a stage and act, purely for the love of it. And, going right back, it was ever so.
He started with the first recorded amateur dramatic performance which was on an English galleon called "The Red Dragon" which anchored off Sierra Leone in 1607. The local chief came on board to visit and before his plan to take his visitors elephant shooting, the crew put on a performance of "Hamlet" for him!
"Am.dram." as Dobson calls it, was very popular on board ship as the captains saw it as a way of keeping the crew happy and busy and so avoide them planning a mutiny. Female parts were alway willingly taken on as, in early days, women didn't go on stage in any event, their parts being played by men in costume. Later, when we moved on to prisoner of war camp performances in Germany, Denholm Elliot (the well known British actor) who was in Lansdorf Silesia camp (not sure if that right?) was such a hit in his female parts, that lots of prisoners were in love with him and he was almost mobbed after performances!
Dobson showed us photos of the war-time prisoners, on make-shift stages, in hilarious costumes, provided for them by their German captors. The group Denholm played with were so loved by the Germans, that they were taken 'on tour' to other camps around the Polish border. They did everything from Shakespeare to the Mikado. And lots of prisoners were so involved with their am.dram. group that they had absolutely no interest in planning escapes.
In Kilkenny in 1802 we had our first private theatre for amateur dramatics. It was run by Richard Power a rich estate owner, and this theatre was only for himself and his wealthy friends. They did allow a small audience but the tickets were very expensive and any proceeds went to 'charity' A motto over the stage read "While We Smile We Sooth Affliction". There's a whole story there in itself and of course I was doubly interested, it being Ireland.
Dobson talked for an hour, bringing us up to date on Britain today, through how amateur dramatic groups expanded from village halls to big companies like Shredded Wheat where stars like Flora Robinson cut their teeth.
The blurb said that this talk would "enrich our understanding of why Shakespeare matters, to 'rude mechanicals and aristocratic dilettantes alike' (sic!) and though I'm not sure which category I fit into, it certainly did for me.
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